After reading a list of symptoms, I clearly have it. But it's a part of my I! How would anybody take meds aimed agains a vital part of their self?
Last regular go-to-the-office job I had there was no end to the number of people who would proudly declare how ADD they were. I think it was a roundabout (and ironically commonplace) way to say, "Look at me! I'm so creative."
I finally decide that the way to tell if someone really did have ADD was to note how often they seemed so cheerful about it.
Prescribe meds against it, even.
Have you ever been driving on the highway, and found yourself struggling, I mean really struggling, to pay attention to the damned road, because it was too boring and your brain kept deciding to redirect your attention to everything else on the off chance it was more interesting? Knowing that if you don't pay attention you could die, yet having to fight to look out the windshield?
ADD is not about a lack of attention, it's about inappropriate attention. Sometimes that's a wonderful thing. Sometimes, though, you really do have to pay attention to something even when your brain has other plans.
BTW, schizophrenia and major clinical depression might also be considered "a vital part of [the] self" but not everything you're born with is a 100% good thing.
People taking brain drugs need to weigh the pros and cons.
If you're happy with whatever chemical soup is naturally in your skull, more power to you. Other folks might need some seasoning.
But I am unable to watch movies without company because I will immediately switch tasks, either physically on my PC or mentally, focusing on something else. And I annoy everybody who I watch movies with by commenting things we see because this switch helps to flush temporary boredom.
Version control systems and command line histories help greatly.
When I need to write a sizable chunk of code: I might spend a hour or two surfing the web, but when I finally push myself in I get into the zone that Joel described without much problems.
Bonus points: Being ADHD, I'm able to switch tasks and spend a few minutes doing another task without leaving the zone! Resuming without productivity loss. And I absolutely neverming talking, I can talk and be in the zone at the same time.
I didn't lose jobs because I happen to be fairly fit to those.
Why would you need to be calm and focused at the same time? It's either calm and mind wandering or focused and active, isn't it?