^ This was what I intended to comment, and then I thought I should look up the "bipolar lisp programmer" article since I haven't read it before.
And I'll just note that, while the article doesn't mention it, a major feature touted by Lisp enthusiasts is the REPL :) Talk about immediate gratification...
By the way, the story sounds like mine too. Except I went to law school (law is undergrad in where I live). Everyone assumed I did poorly because I wasn't interested in the subject (a reasonable assumption since I was clearly oriented towards programming), but I think the real problem was the "artifice" mentioned in the article. Today, I still read legal cases/materials with interest from time to time, but if I were put back in that artificial law school environment I don't think I'd survive.
When I talk to an ADHD patient, I end up getting this distinct feeling they're talking about me instead. I run them through the diagnostic criteria and they match. I still refer them to a trusted psychiatrist regardless so that a proper differential diagnosis can be made, which does include bipolar disorder. Psychiatry is hard and I'm not about to underestimate the difficulty of it, especially since I could kill the patient if I'm wrong. So far getting this feeling seems to be virtually pathognomonic though.