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This has been around since the beginning of time. My Dad had it, but it wasn't called that. He was one of the naturally smart guys you would ever meet. He couldn't get through high school, but worked on his own to understand complex engineering and construction issues by the time he was my age.

I was diagnosed three years ago. The medication did not turn me into a semi-comotose zombie. It finally gave me a rudder.

And before you suggest that I work harder or "focus", understand that I rose the the highest levels of the corporate world at a young age.

The flip side to attention deficit is the periodic ability to focus like a laser beam. I could get more "mind work" done in two hours than my peers would do in a week. I then spent the rest of my time surfing the web and watching movies in my office. And I had been working this way my whole life. It will also drive you crazy--never being satisfied with your success, your marriage, your family. Imagine, never being able to relax. It is real.

It is a curse, and whether some of you believe that it exists or not, it doesn't matter. If you think you have this, or if your kids have it--get them tested. Go to a neural psychologist and get a battery of tests. They wont lie to you because most of them dont want you on drugs. There really isn't much in THAT for them.

"And before you suggest that I work harder or "focus", understand that I rose the the highest levels of the corporate world at a young age."

Of course you did. Because when you are focused, you are hyperfocused, and can get more done in thirty minutes than most get done in a day. Then, you will spend half the rest of the day spinning your wheels. But nobody usually notices so much, because you are so productive, and such a go getter when you are focused. Am I close? LOL, I wrote the above before I read all of your post. Yep.

Interesting. I was diagnosed as having ADHD in the 70's when I was very young but my mother, bless her, wouldn't let anyone put me on drugs.

I honestly really don't remember much of my life until around the age of 22. It was just a blur. I have piano compositions and orchestral pieces I wrote in my teens that I know I spent hours and days on, but I don't remember actually writing any of them.

I hate seeing home movies from from my childhood because I was burning at 115% in every single one of them, all of the time. I honestly don't know how my parents put up with it. I would have killed me.

Today, at 37, I'm exactly like you describe: I'll work in a flurry of energy for 4-6 hours, get everything done and then coast for the rest of the week. I've also been successful, I'm a Director of IT but the VP I report to is exactly the opposite of me, he works slow and steady the entire week. It's really bizarre.

Hey! My daughter does that too! Even as a little one she could go outside and draw elaborate pictures with chalk for well over an hour but then not be able to sit still long enough to eat 3 bites of dinner!

You mention it being a curse...she describes it this way. "I can tell myself to do something a certain way, but before I finish the thought I've already done it wrong, then I get mad about doing it wrong and then I get sad when people say 'you're too smart to do things that way! Concentrate!' and then I do it over and over again--hundreds of times a day." I wouldn't want to live her life.