I found the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale Symptom Checklist difficult to fill out. This actually happens to me fairly often where I find the questions vague or think I can't objectively answer them. Anyway, I didn't have many questions where I fell into the gray boxes, so I don't think that one was particularly helpful.
However, the Daniel Amen checklist was quite different. I related to a lot more of those questions (I think they were more specific) and scored a 32 for the total number of items with a score of 3 or more. For Item 1 I scored 2, for item 6 I scored 3 and for item 7 I scored 4. Dr. Amen says that "more than 20 items with a score of three of more indicates a strong tendency toward ADHD, so there you go.
The first question on the Amen list is confusing to me. Either I didn't display ADHD symptoms in childhood, or I hid them well, or overcompensated well or something. But items 6 and 7 seem to fit me, as do a lot of the other questions.
I will bring these lists to my next C appointment and discuss this with her. I'm going to order the book and have decided I should shelve all the other books and other concerns temporarily and read this one first. I'm thinking it may shed light on a lot of my other issues.
Cobra -- I do not get much exercise. I've always been sedentary and had no interest in organized sports. I'm less sedentary taking care of a small boy than when I WOH, but I'm not getting regular exercise.
I've never been able to find an exercise regimen that I could stick with, so I've never experienced the endorphin high of exercise. Walking, biking and other aerobic exercise has typically been extremely boring. I did like the circuit training I did briefly a long time ago. Maybe it was the varied machines and such that made it interesting.
Solitary exercise is too much like meditation to me (idle brain) so trying to force myself to do it makes me feel anxious like I'm wasting time because I'm not engaging my brain.
It's extremely rare that I don't feel exhausted enough to sleep. I am dependent on the TV to fall asleep, though, probably because the audio gives me something to focus on instead of my churning thoughts. I'm not comfortable in a dark, quiet room and I don't fall asleep as fast. Reading a book at bedtime will put me to sleep in a matter of minutes.
I think I'm more disorganized staying at home because I lack the ability to structure my day. I do often get down on myself for not doing a better job around the house. My mother was the quintessential housewife with the spotless house and I've never measured up to that. Maybe ADD is the reason why.
The disorganization, overwhelming feelings, keeping up with S4 (who appears to have a lot more energy than cac or I did at his age, courtesy of genes I passed on, but which skipped me) and so forth makes me pretty darn tired at day's end.
I did much better at work. It was structured, I had deadlines, I didn't have much for distractions, I spent most of my day alone in my quiet office, I had adult conversation and stimulation. By comparison, my life now as SAHM feels chaotic and most of the time I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water. It's hard for me to recharge because I have so little time to myself, although that is changing as S4 spends longer amounts of time in school and cac proceeds with his GAL.
