Personality problem...something opposite to adhd?help!?

Question

I was wondering if anyone here could help me to understand what exactly is my problem, which in recent times has become more prominent.I seem to be unable to operate and focus with people around me.Any sound when I am reading, writing, working is painful.I am doing an internship with young people and today it took me 4 a hours to do a bit of research an write 1 email,a job normally for 20 min.I don't have the " shy loner syndrome" have friends and am perfectly fine chatting to strangers and finding myself in unfamiliar social circumstances, I am also fine when it comes to multitasking,the problem arises when those two are mixed up:when the "internal"-reading,dealing with objects,writing,thinking gets interrupted by the "external"-sound, overheard words,also small talk when my mind is focused on my task.When this happens i just feel like somebody has played an ultra high sound i feel almost agressive,or just like the only thing on earth that would help me would be giant soft headphones.

I went to a gp a while ago because I had problems with my mood being either over anxious or depressed,( she suggested councelling which I am doing once in 2 weeks ,joint sessions with my boyfriend),(however the doctor just asked me basic questions about my apetite, which is fine, and if i ever selfharmed which i never did until after that visit(don't worry: nothing serious,just a scratch to draw attention)the counceling really helped to even out my moods and to communicate with my bf, to an extend that i can say I am fine and feel o.k. with myself,however the sound sensitivity issue dates back when i was about 8 & i can recall getting upset and angry about my mom eating a sweet during piano practice, at that time i was generally fine and didnt have any depression issues.It feels like after recovering from depression i have uncovered another problem that is older.I am easy about it but would like to know what it is to be able to deal with it without making people close to me upset

1)when I say painful I mean not physically painful but a kind of inner tention (perhaps I shoul use the old term and say "nervous") the interruption is painfully unpleasant, not the level of noise (the tiniest noise can have the worst effect,like somebody scrunching a piece of paper etc.)
2)my mum used to get headaches, but i am fine in this respect.
3)I don't take any medication
4)the thing about your daughter sounds kind of similar beause i can spend a lot of time on something that really draws me in, but even then i work much slower with somebody around because of the fear that that person will interrupt me directly or indirectly.
for example loud animal or nature noises don't really distract me but a conversation in the next room will, so i imagine it has to do with either somebody drawing my attention away through wanting something directly from me or
me involuntarily deciding that sound stimulus is more important that reading etc.
I suppose everybody find his or her limits...

Answer 1

God, it's a long message. You either are an introvert, or you are about to burn out. Take a vacation with your bf or do something you like.

Answer 2

I think going to your doctor and your counsellor are both good ideas. The fact that you state that the counselling helped you in the past might indicate that a little more may help you more, too. The problem is that most of the people who respond here, are not professional, so people can only surmise, and then probably not that well. Then you can ad to that, the fact that people here cannot ask additional questions. You are only going to get guesses. I can say, that I have always had a problem with conversations distracting me while reading (especially if it was boring material that I had to read, and did not really want to read). When you say that the noises are "painful", that is a little difficult to understand. Does that mean that noises are just really loud sounding to you because they just distract you that much? Are they painful because they bother you like a loud noise would if you had a hangover, or something? Do you get headaches, or auras, as in migraines or tension headache? The reason I ask about headaches is not due to the "pain" thing, but migraines can make you more sensitive to things, even if the pain has not exactly begun. ADHD really can make you much more distracted from outside stimulus, so when you are reading, that could be affecting you. My daughter was considered ADD, but not hyperactive and she had good friends, but was easily distracted with only some things, and just did not get certain aspects of her homework done. Her teachers would say, "She looks like she is working - I just can't figure out why she did not get the work done." But she would spend tons of time in heavy concentration on a project she liked and do artwork, etc. with no problems. My son would be so irritated with little things (ADHD). When he was younger, he hated those little wrinkles you get in your socks sometimes. If they were not fixed, it would bother him a lot. ADHD often makes people overly sensitive to outside stimulus in various ways. It is said that for some reason the mind and the body have trouble screening out the things that people normally can screen out. Also, you do mention having overcome depression, so maybe you are having some sort of symptoms from that yet, but did you take any medication for depression? Remember, many medications can cause lots of side effects. Well, in order not to wander off in many directions think about these: ADHD or ADD, possible migraines or other headaches, hormones, thyroid, other things the counsellor could help with, or something entirely different that the physician might find. Just like I said, even a doctor can have difficulty determining what a person's symptoms really mean. Here is something to ad to the ADD thing: some people believe that ADD or ADHD might in some cases, be caused by difficulties with foods (which I tend to believe from experience). There are books that address this, and you would have to type in ADHD and food allergies to get a search for this. You will find very interesting reading on this subject. Then read about migraines and see if you have any of the symptoms possibly related to this (also sometimes caused by food sensitivites). Then you might ask your doctor about possible hormonal causes, and also if your thyroid checked out normally, or whether it could be a little overactive? Perhaps going back to your doctor, or seeing a different one might be a good step, if you do not find something that makes sense to you. Do yo take time to relax? A little time out from obligations? Like another responder mentioned, we do need to balance things, and not do too much. Make sure you are not trying to do too much, thus causing added tension for yourself. Have some fun, too. Good luck, and don't get too frustrated, you will figure it out.

Answer 3

I'm not an expert on the subject, but it does sound like you are suffering from a quite bad version of thought disorder. My first thought was Dyspraxia, but reading it I doubt it is (as you can cope with talking to strangers, you self esteem levels don't seem too low, etc).

It sounds a lot like a kind of thought disorder related problem though. A lot of the symptoms you speak of though could be transferred to a lot of conditions, but I wouldn't like to name names.

Have you possibly considered asking to see a doctor about it, as he may be able to refer you to a team who might be able to help you more?

Edit: Ah, that makes a tiny bit more sense. The GP will ask about your eating habits, sex life, have you harmed yourself, etc to ascertain what level of "risk" you may be, how badly your condition may be affecting your life, etc. Pretty standard stuff.

Hmm, the sweet one is rather interesting. In a wierd kind of way it makes sense. I have to say I don't think you have anything you particularly need to worry about. The only possibility I can think of would be very light bi-polar disorder, but even then I'm not entirely sure.

To be fair I think you're on the right tracks anyway. Seeing your consellor, working through your issues, recognising your problems are causing you an issue...you're on the right path.

As for the rest, have you thought about trying to learn some focusing strategies of any sots - playing games where you need to multi-task (like air-plane simulations) and the like? Sounds strange, but it might help you out and help you focus. The rest of the time is really just learning to centre yourself and calm down when you get stressed, as the problems you do have may get a whole lot worse if you're stressed.

Just my 2 pennies

Toodles

Answer 4

This sounds alot like inattentive type ADHD. There are two types of ADHD - hyperactive type and inattentive type (and you can be combined type). The inattentive type doesn't have a hyperactive body, more like a hyperactive mind. Trouble screening out external noise and conversations is a classic symptom. Do you find yourself evesdropping in restaurants without meaning to, and missing the conversations of the people at your table?

The inattentive type is more common in females. The inattentive type often goes undiagnosed because the symptoms are "quieter" and they only become a problem when you confront a new challenge to concentrating.

You should definitely get screened for ADHD.

Depression is found more often in people with ADHD than in people without it, by the way.

Answer 5

Maybe you just dont like working with people and young people are especially trying, this doesn't mean you have a problem. Learning to accept our limitations can be very liberating. Your irritability when you get disrupted would point to this fact.

Why not consider a career were you work alone or in a small group, or in peaceful surroundings maybe a libriarian.

Answer 6

try the headphones, try anything you feel might assist you in performing your tasks like any other workiing person. All of us need some kind of crutch, be it physical or mental or both. Do not allow your internal handicaps to over come your more sensible abilities and adversly effect your mind to reason out the solutions.

Answer 7

How long has this been a problem? Ever suffer from burnout? It might help to increase your physical activity. Maybe a vacation. Anything to get away from your routine.

Answer 8

I think you may be trying too hard. I get a similar thing when I'm trying to do something with children around - especially when they won't behave. The problem is you can's shoot them! I just scare them half to death if it gets too much!