I do think most people have an internal dialogue but most people are in control of it, it's not like constantly having a six year old monologuing in your ear about their topic of choice. Actually I find mine is more like a busy pub with several conversations going on at once and I can only really follow one at a time but am vaguely aware of the others, and then sometimes I get a bit distracted and stop listening to the people on my own table but get interested in the conversation on the table next to me instead, this is how I can lose whole thought trains which I've really been concentrating on. I always think my brain is a bit drunk and trying to keep up with itself!
And I remember as a child being surprised when people complained about having a song stuck in their head because I don't think my internal jukebox has ever switched off, either, and that's mostly stuck on random.
Daisy I agree with Be Up, don't apologise or make excuses, just say "I'd like a referral to the adult ADHD assessment team because I've noticed a lot of similarities and it's causing problems for me." If you like be prepared to list a few of the ways that you fit into the checklist but they should not need to ask as they are not qualified to make the assessment, just the referral. IF they bring the drug issue up, then say you're just looking for a diagnosis and not medication - but really it shouldn't come into it. In fact, previous substance abuse is common in people with ADHD because we self medicate. I'm probably lucky that I got pregnant at 19 or I'd likely have ended up with addiction issues myself, which is scary.
Back to internal monologue - I identified YEARS ago that I can follow my thoughts much more clearly when I explain them to somebody else, or write them down. That has always helped me. It's funny that it's only after linking this to ADHD I realise that this slows them down enough for me to both hold onto AND process them!
Apparently they don't really know why stimulants work but there are a couple of theories. One older one is that they work on the dopamine part, I can't remember exactly what it is, sort of that most people produce enough dopamine themselves to self motivate and self reward. Similar to antidepressants in that antidepressants either enable you to accept the dopamine/seratonin or cause you to stop wasting it constantly so that you can use what you have. ADHD medication is supposed to increase dopamine production so that it meets the ADHD brain's higher capacity and hence need for it, something like that. But the other theory which is newer, although neither have been proved or disproved, is that the stimulants stimulate the part of the brain which normally deals with executive function, which is found to be lacking in ADHD (this explains basically all of our symptoms, if you look up a description of poor executive function, it's ADHD) - and it's basically the executive function which allows you to "act grown up" - it puts a filter over your reactions so that they aren't as impulsive, it helps you to stay on a task, it reminds you there were things you were supposed to be doing, etc.
People with ADHD will often find that stimulants and depressants have unexpected or opposite effects for them. Caffeine tends to make me sleepy unless I drink it in the morning. If I smoke weed (which is incredibly rare) I hit my talkative, excited phase just when everyone else is wanting to go to sleep, which is slightly annoying!
Is anyone else struggling with the clock change, by the way? I hate mornings at the best of times and I haven't stuck to my bedtime tonight or yesterday. We keep eating too late which throws me off completely.