I suspect I have undiagnosed ADD?

I already see a psychiatrist for OCD and have an appointment itomorrow. I suspect I had ADD. I am very disorganized. I am late to things, forget things, lose things frequently, etc. I am bad at time management. I am currently involved with my state's vocational rehabilitation program. They send me to job club where you spend 2 hours a week at an organization looking for jobs. Otherwise I don't look for jobs on my own because I don't have any focus whatsoever. I feel like if I had focus I would have found a job a long time ago. I don't think I'll be able to address these issues without professional help.

The thing is, I am worried my psychiatrist will put me on controlled substances. I am willing to take any medication that isn't a controlled substance. I know Strattera exists. I am just nervous bringing this up. I also know I will have to do therapy to change patterns of behavior, not just take meds, if I am prescribed them.

Hi Littleflower12 ,

Welcome to the forum . I think if you make it perfectly clear to your Dr. about your wishes , there should be some kind of compromise possible .

As far as losing stuff - I've gotten myself in the habit of using one place for one thing . For example , my keys go on a hook by my door at home . If I find that I have walked inside without putting them there , I get up from wherever I am in the house and go place them immediately . When I'm out , I put them in my bag - same place , every time . It take practice and perseverance but once it becomes a habit , it's almost automatic .

Time management can be tricky . I've found that knowing how long a task will take helps me get motivated . When I'm dragging my heels over doing the dishes , I remind myself that it will only take me 5 minutes to wash everything and put it in the rack to dry . Same with housecleaning . I can vacuum the whole place in 30 minutes . Knowing that it's only going to take half an hour makes the whole thing seem less daunting .

I think that setting one or two small goals is far easier to accomplish than trying to plan out a whole day . Do you get more things done in the morning or in the later part of the day ? Understanding the time of day when you're more focused can help a lot . I'm an afternoon - evening person . I need to ease into my day and am not very productive in the AM so I make notes to myself to get X task done before bedtime .