Although he felt it happening, he was not aware of what specifically he was doing. It turned out that he had mild ADD, the most problematic manifestation of which was an inability to observe his own behavior and to gauge correctly the responses of other people. This made him appear quite self-centered or indifferent. In fact, his problem was in paying attention, in noticing the subtle cues social fluency depends upon and in regulating his own responses. Before leaping into the psychodynamic realm to explain such “self-centered” behavior, it is worthwhile to check at the doorway of attention.
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