ADHD Self-Screening: Stimulation Filtering & Time, Money, Stuff

Continuing my series of ADHD posts, I’ll be posting a robust self-screening for women in installments.

If you’re just entering into the conversation now, welcome to the neurological-dysfunction party! 🙂 I encourage you to poke through my May entries and check out how this ADHD thread emerged for me in a very personal way.

The screening comes from Women with Attention Deficit Disorder, a book by Sari Solden I introduced in another blog post. What I loved when I first read through it was that I was simultaneously reflecting on my experiences/whether I matched the ADHD profile *and* learning about the varied symptoms of the disorder. That’s what I hope can happen here.

I’ll post a section of the self-screening test at a time, maybe two at most.  I hope that sharing the information in smaller doses will helpfully assist in reflection and application.

If you’re up for it, share a story in the comments about one of the items below that you see in yourself–you don’t have to think you’ve got ADHD to contribute. I’d love to hear and discuss with you! In a future post, I’ll probably pull on a particular strand or two myself and share a story.

An important note as you consider the questions on the self-screening:

Every woman has the kinds of feelings or problems listed in this checklist at some time or another in her life. The important question is if you have them more severely than the average person. Have they been present for most of your life? Do you feel these particular symptoms are the major reason you may be having difficulty in your achievement level, self-esteem, relationships, and moods? If your overwhelming reaction to this list is a big “Yes!” you might want to consider a professional consultation and full AD/HD assessment. (Women w/ ADD, p120)

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Stimulation Filtering System

• Do you feel bombarded in department stores or grocery stores?
• Do you feel overloaded and exhausted after a day at the office?
• Do you feel overloaded from the noise and activity at parties?
• Do you often shut down in the middle of the day, feeling assaulted?
• Is it impossible for you to shut out nearby sounds and distractions that don’t bother others?

Time, Money, Stuff (TMS)

• Is time, money, paper or “stuff” dominating your life and impacting your ability to achieve your goals?
• Are bills and important papers and forms piling up unattended?
• Are you spending a majority of your time coping, looking for things, catching up, or covering up?
• Have you never learned to balance a checkbook?
• Is your car constantly filled with all sorts of stuff?

[okay, not even my car is this bad. or weird. and my junk usually stays inside. oy, that sounds like a bad thing!]

• Do you feel that you can’t clean up without a tremendous amount of effort?
• Do you often feel life racing out of control or that it’s impossible to meet your daily demands?
• Do you have trouble meeting deadlines, planning, and prioritizing tasks?
• Do people frequently get annoyed with you for being late or forgetting appointments?
• Is packing for trips a nightmare?
• Despite your best efforts, is it impossible for you to maintain systems?
• Do you spend much of your energy on organization to the exclusion of many other things you’d like to do?
• Are you too embarrassed to have someone come to your house to clean because they would see your mess?
• Are you too embarrassed to hire someone to help keep you organized because you think you’re beyond help?
• Do you start each day determined to get organized?

Lavinia Porter’s real voice

I’ve added a title to the ever-increasing, never-diminishing list of books to pursue:  Women’s Voices from the Oregon Trail.  I learned of the book through Tonia’s recent “letter” at Study In Brown which I encourage you to read.

This particular segment of her letter/post checked me:

i have been curled up with Women’s Voices from the Oregon Trail.  oh my, what those women endured.  their reality was a far cry from the christian fantasy world i read about as a young person.  (i’m talking to you, Bethany House.)  those fictional women always kept their sweet spirits and a pretty dress.   but the very real “Lavinia Porter drained her husband’s whole barrel of whisky.”  and it’s hard to blame her in a world where “Then cholera took my oldest boy His sister fell beneath the wagon And was crushed beneath the wheels.”

I would make a brave effort to be cheerful and patient until the camp work was done.  Then starting out ahead of the team and my men folks, when I thought I had gone beyond hearing distance, I would throw myself down on the unfriendly desert and give way like a child to sobs and tears, wishing myself back home with my friends and chiding myself for consenting to take this wild goose chase.  ~Lavinia Porter

dear Lavinia, i hear you. my life is so very easy compared to yours, but i think all women, especially mothers, know what it is to push ourselves beyond our endurance and to cry aching tears when no one is looking.

i don’t know how to say this without stepping on toes, but i think that christian women need to not be afraid to hear people’s real voices instead of the gussied up, glossed over, imaginary world of the past.

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A real voice.  I must remember that that’s what I’m thirsty for, what makes me feel known.  And that’s what I want to cultivate myself and share with others.

Which means that even when what I’m hearing is not easy for me to receive, even when it’s inconvenient or speaking something that clashes with my beliefs, I need to be open to listening because a real voice utters it.

Which means that I must always self-examine to see if I’m operating from my real voice, or if I’m applying the gussied-up, glossy sheen–highlighting or accenting strategic parts but omitting others.

(Abba, thank you for this space.)