when writing a character with ADD or ADHD consider the following:
never remembering to do anything
having to set multiple alarms and reminders for things that should be habit like taking a lunch or remembering your pills
trying to remember to do something and ending up hyper-focused and not getting anything else done until you do the thing
time release pills – noticing when it kicks in again/noticing when it’s wearing off
not eating – you’re never hungry on meds, having to force yourself to eat, weight loss from not eating, blood sugar problems if you take meds too early
temper fluctuation – quick to anger, then quicker to embarrassment, easily anxious
memory gaps: putting something down in a random place because you thought of something else you should be doing and not knowing where you put it down at, cereal in the fridge, leaving the water running
tired bodies but a hyper brain – can lead to the illusion of energy
needing to be occupied during tv/movies, constant stimuli is a must for concentration
putting up reminders to do things and procrastinating so much you need more reminders
listening but not absorbing what’s being said
hyper-focus on tasks, become frustrated when incomplete – if task is abandoned, it’s probably not going to get finished
ride the momentum of energy or lose it completely
fidgeting, fidgeting, fidgeting – moving, pacing, tapping – seriously use up a lot of space just existing
losing train of thought or radical tangents
sensitivity to light, sound, touch, texture, etc – especially on a bad day
too many uncompleted tasks
not wanting to start tasks that are long – guaranteed to get distracted
hard time conceptualizing time: was that last week, last month, yesterday, earlier?
that’s what I can think of off the top of my head. most people write Stiles with ADD/ADHD, but he doesn’t usually have any symptoms outside of movement and “talking a lot”, which aren’t the best indicators of ADD/ADHD in the first place. Whoo, resources!