Living with ADD is not a term taken seriously by many people, but over 6 million people deal with the effects of it every day. ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder, very similar to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The main difference is the impulsiveness and hyperactive traits in ADHD that differ from ADD. Attention deficit disorder is constantly confused as just being easily distracted, which is not the complete story of this disorder. Hyper-focus and focus on excessive amounts of items at once are also traits.
When I was seven I was diagnosed with ADD, and I still struggle with it every day as a young adult. Along with those two traits previously stated, insomnia and spontaneity are also common, both not completely terrible traits. If I know I won't fall asleep quickly one night, I try to utilize that time to get more work done or catch up on my social media. The spontaneity trait makes my life a little more interesting, trips or vacations made at the drop of a hat and major decisions made in minutes is normally how I run my life, it may seem reckless, but it is what works best for me.
The stereotypical idea of ADD is not untrue either, intense distraction is extremely common every day. Often in lecture, I find myself intensely focusing on the hum of the air vent, the squeak of the chairs or the sound of a pen writing on paper from a fellow classmate instead of listening to the professor lecture on something I need to learn about. That is by far the most annoying trait of this disorder, because once zoned into the distracting sound, it is hard to come out of concentration and redirect the focus back to the matter at hand.
I choose not to be medicated anymore for numerous reasons. The first of those reasons in the side effects I experienced with every option given and the second that it is an addictive substance that I felt affected me, especially Adderall, Concerta and Ritalin. It is not uncommon to find that those diagnosed with ADD or ADHD do choose to be unmedicated given harsh side effects with the drugs that work best. More intense insomnia, loss of appetite, migraines, nausea and paranoia are some of the side effects some users experience.
Often, ADD is not seen as a serious disorder or problem, mostly because it is pretty silent, but I assure you that it effects the lives of those who deal with it immensely.
