Several years ago, ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder was amended to ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Prior to that ADD and ADHD were two separate things.

The reasoning behind this was that most people who have ADD are also hyperactive.

I can hear you now – “Not me!”.

I get it. I think the same thing about myself.

Caution: watching the above video could lead to hours of watching cat videos online. Just sayin…

But what most people don’t get is that hyperactivity comes in degrees. When most of us think about hyper behavior, we think about the kid who’s bouncing off the wall and can’t stop talking. But that’s not always the case.

You know how there are degrees of having a cold? Sometimes it’s just a little sniffles and not feeling so good. And other times it knocks you flat on your back.

Hyperactivity and ADD in general are the same. Sometimes the symptoms are mild and sometimes they’re off the charts.

My mom had ADHD. I remember a neighbor asking her if she ever walked anywhere. Seems every time she came home, she would get out of the car and run to the backyard gate to open it, run to the garage to open that, and then run back to the car. This was repeated when she left the garage to go in the house.

Sounds like hyperactivity to me.

I have a loved one (who shall remain nameless to protect me) who can’t seem to stop talking. When she – I mean they – start talking, they can’t seem to stop. Ever. No matter what. Run out of stuff to say? Just repeat what’s already been said or better yet – tell me the entire plot of the latest re-run you just watched.

Apparently my aunt’s had the same problem. When they would call my mom, she would put the phone down on the kitchen counter and go about her business. Every now and then she would pick it up, say “oh” or “umm hmm” and then put it down again. Only one sister ever caught her.

Maybe you only get hyper at certain times. If I have to get ready for a big event, I’m a hyper mess. You should have seen me on my wedding day.

So maybe you’re hyper and maybe you’re not. Does it really matter? For the most part, no.

If you’re driving people away with your non stop mouth, maybe you should think about working on that. Any kind of extreme behavior needs a second look.

Otherwise, recognize your hyper tendencies and learn to deal with them when they come along. No big deal.