Everyone keeps telling me im intelligent but i dont belive them?

Question

apprently im a extremely intelligent person but i dont use my mind to use like in school and stuff, but i dont think im smart i mean its so hard for me to focus with the adhd but i feel like im stupid and incapable of everything.

also some people have said i might have ODD but im 16 so how can i??? dont you have to be young t have that??

Answer 1

To live up to this title is hard. I have the same problems and I know I'm not stupid.  

Answer 2

hahaha

u think u r not smart lol

Answer 3

I just turned 25 on Aug. 24th and I was recently officially diagnosed with ADHD, inattentive type last November.  I now take medication for it and it has helped me a great deal at work.  

It was never easy for me my whole life especially since I had never known I had this medical condition and had no medical intervention whatsoever.  I had teachers who had told me I was smart.  But when I was done with college, I actually got fired a month and a half after I started at my first full-time job.  They said that I couldn't follow directions....and I had also assumed that I simply wasn't that intelligent since I had been fired within only a short amount of time there...I even thought my aspirations to be successful were never going to reached.  But then I pulled myself together a few months afterwards and found a job at a smaller company.....and I was fortunate to work under a direct supervisor who was very kind and he himself had ADD, inattentive type as well.  He had pushed me towards getting a diagnosis for several months...I postponed the diagnosis because of fear that I was unintelligent as well.  When I officially found out, everything came into perspective for me…it was strange because I had teachers tell me that I was intelligent…and some of my own classmates thought so too….but the people that I hung out with at school didn’t think so because I appeared slow and spacey…and I even had trouble listening to what people said because I couldn’t focus on what they were saying.  I had a mixture of people thinking I was smart and others thinking I was dumb.  That slow and spacy nature of mine got me into trouble when I started working too….but I somehow was fortunate to find a workplace that sees potential in all of those that are hired…they help you work on your weaknesses and build on your strengths.  I still had trouble at that workplace though.  My ADHD is actually very bad to the point where I simply cannot focus on what most people are saying, nor can I stay on topic when I am talking.  

So imagine living your whole life being looked down upon and assuming that you really are not that intelligent…I simply thought that since only some people mentioned that I was intelligent…..but it appeared as if most people looked down and me and didn’t think much of my intelligence….then that’s when I thought that I was really dumb.  

At least you know that you have this problem and you have known about it early on in life (unlike me)….and it surely is depressing…..but the fact that so many people are mentioning that you are very intelligent is a very good indicator that you will do just fine in life.  You just lack that confidence in yourself…and you will gain more of it as you get older.

You mention that you freeze when you should be talking on the phone…or that you have problems presenting material.  It’s the pressure that build and builds….and you lose that ability to focus….but with time…you’ll be able to learn how to handle yourself under pressure.  It may not happen overnight…it may not happen in a year….but push yourself to learn how to focus under pressure.  

Why waste time sulking over the current bad situation you’re in when you could actually use that time to motivate yourself to work on your weaknesses?  You remind me so much of myself when I was your age.  I thought exactly like you…and I still do a lot of the times and I am working on it.  But you need to remain positive…..you will be just fine if you just look at the brighter side of things instead of using all your energy towards negative thinking.  Everybody has their weaknesses, disabilities, and idiosyncracies…. That includes you as well…..embrace yourself for who you are….all the good and all the bad combined.  

Answer 4

well, I have no idea what ODD. Do you mean OCD, as in obsessive compulsive disorder? You can be any age for that.

Most people with ADHD have self exteem problems because it is so hard to concentrate.

You are smart, but your brain won't let you believe it yet. Hang in there. You are not stupid, you just learn in a different way.

Answer 5

My hubby has ADD.  It is just tough to focus on something that you want done but feel like you are failing at your goal-- because of lack of focus.  Unlike other people you have to work extra hard on a task to focus --now in my opinion that is brilliance.   On the other hand, there are people with ADD/ ADHD that don't even try to focus and thus act all stupid and dumb and get that result in life ... living ADD/ADHD as a crutch.

My mother in law also has ADD she is now a retired grade school teacher (she went to college), she plays the piano and ukulele, learned German and now working on Dutch, she now teaches quilting classes 4 times a month and has her own little quilt shop started ... oh and she raised 2 successful children who both are done with college and she still thinks that she isn't good at anything. She often thinks that other people are much better than herself.  I tell her that lots of her peers have not accomplished a 3rd of what she has achieved and most of these people don't have ADD.   She says she knows but she thinks she could be better if only she didn't have ADD... but how I see it is that some people do nothing when they know that there is no challenge to over come.  It is just a feeling.

About stage fright or fear of messing up a speech... this is easy to over come, takes time tho. I used to hate being in front of people, I thought I was too skinny, too ugly and just dumb looking all around.  I took a speech class, gained my confidence, learned how to prepare for public speaking and learned how to project my voice, learned how to modulate my voice and learned how to walk on and off the stage with dignity and grace.  I practiced, memorized, learned to ad lib and learn facial expressions.  Then the mind set that I am up on stage to say something and it is worth hearing-- people are here to listen to me and I am going to give them something worth listening to.

As for OCD, everybody goes through a stage like this in their life. I used to feel like I had to smooth my hair in a ponytail every 5 seconds, I even used to carry a moist hanky to cover my nose and mouth whenever there were lots of people around me like in the cafeteria, school assembly (kept me from getting bad acne on my face --except my forehead) ... then I started feeling like I had to wipe my forehead with a 2nd hanky every 3 mins.  lol I was 13/14 year olds when all this happened ... I now believe that it was partly insecurity that caused me to do all those OCD mannerisms... I wanted my hair in place all neat and wanted to cover most of my face coz I thought I was ugly, and wiped my forehead because of acne (that I thought was really bad because I saw another girl with infected ones)  Again, It is just a stage that you will get through.  Just learn from it ... and don't worry.