Science & Society
SALVADOR DALI
The painter's exhibitionism could also be explained as ADD impulsiveness.
JAMES CARVILLE
When the political guru was a child, his mother said, he could never sit still.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
Inattentiveness could explain why he was 4 years old before he could speak.
THOMAS EDISON
The future inventor's teachers described him as being "addled."
MARIETTE HARTLEY
It runs in families. The actress has spoken about her and her daughter's ADHD.
Ditsy But Normal?
How can one distinguish between a real attention disorder and what seems to be a modern epidemic of distractibility? The key, say experts, is persistence of symptoms--especially hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity--causing real impairment in several areas of life. On a scale from never to very often, if your answers to most of the following questions are very often, it may be worth checking with a doctor.
How often do you:
have trouble wrapping up the final details of a project, once the challenging parts are done?
have difficulty getting things in order?
have trouble remembering appointments or obligations?
delay or avoid getting started on a task that requires a lot of thought?
fidget with your hands or feet when you have to sit down for a long time?
feel overly active, as if you were driven by a motor?
find yourself talking too much in social situations?
misplace or have difficulty finding things?
feel distracted by activity or noise around you?
From Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale Symptom Checklist Developed With The World Health Organization And The Workgroup On Adult ADHD
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