ADD/ADHD in INFJs

Do you have ADD/ADHD?

  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .
Crabby Lil Me said:
Yes, I'm an INFJ, and I have ADD. NOT ADHD.
There is a difference. It would be interesting to know if INFJs are ADD or ADHD.
I have a theory that introverts have ADD and extroverts have ADHD.
hmm....
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Well yes certainly the ADD description does fit me a lot better, reading from it, I have never been diagnosed with it but that's because I really have not visited any specialist on this. I experience attention disorder not by hyperactivity but because I get lost in my own set of thoughts and I tend to avoid all sorts of social interaction.
 
ADD is highly probable, but I lack the energy for ADHD. I actually haven't found a therapist that I trust enough to open up that far to, though, and I seem to manage perfectly fine without any interference from one anyway (for the most part).
 
I am not ADHD, but my ADD is epic. There is an AQ, Attention Quotient, on the same scale as the IQ... with 100 being average focus, 140 being incredible focus, and 60 being... well really really bad focus.

My AQ is 54.

No really, I had a barrage of professional tests. Interesting side note: the tests included an official IQ test, on which I scored a 155.

I have a theory that Ni types are much more prone to ADD and Ne types more prone to ADHD. Seems to be accurate so far.
 
Nobleheart said:
I am not ADHD, but my ADD is epic. There is an AQ, Attention Quotient, on the same scale as the IQ... with 100 being average focus, 140 being incredible focus, and 60 being... well really really bad focus.

My AQ is 54.

No really, I had a barrage of professional tests. Interesting side note: the tests included an official IQ test, on which I scored a 155.

I have a theory that Ni types are much more prone to ADD and Ne types more prone to ADHD. Seems to be accurate so far.
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Do you have a link to this AQ test? I'm interested to see what I get.
 
Ah hell with it then, I'll just diagnose myself based on me fidgiting constantly.
 
I'm an INFJ with an ADD. I'm taking medication and it helps.

For those of you with the combination INFJ + ADD: how do you experience the existence of the somewhat different "forces"? I have the habit of diving into the depths of things super fast, taking a couple of shortcuts. To me it feels a bit risky (I could easily ignore important aspects), but that's the way I'm built. My intuition kind of covers for the things I can't concentrate on. However, to cover my inattentiveness, I triple-check everything I've written or read.

Another dilemma that the combination seems to produce has to do with being an introvert with a hyper brain. I constantly get intriguing ideas that I want to reflect on with somebody, but I just don't have the energy and skills to go up to someone and talk about them. Also, it's wearing people out easily. Thank god my boyfriend is a good sport in trying to grasp a notion of the ideas that I'm passing at him. Luckily, I have an INTP friend with whom I can share ideas freely (although she says she feels a little inadequate in entertaining me with her stories, since my mind is pacing a lot faster than hers).
 
I still think that ADD is highly overdiagnosticed(?) even tho I'm not a doctor or anything.
Thinking all the time =/= ADD
Hey so I was like oh em gee and then HEY a butterfly! =/= ADD


So I think that INFJs (and all dominant intuition types) are more likely than others to BELIEVE they have ADD when they actually dont :P
 
This is a question I've thought on for a long time now, and I've always laughed at how so many people claim that ADHD isn't real. The key point isn't whether it is REAL or not, but rather why it is considered a negative within society.


ADHD is simply a dopamine deficiency (compared to the normal population) in the brain. I'm hazy as to the specifics, but I believe ADHD medications inhibit dopamine re-uptake. Alternately, coffee (caffeine) simply causes an immediate dopamine release. Both work to solve ADHD symptoms, however the medications work on a longer theraputic basis.

The dopamine deficiency is real, which is what ADHD is. . . the question comes down to whether this is a PROBLEM.



So onto my theories:

My personal thoughts are that ADHD is the foundation on which Ni is built. The concept that ADHD is a reduced dopamine response to standard stimuli causes the person's attention to rapidly change when something else appears within the subconscious. . . . Meaning the subconscious absorbs all the boring stuff until something is interesting enough to enter the conscious.

ADHD is forced to constantly scan everything until something sufficiently interesting appears that the conscious can pay attention to . . . if something else pops up, then that wins out and the conscious side pays attention to that. Everything else gets sorted into the subconscious until it builds enough interest to pop into the conscious. . . presumably because it matched a pattern with something else, which is what Ni is always looking for.

ADHD causes me to notice EVERYTHING. . . but not realize it.

ADHD provides vast amounts of fuel for Ni to synthesize truths from.



So all that being said. . . I believe that ADHD is the filter that forces Se information to be combined and built into some sort of pattern that is important enough to catch our attention. The better the filter, the bigger the pattern has to be before it is noticed. . . and the worse you fit into society's desire for you to do stupid repetitive tasks.



ADHD is a super power . . . but the x-men movies provide a great metaphor for how people respond to such things.
 
BMatt said:
This is a question I've thought on for a long time now, and I've always laughed at how so many people claim that ADHD isn't real. The key point isn't whether it is REAL or not, but rather why it is considered a negative within society.

The dopamine deficiency is real, which is what ADHD is. . . the question comes down to whether this is a PROBLEM.
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Exactly. My psychiatrist once stated that the western culture has outmatched our evolution. We are expected to accomplish things that are brain and physique has not accustomed to. That's why ADD/ADHD is a problem.
 
Majesty said:
I still think that ADD is highly overdiagnosticed(?) even tho I'm not a doctor or anything.
Thinking all the time =/= ADD
Hey so I was like oh em gee and then HEY a butterfly! =/= ADD


So I think that INFJs (and all dominant intuition types) are more likely than others to BELIEVE they have ADD when they actually dont :P
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There are cultural differences in the number of diagnoses. I have the impression that the diagnostic culture in Northern America is somewhat more "allowing" than here in Scandinavia. However, comments that belittle the nature of ADD/ADHD (such as "oh em gee and then HEY a butterfly!") seem to base on lack of knowledge, and are very hurtful for people whose coping in their daily activities and relationships are affected by the disorder as a rule.
 
VH said:
However, there are a lot of internet ADD quizzes. All you have to do is poke around for them.
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The necro of this thread just prompted me to try one. Scored really high apparently (72).
 
I found out I had ADD when I was 6/7 years old, but my parents did not want to believe that such a disease existed. (Well, in Ghana, just as they don't believe in one being left-handed, they don't believe in mental disorders either. )

However, now that my dad is aware that he has it, and that it runs quite a bit in the family, he was willing to look more into me having it... and I mean I was already diagnosed dyslexic as a kid.

The worst time I've had with it so far was having to take 3 hour, 250 question exams for one of my classes...Torture I tell you. It also takes me forever and a day to finish my microbio lab things, but my instructor is very patient and understanding because he too is ADD.
 
I was diagnosed with ADD around 2 years ago. AND I'm a left-handed, fully right-brain individual. So stressful. Sigh.

I was on meds and they seemed to help but then my docs took me off of it when the found out there was a history of heart disease in my family. So I'm s.o.l.

I guess I should investigate to see if there are meds for ADD that don't affect the heart.

I'll get around to it eventually...
 
Serenity said:
The worst time I've had with it so far was having to take 3 hour, 250 question exams for one of my classes...Torture I tell you. It also takes me forever and a day to finish my microbio lab things, but my instructor is very patient and understanding because he too is ADD.
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I totally feel you! I went to an EEG-test, where I had to sit in a small room and stare at a screen, that had little black and white squares changing place. The test took two hours. Two hours of concentrating on little squares. I had to stay awake and completely still, in an armchair. That was pure torture.

Instructor with an ADD, that's convenient!
 
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