With the rise of technology, it can feel like everyone’s attention span is shortening. We get impatient when a website takes over two seconds to load and scroll past videos that are over three minutes long. Given this new world of instant information, it is no wonder that a lot of people joke about having ADHD.  However, there is a huge difference between getting fed up with your phone and a diagnosable disorder.

The Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA) claims that about five percent of adults have ADHD. Their website lists some of the steps needed for a proper diagnosis such as: interview procedures, behavior and symptom rating skills, and observations. Many people have some problems staying on task, but there is still a long road to actually having a condition.

According to the official website of the Mayo Clinic, many adults might not even know that they have ADHD and some people age out of their symptoms. Unfortunately, a lot of the trade-marks of ADHD affect college students for the worse. The mayo clinic lists a few of these such as:

• Poor time management skills
• Problems focusing on a task
• Trouble multitasking
• Problems following through and completing tasks
• Hot temper
• Trouble coping with stress

Anyone who has spent more than two minutes in a classroom will tell you that due dates are everything and that you need to remain calm while managing fifty assignments at once. ADHD makes it that much harder to function in college because it takes away a person’s ability to focus on the task at hand.

Someone who has experienced ADHD firsthand is one of our staff writers, Lucas Elgin. Trying to describe what ADHD feels like is impossible for him, but he loosely compares it to Doug from the movie “UP.” “I’d like to say I’ve been managing fine, but.., I constantly forget assignments, and tend to lose attention in class very quickly,” he says.

“I have the attention span of a goldfish,” Nicholas Feldman said when trying to explain his symptoms. He does not take any medication for ADHD and instead forces himself to stay on task. Sometimes that coping looks like getting up in the middle of class and walking around to stay engaged.

Despite his symptoms, Feldman says he is “succeeding (mostly) in college and doing quite well”. Indeed, for most people with ADHD, their symptoms are more of an inconvenience than a roadblock.

If ADHD is hindering your college education, please contact the disability coordinator, Cheryl Hernandez. Hernandez stated that students need to contact her either by phone (520-494-5409) or by email ([email protected]) in order to receive services. She also mentioned that she travels from campus to campus so that every student has access to accommodations.