Expert: Dr Billy Levin - 8/3/2010

Question
my father's and mother's clans have been very strict and traditional for generations. they are all lawyers and doctors, the doctors being in the "hard sciences" specialties. what this means to my possible adhd is that they simply don't believe it exists.

i've only really understood adhd when i got to college because i'm taking child psychology as my pre-med course and because my college friends and their families are the first to ask me if i have adhd. i only cared about their adhd comments when i noticed 4 out of 5 households would ask me that. and my professors did too. people said they think i have adhd because i can't seem to stop moving, i can't concentrate, i forget so easily, i'm always late but also so impatient, and i'm very disorganized. it seems now that i've only done good because i always have a few friends who diligently remind me of things to do and places to go to, etc like i have personal secretaries.

i always had trouble focusing. teachers would always call for my attention because i was looking elsewhere or talking to my classmates while they were teaching. i swear i don't mean to be disrespectful but i really can't seem to pay attention to people as much as i'm supposed to. that goes for activities too. i get bored very easily. lately, i've been told that that must be because my brain takes it as too stupid or too simple for me. i think the reason why i wasn't asked by our school's guidance counselor to get checked for adhd is because i was still doing great in school, although she'd always tell me that i was absolutely an underachiever because i could perform so much better, given my 'superior level' iq.

i have serious problems in memorizing, focusing, finishing tasks, etc. my biggest problem right now is i just took a leave of absence for 3 semesters so far from college. i don't know if it's anything about adhd but i really just lost feel for college. i wonder if any therapies or whatever given to patients with adhd can help me start my life again because i stay in the house 24/7 now.

my father especially don't believe in adhd. my college secretary required us to go to counseling when i said i don't want to go back to school yet. when the counselor said that she wants me to be checked for adhd, my father vehemently blew the possibility of me having it. he says if indeed adhd is existent and is existent in me, i wouldn't have gotten to college (which by the way is the number 1 university in this country) and wouldn't have done good in school ever.

sir, do you think i have adhd? am i even deserving of the time a psychiatrist will spend on me to decide if i have adhd or not?

Answer
ADHD is a very real fully researched medical inherited condition irrespective what your family think.Your description would suggest you should see a medical doctor who specialises in ADHD.   At your age you have a legal and ethical right to see somebody if help is needed. The complications of non treatment and neglect  of ADHD can sometimes be very serious indeed. Good luck! Remind your family that hypothyriodism was considered a form of insanity a century ago  and locked up in mental institution. Today thyriod therapy allows them to lead a normal life. Semelwise was thought a "nut" because he suggest doctors should wash their hand to stop the spread of infection. Some of your family unfortunately are still living in the "dark" ages despite Roger Sperry recieving the Nobel prize (2000) for showing  us how the human brain functions.