Sure sounds like you could have AD/HD or ADD (there really isn't much difference so call it what you want). I have the ADD but I have the hyperactivity as more of an inner feeling of restlessness or boredom. You sound like me at 18! Since you are 18 you do not need your parent's permission to see a doctor. Can you get yourself an appointment and just go? It would be good if you could talk to your parents about it and get their support however. One thing you could do is take an self assessment quiz for ADHD and see how it goes. You sure have lots of the classic symptoms but some of them are different in different people. Some of the big clues are that you do way less than your IQ says you should in school. You get bored or distracted easily unless the subject really interests you. You are an "underacheiver". You could also be a little depressed since you can't seem to get motivated. But who wouldn't be after working so many hours with little results. People that are even mildly depressed can also have a lot of trouble concentrating and their brains don't work so well. Lazy can just mean unmotivated. You can go to your county mental health clinic and talk to a counselor who can help you with all of this. It would be a shame to waste your potential if you could do great with just some medication for ADD. For me taking meds (I take Concerta but there are others also) was like when a near sighted person first puts on the new glasses. Oh wow, I can see great now! It just helps you focus so you can learn. If you can't focus you can't remember, if you can't remember you can't learn. The fact you are good at math and don't have trouble with that says you are not a dummie, so don't give up on your education. Talk with your parents, a counselor or doctor, or even a nurse practitioner and get an evaluation. It won't hurt to try ADD meds and if they don't work you can always stop. Work with the doctor to see what will work if that is your diagnosis. It could help a lot. If you can't talk with your parents just go to the doctor yourself to talk about it. Maybe then you can get your parents on board. It's not a disease and some very smart and successful people were diagnosed with ADHD (Andrew Carnegie and Albert Einstein to name just a few). One last thing to ask the doctor about is the possibility that you have a learning disability. If your main problem is reading you may just have dyslexia which is just that your brain processes information differently. It has nothing to do with intellegence either. You can have problems with reading, writing, math or all of the above. My guess is that you probably have ADHD, maybe some mild dyslexia and maybe are a little depressed about how hard you have had to work and still don't seem to get the good grades. Take the first step and talk to someone who can help you find out. You could be really close to really seeing a big change in your life. So many people with ADHD do fantastically with a little help. And one more important thing to remember: you are at an age when your brain is naturally have some organizational problems. So even if you have ADHD and it is making the normal distraction, and trouble focusing worse, it will get better as you get a little older. People used to think the brain was through developing at about 18. Now it's well known that the brain doesn't really settle down until around 24 or 25 because it is still changing so much. Not only that, with use, it just gets better and better all the time. Good luck and go for it. You can succeed and you still have lots of time.

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Thank you very much for your comment. It has inspired me to go out and get it checked. My parents are out of town at the moment so I'm going to visit a mental health clinic and see what they diagnose me with. I am also re enrolling in College again. Wish me best of luck. :)

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Wishing you the best of Luck!!!

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I will be 44 years old in a few days and, I can really relate to feeling lost at your age I was just finished with highschool . @ 17 and I really didn't know which way to turn. I always wanted to go to collage but, did not have the grades to support a 4 yr school. So I got married at y

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I will be 44 years old in a few days and, I can really relate to feeling lost at your age I was just finished with highschool . @ 17 and I really didn't know which way to turn. I always wanted to go to collage but, did not have the grades to support a 4 yr school. So I got married at yong I don't recommend this but I can say that some of the lost feelings you may be having is simply because of your age as you mature and gain experince in life you won't feel so lost.

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Hi Bashful: I too was very bashful , and didn't do well in college my first time out. It's possible that meds could help you out in terms of focus and especially reading. Or if you have a learning disability, you can learn strategies and techniques to deal with it. Remember, ADD and learning disabilities have nothing to do with intelligence. Most colleges have a disability department. Contact them, and get any accommodations that are needed.

Regarding being young, ADD and bashful, remember that many ADDers like myself are late bloomers. Today, scientists are saying that teenagers may be developmentally a few years behind their non-ADD counterparts. So take heart, the best is yet to come, I promise!

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