Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

Well, GO BACK TO IT then. Seriously, you're going to need to make a real material effort to fix your problems whatever you do, and if you're unwilling to bite the bullet and muster some self-control to work on things like exercising your self-control then there is nothing anyone can do for you.

I'd guess you don't have a novelty-addiction problem, you have a problem where you're unwilling to apply yourself to hard things with long-term payoffs, and the novelty-addiction is what fills in the gap. Maybe there's some reasons for that (procrastination of emotionally difficult things in favor of mood-repair is a big deal for a lot of people) but you'll just need to deal with them.

I've come to appreciate my ADHD, as well. I realized that it was the spark in my personality everyone seemed to always recognize but never be able to put their finger on. My intensity, my creativity, my wit (I don't mean to brag here, I'm no world-class comedian..), etc. are all part of a charm that I believe directly come from my impulsive, no-filtered ADHD brain.

It has also caused me to be less risk adverse and take career moves that have really helped me over the years. I haven't been afraid to try new things, to gain new experiences, etc.

But those upsides all had their downsides. The same impulsivity that let me drop everything and move to NYC for bigger and better things is the same impulsivity that saddled me with an embarrassing number of speeding tickets and car accidents, substance abuse issues (alcohol), etc. The same intensity that is a large part of my charm is also a large part of the reason many of my relationships become strained.

Being diagnosed and getting a handle on it has curbed the negative side effects greatly while still allowing the positives to shine through.

Medication and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Don't be afraid of medication. Find a healthcare professional that you trust and will work with you.

There is a book I recommend to everyone who suspects they may have ADHD: Driven to Distraction

It's a very easy read and will give you a lot of insight.

One of the lines I use from that book often with regard to medication and the stigma it has is: would you deny yourself glasses if you couldn't see? The medication helps focus your mind the way glasses help focus your eyes. The medication is the catalyst for other treatment options to be more effective. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, for example, works far better when you are able to actually concentrate and do the exercises properly without your mind wandering on you.

Most people find that the medication dosage they need of amphetamine is actually quite low. You're not trying to get high and become a speed freak like college kids popping Adderall the night before Finals to cram. Your brain simply lacks dopamine and is forever craving a fix for it - thus always latching on to the most exciting thought and causing impulsive thrill seeking behavior. A small dose of amphetamine feeds the brain this dopamine, rids you of the shortage, and restores the balance you need to be the person you expect yourself to be+.

+Very simplified explanation, obviously. But, it's the best way that I can relate to my brain's behavior - by always thinking of it in terms of a dopamine imbalance. While it's true, other factors are likely involved and ADHD is also often comorbid with anxiety and depression as many of the same chemical pathways are shared.

I'd agree on the teaching / training suggestion, except make sure you mix it up. Teaching the same thing can become boring.

ADHD is not an inability to focus, it's an inability to direct and control one's focus at-will.

The ADHD brain is always seeking dopamine and constantly seeks out the most "exciting" thoughts. When you are actually into something and engaged, the brain is producing dopamine (the reward chemical) and so an ADHD person will hyper-focus on that thought/activity intensely for long periods of time, barely noticing the time as it passes.

This is one of the reasons, in my opinion, a lot of people in the software field are ADHD. Being able to sit at a computer and code for 12 hours while having it feel like 2 is not normal, per se. Hyper-focus allows us to be amazingly productive at this job. It's a gift as well as a curse, however, because it's that same hyper-focus that can keep us playing a video game far longer than we should even when we cognitively know we need to stop.

In people with ADHD, the executive brain function has a very hard time overriding the impulsive side of the brain. So, if the brain is getting its dopamine fix due to playing the video game and you're running late for an important meeting, it's going to be super hard to override it even if you cognitively know that being late to this meeting is a very bad thing.

What I find even more interesting than that, though, is that being late is stressful, and stressful thoughts are, as far as the brain is concerned, exciting! It's a double edged sword; as soon as the stress of being late is more exciting than what you're doing, you'll get up and leave. Until then, you'll sit in denial and read Reddit or HN or play your video game.

This is also one of the reasons ADHD and Anxiety tend to be co-morbid, I believe. Anxious thoughts are "exciting" for the brain so we tend to fixate on them.

So yeah, transition, in general, is very hard for those with ADHD.