Do I Have ADHD…or Am I Just Lazy?

Do you leave things until the last minute? Have trouble getting motivated? Flake out on boring chores? You may have grown up with people telling you to “just try harder.” Parents, teachers, coaches, and other authority figures may have told you that you have a lot of potential but that you need to apply yourself. They may even have called you lazy. But is your problem just being lazy, or could you have ADD/ADHD?

LAZINESS VS. ADD/ADHD

People with ADD/ADHD have brains that work differently than those who don’t have the condition and differently from lazy people. People who are lazy typically don’t make an effort to complete tasks at work, school, or home. ADD/ADHD people, however, may try really, really hard but still can’t tackle what they want to accomplish. This can lead to frustration, low self-esteem, and feeling bad about your abilities. Do you leave things until the last minute? Have trouble getting motivated? Flake out on boring chores? You may have grown up with people telling you to “just try harder.” But is your problem just being lazy, or could you have ADD/ADHD?

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COMMON SIGNS OF ADD/ADHD

To understand if your issues are due to ADD/ADHD, which affects an estimated 4.4% of American adults, check to see if you have these common symptoms associated with the condition.

• Short attention span. People with ADD/ADHD have trouble keeping their attention on boring, routine, everyday tasks (such as washing the dishes, filling out reports at work, or emptying the trash). If you have a short attention span, you may forget about a task altogether, start it but not finish it, or do a rushed and careless job of it.
• Distractibility. People with ADD/ADHD are easily distracted. This is likely connected to a tendency to notice more in their environment than others. If you’re easily distracted, sounds (like the notifications on a phone), lights, smells, and moving objects may cause you to get off task.
• Disorganization. Having ADD/ADHD is associated with problems with organization of time and space. Being disorganized means you may have a habit of being late or struggling to meet deadlines. You may have a hard time keeping your things organized, so your office desk, drawers, and home may be messy.
• Procrastination. People with ADD/ADHD often put things off until the last moment. You may not start a project until a deadline is near or until someone else is angry with you for not doing it.
• Poor internal supervision. It’s common for people with ADD/ADHD to have poor judgment and impulse control. They tend to say or do things without considering the consequences, and they don’t always learn from their mistakes.
• Lack of motivation. People with ADD/ADHD may struggle with motivation, which is one of the key reasons why they are labeled as “lazy.”

You can also take this ADD/ADHD Quiz for adults to see if you might have it.

ADD/ADHD AND THE BRAIN

ADD/ADHD is a brain-based disorder. In the healthy brain, concentration causes blood flow to increase in certain regions, especially the prefrontal cortex, an area involved with focus, planning, organization, impulse control, judgment, and follow-through. The brain SPECT imaging work at Amen Clinics reveals that when people with ADD/ADHD try to concentrate, blood flow tends to decrease in the prefrontal cortex, making it difficult to stay focused. This means that the harder ADD/ADHD people try, the worse it gets. If you have this condition, when you make a concerted effort to pay attention, finish a work project, or do your household chores, it backfires. ADD/ADHD is also associated with issues with neurotransmitters, which are chemical messengers in the brain. Some types of the condition—based on over 160,000 brain scans from patients in 155 countries, Amen Clinics has identified 7 types of ADD/ADHD—are tied to a relative deficiency of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical heavily involved with attention span, focus, follow-through, and motivation. When its availability in the brain is low, people tend to struggle with the common symptoms of ADD/ADHD.

TREATING ADD/ADHD

The good news is that ADD/ADHD is treatable. With targeted treatment, people with this condition often get much better. Effective treatment does not make ADD/ADHD sufferers different people: It removes the barriers hindering them from being the people they already are. Effective treatment for this condition is like glasses for people who have trouble seeing.  The glasses do not change people, they just make their vision more effective. With the right treatment plan, you can stop feeling like you’re lazy and start achieving what you want in life. ADD/ADHD and other mental health issues can’t wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever and waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make your relationships and symptoms worsen over time. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.