Does INFJ = ADHD? | INFJ Forum

Does INFJ = ADHD?

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Hey, I have ADHD and am an INFJ. A lot of the traits of an INFJ are also characteristics of someone with ADD/ADHD. The only difference really is someone with ADHD can be an extrovert or an introvert.

Maybe INFJs can be mis-diagnosed with ADHD, or maybe INFJ is just a personality type for those who have ADHD?

Thoughts? Have you been diagnosed with ADHD?
 
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Nope, ENTP = ADD

Infact, you're the only INFJ I know, and I know a lot of INFJs, that has ADHD. INFJs are way to fucking calm to be any form of ADD.
 
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maybe i have ADHD
 
Though I'm ENTP...

I can be mellow all day long, then BAM, outta no where I'm dancing around the room acting like an idiot, or running around playing basketball with my own sports comantary.

I know, I'm weird!
 
Wolfe said:
Nope, ENTP = ADD

Infact, you're the only INFJ I know, and I know a lot of INFJs, that has ADHD. INFJs are way to fucking calm to be any form of ADD.
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I'm calm. Being hyper is a trait of some but not all ADHD people. Mostly I'm impulsive, I'm always seeking some sort of stimulation, I always have new crazy ideas and am not stable in any way. I'm so spontaneous. Stuff like that. Being highly intuitive is a trait of ADHD too.
 
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No, I don't think being ADD/ADHD is a common occurance for an INFJ. There are too many personality clashes that occur with the diagnostic tools for ADD (in particular, ADHD). Is it possible? Of course. How likely is it? Very unlikely.

INFJ's are not really all that spontenious, as our actions are mostly planned out. While yes, I do like stimilulation as much as I can get, I can survive without it. I would venture to guess most INFJ's are the same way.

I agree though that being intuitive can be seen as being ADD because to an outside observer it might appear as if things are comming out of nowhere (this would be more Ne then anything, a function INFJ's don't have to use). That is a fallicy though because there is order to most people's intuitive thoughts, or at the very least some kind of order is created.
 
Wolfe said:
Nope, ENTP = ADD

Infact, you're the only INFJ I know, and I know a lot of INFJs, that has ADHD. INFJs are way to fucking calm to be any form of ADD.
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People who have ADD can be calm.
 
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I haven't bothered trying to be diagnosed with any of that, but from what I know, I most likely have ADHD-I (ADHD predominantly inattentive). It's different from the other types of ADHD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADHD-I
 
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Eric86 said:
I haven't bothered trying to be diagnosed with any of that, but from what I know, I most likely have ADHD-I (ADHD predominantly inattentive). It's different from the other types of ADHD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADHD-I
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I am medicated and have been diagnosed with ADHD-I, actually. Interesting to find another INFJ who can see aspects of that in their own life!

I don't know, though. I seemed to score as an INFP a lot more often before I was medicated, and as time progressed with the drug I starting becoming much more of an INFJ.

I have a feeling there is a relationship there. I think that as the medicine helped me develop and refine organizational skills, I started seeing a use of those mechanisms more often and realized that life really was a lot easier as said skills advanced!
 
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I was diagnosed with ADHD-I when I was a kid, but is was a misdiagnosis, the "ADHD" was, in fact, an element of my Asperger's Syndrome called "Executive System Dysfunction" (Which means "crappy Te and Si") mixed in with Bipolar II hypomania.
 
I dont think ADD and infj go together any more than any of the other types.
But what may be mistaken for ADD, is the fact that infj's may be slower to respond than other types.
Slower in response does not mean slower in thinking. I think they tend to process a question (or thought) for many possible answeres, as they tend to see a thought or question from many different angles just by instinct. Thats where the j comes from.
 
I'm sure most of you will disagree, but I don't believe in ADD/ADHD. Someone having such a fast-moving brain that they are easily bored/distracted, or someone being hyper, doesn't strike me as a DISORDER. There isn't something WRONG with those kinds of people; it's just a quirk/characteristic.

I was a VERY hyper child (My parents had to seat-belt me to my chair at the dinner table because I COULDN'T sit still.) and teachers said I had ADHD and wanted to put me on medication. My parents didn't allow it, thank God, and I turned out fine. I always did my chores and got excellent grades in school even back in those hyperactive days...I just couldn't be immobile for more than four minutes! I become more mellow as I got older, though I'm still an energeic person.

There was nothing wrong with me, and I don't think there's anything wrong with anyone else that supposedly has it.
 
I'm ADD I'm not hyper I' pretty calm unless I'm charged with emotion. Now that I think about it maybe I'm not ADD I'm just lazy and need to spend less time day dreaming... hmmm....
 
IndigoSensor said:
INFJ's are not really all that spontenious, as our actions are mostly planned out. While yes, I do like stimilulation as much as I can get, I can survive without it. I would venture to guess most INFJ's are the same way.
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Spontaneity has little to nothing in common with ADHD, as hyperactivity does not equate to spontaneity. Fidgeting and squirming, talking out of turn, and generally not being able to sit still aren't the same thing as, say, randomly deciding to go skydiving (extreme example but hopefully this illustrates my point).

I'm seeing a psychiatrist now for a possible ADD (ADHD-I, whatever - the people writing the DSM sure do like to spark confusion) diagnosis. I've only been to one appointment, but after talking for about three hours he told me that I fit almost no criteria for ADHD, but that there is substantial evidence for ADD. I don't change body positions or constantly tap my toes (well, not in the meeting), but my mind wanders a lot and I usually can't sit down long enough to make any headway studying. My brother and dad both exhibit symptoms (my dad being an INFJ, my brother I don't know..), and ADD is supposed to run in the family.

Personally, I think ADD (not necessarily ADHD) is a copout. If anything, it's a product of too much stimulation in this day and age. I wonder how people don't get distracted, being constantly surround by cell phones, computers, television, etc. I'm willing to swallow my pride, though, if I can get something to help me pass my classes.

To answer the original post, though, I've seen the topic brought up before, and I doubt having INFJ tendencies has much correlation with ADD/ADHD. If INFJ's do tend to have ADD/ADHD more than other types, I think that Minerva's post makes a lot of sense. I feel like I'm naturally interested in a lot of different things, and it's just difficult to focus on ONE neat thing over all the others. I don't like the idea of medicating ADHD kids just to shut them up, either. Giving amphetamines to children seems lazy and irresponsible to me. Coaching kids on how to act in school is what elementary school counselors are for.
 
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Minerva said:
I'm sure most of you will disagree, but I don't believe in ADD/ADHD. Someone having such a fast-moving brain that they are easily bored/distracted, or someone being hyper, doesn't strike me as a DISORDER. There isn't something WRONG with those kinds of people; it's just a quirk/characteristic.
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^ This.

ADD and ADHD have been the most over diagnosed "disorders" of the 20th and 21st century. A child has a short attention span in school? BAM! DISORDER! MEDICATE THEM! A child doesn't pay attention to certain stuff? BAM! DISORDER! MEDICATE THEM!. A child gets easily excitable about things on a (seemingly) random basic? BAM! DISORDER! MEDICATE THEM!

To anyone "medicated" because of ADHD, I always tell to drop the medication (it does more harm than good) and just enjoy their own quirks.

A bit off the original question, but there you go.
 
I am so severely ADD that I am legally disabled. There is an Attention Quotient (AQ) which is scaled the same as the Intelligence Quotient (IQ). My AQ is 54. An IQ of 60 or less is severe mental retardation. My AQ is on that level. When I got my results from my barrage of tests back, the doctor told me something I still find amusing. "The only reason you are functional is because you have a 155 IQ." I had no idea how bad my ADD was until I began treatment and medication. The difference is amazing.

Attention Deficit Disorder is a Cingulate System condition. The Cingulate System governs the brain's ability to switch routines. When the Cingulate System becomes over active, the result is an inability to stay focused on one routine. It will shift itself, thus causing ADD. When the Cingulate System is under active, it will cause obsessive and compulsive symptoms, as it will not allow someone to voluntarily shift routines.

NFJs are inherently double ambidominant cognitives. In other words, NFJs are the most balanced between right and left brained functions. We have both a perception and judging function that are each ambidominant. Ni uses both the right and left sides of the brain, leaning slightly left. Fe uses both the left and right sides of the brain, leaning slightly right. However, these functions are inherently the realm of the opposing hemisphere. We percieve left, and reason right, which means we double back on our own hemispheres to natural balance of percieving right and reasoning left. We perceive on the right side, then the left, and then the right again before we are finished. We reason on the left side, then the right, then the left again before we are finished. Confused yet? The short version is this. No other type processes back and forth through both hemispheres as much as NFJs.

And what is responsible for making all of this switching back and forth happen? You guessed it. The Cingulate System. This is why we are so prone to ADD, and various other Cingulate System disorders.

NTPs are the next most ambihemishpered. They reason very left and perceive very right. Their Cingulate Systems are constantly strained by trying to reconcile very polar thought processes, and are thus nearly as prone to ADD as NFJs, both in likelihood and severity. In some ways, even more so due to the nature of not having the advantage of 'doubling back' through their hemispheres.

NTP ADD is often described as a thought process that is 'like watching TV where someone else has the remote and keeps flipping channels', while NFJ ADD is often described as 'having a dozen televisions playing at the same time on different channels'. We both fight for control of the remote when our Cingulate Systems become over stimulated. The difference is NTPs use it to flip channels when they get it. NFJs only get to choose which dozen channels are playing all at once.
 
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Words of Ivory said:
ADD and ADHD have been the most over diagnosed "disorders" of the 20th and 21st century. A child has a short attention span in school? BAM! DISORDER! MEDICATE THEM! A child doesn't pay attention to certain stuff? BAM! DISORDER! MEDICATE THEM!. A child gets easily excitable about things on a (seemingly) random basic? BAM! DISORDER! MEDICATE THEM!

To anyone "medicated" because of ADHD, I always tell to drop the medication (it does more harm than good) and just enjoy their own quirks.

A bit off the original question, but there you go.
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Agreed. Sincere ADD is a very rare condition. The vast majority of people diagnosed with it are simply undisciplined. The problem with this is that they make those of us who truly suffer from this condition seem as if we are simply undisciplined as well.

Most ADD medications have the inverse effect on those who do not have the condition. A recent trend in treatment is to use anti-depressants, which does nothing but prove the misdiagnosis when these medications are helpful.

It is a sad situation in the medical community and society at large. Not only are we resorting to chemical restraints for children who annoy parents by acting like children, but we are reinforcing the public notion that this isn't a real and disabling mental condition that impedes the ability to maintain employment and relationships - two things that are crucial to human survival.
 
ADHD and ADD

Kamelakbar said:
Hey, I have ADHD and am an INFJ. A lot of the traits of an INFJ are also characteristics of someone with ADD/ADHD. The only difference really is someone with ADHD can be an extrovert or an introvert.

Maybe INFJs can be mis-diagnosed with ADHD, or maybe INFJ is just a personality type for those who have ADHD?

Thoughts? Have you been diagnosed with ADHD?
Click to expand...

It's weird because I thought that those with ADHD were Artisans. I think Keirsey says that too. I think he also says that those on medication for ADHD usually turn into NTs. But, it's funny, because I too am diagnosed with ADHD.

ADD and ADHD are kind of different, ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder while ADHD is Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. The difference is that those with ADHD are usually more hyper then those with ADD. However, despite these differences, they are very similar though like I said before, it can be and more likely is harder for those with ADHD then those with ADD.

5% of the population has it, worldwide according to Mr.Zeigler, M.S. (for more information visit this website http://www.woodbinehouse.com/excerpt.asp_Q_product_id_E_1-890627-20-8). Males are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD or ADD then females. But then again, it's harder to tell if a girl has it. Let's just say there is a boy and a girl in a classroom and they both have ADHD, the boy is more likely to jump up and down and yell while the girl will probably just play with her pencil and look outside the window. So, since the teacher notices the boy more, he is most likely to be diagnosed compared to the girl.

You can tell if you have it by seeing if you have these symptoms http://www.webink.net/Williams-Diagnostics/character.html

Some people can overgrow it when they are done with puberty, or it can grow even worse.

All though ADHD can be bad, such as having to try twice as hard as the class or having to put up more of an effort to sit down compared to others, it can also be a good thing, here are some websites if you want to look more into it:
http://www.addcoach4u.com/positivesofadd.html
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/adhd/26922
http://headintheclouds.typepad.com/head_in_the_clouds/positivesstrengths/
http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=1491

In addition, there are many famous people who have had ADD and ADHD, here is a website if your curious:
http://www.oneaddplace.com/famous.htm

Hope you like my post ^^
 
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