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The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

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Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#221

Post by gwillen »

gwbas1c wrote: post #206
neutronicus wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm ADHD-diagnosed, and god damn do I wish I could just go to the store and get Adderall when I feel like I need it The fact that I have to call someone and get a prescription every month just makes it so that I go untreated for months at a time (kind of a cruel irony that ADHD treatment is gated behind the wherewithal to make a monthly phone call). And honestly I think modern life is probably such that most people c…

Maybe find another doctor? The couple that referred me to my primary care doctor likes our doctor because it's very quick for them to renew their ADHD prescriptions. BTW, I once tried 30 mg of Adderall and I felt like I would go crazy if I took it every day. I took it at 6:00 a.m. and I had heart palpitations, euphoria, and crazy insomnia past midnight. It's not really something that's as safe as coffee for the avera…

FYI, 30mg IR (immediate release) of Adderall is an absurdly high dose. If it was all-day it's merely a very high dose, much too high to start on.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#222

Post by teddyh »

zentiggr wrote: post #75
willcipriano wrote: post #35

I had a weird tick as a kid where anytime someone said something to me I had to mentally adjust the length of the statement so the number of words was divisible by 5. So for example if you said "Are you going to school today?" I'd add "my good friend, Will" in my mind. It drove me nuts, but I was unable to stop. Then one day it just went away. Still have no idea what that was but it plagued most of my childhood. I re…

I've had a habit for my entire adult life, of sorting the letters of words alphabetically in my head. The longer the word the better. It's even better when the sorted letters turn out to make any sort of repetitive pattern. And I count stairs, unless I specifically override the internal voice and say "1", "1", "1", "1,".... to myself.

“‘You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.’

‘Frequently.’

‘How often?’

‘Well, some hundreds of times.’

‘Then how many are there?’

‘How many! I don’t know.’

‘Quite so. You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.’”

Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson, A Scandal In Bohemia, 1891

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#223

Post by d136o »

would anyone agree that being a professional programmer encourages this type of OCD behavior?

I enjoy getting lost in the code/algorithms/craft, but sometimes I'm afraid of going all in for fear it's not so healthy/balanced.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#225

Post by bipson »

Call me a "uneducated layman" but that advice was my very first impulse while reading the pain the patient is going through.

Thankfully in psychiatry there is a push for "treating what is bothering you" against the Freudian "dig for the cause" - often patients are not served at all by the tedious and painful search for cause or roots of an itch, they just need a working remedy.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#227

Post by Markoff »

aspyct wrote: post #83

I personally have problems with doors, and stuff that should be locked. I can never be sure I locked properly. Totally did backtrack unreasonable distances just to check if I had closed the door. It's all fine when it's my door. Worst case scenario, I get robbed. However it's more of a problem when it's someone else's door. Worst case scenario, they get robbed, and that's a different story. Or pets get out... Obvious…

why not get some door sensor checking whether it's locked or open? they cost few dollars

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#228

Post by Markoff »

rootusrootus wrote: post #31
sunshineforever wrote: post #6

The idea that the entire psychiatric community wouldn't be completely on the side of the author is one of the reasons that I have such little faith in their field. The reason being is that the underlying condition could always be worked on after first taking the small, practical steps to dramatically reduce the impact of the problem. I have personally experienced situations like this and it was so frustrating until I…

The impact isn't the same, but I've been guilty of doing exactly the same thing with software bugs. "Sure, we could just do this little workaround and get you back up and running, but there's a reason for this and we would be better off in the long run investing in a real fix." I do have a limit, at least, after which I'll go for the quick fix and then try to follow up with a broader investigation. Depends on how sev…

Ah yeah, don't get me started on my things - I can't stand anything but inbox zero, I can't stand having anything in Trash (whether desktop or mailbox), luckily this is related only to computer and my smartphone and doesn't affect my daily life.

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#229

Post by blowski »

robotresearcher wrote: post #138
aspyct wrote: post #83

I personally have problems with doors, and stuff that should be locked. I can never be sure I locked properly. Totally did backtrack unreasonable distances just to check if I had closed the door. It's all fine when it's my door. Worst case scenario, I get robbed. However it's more of a problem when it's someone else's door. Worst case scenario, they get robbed, and that's a different story. Or pets get out... Obvious…

There's a very helpful method for being confident that you did something right, and while it may not be enough for people with compulsive disorders, it's great for many situations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling I think it works by recruiting more of your body & brain to the task of attending to something. Maybe the anxious could video themselves doing it, and watch it back later.

I don't suffer with this too much, but while the "point and call" method works well for one-off activities it doesn't do much for regular ones. I end up asking myself "I remember pointing and calling... but was that today or yesterday?"

Is there a way of using point and call, or a similar method, for helping with that?

Re: The Hair Dryer Incident (2014)

#230

Post by foxrider »

willcipriano wrote: post #35

I had a weird tick as a kid where anytime someone said something to me I had to mentally adjust the length of the statement so the number of words was divisible by 5. So for example if you said "Are you going to school today?" I'd add "my good friend, Will" in my mind. It drove me nuts, but I was unable to stop. Then one day it just went away. Still have no idea what that was but it plagued most of my childhood. I re…

Wow, that took me back. When I was a kid every time I would say something outloud I had to repeat it to myself, whispering, to "check" if sounds "good", and I had absolutely no control over it. It would also drive me mad and adults would give me shit for it because they thought I was just playing some dumb game. One day it was just gone. And I felt just like you felt!
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