Is this something only people with ADHD suffer from?
I'm approaching 45 and my memory has always been like this. For things I am interested in I'm all ears but for anything I'm finding boring I really struggle to concentrate and take it in.
FYI I don't have ADHD (at least it's something I've never considered myself to have).
Careful of Rule 1. Like most things, the symptom is not something only ADHD people experience, but for ADHD people it can be debilitating enough to affect their lives significantly. For example not being able to concentrate on something even if not doing it will lead one to economic disaster etc.
Yeah that's how I try to explain ADHD to neuro typical people. It's a lot of things that everyone has in some ways (poor attention span, executive dysfunction, working memory issues, rejection sensitivity, etc.), but in a nice package, cranked up to eleven (thousand).
It's not entirely accurate but it's good enough to make people understand what it is.Sorry. Reading what I asked, reads that I am questioning people with ADHD. My original intention was questioning myself. I've never considered myself to have ADHD (I've just never looked into it) but this is certainly a trait that I've suffered from from school onwards. From my school reports they always said I lacked concentration which was true and still is to this day. 30 years ago, when I was at school, ADHD wasn't something even mentioned.
I'm not questioning ADHD, my eldest son has been diagnosed with ADHD and ASD. He's certainly different to his brother but not too different to standout to people in the street. I've had family members question his diagnosis which is annoying as they don't see what we see on a day to day basis.
I think no one likes to learn things they have no interest in, and it's generally harder. For me it sometimes feels like when in a movie a grenade goes off and all you hear is that loud peeeeep. I know i should listen, i know it's very important but my brain just shuts off, and there is very little i can do. I can force myself to listen but the peeeep only gets quieter, but it's never gone.
This basically describes my entire college career.
In middle school i had this game where i would look at the teacher when he was talking and see how long i could sit there without listening. I thought that's the kind of thing everyone did. I went to a new school and i was way ahead in math foe example, so i would spend most of the time just not paying attention at all. I'm not joking when i blinked once and suddenly i didn't recognise anything on the whiteboard. I was like: holy shit, what happened, how long was i gone?
Just got to the chapter on motivating with extrinsic rewards.
