TL;DR: ADHD is actually mislabeled executive dysfunction. This cheesy YouTube channel is very informative and encouraging: https://m.youtube.com/c/HowtoADHD htt

TL;DR: ADHD is actually mislabeled executive dysfunction. This cheesy YouTube channel is very informative and encouraging: https://m.youtube.com/c/HowtoADHD https://m.youtube.com/c/HowtoADHD. It's going to be hard, but very rewarding, to see a therapist/psychiatrist and be officially diagnosed. We can't answer the question in the title for you, because that would be a diagnosis, which we are either unqualified to make, or would only be able to do so in an explicit professional setting. We can - or I can (hopefully) - help you get a better handle on the surrounding context of ADHD. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is one of the most unhelpful acronyms I have ever seen. - For those with ADHD, hyperactivity is an emergent effect of the more fundamental symptoms, and many with ADHD present with hyperactivity inconsistently or not at all. - Attention Deficit isn't even a symptom. It's just what most of the base symptoms look like to an outside observer. We should really start calling it EFDD: Executive Functioning Dysfunction Disorder. - ADHD's primary symptom is Executive Dysfunction. We have plenty of attention, but can't choose where it goes. We can listen intently only to have our focus unintentionally moved elsewhere. We have a very difficult time starting or switching tasks, which makes us appear lazy, uninterested, and distracted. - The next major symptom is a deficit in working memory. We struggle to hold more than a handful of data points - or even 2 or 3 - in memory without writing and referencing them externally. This compounds on the executive dysfunction, because we often can't remember all of the parts of a conversation that we did listen to. It also means we have an easier time focusing on subjects that we have built contextual long-term memory around. The executive dysfunction part is because we don't feel enough dopamine. - Specifically, we have too many transporter proteins at the "synaptic cleft" that are responsible for "reuptake", which is how dopamine gets put back in the neurotransmitter to be used again later. Because reuptake happens too quickly, we don't feel the effects of dopamine long enough to utilize them effectively. - Not enough dopamine leaves us "understimulated". It's hard to get up and do something, because we don't feel ready. - Our brains are constantly trying to find easier sources of dopamine, like novel hacker news arguments, or that annoying ticking sound from down the hall that no one else noticed or cares about. Getting diagnosed and starting medication and therapy is the most meaningful thing I have ever done for my mental health. It was incredibly difficult, too, because I had to find affordable insurance that would cover therapy, find a therapist that accepts that insurance, set an appointment with them, wait about a month for the earliest appointment I could schedule, set another appointment with a psychiatrist that could prescribe me medication, etc. etc. all on my own, all while struggling with the very disorder I was seeking help to manage. It fucking sucked, but it was absolutely worth it.