getting a PhD while suffering from ADD | ADHD Information

 Thank you very much to all of you who replied my post. I appreciate your support.  As it was pointed out, I'd need a medical evaluation to find out if I actually have ADD or not. I will try to see what I can do about it given my financial situation.

 On the other hand, I would not like to be labeled because I am thinking, who would want to hire me as a professor if they knew I had ADD? No matter how they say the health records are confidential, once you are labeled, I think it will come up somehow.

  I can do a task well if it is well defined. The problem with PhD is that it requires free thinking and the research task is not well defined, this is where I am getting lost. Possibly, I do not have the necessary amount of help from my advisor either. He is a very famous guy and I can not get to see him a lot. And when I see him, he has no patience for me unless I have very good results to show him. Possibly he is a very big source of stress for me considering the fact that I depend on his projects financially as well.

  Most of my problem is I guess, because of "lack of organization". There are too many things I want to do but actually none is being accomplished. I practise guitar, try to learn another language, pencil drawing, photography, and so on.  I have a tendency for impulsive spending, so when I read the postings here I felt like they were describing me.

  I will try to bring some structure into my life, get a planner and write things down and try not to do anything that is not absolutely necessary for my goals. I tried meditation in the past for my wandering thougts, maybe I should go back to that too.  I wish I could go away for a while to recharge my batteries, but it is really not possible at this time. 

  Daydreaming is really wasting a lot of my time, people tell me that I worry too much about stupid things.

   Thank you very much for reading my postings and for your support and I hope all of you will find relief and happiness in some way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

longdistance,

Something which has worked well for me in the work force when I have had poorly defined, long tasks is that I wrote every little thing I knew about the requirements, no matter how minute they seemed.

I would then try to organize them into what order they needed to be done or according to  what seemed the most logical. Once that was done, I organized them into segments that seemed manageable and tried to complete each segment, one at a time. I would even schedule in my breaks as much as possible.

I referred to that piece of paper like it was the holy grail. I would alter it occasionally as I saw that some  things were not going as quickly or even faster than expected.

The main thing was to get a sense of where I needed to go and whether I was getting there. You must have research to do and notes to take. Try to figure out what needs to be researched first and whether it can be broken down before you go on to the next thing. Sometimes you just know where you need to go with it next by getting the first part organized.

I have a feeling from what you have said about yourself that once you get started and see that it is coming together in even a small way, you will get excited about it and want to push on through it! You may have to pick one  topic and just steel yourself to working on it. If you start getting interested in one area of it and want to follow up on that but it won't fit what you are doing, you can always go back to that in the future.

I have never faced anything as huge as what you are facing but I would imagine it would still work the same way. You are really just taking something you find formidable and breaking it down so that it seems much more attainable.

Good luck and keep us posted. Who knows, you may inspire some of us to break out of our comfort zones and go for what we've dreamed of and been afraid to tackle! (yep! I mean me!  )   Barb

 

Some symptoms sound like ADD, others don't. I'd go to a qualified psychiatrist to get tested. You'll never know for sure unless you are tested. If you assume you have it when you have something else, you'll be back to square one and have wasted a lot of time. If you get tested and it is ADD, you'll also find out what type you have and how your symptoms play into your life.

I'm pursuing a higher degree as an ADHD mixed type. It has not been a picnic so far let me tell you. I feel like I have to fight for every grade I get.

Good luck!

Another struggling scholar,

Cheekydeeky

Interesting posts,

I understand that the tests for ADD can run into the 00s.  So if you don't have insurance you'll have to find another way to pay for the tests.  It is important to get a diagnosis while you are in school since there is a requirement that the school take steps to help you hurdle the disability.  However, as you might expect, there is  specific documentation required by the school before the will accept you as a disabled student.  It is best to speak to a disability counselor at the school to find out what is required and to get recommendations for financing the tests and treatment.

Meanwhile try this book.  It might provide some help while you're arranging tests.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805061282/qid =1087186296/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-3516635-7225422?v=glance&a mp;a mp;s=books

Be sure to read the reviews.

Any thoughts on why your symptoms seemed to become more manifest at this stage in your education?

 

ChiefB38151.889849537

Have you considered that you are under extreme stress right now? Going for a PHD is way more than most people can handle or are willing to do! You really should see a psychologist. He could at least give you some questionaires to fill out to help determine what is causing your symptoms.

No matter whether its ADD or stress or depression or a combination, you may need meds to deal with it. Frankly, depression rarely goes away by itself unless you walk away from the things causing it. Stress is the same way.

I admire you for pursueing a PHD! Many of us have had problems just getting through high school or a BS degree. If you need medical help to get back on an even keel, there is nothing wrong with that. There are programs out there which would help cover the cost and sometimes, you don't need them for long, just long enough to get a handle on things!

We will give you all the encouragement you need whether you turn out to have ADD or not! This is agreat group of people here and we understand the pressure of not feeling able to perform or learn easily! Keep us posted!  

Heya longdistance, I am curious - do you think your problem is from a cluttered head or lack of interest? I am a self studier - I CANNOT follow someone elses course structure. Do you feel what you are doing now is unnecessary to reach your goal, or perhaps it is in the wrong order? I have found that I need to de-clutter my head every so often. What happens to me is that I get too much unfinished business in my head, and all these random unanswered thoughts cause me too much confusion. I then try to "get away" from everything for a few weeks. Usually I go fishing - there is something about being on a lake with lots of fresh air and concentrating on "simple things". Then as those unanswered thoughts hit me, I do my best to resolve them, or if I can't resolve them I try to "condense" them with some other model/concept/subject. I usually try to do this every couple of years, but with major studying going on it becomes necessary much more frequently. I'm not sure if you can relate to all this, but maybe it will be of some help to you. You can also try a taking a b-complex vitamin and caffeine to help your memory and thinking, however, if your head is cluttered it probably won't be of much help.

perhaps barb is right too, and maybe the medical answer would be the best solution to your current delemna. Btw, I don't have any degrees, but I was able to bypass a 4 year degree in land surveying by studying twice for 4 months each (60 hrs/wk +/-). Unfortunately, by the time I get my professional license (need to pass the state exam only) I'll be so bored by it that I probably won't do it again :( I eventually would like to earn a law degree if I can find a school that will allow me to learn it in the order that I choose. I can learn almost anything, but I have to proceed in an order and manor that seems logical and efficient to me, otherwise I have to fight my thoughts. Also, if your advisor is yelling at you, perhaps you would be better off with another advisor who understands you better. Good luck, we are all rooting for you!
Wile E38152.2240509259

Recently I have been reading a lot about ADD, and I am thinking that possibly I have been suffering from it all my life.

I am in a PhD program for the last couple years. I am not at the dissertation stage yet though I am done with my classes. The problem is that I can not decide on a certain topic. I know which field I am interested in, but finding a specific topic is too hard for me. I kept jumping from topic to topic without any success.

I do not seem to have the patience to read a paper from beginning till the end unless it is very simple and in my field papers are rarely simple. They are way too technical.

I feel like my memory is getting weaker and weaker. It is not that I forget about my appointments or stuff like that but I can not remember the things that I read related to my work. The memory problem started after college, I think.

I feel like stupid when my advisor asks me questions about the research. I feel like blanked out. And when he explains something to me, I do not remember anything at the end because I realize that I do not listen to what he says. Same thing in the classes as well. I can not listen to the whole thing, I get lost into daydreams and worries about other things. Also, I draw shapes on my notebook instead of paying attention to the speaker.

I easily get mad and offended by every comment. My relationships suffer for this reason. My mood swings. One person I loved the most, left me because of my temper.

I have visited the school's counseling services. They think I have severe depression and they wanted me to go to hospital for medication screening. I reject to take any medication. So they left me alone.

I do not think it is depression. It is not that I do not have interests, just that I can not concentrate. I enroll myself in different activities because I want to pursue them but when I start I can not concentrate, I get discouraged easily so I withdraw.

I tried taking sam-e and other herbs like ginko bloba. But I am not sure they helped or not because I used them on and off..

I do not have any insurance to see specialists and I do not want to take meds. I really want to finish this PhD but I do not have any emotional support from nobody. Especially my advisor,he sometimes yells at me, when I do not do some stuff the way he wants.

Is there anyone who went through the same ordeal and managed to get their degrees? What can I do?

 

thanks in advance