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ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

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Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#371

Post by wahern »

callesgg wrote: post #225
wahern wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a useful truth, at least not in the way you've characterized it. The way you characterize it says more about a misunderstanding of scientific knowledge in general, but especially medical science. Age 10 is roughly when children begin to realize that their parents, and adults in general, can be as fallible and ignorant as children. It can be a shocking revelation, but eventually you move past it. But some peo…

It's not a useful truth, at least not in the way you've characterized it. It think it is much more useful to think of things as they are rather than as what they are not. In this example: I think it is more useful to think "what is causing my ADHD behaviour?" Rather than using the explanatory model "I am behaving like this because of ADHD." The former can lead to finding models that allows one to mitigate ADHD behavi…

> Are you hinting that I stoped developing as a ten year old?

No, definitely not. I was just trying to analogize the "dirty little secret" bit to another dirty little secret we all directly experience. They're not really dirty little secrets; they're life, and there's nothing substantive that can be gleaned from stating these facts alone.

Similar to the Murray Gell-Mann Amnesia, though in our own private and professional lives we understand reality is complex and ignorance reigns, notwithstanding the polite fictions we maintain, somehow when we discover hints of this reality in other fields we think it's a noteworthy insight and something to criticize.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#372

Post by harrygallagher4 »

Wonderful article. I was diagnosed with ADHD but it was more of a "here are some pills, go away" deal. I've never had someone put into words the way I feel without my meds so... eloquently. It feels great to know that there is at least one person out there who understands. I am at a very low point in my life right now and this article has me sobbing with relief. Thank you to the author and everyone on HN sharing their experiences, I feel better right now than I have in a very long time.

Side note: I am also diagnosed with the other two ailments the author compares ADHD to, lol; diabetes and depression. Although I suspect that second one is just caused by years of untreated ADHD making me feel like a lazy asshole.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#374

Post by thelittleone »

vonseel wrote: post #47

I’m 31 and have ADHD (diagnosed in my teens) and I’m pretty sure NOBODY with ADHD is going to have the wherewithal to read this entire article! Unless it happens to magically coincide with their hyper-focus topic of the moment! In all seriousness, I skimmed parts of the article and kept scrolling and it just kept going and going and going... like the Energizer bunny. I guess the author found a doctor to prescribe sti…

I was diagnosed with ADHD. I live in South East Asia (always hot and humid) and found that the stimulants made me just too hot. Ended up trying modafinil. I would take it first day of the week get the momentum going and usually didn't need it for the rest of the week until productivity waned.

I found that getting started and momentum going is my biggest challenge. Maintaining it for several days after was not as hard.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#376

Post by fasteo »

saulrh wrote: post #333
matheusmoreira wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless it happens to magically coincide with their hyper-focus topic of the moment! It's funny. People with ADHD suffer from attention deficit but at the same time they display hyperattention when they encounter a subject they like. I've experienced it as well: once I start programming I have no problem doing it for 12 hours straight. I've found this trait in many ADHD patients. There's usually something that reall…

Attention Deficit isn't an inability to focus, it's an inability to exert executive control over focus. When there's nothing interesting going on this manifests as wandering attention. When there's something interesting going on this manifests as a crippling inability to process background events like appointments and bedtime.

This is a great definition of ADHD

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#377

Post by scns »

tartoran wrote: post #259
rubyn00bie wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would encourage you to really ignore the stigma that comes along with it, because I think it's endlessly harmful and only delays treatment for folks. The best way I can put it, was the first time I got a pair of glasses, I didn't know how bad my vision was (I was like 12)... when I put them on for the first time, I was shocked, I was in disbelief, "this is how everyone else sees?" Glasses are a tool to help you see…

I've taken stimulants, both Adderall and Ritalin and I can't stand the way they makes me feel. I don't have a very severe problem though but I do struggle sometimes with procrastination.

Maybe Bupropion works better for you

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#378

Post by ews »

I am surprised nobody has mentioned Gabor Mate's book Scattered Minds (Scattered in the US) which talks about his theory that AD(H)D is just a cope mechanism derived from childhood attachment issues or trauma with their primary caretakers.

After being diagnosed with ADD, and having rejected drugs, this is the first text that has allowed me to first get all the puzzle pieces in front of me and then let me build a proper picture of everything that has been happening to me for the last 20+ years.

I know I am getting late to the conversation and probably this comment will be buried, but I would strongly recommend anybody suffering from this to take a look at this book. It has been eye opening and healing as no other text has.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#379

Post by siljon »

saulrh wrote: post #333
matheusmoreira wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless it happens to magically coincide with their hyper-focus topic of the moment! It's funny. People with ADHD suffer from attention deficit but at the same time they display hyperattention when they encounter a subject they like. I've experienced it as well: once I start programming I have no problem doing it for 12 hours straight. I've found this trait in many ADHD patients. There's usually something that reall…

Attention Deficit isn't an inability to focus, it's an inability to exert executive control over focus. When there's nothing interesting going on this manifests as wandering attention. When there's something interesting going on this manifests as a crippling inability to process background events like appointments and bedtime.

I have had this problem through my whole life... My parents and I have never understood that this definition is ADHD and always assumed it was inability to focus. My mom have always been big about don't take pills unless you absolutely have too.

However it isn't until older age I finally been able to force my exert executive control to focus. It has taken a lot of practice and challenging myself and it wasn't until the age of 26 I finally been able to go to college. I keep challenging myself and I feel it get easier and easier every year.

So now I start to question the inability part. Or if it's something you can actually practice and get over.

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