ADD and OCD??

[Sara_A]

I'm 21 and since year 1 in primary school, I've been struggling to stay focused.. My teachers and parents have always went mad because "I don't focus"..  

It has always been hard for me to finish my homework, or my studying without my mothers help; she has always set the plans and helped me arrange my time.. She has usually sat next to me and read my studies with me.. Otherwise, I'd get totally dissociated, not to mention the total lack of motivation to do anything..

I think  I'm  also smart enough to succeed because my grades have always been good and I was among the top students in my class..

But when I finished high school, things got harder..  I joined the med-school, and now I'm in my 5th year.. I love medicine, but I have got no will at all to study, my daily routine is a mess, I always fail to follow a plan, I'm always bored, I don't listen in classes, sometimes I don't even attend because I know it's boring and that I won't be able to focus..

And the few weeks before final exams are like hell to me, I get so stressed and I never finish studying and end up succeeding by luck! My average score is B ( I must be too smart to achieve this!).. Even in vacations, time just slips away without using it properly! I often forget what I'm planning to do! I often misplace my things..

So is this ADD?? And if so, would taking stimulants improve my case?? It also sounds that I have OCD, I started taking Citalopram a month ago, would stimulant drugs worsen my OCD?
Thanks,

[Sara_A]

Thanks for your help!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

You should undergo an evaluation to determine if you display ADHD. Your symptoms are consistent with this, but you shouldn't make an assumption about it. It also sounds like you have some executive dysfunction. If indeed you do display ADHD, stimulant medication might be quite effective and it needn't exacerbate anxiety, though it can. You'd have to be vigilant in monitoring your response.