Mislabled ADD

[OmegaPsi]

out of curiosity:Do you guys think that most of the time when a person is diagnosed with ADD, they are actually just identifying INTJ traits?

[OneBadMother]

A lot of the time they seem to be identifying any "abnormal" traits, so that they can medicate them. :/

[OmegaPsi]

Aye.."ALL HAILECH ZE MEDIOCRITY AND CONFORMITY!" (hmmm bad french and german at once? lol)

[xhaan]

out of curiosity:Do you guys think that most of the time when a person is diagnosed with ADD, they are actually just identifying INTJ traits?

I can't quantify the amount of times this happens, but I know that it does. I also know there's a real ADD/ADHD.

[Zilal]

I dunno, I was diagnosed ADD as a kid and my mother swears I improved tremendously on ritalin, but I don't remember any particular change. I do remember having a very hard time focusing on and completing tasks I didn't want to do, but I have that difficulty now too when I'm depressed... I'm just more disciplined about it... so I wonder if the ADD diagnosis was more about a lack of discipline and/or early tendencies toward the depression that didn't come out fully till I was 13. I don't think I would have been mislabeled because of any INTJ tendencies. I really did have more difficulty completing tasks than other kids did.

However, I could certainly believe that some kids are mislabeled ADD because they daydream a lot or have issues with authority.

[axiomtangent]

I think it's natural for people who have ADD/ADHD to question the diagnosis; it may even be part of its pathology. I also believe that INTJs (as I understand them) would have a particularly hard time accepting that they are suffering from a mental deficiency that they cannot "think" their way out of.

In my case (I've been diagnosed with adult ADD) there isn't a day that goes by that I don't chastise myself about my lack of ability to focus or perform to the degree I believe I should, and often consider the ADD as a convenient excuse for failure to perform or just plain laziness. For instance, as I write this text it is difficult to keep my thoughts linear and on task, and I constantly second guess either my ideas or the manner in which I am expressing them.

My biggest fear is that ADD is just a mask behind which our mediocrity hides.

[Zilal]

I also believe that INTJs (as I understand them) would have a particularly hard time accepting that they are suffering from a mental deficiency that they cannot "think" their way out of.

That rings true for me... at least, with depression. It's taken me 17 years to get around to thinking that maybe it isn't really just a matter of me being too dumb or lazy to have gotten myself out of it (though I know that likely wasn't just the INTJ talking, but the depression too). I'm only now experimenting with being easier on myself and boy, does it make a difference. Frees up a huge amount of energy for actually coping.

As for the ADD, I dunno if I thought like that so much as a little kid... I do remember once being accused of using the diagnosis as a crutch, though, which hurt me deeply at the time... I didn't entirely understand the accusation but then I didn't entirely understand my diagnosis either, I just knew somebody thought I was being lazy or dishonest.

[Hdier]

I was told that a lot of times, it isn't diagnosed correctly. Their supposed to monitor him/her for a while, give a set of instructions for the person to do (orally; also, something that they already do with other stuff stuck on to the end) among other things in order to correctly diagnose it (though not necessarily all of the things). Many doctors will ask the parent if he/she can't sit still, is impatient, etc. The only problem is that many times it's diagnosed in the age group where that is normal.