Hey I have ADD, OCD, and depression and I can't concentrate while doing (trying to do) homework,  IDEAS?  I can't do the meds thing so anything else?!\nthanks~
202980
If you can't take medicine, that's too bad because most of these disorders can be alleviated in some part by medicine.  For your depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, I suggest going to a psychologist for cognitive-behavioral therapy (or perhaps some other form that may work better for you), because these disorders may not improve over time.  For attention deficit disorder, unfortunately the only treatment includes taking Ritalin.  I suggest taking away all the distractions in your room that you may obsess over and forcing yourself to study.  Punish yourself if you don't study (e.g. no TV for a week).  Make a study plan and stick to it.\n\nAre you sure you have those disorders?  Get checked by a doctor before you make such a statement and before you seek treatment.  Maybe you're just imagining things.  Why can't you take meds?  Did a doctor tell you that?  If so, go to another doctor for a second opinion. The only way you wouldn't be able to take meds is due to negative reactions to meds, and you couldn't possibly have a negative reaction to all meds, could you?
220994
Everything you are saying on this post confirms what I was suspecting when I answered your other post. Get her to a pediatric psychiatrist now, and insist that the school provide her with appropriate programming. I'm sure her regular ed teacher is a good one, but regular ed teachers do NOT have the training to deal with this sort of situation. Once you have the diagnoses from the pediatric psychiatrist, demand the school hold an IEP intake for your daughter.\n\nThey should NOT categorize her as E/BD. She should be categorized as Gifted, and if you get her a diagnosis of Anxiety and/or OCD from the pediatric psychiatrist, the school psychologist can recommend that the diagnosis be categorized as Other Health Impaired rather than E/BD. She should be receiving support from the school's gifted ed specialist (someone actually trained in gifted education...demand credentials), the school counselor, and the special education psychologist.\n\nIf you are in a state where gifted education is not a part of special education, still demand the IEP, but also demand gifted education modifications (compressed/accelerated curriculum, reduction of boredom and increasing of motivation through replacement of skill drill work with individual projects focusing on higher-order thinking skills, etc.), and a statement on the service page of coordination of her OHI program with the gifted education program.
185006
I have ADHD and I'm still in school on mysenior year about to graduate.. ADHD is what it is and yea it makes your attention span short and you a little hyperactive, but him not wanting to go to school has nothing to do with his diagnosis..\nSo for some help i gave you a link below for some signs of ADHD and ODD\nAnd about staying in class yea i do sometimes when my medicine starts to wear off so i go to sleep or doodle my thoughts n stuff and it really helps
442252
I don't think that your problem is terribly uncommon.\n\nYou might try discussing this with your doctor, who might be able to refer you to a specialist.  Some people might just attribute this to being unmotivated or even lazy, but it might simply be a result of a neurological or chemical imbalance that could easily be treated with medication.  \n\nIt would be a shame if your "motivation" and focus problems could be quickly solved with a prescription.  Maybe this won't solve your problem, but it would be a good first step in ruling out possible causes.  Good luck to you.
187006
Yes, first get diagnosed by a physicist, if you have ADD or ADHD for sure get treatment. You will feel so much better.
76442
i think you should try and get out of this depression.\ndepression is not an excuse to cheat in your homework.\nif you don't feel like learning, dont learn.\nbut don't expect some one to do the thinking for you.\neducation is for your own good and noone else's.\ngoodluck and get help
333910
I think you definitely have a problem here. I saw a special on TV, I think it was on intervention where a girl did this too. I can't remember that name of the disease but she definitely had a chemical imbalance. I really think you should see a doctor and don't worry....your not the only one!!!
339281
I feel that the United States doctors are going crazy w/ this diagnosis. I feel this is something you can help on you own.  I think that this is a super crazy world w/ tons of things going on in our lives at once and because of this, some of us have a hard time focusing.  You need to practice focusing possibly w/ the everyday use of meditation you could over come this so call disorder.
20870
My son was diagnosed with D. in the third grade. Does your school have a class designed to tutor you? My son had to have assignments and tests read to him, and he was allowed to answer verbally. He taped the classes. Some assignments were altered. Not made easier, but if it required alot of writing, he was able to use a computer. We even homeschooled for 5 years.  We found a curriculum that was alot of hands on experiences.  It is hard. Hang in there, you're an inspiration to someone watching you.
509213
I was diagnosed with AD/HD a few months ago and like you I was skeptical.  I have a few mental illnesses as well so many of the same questions were running around in my mind as well.  I think it's when you have a lot of the symptons.  I know people who are lazy and disorganized but that is because they choose to be.  AD/HD people just can't grab the concept.  We try our best to do it and it's a real struggle.  The one that hit me was the concentration one.  I say ignorance is bliss!  I could do three things at once and easily jump back and forth, if I got distracted I just happily went off to what ever distracted me and came back to what I was doing, if I couldn't remember what I was doing oh well!  After I was diagnosed I was trying really hard to write an email and was concentrating so hard to make sure I got everything in there that I needed too.  The phone kept going off and my YM messenger kept blinking and I was distracted and couldn't remember what I was doing!  It is frustrating when you know you have to try really hard to concentrate and you still can't!!\n\nI realized I self medicated in school and still do! (In college)  I take a big soda with me into classes so I can stay focused.  If I don't have that caffeine I am fidgety and am unable to focus on what I need to.  My mind wonders.\n\nThe way I understand it, so far since I am still learning, is that our brains don't have the stimulators that everyone else does, at least not as many, and our minds are searching for outside stimulation to get what it needs.  That's why stimulators such as caffeine and ridolin have the opposite effect they give our brain the stimulation it craves and we are able to focus on what we need to other than it reving us up.\n\nI haven't recieved any medications for AD/HD yet because I'm slightly apprehensive about it making me drowsy and I love the high energy that I have.  I believe that the high energy is just who I am as a person and the AD/HD just adds a little something to it.\n\nI know many AD/HD people are highly creative and they go off their meds when they need to be creative.  I'm also afraid my creativity will suffer from it.\n\nHope this helped!  Feel free to contact me :)
289334
I have had the same problem. The best solution that I use is to designate one computer for homework. On this one, block distraction sites like Yahoo answers and myspace, or if you dont use the internet for homework, disconnect it. Otherwise, just allow yourself a 10 minute break every hour, but DO NOT take it on the computer.
43299
I imagine if you do a simple google search for ADD symptom test or diagnosis, there will be something you can take and show your doctor. Have you expressed to your doc that you think you have this? If not, it might be enough just to discuss it with them. But no online test is going to give a definitive answer. Your doctor will still want to check you out before giving out prescriptions. Do the search and see what you can find and just schedule an appointment with your doctor to talk about ADD and ADHD. They should be open and willing to talk to you about such things. And if they aren't, find a doctor who is willing to give you a second opinion.
529440
Turn off the TV, or go to another room without the TV there. Make sure someone else is on a computer in your house so it won't be available for you to use. Ask your parents to take you to a Doctor to get tested for ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and if you have it, get some medicine prescribed to you to treat your ADD. It will probably be so much easier for you to do your homework now.
640725
Hi \n I'm 52       and I didn't get diagnosed w/ ADD until I was 42  like many older people ,the diagnosis was cause for relief and cause for amazement - how could they miss it ? I changed schools and majors many  times - which is why  i can answer a lot of these questions. Finally i managed to get a pair of associates degrees and will have my teaching degree in two  years . I have learned many things  let me share them with you; \nAn ADD brain is wired differently than a non -ADD brain\nStandard rules do not apply,  an ADD person requires a certain amount of distraction  in order to focus , however too much and focusing becomes impossible. Total silence is an impossible studying environment also. \nCase in point : I do my best studying in my car in an empty corner of a parking lot with the radio on and my feet hanging out of the window . i have a large cup of caffinated coffee  ,a lap top but my cell phone is turned off. .I can't study in silence and there are too many distractions at home Luckily- technology allows you to do this.\nwhen you are physically in a classroom sit in the front of the room and avoid open doors or windows to look out of . If the instructor allows it ;tape all lectures.  i had the problem of yo  yo grades , the stuff that really interested me  i excelled  at, the stuff that bored me  i was tortured by and didn't  do wel at all  An ADD secret is the ability to hyper -focus ;this used to happen to me in algebra all the time; I would get so involved in writing ,understanding and solving the problem, that  i would zone out and if the instructor asked for the answer  i would have to snap  my brain back into the class room.  \nAnother issue is behavior; since your'e doing 100mph sitting still ,actually sitting still can be bit  a of a problem- i still haven't   figured out yet..  I fidget alot \nADD people also have a tendecy to blurt out answers lest they/ we  forget them .\nThere is also a very long list of class clowns with ADD \nWhat you need to watch  out  for is  confusion leading to frusration leading to anger leading to more confusiion or exponential growth from hell. when you start getting confused STOP!!! literally  and regroup further motion will not make it better.\nwhen you get an assignment to do -get it done early\nthe school should  provide you with help on this.  I don't  know whether or not you should inform your instructors. i nformed many of mine some understood it, some didn't  and one informed me that  he didn't believe  in it and that it was just a rather bad  reason to justify inappropriate behavior . I told him such behavior was covered by the Americans with Disabilitys Act\n I know this is a bit wordy- sorry. \n I really hope that i was of some help\ndo well\n\nnext day: OOPS!!!  I had an  ADD  moment last night- gave you al;ot of informaton and didn't answer the question. If you mean  that by doing things you really enjoy   and that  stimulate you - sure it makes sense.  We all know that for a person with ADD boredom is torture,  We also know that the constant quest for stimulation can lead to some very  dangerous place- If you need  to be stimulated[ and you do] do so safely
287028
Well, studying would be good. Unfortunately it sounds like it is way too late for you to fix it now. Good luck. Hope this teaches you to pay more attention, study harder, and ask the teacher for help early on.
15429
I have  a 8yr old son with ADHD and he is not a brat thier brains work so fast they cant control it and i have found that puzzles are great we work on them together. I also have a 6yr old with Aspergers and ADHD which is a whole other topic. But try puzzles!
51518
I feel your pain, and share your view in general on medications. I have a daughter, now 8 years old who has ADHD. They told me when she was six that she needed to be medicated and I absolutely refused to consider it. I thought that medication was being used way too often and I was not about to put her on it. Well, things continued to get worse for her, me our family as we tried to control her behaviors without meds. She started losing her friends, doing poorly in school, and her brothers started to resent her for the behaviors she would act out and ruin our family outings. I finally agreed about 6 months ago  to try her on the lowest dose possible to try to make things a little better. Now, I regret not doing it sooner. She is by no means perfectly behaved or on task, but she is now able to do her school work with minimum redirecting, sustain friendships, and has control over her behaviors. This medication has not altered her pesonality or put her in to a dazed state like I thought it would. It really has just helped her to be able to live a more normal life. She still has her times when she doesn't want to listen, do homework and pouts or cries, but it is now within reasonable limits. I agree that medication should not just be handed out like candy, but sometimes the child really does need it. With proper monitoring and dosage your son should be fine. The only side effect my daughter has had is a little weight loss, but even that tapered off after the first 2 months. She is a much happier child now, and it is a much more peaceful house. I wish you luck with your son, and in making this decision, as I know it is a hard one to make. I fought it for 1 1/2 years. Good Luck.