Many people who have ADHD don’t relate to this name “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” Sometimes it is because they are not hyper; other times it is because they don’t have a “deficit” of attention, but can actually focus very well in certain contexts. To clarify, people with ADHD have plenty of attention, they just struggle to reign in and sustain their attention, particularly with tasks that are uninteresting or tedious. You may say, “That’s everyone!”...But people with ADHD have brains that work a little differently. The part of the brain that stops most people from going “off task” doesn’t work as well if you have ADHD.  This makes someone with ADHD much more likely to trail off in class, lose or forget things, blurt out things that are better left unsaid, or get lost in details.  If you have ADHD, you may have a pattern of starting too many tasks that you leave unfinished. You may have struggled in systems that require high levels of directed focus, like work or school, and you may be underachieving. The saddest part is the feeling of inadequacy that can build over time with these experiences. Kids can mistakenly conclude that they are “dumb,” and adults often live with deeply rooted feelings of failure and low self-esteem.