More threads by shatteredspirit

I was out with a couple friends today and one asked if we thought she had ADD. As she was talking and asking about herself I remembered that I was just talking to my husband about this yesterday.

I am always shocked when I ask if he does some of the same things I do and he says no. One question I asked him a long time ago was if he ever gets a "test pattern", meaning, does his mind ever go blank and you feel like the old test pattern on the TV, just blank with a hum (no hum really, just trying to explain).

He said no, he didn't ever think that he goes blank, he said he always has something in his mind. I said, you don't ever "zone out", and he said no, he didn't think so. I thought every body did that.

Anyway, back to the ADD question. Yesterday I asked him about if his mind wonders much during a sermon. He said no again, not normally, but he does take notes in church and seems to always be aware of what is being said. I told him that probably 90% of the time I could walk out of church and not be able to tell him what the sermon was about. My mind is all over the place. I find it very difficult to concentrate on conversations, and forget a lot of what people have told me.

So in thinking about this I thought back to how hard it was for me in school, it was hard to pay attention.

Is that part of ADD?? I am not asking for a dx, but just wondering. Years ago I went to a Psychiatrist, who said I had ADD after asking me a few questions, but I didn't take it seriously because since he specialized in it I figured he prob thought everyone had it. He didn't do much but ask a few questions, so how could he dx me with it???

I have been in T for 11 yrs, no one else has ever mentioned ADD to me.

Thanks for any input.

P.S. LOL, in reading my preview of the post I thought yep, there I was again, a friend talking about one thing and I'm not listenting to her and thinking of something else. I rest my case!!! LOL
 
It sounds like it could be, but could it also be a symptom of PTSD? I always thought most people have blank moments too. I know I sure do.
 

David Baxter PhD

Late Founder
It might just be boredom. The only time I ever remembered anything from a sermon was if it annoyed me.

Do you have any difficulty focusing on and remembering things you are interested in and actually want to hear?
 
I have been dx with PTSD so that prob is where the "zoning out" comes from.

Church was just an example, it's not boredom, I am there because I want to hear what they say. I have the problem in any setting, I could be sitting there talking to friends and enjoying a day out. But never mind, who cares.
 

Nutmeg

Member
shatteredspirit.

The things you describe happen to me all the time. I thought these things were fairly universal. I would bet your husband has these experiences but he doesn't recall them. And my mind wanders constantly, I barely pay attention to people talking to me. I'm thinking about other things. Partly because I am predicting everything they're going to say. Partly because my mind works rapidly and doesn't slow down to listen to people. Partly because I'm more interested in something else. And I don't think I have ADD. I might be kind of involved in my own world. There's no way I'd ever focus on a sermon. A lecturing type of tone makes my mind wander, even if the subject interests me.

nutmeg
 
It could be, I have ADD and that's a problem I have.
It could also just have something to do with Short Term Memory, just not being able to retain things right away...some people, unless stored in their Long Term Memory, end up forgetting things.
Do you ever forget things right away but then have them come to you days later or when you try really hard to remember? (Hope that makes sense)
 
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