Sorry DV, but THAT is bullshit. ADD can be totally debilitating and CAN have a very negative affect on ones life, and this is coming from one who has it, and who one of his twin sons have it and to play it down as "just a bit of extra energy" is a slap in the face to those who have had deal with it or those that do have to deal with it, as nothing more than an just annoying fly.
For YOU, it may have just been a minor annoyance but for others, it can be sooooo much more than that.
It just this kind of thinking that really needs to stop in regards to mental illnesses and mental abnormalities.
I'm curious. Do you also believe that one who is on the manic side of a bipolar episode is experiencing "just a bit of extra energy" or one who is depressed is experiencing just a bit of lack of energy or that one who has dyslexia just sees the world in a different way and therefore doesn't need the training to overcome it or one who is schizophrenic just has the ability to peer into another dimension.
Sorry to come off a bit strong here, but you hit too close to home with that statement.
ADD is VERY real, IS a chemical imbalance, and IS a disorder AND much like any other type of mental or physical disability or illness, there is a wide variance on how debilitating it can be.
I'll first just share my own personal experience with it, and I will also confess that I haven't done years of study and research on it, but my partner also was diagnosed with it as a child, and then again as a teen and she was a nutcase. She has since changed her diet and stopped taking the medication and it's effectively made her a lot more calm, and she is learning techniques every day to quell her erratic, incessantly thinking and hyperactive side while still embracing them and using it to her advantage.
Now that being said, it may again be a case of falsely diagnosed ADD, but it may also mean that she shares similar symptoms as yourself and that it is actually just a type of person and NOT that there is something wrong with you.
Feeling worthless isn't attributed to ADD, that it some kinks that you have to work through as a masseuse would work through knots in your back or something. It's not easy man and even I feel that way on most days. Inbox me and we can talk through it and raise your self esteem. Even a bit of a chat every day will see a difference, and I'll share some tricks that I try to use every day to change the mental habits of feeling that way.
My memory sucks balls as well dude. I forget the tiniest things. i thought it was because I took drugs for like 5 years, but that isn't it. To be honest, I never cared. I often live a very placid and careless life (while still active and with a lot of pressure) but I have to accept that I won't remember most people I meet in the day and an array of other 'important' things. Luckily my partner has a god memory and she keeps me in check. That is my cure. It is in that different light that I don't see it as a disability. We are all different and that's just the way it is. Fuck memory. We don't need to remember things as well as others. It helps you live more in the moment anyway
And as for being unmotivated, i'd say that stems from having lack of responsibility as a child, or not being eased into it slowly and instead just being heaped with the weight of the world one day. I know a lot of people, including myself, that were in that situation as kids and now lose motivation easily or do now know how to build it up and maintain it themselves.
I don't think that way about schizophrenia and other serious disorders, but I don't like to think of them as a disorder or ailment. We are all the way we are, and being diagnosed or labeled does not mean you are going to die and it does not change who you are. Sometimes nothing can change it. There is medication for serious things, but I think there are also always herbal remedies to combat those same negative traits that we either do not associate with, or do not find useful in our lives (like hallucinations, or anxiety) but with smaller things like memory loss, feelings of low self-worth, etc; I believe you are no different to the next person. Why mentally place yourself at a handicap and believe that there is something wrong with you for your whole life? You only get one, enjoy it! There is an absolute multitude of celebrities, successful people, and HAPPY people who are diagnosed with severe ADHD, OCD and all of these other mental disabilities that simply thrive as a result of their own individual fixation on ONE thing, their incessant internal dialogue, their dedication, hyperactivity, annoying nature (comedians) and other traits that the western medicine world would have you believe needs to be stunted with a pill.
In your eyes this may all be belittling a serious thing, but that's just how I feel and I can guarantee you I am far from a normal person. On some days I believe I was UNDER-diagnosed in regards to my depression, anxiety and ADD, but on most days I know that it's who I am and you can't label a single aspect the ever-changing liquid state of human consciousness.
I hope I haven't offended you, it wasn't my intention! Hopefully this at least explains my train of thought when I say things like that which can be perceived as VERY out-of-line and closed minded.
Peace out brother.
