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[INFP] INFPs - Have you ever been diagnosed as having ADD?

INFPs - have you ever been diagnosed as having ADD?


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highlander

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It seems like INFPs often are considered as having behaviors of a person with ADD. People suspect you have ADD even if you are never diagnosed.

Thoughts?
 

prplchknz

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I've been suspected and tested I do not have add.
 

zago

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I had an INFP roommate who had "ADD." He would take Concerta and shit to help him study. Honestly I don't believe in ADD, I think it is just a personality type thing. I had that same problem but my mommy never agreed to get me any pills for it so I just had to suffer through a learning environment that I didn't relate to whatsoever. INFPs have inferior Te, which is just about the worst thing possible in the public education system and then the corporate world.
 

Standuble

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I have had people ask whether I have adhd and it is something I can imagine in myself however I have never been tested. Although I wonder (if I do have it) if it stole from me any potential I may have had I also perceive it as something I do not want to suppress it with pills for it seems to contain any quirkiness and potential I do have. I guess it ultimately depends if Pe or MBTI exists.

Also note that ADHD does not mean an inability to focus per se. ADHD people can focus perhaps far beyond any neurotypical through a phenomenon known as hyperfocus. You just have to give them something that interests them. I could see an ADHD person who sees great value or interest in school perhaps becoming a model student.
 
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011235813

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I'm (reluctantly) questioning INFP status at the moment but since Ne and Se both fit the bill of "preferring to use a perceiving process in the external world," I'll answer anyway. No, I've never been diagnosed with ADD, and people used to remark on my above-average ability to concentrate when I was growing up.
 

chickpea

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Yes. But I can actually concentrate better than average sometimes.. It's just an issue of motivation mostly.
 

OrangeAppled

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No, never been diagnosed with it nor suspected of it. I too have very good concentration. I did very well in school, although I was not a very disciplined over-achiever, but that just goes to show you can be very Pe and still function just fine.

Interesting how this also conflicts with Dario Nardi's study which shows INFPs being excellent listeners using their "whole" mind to focus on the speaker for much longer than most people do without any break in concentration.

I wonder why the opposite is not considered - perhaps those with ADD tend to test as Pe types even if not?
 

Stanton Moore

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No ADD. When I was younger, I was able to 'hyperfocus' on things, which was very helpful in college and whilst practicing.
So: no.
 

highlander

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I have had people ask whether I have adhd and it is something I can imagine in myself however I have never been tested. Although I wonder (if I do have it) if it stole from me any potential I may have had I also perceive it as something I do not want to suppress it with pills for it seems to contain any quirkiness and potential I do have. I guess it ultimately depends if Pe or MBTI exists.

Also note that ADHD does not mean an inability to focus per se. ADHD people can focus perhaps far beyond any neurotypical through a phenomenon known as hyperfocus. You just have to give them something that interests them. I could see an ADHD person who sees great value or interest in school perhaps becoming a model student.

Please note the question in this thread is about ADD (ADHD without the hyperactivity/impulsiveness part).
 

highlander

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INFPs have inferior Te, which is just about the worst thing possible in the public education system and then the corporate world.

I think maybe you are right about that.

This thread was inspired by the Vicky Jo thread. Also, I have a close relative who is an INFP who was suspected, then diagnosed as not having it and just bored, then continued to have related problems, then was diagnosed with it and on medication for it. It seems to me like INFP personality type can exhibit some of the same characteristics of a person who has ADD. I don't know if ADD is way overdiagnosed or what.

Here is the definition.

http://add.about.com/od/adhdthebasics/a/ADDvsADHD.htm
 

chickpea

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Dr. Amen's 6 Types of ADD

Type 1. Classic ADD (ADHD) -- inattentive, distractible, disorganized, hyperactive, restless, and impulsive.

Type 2. Inattentive ADD -- inattentive and easily distracted, but not hyperactive; sluggish, slow moving, low motivation, and often described as space cadets, daydreamers, couch potatoes.

Type 3. Overfocused ADD - inattentive, trouble shifting attention, frequently get stuck in loops of negative thoughts or behaviors, obsessive, excessive worrying, inflexible, frequent oppositional and argumentative behavior. May or may not be hyperactive.

Type 4. Temporal Lobe ADD - inattentive, irritable, quick temper, aggressive, dark thoughts, mood instability, and severe impulsivity. May or may not be hyperactive.

Type 5. Limbic ADD - inattentive, chronic low grade depression, negativity, "glass half empty syndrome," low energy, and frequent feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness. May or may not be hyperactive.

Type 6. Ring of Fire ADD - inattentive, extreme distractibility, angry, irritable, overly sensitive to noise, light, clothes and touch; often inflexible, cyclic moodiness, hyperverbal, and opposition. May or may not be hyperactive.
 

Seymour

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Here's a study that seems to correlate ADHD with N and P. It's unclear to me what that means, really... since it could mean NPs tend toward ADHD or that some of the behaviors of ADHD overlap with NP correlated behaviors.

Personally, the only time anyone ever floated the idea I might have ADHD was because I was too focused at times (hyper focused). Still, seems to me it was usually in a healthy range, and often actively useful for school and tasks like programming.
 

Eckhart

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Not that I know of, but who knows what people associate me with behind my back.
 

RaptorWizard

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I heard ESTJs like procrastinating and slacking off because their attention is diverted towards the fantastic and the impossible!
 

OrangeAppled

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I had an INFP roommate who had "ADD." He would take Concerta and shit to help him study. Honestly I don't believe in ADD, I think it is just a personality type thing. I had that same problem but my mommy never agreed to get me any pills for it so I just had to suffer through a learning environment that I didn't relate to whatsoever. INFPs have inferior Te, which is just about the worst thing possible in the public education system and then the corporate world.

I did excellent in public school. The academic part of school was a breeze & I was always a top student. I used to win spelling bees & math competitions & all kinds of nerdy stuff. I possessed a combination of being arrogant & principled about doing work well, and I think this IS inferior Te. I couldn't stand to be seen as incompetent or unintelligent, which is precisely why such stereotypes about INFPs irritate me. I liked to project an image of doing well without trying hard & doing it MY own way, which is kind of what was going on anyway. I also felt an intense need to be PERFECT.

I was not a teacher's pet, sometimes even arguing with them openly, but many of them liked me & considered me one of their best students. They would overlook my excessive absences because of that. I also would interpret assignments creatively & it was not only allowed but admired.

The rude awakening is that life is not school. The book smarts required there don't translate very well to most jobs. Jobs are often repetitive in nature because of a single role, whereas school is a variety of subjects that progress in difficulty. In school, you are rewarded by quality of work; in jobs, you are rewarded by how much money your skill brings to a company & how well you schmooze.

The social part of school was another story... I struggled with relating to peers & forming friendships a lot. That's why I was absent so much, as well as a way of testing boundaries & an arrogance over "not needing" to be there everyday because I felt learned faster than my peers.


Dr. Amen's 6 Types of ADD

Type 1. Classic ADD (ADHD) -- inattentive, distractible, disorganized, hyperactive, restless, and impulsive.

Type 2. Inattentive ADD -- inattentive and easily distracted, but not hyperactive; sluggish, slow moving, low motivation, and often described as space cadets, daydreamers, couch potatoes.

Type 3. Overfocused ADD - inattentive, trouble shifting attention, frequently get stuck in loops of negative thoughts or behaviors, obsessive, excessive worrying, inflexible, frequent oppositional and argumentative behavior. May or may not be hyperactive.

Type 4. Temporal Lobe ADD - inattentive, irritable, quick temper, aggressive, dark thoughts, mood instability, and severe impulsivity. May or may not be hyperactive.

Type 5. Limbic ADD - inattentive, chronic low grade depression, negativity, "glass half empty syndrome," low energy, and frequent feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness. May or may not be hyperactive.

Type 6. Ring of Fire ADD - inattentive, extreme distractibility, angry, irritable, overly sensitive to noise, light, clothes and touch; often inflexible, cyclic moodiness, hyperverbal, and opposition. May or may not be hyperactive.

A lot of these just sound like depression or maybe mild personality disorders. Depression does affect attention span & focus. A personality disorder will cause erratic behavior also.
 

Siúil a Rúin

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Dr. Amen's 6 Types of ADD

Type 1. Classic ADD (ADHD) -- inattentive, distractible, disorganized, hyperactive, restless, and impulsive.

Type 2. Inattentive ADD -- inattentive and easily distracted, but not hyperactive; sluggish, slow moving, low motivation, and often described as space cadets, daydreamers, couch potatoes.

Type 3. Overfocused ADD - inattentive, trouble shifting attention, frequently get stuck in loops of negative thoughts or behaviors, obsessive, excessive worrying, inflexible, frequent oppositional and argumentative behavior. May or may not be hyperactive.

Type 4. Temporal Lobe ADD - inattentive, irritable, quick temper, aggressive, dark thoughts, mood instability, and severe impulsivity. May or may not be hyperactive.

Type 5. Limbic ADD - inattentive, chronic low grade depression, negativity, "glass half empty syndrome," low energy, and frequent feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness. May or may not be hyperactive.

Type 6. Ring of Fire ADD - inattentive, extreme distractibility, angry, irritable, overly sensitive to noise, light, clothes and touch; often inflexible, cyclic moodiness, hyperverbal, and opposition. May or may not be hyperactive.
That pretty much sums up the population of internet folk.
 

OrangeAppled

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I heard ESTJs like procrastinating and slacking off because their attention is diverted towards the fantastic and the impossible!

You do grasp the difference between ability and INTEREST or MOTIVATION, don't you?

If this is a matter of self-discipline, then I can't see why ADD is even brought into the picture...

Not all "work" is about dry, repetitive tasks anyway. Plus, any Ne type should be able to put a creative spin on something, and an INFP can do that if they see the value of it. If I want to make a dull task less boring, then I can just create a story around it.

I procrastinate & slack off because I CAN. Then I pull high quality stuff out of my butt at the last minute like many an NP.
 

RaptorWizard

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You do grasp the difference between ability and INTEREST or MOTIVATION, don't you?

If this is a matter of self-discipline, then I can't see why ADD is even brought into the picture...

Not all "work" is about dry, repetitive tasks anyway. Plus, any Ne type should be able to put a creative spin on something, and an INFP can do that if they see the value of it. If I want to make a dull task less boring, then I can just create a story around it.

I procrastinate & slack off because I CAN. Then I pull high quality stuff out of my butt at the last minute like many an NP.

Maximized systems that explain all the dynamics by which our world works will always trump poory developed rush constructions.

It's kind of like how the scientists go with rigorous reasoning, and the religious prophets just do whatever God tells them. The former of course is what works, and the latter is just rushing with the authority without question or deviation.

If you want to walk the way of greatness, get to work and actually build something up, rather than simply throwing whimsical rubbish into the junk synthesizer.
 
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