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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?

#181

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…

What does "10x on productivity" mean? I thought ADHD would lead to lower productivity.

The flip side to ADHD is hyperfocus on things that draw your attention. This can manifest as a 12-hour coding session without breaks or even noticing the time.

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

#182
post #145

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

Literally LOL! My meds have been generic for so long that the most regular non-appointment-reminder phone calls I get are the pharmacy telling me that the manufacturer and appearance of the pills has changed.

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

#183
Mostly, it's helped me understand where some of my own idiosyncracies come from.

I don't take any medication for ADHD, mainly because I also have general anxiety and my understanding that is anxiety and ADHD medications tend to interfere with one another. I need the medication for my anxiety more; I've gone 30+ years coping with my ADHD symptoms and working around them, so I don't really need medication for them. But an official diagnosis is remarkably freeing, because at least I can finally say "THIS is why I'm like this".

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

#184
post #12

So my take maybe isn't the healthiest on this, not sure. If you believe you have ADHD, and your therapist believes you have ADHD, BUT your life isn't negatively impacted by it , why start treatment now? Ask yourself if you have any negative impacts from ADHD. Ask your spouse. Personal relationships, professional work, all aspects. If the answer is no, then why bother? Source: ADHD treatments that left me a zombie whe…

It’s literally only a disorder if it interferes with your life. Otherwise, it’s not a disorder. Like, it’s in the definition.

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/diagnosis.html

This is true of almost all of these disorders: no interference with life means not a disorder.

Saying “if you have no negative effects from ADHD” is the same as saying “if you’re alive when you’re dead”.

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

#185
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…

Whenever I visit the US, I inevitably end up sitting in front of a TV and I'm always so surprised at how many commercials are for drugs. Its just drugs and cars every 5 minutes all day long. I guess those groups have figured out how to advertise on HN now too.

Even as Americans we find these amusing. They tell you to "ask you doctor about x." Does anyone do that ever?

They're also unintentionally hilarious now that they can't read the side effects at super speed, so 50% of the commercial is watching someone play with their dog while you learn that this allergy medicine is going to give you diarrhea and suicidal thoughts and maybe a heart attack.

They must work somehow because they're clearly dumping so much money in them.

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

#186
My first reaction would be to say that if you are doing fine, don't worry about it. Yet, you sought out therapy for a family issue, and that therapist went to this place. Odds are that they believe it would help. So I'd be asking this question to your therapist, not to us. They know the details of the situation and are a professional, whereas we are neither.

After all, a therapist is a partner in your treatment, not a dictator. If you express discomfort at this idea and tell them so, they should be able to work with that.

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

#187

A family member told me it changed his life by enabling a consistent level of productivity that he struggled with before. I've considered exploring this because my level of productivity varies pretty widely, and I've had experiences that partly match other people's descriptions (broken sense of confidence in prioritization, too many ideas/interests)... but I also wonder: How do people who diagnose ADHD reject the dia…

I will say that I was diagnosed after college with ADHD and was given a prescription for Adderall. I get the feeling it was from a "script farm," so I didn't get anything more than a "yes you have ADHD, here's some drugs."

I tried the Adderall and the focus I always lacked was there; it felt almost like a super power. I explain it like being Cyclops from X-Men. I had this laser beam of focus: whatever I looked at I could focus on for as long as I wanted. But it also felt a bit like a performance enhancing drug, and something that was changing who I was by changing my brain, so I stopped taking it.

Recently I've started seeing a therapist who explained that my ADHD is not a deficit of attention, but a different way of how my brain works. Since I'm always thinking about a ton of things all at once I'm able to tie things together better than a lot of people I've worked with (or been in school with). If there's a crisis situation things slow way down for me and I'm able to think really clearly in the moment, instead of panicking.

The best part was that it was explained to me that if I ever needed to focus the way other people do (on things that I struggle to focus on), I can always temporarily "switch" my thinking by taking an ADHD drug.

TLDR: Initially rejected diagnosis, but have accepted it thanks to a better explanation from a professional.

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

#188
My advice: get a second opinion from a cognitive behavioural therapist. If you are already high functioning and happy with your life, mind altering drugs (which ADHD prescriptions most definitely are) could be a loaded foot-gun. CBT on the other hand is literally the same body of techniques used under other names by top athletes, musicians, and anyone else for whom real-time mental focus is a huge part of their career.

Please note, I am not saying ADHD does not exist, nor am I saying that the Rx's are not necessarily wonderful for some people, nor am I anti-drug. I have no doubt that for some people ADHD medication has been a life-saver. But it doesn't sound like you necessarily are one of those people, and there is no doubt a problem with a segment of the psychiatric profession being very quick to prescribe drug based solutions. The fact that you exhibit what your current doctor calls symptoms is not necessarily justification for changing anything or adopting a new drug regime. And we can all benefit from the mental discipline of CBT practices. I had an ex go through a CBT program for social anxiety and it was life changing for her - without drugs.

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

#190
I’ve been diagnosed a couple of months ago and here my main takeaways: 1) My self confidence improved: I know I don’t “mess up” because I’m lazy, stupid or don’t care - it’s just how my brain works 2) I can drastically reduce the amount of “messing up” by taking medication 3) Now I can get things done with half the mental strain and drastically less “mess-ups”

TL:DR - Therapy is also essential, especially if you have built an adult life & persona to counteract the ADHD symptoms. What is “you” and what has been a coping mechanism? It’s fascinating indeed.

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