I was diagnosed with ADD as a kid (before it was ADHD). People always describe the disorder as "lack of focus" but that's a really poor description for what I have.

I would say I have "hyper focus", to the point where if I'm working on something interesting, I will lose track of time and am unable to redirect my attention to anything else.

This makes me incredibly "spacey" as often my mind is still fixated on the task even long after I've stopped working on it. It also makes it very hard for me to accomplish any task I don't think are interesting...

And often a new idea will strike me like an epiphany that immediately takes the top spot of my attention.

The result is I have hundreds of half finished projects in flight across countless areas of interest.

> I would say I have "hyper focus", to the point where if I'm working on something interesting, I will lose track of time and am unable to redirect my attention to anything else.

I feel like knowing this tendency has made me extremely protective and avoidant of taking on tasks. I appear “lazy” to the outside observer. It’s something I’m still trying to solve.

Same here. People sometimes say my stuff is over engineered. What they're seeing is that I have additional requirements relate to keeping the project in a shape where I stay interested in it long enough to make progress.

Its not exactly a recipe for reliable technology but neither is what the managers are suggesting (or rather, suggesting differently today than they did yesterday) so I manage to make it work out OK most of the time.

Well, it's well known that ADD/ADHD aren't about lack of focus, but about an inability to direct one's focus to where it's needed.

Normal people can think "I need X, let's work on X" but ADHD people are at the mercy of what's "chosen for them" by their brain.

This was probably fine 4000 years ago, when the world was looser, and people could find their place in life regardless of their particular quirks, but not so much nowadays.

This difficulty or inability to direct focus can be "trained away" with enough effort, but it isn't easy at all.

I feel like that’s a different type of ADD or something. My wife has that type, so if she’s on her phone or focused on something I almost have to shake her to get her attention, whereas I’m very much the opposite (hard to focus on anything). Makes it hard to watch a series together bc she always wants to binge the whole thing in one sitting and I can never watch more than two episodes at a time.

I was diagnosed ADD as well. This is my exact experience. Usually my focus being too strong on things I like, and an inability to direct it elsewhere towards uninteresting tasks. (picking up, making bed, dishes)

This used to upset me, but as time goes on I'm more excited about it. Sometimes I run into someone else that only does that one or two things. They are happy they finished them, etc., but they seem envious of being able to do lots of things even if they don't end up mattering.

I read this comment and it matched my experience so closely I had to double check it wasn't a copy of one of my own posts.

We really do need an update to the diagnostic criteria and descriptions for ADHD, Autism and their combinations (DSM6?). I think monotropism is a good overarching description that aligns better with what we with these diagnosis experience.

Yes. Rather a lack of control of the subject and intensity of focus. Which piss everyone off because they can't steer it from the outside, hence the "lack of focus" perspective.

Obsessive compulsive disorder. Only directed towards work and projects. I have it too.

Same for me. I think this experience is pretty common amongst people diagnosed with AD[H]D.

Did ADD turn into ADHD? I thought there was ADHD and ADD