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Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

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Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#161

Post by macksd »

I do not (AFAIK) suffer from ADHD, but having been in therapy for a while for other issues I had a similar concern at one point: I had a bunch of problems I wanted to talk about, I thought my therapist was missing the obvious and following a red herring with her questions. But she mentioned a book on a disorder and I read it: it was like reading a book written just about my personality. I had heard of the disorder, kind of a lot, actually, but it was nothing like what I had inferred. Understanding it better helped break a lot of unproductive cycles of thought.

If you're inclined to not treat your ADHD with drugs, I think that's admirable. But IMO it's important to have a period of time in therapy where you don't hold back and really try to understand everything that's going on with you. There's a great answer to your question in one of my favorite podcasts [1]. The wife in that relationship was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and, similarly: recognized herself in a lot of the symptoms that she didn't actually think were typical of ADHD. She's now on medication (some of the time, I think), but just knowing that was an underlying condition helped her, her husband, and her family manage a lot of relationship problems better.

[1] https://www.nottheworstmarriage.com/episodes/mental-health-a...

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#162

Post by lowdest »

anonymouse008 wrote: post #119
unbearded wrote: post #81

Have been taking Strattera for a few months and wonder how many years of my life I would have not wasted if I had been diagnosed with ADHD earlier in my life. I just turned 40 and I never thought I had ADHD until recently. Before I just thought my lack of attention on things was just the price of being a 10X on productivity (and I was a little arrogant because of it). The reality was that I chose to put my time on ta…

Did you ever experiment with Adderall, Vyvanse or Ritalin? How did you end up with Strattera? I’m trying to triangulate a course for myself and still can’t pull the trigger on any of these for fear of side-effects or dependence.

I've been on and off Vyvanse and Ritalin for a decade. Work with your doctor on side effects, I found Concerta to have the least side effects for me (long-lasting, tapers slowly at end of day, and fewer anxious feelings for me than Vyvanse.) I've also taken breaks from the medication for a year or more. It takes somewhere between 3 days and 3 weeks to feel like I'm not missing something when I stop the medication, but overall it's not that bothersome or unpleasant unless work/life is very busy at that time. Quitting coffee cold-turkey feels much worse, for comparison.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#163

Post by Romulus968 »

jiofih wrote: post #145

And let’s not forget to thank the sponsor of today’s comment, BigPharmaCo!

Go fuck yourself dude.

This isn't fucking "BigPharmaCo". This is someone who suffered and the meds helped. Believe it or not, mental illnesses are a real thing, and some of us need the help of medicines to deal with the issues. Take your conspiracy theory bullshit on somewhere you fucking clown

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#164

Post by Ensorceled »

nomadiccoder wrote: post #56

My doctor tells me that there is some theories that ADHD may be an evolutionary response to dangers in our environment. (like avoiding lions or being alerted to changes in weather) When I think about it this way I feel better about rejecting medications (or accepting them). Personally just understanding the pros/cons of ADHD has helped me identify some of my shortcomings. For example, I can focus for days on the wron…

> So I suggest you explore this to learn about yourself so that you can take the newfound information to make the best steps toward your personal/career/etc goals. That may be disregarding everything they suggest and refusing treatment, but understanding more about yourself and how your mind works cant be a bad thing can it?

I did that for 50 years before the diagnosis, I decided to try what my therapist suggested.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#165

Post by stevewodil »

tootie wrote: post #134
MotiveMe wrote: post #34

Before my diagnosis, ADHD was my kryptonite. I thought I was lazy, I couldn’t accomplish the things I needed to. It pushed me into depression and was quite hard. After my diagnosis, I felt like ADHD became my superpower. I know how to play to my strengths rather than my weaknesses. I know if I have an interest in something, I can dive into it and produce great output, and for tasks that need doing which aren’t intere…

How did you get your diagnosis? Every time I read the symptoms it sounds like me, but it also kinda sounds like everybody. What's the signal that it's a pathology worthy of treatment?

Not the person you are replying to, but generally speaking I look at getting a diagnosis (for most mental health problems) like so:

Do these symptoms cause me struggle with my everyday life? Are things that normal people do all the time oddly difficult for me to complete?

If so, go get a diagnosis. Everyone struggles with procrastination to an extent, but if you try to sit down and try to start the work and just CANNOT emotionally bring yourself to do the work or get your brain to engage, then it's probably something more than just normal procrastination. If you are frustrated with your inability to remain focused and complete things on time that are just not inherently interesting to you, recognize that most people don't struggle like that. It's not a discipline problem it's an emotional regulation problem which is common of ADHD.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#166

Post by scyzoryk_xyz »

It should be, and probably is 100% clear from your life story and problems that you have it. Regardless of how „successful”, „special” or „exceptional” you might feel you are. I have no clue what “neurological tests” mean because you’re the only one in your head capable of making this assessment. Also your loved ones, they’re the ones who have to put up with your ADHD and probably know it.

Try the meds. For me, it has been a complete life changer. Many many small things that I’ve always seen as part of me, or symptoms for which I’ve over-corrected for in my personality are suddenly changeable. I’ve never been more emotionally stable and effective in everything I do.

At the end of the day you’re the one that makes the assessment whether you have it. “Professionals” know only what they see for the 30-45 minutes that you come in.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#167

Post by bluefirebrand »

Frankly if you don't have problems in your life that seem to stem from ADHD then I wouldn't bother with it?

I got diagnosed with ADHD as an adult after struggling with my jobs for the first 10 years of my career, and getting fired from my previous one.

It so far feels like being medicated helps me switch contexts easier. It has not helped my focus really. Just that when I get distracted from what I was doing I can get myself back into it again more easily, instead of browsing my phone for 30 minutes before I get back to it.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#168

Post by failwhaleshark »

digitalsushi wrote: post #118
failwhaleshark wrote: post #65

ADHD-PI at 38. Well, it didn't help except to try psychiatric meds that I can't tolerate. 25 years after dad declared "Damn psychologist [sic] quacks don't know what they're talking about. They're liberals trying to control boys with medication. It's a myth!" And now I can't interact with people properly because they all think I'm a weirdo. How many close friends do I have? 0 How many friends do I have? 0 How many ac…

This is harrowing. I hope you can keep finding energy to give people a chance. I believe everyone has their 'people' but the tragedy is that it can take an entire lifetime to discover them. Finding someone with even less, and giving them some of yours, can have wildly unpredictable rewards. And even if there is no reward, it's still damned distracting in a way that we need. Don't give up on people, even when they all…

That's the "lite," family-friendly, optimistic version. Between the ages of 13-16, I fantasized repeatedly about how to blow myself up in the middle of nowhere to leave no trace.

When you do the same thing and expect a different result, isn't that the definition of stupidity or insanity? At some point, the problem is you if people react the similarly. So, it's either a matter of forcing other people to be uncomfortable, trying much harder to remember the thousands of ways to not make others uncomfortable, or giving up.

I am guilty of oversharing, of assuming familiarity too quickly, and of anxious-avoidance. And, more recently, I had a test result of testosterone come back as 200 when it was 800 (300-1000 normal)... no idea yet why it is so low, but I do have a headache, sleepiness, sleeplessness, and no energy at all all of the time.

I also need to look at it from another perspective: I am defective in the natural selection of things, or I would've been selected for. That's the breaks of mutations, recombination, and selection: not everyone can be a bulletproof, perfectly clear-headed, polyglot, polymath, artistic, model, comedian, and graceful social master.

Between about 19-20 (1998-9), I went hikikomori around the corner from eBay.

And then, 30-38 (2009-17) I lived in vehicles in the Valley.

I had to move during the pandemic but I don't know anyone in ATX. The neighbors I've met are by-and-large, immature, vain, gossiping kidults so intensely concerned about appearances and status amongst the other elitist, self-absorbed, self-esteem (learned narcissism), entitled nobodies. They're mostly sales people, low-level managers, marketing people, and coders of the Millennial generation from 75th-downwards colleges without advanced degrees who assume they're so amazing and living-it-up because they can afford a relatively-expensive apartment (it's cheap for me). They party too hard with substances, so I also backed-off.

Recently around the pool, I saw a guy who was a dead ringer for a Soviet illegal posing as a WASP from Spies Like Us. The two women he met were wearing dresses that looked like solid-colored Lolita packages with giant bows on the back. They were, of course, unwilling to acknowledge the presence of anyone but themselves. I thought I was watching performance art, some sort of kink, religious sect, foreign visitors, or they arrived on a time-machine from Massachusetts in 1987.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#169

Post by dkdk8283 »

matlin wrote: post #107

Anyone reading this should be extremely skeptical of internet strangers recommending drugs that gave them "superpowers", changed their life, etc. Taking these drugs will make anyone feel more focused, motivated, etc because these drugs are strong stimulants that cause euphoria, focus, and bursts of energy. Anecdotally, I've seen a huge uptick in posts of the format "how an ADHD diagnosis changed my life" on Reddit, T…

At my last company engineers openly bragged about strategies to get prescriptions and increase dosages. I find this behavior reprehensible.

If they were my reports I would have fired them.

Re: Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

#170

Post by q3k »

jkhdigital wrote: post #50
WhyNotHugo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, if _things_ distract you easily, it's one thing. Notifications are DESIGNED to distract you, if they do, that's not an indicator of anything. ADHD is more like "I was cooking dinner and got distracted by the idea of cleaning the toilet, so here I am buying new socks. Oh, the unfinished dinner is still on the counter."

Your example is a pretty extreme caricature; I suspect many of us are more familiar with the slower but broader version of this sequence where we gain and lose interest in careers/partners/lifestyles with alarming and exhausting frequency.

> Your example is a pretty extreme caricature;

It's a caricature? I've only recently learned that this is not something that everyone struggles with daily...

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