ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure • Hacker News Board

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#71

Post by lfowles » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 5:30 PM UTC

sathackr wrote: post #69

greys0ul wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My main one is a notebook that never leaves my side. If I have a thought, impulse or idea that isn't what I'm currently doing, I quickly write it down, usually with a flowchart kinda sketch and then go back to what I was doing. I give myself a maximum of about 15 seconds for this. Once I finish what I was originally doing I look in the notebook and pick the next thing to do. The other big one is 3 goals a day. Every…

I've shunned mechanisms like this for fear I would become dependent on them, and then really in trouble if I were to lose the notebook, which, unless it was permanently attached to my body, would be quite likely. Having 'the cloud' has started to help me. It's something I know I can't lose, so I'm slowly allowing myself to become dependent on it (things like calendar, short notes, and keeping track of receipts). And…

Think about it this way: Would you shun glasses because it's possible to lose/break them?

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#72

Post by zepto » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 5:40 PM UTC

bayesianhorse wrote: post #8

ADHD has severe consequences on children: less happiness, less self control, more aggressiveness, higher risk of substance abuse and in general much lower grades. Unless a new treatment can demonstrate that it can reduce these consequences as well as medication does in the majority of cases, let's stick with the treatment that works, shall we?

How can a new treatment demonstrate that it has good long term outcomes if we don't try it?

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#73

Post by qb45 » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 7:12 PM UTC

sathackr wrote: post #69

greys0ul wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My main one is a notebook that never leaves my side. If I have a thought, impulse or idea that isn't what I'm currently doing, I quickly write it down, usually with a flowchart kinda sketch and then go back to what I was doing. I give myself a maximum of about 15 seconds for this. Once I finish what I was originally doing I look in the notebook and pick the next thing to do. The other big one is 3 goals a day. Every…

I've shunned mechanisms like this for fear I would become dependent on them, and then really in trouble if I were to lose the notebook, which, unless it was permanently attached to my body, would be quite likely. Having 'the cloud' has started to help me. It's something I know I can't lose, so I'm slowly allowing myself to become dependent on it (things like calendar, short notes, and keeping track of receipts). And…

Hmm, doesn't writing something down increase your ability to remember about it later?

In my case writing seems to work as "hey brain, this stuff is important, don't forget". If I write something, it turns out I didn't need to. If I don't, it turns out I'd have better done.

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#74

Post by mattchew » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 8:54 PM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #19

fasteo wrote: post #18

Slightly off-topic, but I have seem some great responses here I would like to add a somehow controversial comment. I have a 10 year old kid diagnosed with severe ADHD-Inattentive type. He is on meds and behavioral therapy, and I must agree with most of the posts that meds is a must for these kids. My very personal an unscientific explanation is that ADHD is not a disease in the traditional sense; instead, it is just…

Would my kid have any problem living in a simpler society (hunter-gatherer group) ? Definitively not. I know some children like that. Children who cannot keep quiet while hunting would not fare well in a hunter-gatherer society. Indeed, young members of a hunting party who move around too much and make too much noise are in danger of being eaten themselves by larger predator animals. I'm not sure that there has ever…

Another thought about ADD/ADHD in the olden days.

I'm inclined to doubt that these traits could have been a serious handicap in earlier times if we didn't really notice this as a template of behavior until recently.

People have talked about other kinds of mental disorders, not necessarily using modern names, for a long time. I don't know of any anachronistic terms that mean the same thing as what we mean by ADHD today, or older sources that made much recognition of ADHD symptoms at all.

Happy to be corrected here.

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#75

Post by sathackr » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 9:25 PM UTC

lfowles wrote: post #71

sathackr wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've shunned mechanisms like this for fear I would become dependent on them, and then really in trouble if I were to lose the notebook, which, unless it was permanently attached to my body, would be quite likely. Having 'the cloud' has started to help me. It's something I know I can't lose, so I'm slowly allowing myself to become dependent on it (things like calendar, short notes, and keeping track of receipts). And…

Think about it this way: Would you shun glasses because it's possible to lose/break them?

Probably not for the same reason, because they are easy to replace. A notebook full of thoughts is not.

Interestingly though, I have shunned glasses for fear of becoming dependent on them. I can see well enough without them, and noticed, after wearing them for a while, my uncorrected vision was worse than before I started wearing them. Whatever mechanisms my eyes had developed to see better became less effective after wearing glasses for a while. I lost the last pair about 4 years ago and haven't replaced it.

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#76

Post by sathackr » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 9:26 PM UTC

qb45 wrote: post #73

sathackr wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've shunned mechanisms like this for fear I would become dependent on them, and then really in trouble if I were to lose the notebook, which, unless it was permanently attached to my body, would be quite likely. Having 'the cloud' has started to help me. It's something I know I can't lose, so I'm slowly allowing myself to become dependent on it (things like calendar, short notes, and keeping track of receipts). And…

Hmm, doesn't writing something down increase your ability to remember about it later? In my case writing seems to work as "hey brain, this stuff is important, don't forget". If I write something, it turns out I didn't need to. If I don't, it turns out I'd have better done.

Yes, that is something. The act of writing it down helps my ability to remember it.

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#77

Post by lfowles » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 9:30 PM UTC

sathackr wrote: post #75

lfowles wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about it this way: Would you shun glasses because it's possible to lose/break them?

Probably not for the same reason, because they are easy to replace. A notebook full of thoughts is not. Interestingly though, I have shunned glasses for fear of becoming dependent on them. I can see well enough without them, and noticed, after wearing them for a while, my uncorrected vision was worse than before I started wearing them. Whatever mechanisms my eyes had developed to see better became less effective afte…

I've used a notebook at well and I think you'd be able to work with the same strategy. The notebook is just ephemeral thoughts that you have the impulse to take action on, so you write them down instead of acting on them. At some point you move the worthwhile content to a better resting place. It shouldn't end up being an irreplaceable object :)

Edit: Specifically, I followed the Bullet Journal system: http://bulletjournal.com/

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#78

Post by lfowles » Thu, Jan 28, 2016, 9:41 PM UTC

sathackr wrote: post #38

greys0ul wrote: post #4

I think this is an excellent way to help some kids cope with adhd, but I definitely don't think it'd work universally. Reading this made me think back on my own struggle with adhd. A few years ago I was diagnosed with adhd at the age of 23, and god damn do I wish it happened a decade sooner, but my parents were the type that didn't believe in that kind of stuff, so I was just lazy. It's stuck with me to this day even…

I'm probably in the same boat. I see myself as a firefighter, things don't get my attention until their burning down, then I perform miracles to save them. Every few months my utility bills don't get paid until they turn it off. Personal relationships degrade until the point they are about to fall apart, then a blast of attention brings them back to normal. I'm a disorganized mess but when the right moment hits, I ca…

I've been browsing your comments in this thread some more and just have to reply to this point:

> In any case of my condition being real, I have a fear of dependency. I'm scared that if I finally do submit and take medication, I will become dependent on it.

One of the hallmarks of unmedicated ADHD is poor impulse control and addiction. Getting proper medication makes a world of difference, be wary of inadvertently making your life worse due to internal bias.

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#79

Post by chris_wot » Fri, Jan 29, 2016, 1:02 AM UTC

antihero wrote: post #50

spacedmountain wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would further polish your desription - and call it a disorder of mismatched motivation. People with ADHD can motivate just fine on things that stimulate them - and have even reported 'hyperfocus', a trance-like state of emersion in something. The problem is things that are not stimulating become very challanging or even impossible. This is why bills, appointment, rules, and chores can be so difficult for ADHD peopl…

Oh man, speaking to the choir. When I'm coding something interesting, my motivation and ability to focus is second to none. When it comes to things that don't massively interest me my brain is completely unable to focus. I've got better. It's like our brains are like a magnetic pole. Some stuff is a opposite pole (so our brains magnetise towards it), and some are like the same pole and your mind is repelled from the…

Oh man, honestly this sort of thing has happened to me!

Re: ADHD Is Fuel for Adventure

#80

Post by cylinder » Fri, Jan 29, 2016, 1:44 AM UTC

antihero wrote: post #50

spacedmountain wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would further polish your desription - and call it a disorder of mismatched motivation. People with ADHD can motivate just fine on things that stimulate them - and have even reported 'hyperfocus', a trance-like state of emersion in something. The problem is things that are not stimulating become very challanging or even impossible. This is why bills, appointment, rules, and chores can be so difficult for ADHD peopl…

Oh man, speaking to the choir. When I'm coding something interesting, my motivation and ability to focus is second to none. When it comes to things that don't massively interest me my brain is completely unable to focus. I've got better. It's like our brains are like a magnetic pole. Some stuff is a opposite pole (so our brains magnetise towards it), and some are like the same pole and your mind is repelled from the…

I look at people who are intrinsically motivated, seemingly all the time, with amazement. How are they able to consistently and constantly remain motivated? Is it because they have positive momentum in their results and I don't?

I am motivated by novel stimuli and challenges but once I figure it out and they become routine it almost becomes painful to keep working on it.