Attention Span

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Is anyone else like this? I read half a book and put it down. I then watched half of movie. I then search for random things on the internet. I think about how interesting the movie is but how I can't go back to it yet because I need to ....do some other random thing. Is this ADD or something else? I get depressed with myself because I seem to go in circles. I have all these half completed things. I have a ton of items open on my computer and a ton of things on my desktop. I'm having a problem locking down and doing 1 task.

It could be ADHD.

It could also be boredom or depression: you keep trying different things to get that "lift" in mood, but nothing works, so you drop it halfway through and try something else.

I tend to do that.

Maybe you're right.....I could be bored. I have no friends to go anywhere with and crave sometimes to go somewhere with someone. Having 1 good friend would be good enough. Most of my socialization comes from the Internet (which is OK, but sometimes it's nice to go to a movie with someone).

Yeah, I do that. I sometimes spend hours rolling around in cyberspace before actually completing the task I assigned myself...while watching a movie, playing a video game, what-have-you. I am very ADD, so I guess it's just that.

I do this as well. I also tend to do more than one thing because I can't keep my focus on it. Right now I have ALOTO playing and I am doing this. I have also done video games and computer at the same time. My brothers did it too, computer and TV so what's the difference? They sure don't have ADD.

Half a book? Try barely getting through the first chapter. It takes a very skilled author to get me to hyperfocus on a book.
I do get bored of doing a lot of things in a day. Although today I was well into my Harry Potter fanfiction.

I do that all the time. I have a master's thesis that only needs one chapter to be completed, and it's been like that for about 2.5 years. I enrolled in a phd program so i don't think about it too much. I also have three half-read books on my shelves, and some other things.

I have been there too. For some reason when I read a book on the computer I am much more efficient. Maybe because when I am reading a book I'm constantly measuring how many pages I have turned and "if it's good yet".

it could be adhd. i found this video extremely useful. it helped me understand my adhd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3d1SwUXMc0

I have ADHD and I am like this. I have started many more books in my life than I have finished.

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My attention span is much shorter than half a book. As a child it was so short I did not like words over three syllables long or numbers over three digits long.

Words

ADHD Inattentive
Attention span
Sustained attention
Continuity of thought (paying attention and memory together)

Other

Loop thoughts

In some cases, perhaps petit (absence/TLE/complex partial and so on)
In some cases, side-effect of a brain injury of some type
In some cases, side-effect of a concussion (car crash, sports, etc.)

For some reason I respond well to coffee - caffeine compounds - which temporarily improve the length of my attention span a little (not a cure) for a number hours (four hours or so) so I can process words like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and numbers like 1,000,000. Stimulants - alerting agents - do work for a few of those with ADHD (not everyone with ADHD)(again, not a cure).

umm ... what was the question?

this is an AS feature.

it is called a lack of central coherence and it does look like adhd but it isnt.

as far as i am aware peopole with adhd jump from here to there all the time.

AS people can do this and then they catch it and .....then thats it, they then can exhibit the hyperfocus that the adhd just cant do.


unless we have that focus we tend to be very much adhd.

we are either uber focused or not at all and unlike most non- as people we rarely get that balance right of just enough and we get tired when we think.

this issue for me is controlled by a lot of self discipline and control..when i find myslf daydreaming i tell myself to get back on track...i only work for 50 minutes sessions unless i forget time and then i dont stop.

it takes work but with time, patience and a little discpline it can be achieved and a lot can be done.

first step is recognising it.

I agree with this. I was misdiagnosed as adhd when there was never a clear sign it was adhd, it was Asperger's.

I do switch from things often to often, then I find something interesting and I'll focus on it alone for months sometimes.

People with ADHD can hyperfocus too. It's one of the common symptoms.