I'm sure you know this, but trouble focusing could stem from many issues, the vast majority of which can be treated. ADHD is a big one, but there's others too, some behavioural.
If you haven't already seen one, I'd book an appointment with a psychiatrist and/or a psychologist. I wish my parents had done so when I was the student with trouble focusing so I could have received the help I desperately needed but never got, which made school miserable.
Your kid is going to have internet connected devices around him his whole life, so figuring out how to focus in spite of them is important, and there's nothing wrong with asking specialists for help.
Even if it's not ADHD, a professional, and at least tell you that, and then provide coping strategies to help focus. And honestly it doesn't hurt for a teen to have someone who they can talk to who is not their parent/authority figure, and has their shit together.
His inability to focus sounds like ADD. I thought all the college kids were doing Adderall these days. I'd recommend getting some counseling for that, plus the depression and anxiety. I wouldn't be too worried. Grades != work. If he's a CS major and can program his way out of a paper bag, he should be able to find work easily.
TBH I found this article a bit poorly written, especially around the core of the symptoms*. It does not even list out what exactly are the kinds of things to look for when you are in say your 30's or something and suspect you have ADHD. The list of recommendations though are good, especially simplifying note taking, which can be a drag to keep upto date.
I would also add meditation and getting a good counselor/licenced therapist(they are hard to find). You can find a good counselor in a few ways: from someone who does your formal neuropsych eval, ask your kid's doctor. Look at psychologytoday.com and filter the list and run through it. For ADHD which does not accompany severe cognitive impairments you want to likely look at a CBT coach(Phd,PsyD holders) to help. Someone who knows what they are doing.
* If you think you have ADHD or ADD please consult the complete DSM-V manual[0](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t3/) and at least try and match your symptoms up from your past experiences. I would highly recommend a neuropsychlogical evaluation test. Google for it.
Here is an abridged list[1] of symptoms from DSM5 for ready reference:
Inattention: Six or more symptoms of inattention for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months, and they are inappropriate for developmental level:
? Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, or with other activities.
? Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or play activities.
? Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
? Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (e.g., loses focus, becomes sidetracked).
? Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities.
? Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to do tasks that require mental effort over a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
? Often loses things necessary for tasks and activities (e.g., school materials, pencils, books, tools, wallets, keys, paperwork, eyeglasses, mobile telephones).
? Is often easily distracted.
? Is often forgetful in daily activities.
Hyperactivity and Impulsivity: Six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for the person’s developmental level:
? Often fidgets with or taps hands or feet, or squirms in seat.
? Often leaves seat in situations when remaining seated is expected.
? Often runs about or climbs in situations where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may be limited to feeling restless).
? Often is unable to play or take part in leisure activities quietly.
? Is often “on the go,” acting as if “driven by a motor.”
? Often talks excessively. ? Often blurts out an answer before a question has been completed.
? Often has trouble waiting his/her turn.
? Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games).
I have zero advice for the parent, sorry, I very much struggle with these things too, and I think it's probably the fundamental challenge of execution in anything really.
You, and anyone who was initially attracted to this question because they feel they might have ADHD or struggle with the same things, might find the below question I previously asked useful. It got some traction and had some helpful anecdotes.
While I admit I have a problem with focus, I have been able to control it with self-discipline. Others may not be so lucky.
There's a marked difference between actual ADHD and just normal fidgetiness or lack of focus. For years, psychologists prescribed children who may not have had ADHD with medication. There have been so many misdiagnoses and ADHD has received so much press attention that physicians are now much more wary of diagnosing it in an attempt to please the family of the suspected patient. Since that has happened, people with true ADHD are now not getting the help they need.
There's a simple way to test for ADHD. Give a person a deadline, and give them an hour until that deadline to complete an essay. Tell them the essay will count on one of their formal records (even though it won't). If they buckle down and finish the essay, the person most likely has a lack of discipline. If the person continues to have a lack of focus up until the last minute, you can be safely sure that that person has ADHD.
(Note that this is personal anecdote and should not be used as a substitute for proper medical attention. If you suspect you have trouble with focus, seek psychiatric help. The above is ONLY a topic for discussion.)
Being able to focus is not something you can fix with software.
There are lots of techniques from the world of ADHD therapy. One of them is to make a schedule, so that you always know what you should be working on for any given chunk of time.
Often, there are underlying issues like anxiety that will cause people to be unable to focus. You just have to figure out what it is for you. It might just be that you need to practice it, which is increasingly common in a world of instantaneous, bite-sized entertainment.
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. That is partially why I created this webapp: http://focusr.co/. It helps you focus on one thing at a time, which can be hard enough for people even w/o this diagnosis.
A frequent refrain from parents of kids diagnosed with ADHD: "My kid doesn't have problems with attention! He can play a video game for 10 hours straight! I have to tell him to go to the bathroom!"
It's actually misnamed and many professionals are trying to shift the name to "Executive Function Disorder".
The dysregulation swings both ways: can't focus on uninteresting things, but hyperfocus on interesting things.
You might want to do some more research, because the resulting anxiety that you also mentioned is almost always co-morbid with ADHD.
--a fellow diagnosed-as-an-adult ADHD guy who didn't know that was my problem until I was in my mid 30s.
P.S. another common sign: "Johnny is a delight to have in class, but he's not working to his potential." or "Johnny gets all of his work done quickly and it's stellar work, but then he is a frequent distraction to those around him." or "Class clown who is not working to potential."
Seeing this comment makes me think that I should consider talking to a doctor about ADHD. I can't even focus on playing a video game for more than 30 minutes most of the time.
Very much this. My son has ADHD (full neuropsych eval) and he has attention issues, but his main challenge is executive functioning. Daily routines do exist, but are achieved through literally months of repetition, not by conscious effort to identify and organize all of the things that need to happen before school, after school, etc.
Establishing and sticking to a formal program to read books is literally the hardest thing he could do, but when he finds a book he likes, he'll stay up late to read it, and would stay up all night if we let him.
I'm interested too; feeling described to a T by your post. I struggled heavily with focus issues as a child / teen but it was never diagnosed far enough to try and medicate me out of it. As an adult with improved awareness of my attention issues, the prospect of pursuing a prescriptive fix that might just make me feel worse is intimidating.
I also have ADHD which has reached debilitating levels at times. Noise cancelling headphones, removal of computer games, and being disciplined has helped. In all seriousness though, it's a more complex condition than most people realize and seeing a specialist is never a bad idea.
Talk to your primary care physician. Let them know you're struggling to focus and it's impacting your ability to function at work. Get a referral to a counselor and do a telemed appointment. Answer the handful of questions (truthfully). It's not like there's a series of tests for ADHD. It's just behaviors that are common to people with it.
If you have a lot of trouble with deliberately directing your attention, you should probably ask a mental health doctor to evaluate you for ADD ("Attention Deficit Disorder"). It's possible that you've had ADD all your life and covered for it with your high intelligence, but now that the demands on your attention are much higher in grad school, your deficit in allocating attention is becoming a problem.
I completely agree, I am just saying that ADD is not the only reason of why a person can perceive a chronic inability to remain focused. Sometimes bad habits can impact your ability to focus, that's all. Then, my advice is by no means substitution for medical advice.
Actually, having grown up with ADHD and having an ex and 2 daughters with ADHD I can tell you this: We can all hyper-focus on things of interest. But only things that interest us. Attempting to get us to focus on things that are meaningless to us, no matter how meaningful to you or the world at large, no matter how important for our coursework or work, if they don't mean anything to us, we have a much worse time than the average non-ADHD person focusing on it.
I cannot say explicitly that all ADHD people have this trait, but having done a lot of reading and attended a lot of counselling sessions on it to learn to cope with children having it, it appears as though we're not alone in this. It's fairly common for ADHD kids to be able to hyper-focus on topics of interest.
My topic of interest from an extremely young age was figuring out how things work, making them work and making them work better. It's no surprise therefore that I ended up as a programmer.
If you haven't already seen one, I'd book an appointment with a psychiatrist and/or a psychologist. I wish my parents had done so when I was the student with trouble focusing so I could have received the help I desperately needed but never got, which made school miserable.
Your kid is going to have internet connected devices around him his whole life, so figuring out how to focus in spite of them is important, and there's nothing wrong with asking specialists for help.
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