Does your high IQ conceal an ADHD diagnosis?

Do you have a high IQ?

Quite a few gifted people find out only as adults how high their IQ actually is. Sure enough, they’ve probably had a feeling that they’re a bit faster than most, but that’s just how it’s always been. Some things seemed easy. And they didn’t give it much thought.

However, they might have found other things difficult, and as they didn’t manage to complete an academic education or achieve a successful career, it was easy to conclude that they weren’t particularly gifted. Apparently.

That’s why they shy away from taking an IQ test. They’re sure such a test will show that they’re ‘just averagely intelligent’. Or below average. When they finally get round to it, they’re surprised or even stunned by the results. Surely that can’t be right…!

 

Do you have a hidden ADHD diagnosis?

Some of the 10% most gifted who consult me have a diagnosis and have already received treatment/medication. Others only find out afterwards.

ADHD is the kind of diagnosis that may be concealed by a high IQ because several signs of ADHD are also evident in gifted people. Or perhaps your high IQ enables you to devise and implement effective strategies. That way, you’re able to compensate for and ‘camouflage’ your diagnosis. Another term for this is masking.

See also: Do you have a high IQ and/or ADHD?

According to Psykiatrifonden, symptoms fall into 3 groups:

• Inattentiveness
• Hyperactivity
• Impulsivity

The personality test measures the following:

• Inattentiveness as a particularly low score for concentration – less than 20 out of 100
• Hyperactivity as very fast pace – more than 80 out of 100
• Impulsivity as a particularly low score for planning and self-control – both less than 20 out of 100, as well as Risk taking – more than 80 out of 100

If the gifted person has learnt – the hard way – how to control their impulses and/or plan their time and remember (most) appointments, others might not notice it. Especially not when the person is an introvert, whose hyperactivity is turned inwards and plays out in their head or in their restless hands. It is possible that they actually have ADD instead – also referred to as ‘the quiet ADHD’.

No one realises how much effort it takes for this person to remain seated and reasonably still for the whole meeting, to arrive on time, to keep appointments and to remember all the things that matter each and every day.

No one sees this person running around on stressed-out mornings, still brushing their teeth while trying to pack their bag and get out the door on time. Some might think that she looks silly trying to get fully dressed and putting on her makeup in the car. Others think that it’s odd how he’s always so frantic and busy doing ten different things at once if they turn up at his office unannounced.

But no one draws a line between this and a diagnosis – or if they do, they keep their suspicions to themselves.

 

Other hidden signs of ADHD

According to Bedre Psykiatri, these are possible signs of ADHD:

• Difficulties concentrating and staying focused on a single task
• Feeling jittery and struggling to sit still and be quiet
• Impatience
• Forgetfulness
• Difficulties planning and carrying out activities and tasks

But nobody knows:

• that you’re constantly switching between at least three or four different tasks on your computer – to keep up the pace
• that you have to offer to take minutes, as this allows you to keep busy during the meeting without drawing attention
• that you need to be extremely active and do a lot of talking to keep yourself engaged
• that you’re thinking of lots of other things or daydreaming when you’re quiet
• that you feel like you’re about to explode when discussions go round in circles and drag on
• that you end up interrupting others because you already know what they’re going to say
• that you’ll open a drawer or a cupboard at least 10 or 15 times a day – and forget in the meantime why you did so
• that you keep checking your calendar or opening and closing emails to make sure that you’re in the right place at the right time
• that you’re constantly on alert because you’re afraid that you’ll forget or miss something important
• that you always feel like you’re trailing behind and that you can’t do things as well as other people
• that you’re permanently worried about making mistakes and being reprimanded because you were used to getting told off as a child…

 

When your world is turned upside down…

In that way, a hidden diagnosis can remain undetected. You manage your life as best you can.

Others might wonder why you comment on something that catches your eye while you’re talking to each other, and why you keep running between the table and the kitchen when they’re visiting. But that’s just the way you are. Or perhaps they get annoyed that you’re persistently slightly late for your meetings, just as you’ll often interrupt them and finish off their sentences. They have to make allowances for that.

Until one day when something turns your world upside down. You become a parent or your partner becomes seriously ill, and at the same time you’re completely overworked in your job. That’s when you crash to the ground. You’re put on sick leave, officially due to stress.

You lie on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. Or you muddle your way through the most basic things and spend the rest of your time binge-watching series on Netflix. And you’re unable to do anything else.

After a couple of months of this, perhaps one or two of your nearest and dearest start to think that something could be seriously wrong. That you’re not being yourself at all. Not the person they used to know.

Your doctor reckons you’ve probably got depression. They give you ‘happy pills’ or refer you to the next stage in the system. You talk to a psychologist. But it doesn’t really work…

Only much later on – when nothing’s making you any better – it crosses a psychologist’s or psychiatrist’s mind that you might have some kind of diagnosis. Finally, you undergo proper evaluation. And everything inside you comes tumbling down…

 

The power of knowledge

Understanding what is really going on – beneath the surface – can be a huge relief. Because then at last you can get the right kind of help, regardless of whether that is medication, psychoeducation or something else.

At the same time, it can be distressing having to change your self-perception in such a radical way – which is necessary in order to accept and live with a diagnosis.

But in the longer term, it can bring peace of mind. The pieces in your life fall into place. Your high IQ is one of those pieces. And that’s not such a bad thing after all.

NOTE: You will always need to consult a psychiatrist for diagnostic evaluation. This post is intended solely as a basis for your own reflections on this.