Adult Manifested ADD

Once I committed to coming back to this, it was hard to actually do so. First, I started this blog while on Spring break in college. And, second even after that, I had more time -- and more personal need -- to write this blog.

But, recently, now that I'm no longer in college and am now in the real world -- whatever that means--I've been thinking a lot about ADD again. Particularly about the warped, incorrect term "adult onset ADD."

The DSM standards mandate that symptoms manifest themselves before the age of seven. That much is clear. But then, there is the fact that this is a blog about adult ADD. As I understand it, there are two types of adult ADD. There are the people who had child ADD which turned into adolescent ADD, which turned into teen ADD, which turned into adult ADD.

And then, there are the people, who were diagnosed with ADD as adults.

In my case, it was the latter, though it came as a surprise to no one, including -- well, hypothetically--my first grade teacher who administered the hearing and listening test I failed.

But I would suggest the term "adult manifested ADD." A psychiatrist I recently spoke to said that for many people, ADD surfaces at different times in different people's lives: for some it's high school, for some it's college, for some it's medical school, and for some it's a first job, or a marriage, or what have you.

Different changes trigger different types of symptoms, different manifestations, and that's when the diagnoses come in, offering help in the wake of changes in a person's life that can be big enough, or different enough to allow the ADD to manifest itself.