Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#71

Post by jacquesm » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:14 PM UTC

jawngee wrote: post #28

Marijuana + Exercise. Seriously. I was having exactly the same issues recently, mostly the result of burning out in a giant flame from my last gig. MJ and getting off my mildly chubby ass were huge boons to productivity. YMMV, but it's worth a shot. I'd go for something a long the lines of Sour Diesel or BC Blueberry are strains I've found to really increase concentration and focus without making one lazy or sleepy.

I'm kind of upset at the ease with which the use of Marijuana is advocated here for just about every disorder that people might suffer from.

For one it is possibly an illegal substance, second, it affects your brain in ways that would require a lot of research before you commit to it, after all, a programmers most critical resource is their brain.

Now, I know some people that function very well in spite of using significant amounts of pot, but I also know a much larger number of people that managed to turn a mediocre career in to a non-existant one because of their use of pot.

If you want to advocate the use of drugs I really don't think HN is the place to do it, if only because it is not exactly legal in most places, but most of all because you are possibly sending someone from the frying pan in to the fire and you won't be around to pick up the pieces should it go wrong.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#72

Post by stan_rogers » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:28 PM UTC

Take this seriously. Very seriously. What you're describing may be no more than acute stress, something that can be fixed with a proper vacation (as in "completely vacate your life" -- go on a camping trip, visit an ashram or monastery, spend some time wwoofing) and a subsequent lifestyle change to allow for periods of relaxation and enjoyment during your normal routine. Or it may be something much bigger.

As a sober alcoholic (25 years), I can tell you from my experience that the number of people who say "I think I may be addicted" without actually having a problem is statistically insignificant. Not that you necessarily have an addiction as such, but that you probably sense that you're using (whatever) in a different way than you once did. In other words, you're self-medicating -- and you want to address what it is that you're medicating. Again, that may be acute stress, and a quick fix may do the trick. ("Mental illness" includes things like acute stress, depression, anxiety and so forth, so even if you aren't heading for major psychosis, the feeling that you're going crazy is more than just a feeling. And it's a positive feedback loop -- anxiety about your anxiety is crazy-making.) If you've stepped over the line into real dependency, then it'll take a little more work, and there are a lot of solutions out there. The alternative to getting help is exemplified in the gutters and alleyways of any major city.

On the other hand, medicating aside, you are also describing what I went through during the early onset phase of Lewy Body Dementia about five or six years ago. Not fixable, not fun, a bugger to diagnose, but its progress can be slowed. I ignored the symptoms for long enough (there was always a reasonable explanation) that I now walk around like a late-stage Parkinson's sufferer, get lost on familiar streets, forget the names of the people closest to me, and soil my trousers from time to time despite receiving the best possible medical care.

Are you taking this seriously yet?

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#73

Post by paolomaffei » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:32 PM UTC

yes yes yes this is me too :( i dont find code/work to be enough interesting to need to do them, and since i have no fixed deadlines i end up researching/reading a lot and producing almost nothing.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#74

Post by jiganti » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:33 PM UTC

mrleinad wrote: post #32

Modafinil

Or provigil. But I don't suggest either as longterm solutions unless you get psychiatric confirmation that medication is necessary.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#75

Post by moconnor » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:35 PM UTC

jawngee wrote: post #28

Marijuana + Exercise. Seriously. I was having exactly the same issues recently, mostly the result of burning out in a giant flame from my last gig. MJ and getting off my mildly chubby ass were huge boons to productivity. YMMV, but it's worth a shot. I'd go for something a long the lines of Sour Diesel or BC Blueberry are strains I've found to really increase concentration and focus without making one lazy or sleepy.

Marijuthingy? But this is why God invented Adderall!

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#76

Post by Eliezer » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:39 PM UTC

Sitting next to another person while I tried to write my rationality book increased my productivity by at least 400%.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#77

Post by fmora » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:48 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #71

jawngee wrote: post #28

Marijuana + Exercise. Seriously. I was having exactly the same issues recently, mostly the result of burning out in a giant flame from my last gig. MJ and getting off my mildly chubby ass were huge boons to productivity. YMMV, but it's worth a shot. I'd go for something a long the lines of Sour Diesel or BC Blueberry are strains I've found to really increase concentration and focus without making one lazy or sleepy.

I'm kind of upset at the ease with which the use of Marijuana is advocated here for just about every disorder that people might suffer from. For one it is possibly an illegal substance, second, it affects your brain in ways that would require a lot of research before you commit to it, after all, a programmers most critical resource is their brain. Now, I know some people that function very well in spite of using sign…

A whole younger generation in America seems to be more into Marijuana, and they don't see it as wrong. And these are usually middle class kids. That is probably why a lot of people here seem to be really casual about it. And now let the down voting begin.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#78

Post by maqr » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:49 PM UTC

joe_the_user wrote: post #40

maqr wrote: post #25

I'll say it: You should do drugs. You're describing a brain problem. It might be caused by poor diet, sleep, life perspective, etc. But whatever the cause, it's a problem in your brain; and it's probably fixable with drugs. If you feel you have an ADHD problem (which is what it sounds like), there's a variety of pills that can correct your symptoms. This quiz is fairly accurate in terms of diagnosis (really, self-ans…

Diagnosing someone over the Internet seems a bit premature.

No diagnosis here, it's just what it sounds like to me. I'd encourage the OP to go see a doctor and consider medication. But it seems silly to me to rule out drugs at all, given how much effort has been put into researching and applying them.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#79

Post by fmora » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:50 PM UTC

You probably just have programmers block. Give in to your distractions for an entire day or two. You'll get so sick of them that you may want to go back to programming. Going to a cafe to work is also a really good idea. Have done a lot of work in them. We all go through these problems.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#80

Post by goodside » Sun, Jul 25, 2010, 9:58 PM UTC

Instead of asking HN, ask a doctor. What you're describing sounds like the textbook symptoms of ADHD. Numerous studies have shown psychotherapy to be ineffective for ADHD compared to medication therapies, which have remarkably high success rates (much more so than, say, antidepressants do for depression) and relatively good side effect profiles.