Engineers with ADD & OCD? What field would I do well in?

[sbcy]

I have ADD and OCD (and supposedly GAD - generalized anxiety disorder - likely as a result of the prior); I come from a family of PHDs,engineers, doctors, etc. I've never liked school because I always seemed to make careless errors DESPITE my meticulous approach to everything. (likely the clash of ADD - OCD). I've always found myself most interested in activities/games/things that involved customizing/improving things/optimizing/tweaking. I also have a strong desire for a high level of competency and have done so in the few things I have pursued. I'm an ISTJ (as you might have guessed) but also an INTJ - I took the MBPTI multiple times and was always one of these 2. I've heard the most common personality of an engineer is ISTJ but I've never been fond of academics. I guess math was one of my stronger subjects but I was never really strong in any school work (I was just in regular math, not advanced). I also never took an interest in programming as a lot of ISTJs do (usually there were tools written already that I could use to solve what ever issue at hand). I always seem to be trouble shooting problems but I don't really feel all that drawn to math except maybe at a basic level for doing some basic trouble shooting or calculations related cameras/film. Since getting out of high school I've been working in the film industry as an AC in the camera department which is basically one of the people responsible for the technical aspects of the camera and making sure everything works properly and things are accounted for-it requires a fairly meticulous person to do the job. But while it has been fun and I have seen some success at a young age (in part because I had studied up on all this stuff in high school and then skipped film school and went straight to working), I feel like I need something more. Instead of working within a system I am always thinking of how to make the system better. I want to find something where I can put this drive to work and that I will enjoy because my work has always been my passion. Any ideas??

PS: I haven't found any treatment to help my symptoms and I don't know if anything will ever work as things currently stand.

 

[jim hardy]

They didnt have names for those syndromes when i was young.

I've never liked school because I always seemed to make careless errors DESPITE my meticulous approach to everything.

Accept that you'll just have to work a little harder than most folks. Look up Demosthenes.

PS: I haven't found any treatment to help my symptoms and I don't know if anything will ever work as things currently stand.

Success is just a series of little daily victories.

You are IMHO in the right field - equipment maintenance.
If you decide to conquer math and get an engineering degree it will open a lot of doors for you
but industy needs good technicians too.

Your choice - the harder you work the farther you go.

Find a hobby that relaxes you - perhaps speakerbuilding or astronomy.