Even if you aren't a casual reader of the New England Journal of Medicine or an NIH nerd, odds are good that you know someone with a recent diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Studies suggest that as many as 1 in 4 adults suspect they have undiagnosed ADHD, so you may very well be that person yourself.

Over the last decade, diagnoses have climbed steadily, but experts are still divided on what the rising rates reveal.

So we asked you, our readers, to share your experiences and wisdom with us on the parts of this issue that scientists can't yet answer: What do doctors, studies and the media get wrong about ADHD and, really, any other disorder?

Below is a sampling of some of your answers. Want to weigh in? You can still do it by going to usatoday.com/forum, leaving us a voicemail at (202) 655-3923 or by dropping a note at forum@usatoday.com.

ADHD can be a heavy load, but it's not a deficit

I have ADHD, and the reality isn't that it's a deficit at all – it's more like the lever between attentiveness and dreaming is sticky. It gets stuck either in hyperfocus or in no-focus mode.

The most impactful thing for me is the complete breakdown of memory. I will not remember things that aren't written down somewhere. This means I have a lot of odd habits – my keys must always be in the same place, for example. I hyper-organize in an attempt to keep myself on track, but that means about 20% of my daily effort goes into that organization before I even get to start my normal day. That's a heavy cognitive load to bear.

Before I was diagnosed, I thought it must be something else because I........

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