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I'm an addict

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Re: I'm an addict

#281

Post by BobbyJo »

iamcurious wrote: post #264
eric_cc wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No matter what the subreddit is, it’s full of radically far left political comments. They get upvoted and any attempt to provide reason gets downvoted. Not sure how it became this way but perhaps it’s as simple as what you say: > People sound like I did 10-15 years ago when I lacked the life experience They’re kids. Or perhaps it’s more sinister and coordinated. Either way, the political component of Reddit has made…

As a non-unitedstatian, the entirety of reddit seems super right wing to me. You deserve free universal medical care.

It's the lack of nuance that makes any conversation far .

I was pretty left wing until the whole AOC "scarcity is a lie" wing of the party started taking over all online conversation. I'm sure the same applies to conservatives and Boebert/Greene nutjobs.

I'm sure whether you see Reddit as left or right is mostly colored by the comments and posts that stick out to you, and those are probably the ones you find crazy or distasteful.

Re: I'm an addict

#282

Post by FeepingCreature »

Otek wrote: post #52
FeepingCreature wrote: post #28

Consider talking to a doctor about ADD? (Alternatively, get some Adderall somewhere and experiment.) Executive control is a distinct mental capability.

Please don't ever again recommend to someone with problems randomly that they should "get some amphetamine somewhere and experiment". Okay?

Eh, as I understand it this (Adderall "abuse") is fairly common and mostly doesn't have bad consequences.

Note that inability to concentrate reliably has fairly severe downsides as well, like (at the extremes) inability to hold a job. This is not good for your medical situation either!

Depending on person, "ask a roomie to try their meds" can be a lot more viable than "go and talk to a medical professional." And it comes with a safety valve - your roomie will presumably cut you off if you get problems. Plus the dosage will be predictable and there won't be random additions. Note that I didn't say to go try meth.

(Google "death by adderall". It's not hard to avoid.)

Of course if there's medical contraindications like blood pressure or heart conditions this is a bad idea, but first of all the side effect profile is pretty mild, and second if you have a medical condition you should already know to not take meds on the basis of random HNews recommendations. - Actually, they should know their preferred risk profile anyway. I'm just reminding them that the option exists.

Re: I'm an addict

#283

Post by narag »

thomastjeffery wrote: post #271

Sounds like OP isn't necessarily an addict: they have ADHD. Half the article was them complaining about poor working memory, and the rest about getting stimulation/dopamine from unhealthy sources. Everyone has "a little ADHD". We all occasionally , forget things, hyperfocus on things we are excited about, etc. ADHD is the disorder of having those struggles so often it's debilitating. It stems from having an underdeve…

Another alternative explanation, that I find that extends to many alleged addictions is that he is avoiding doing what he needs to do because anxiety.

A recent related post:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31408431

Re: I'm an addict

#284

Post by jnovek »

thomastjeffery wrote: post #271

Sounds like OP isn't necessarily an addict: they have ADHD. Half the article was them complaining about poor working memory, and the rest about getting stimulation/dopamine from unhealthy sources. Everyone has "a little ADHD". We all occasionally , forget things, hyperfocus on things we are excited about, etc. ADHD is the disorder of having those struggles so often it's debilitating. It stems from having an underdeve…

You alluded to this, but I think it’s worth saying explicitly:

People with ADHD are 2.7 times more likely to deal with depression than people without.

This is very subjective and I can’t put a finger on what it is exactly but something in this post just feels like depression.

Re: I'm an addict

#285

Post by thomastjeffery »

wnolens wrote: post #240
comboy wrote: post #31

Here's what worked for me. 1. Ask yourself why do you think this is a problem and debug deeply. Maybe, after all, spending day watching videos is fine and what you want to do and the story that you don't is unnecessary. 2. Once you bring it to your conscious mind, you face a decision, do I want to watch videos and maybe learn something and relax, given that it comes with not delivering some things I promised and doin…

I think we have completely different brains. What you said hits me like someone telling me to "be happy" when I'm depressed. It's not a matter of rationalization. I am jealous this works for you. Life would be so much easier if my intrinsic motivation was well-aligned with my rational thinking.

If that's your experience most of the time, you might have ADHD. Here's a good (chest yet informative) introduction to the subject: https://m.youtube.com/c/HowtoADHD

Re: I'm an addict

#286

Post by burner22 »

thomastjeffery wrote: post #271

Sounds like OP isn't necessarily an addict: they have ADHD. Half the article was them complaining about poor working memory, and the rest about getting stimulation/dopamine from unhealthy sources. Everyone has "a little ADHD". We all occasionally , forget things, hyperfocus on things we are excited about, etc. ADHD is the disorder of having those struggles so often it's debilitating. It stems from having an underdeve…

I feel seen.

My mechanism for remaining focused and getting through work has been to consume harder illicit substances, mostly cocaine. It's effective but definitely not sustainable long time and I'm not too sure where from here.

Re: I'm an addict

#287

Post by anonymoushn »

Otek wrote: post #52
FeepingCreature wrote: post #28

Consider talking to a doctor about ADD? (Alternatively, get some Adderall somewhere and experiment.) Executive control is a distinct mental capability.

Please don't ever again recommend to someone with problems randomly that they should "get some amphetamine somewhere and experiment". Okay?

why, sounds like a great idea.

Re: I'm an addict

#288

Post by bin_bash »

eric_cc wrote: post #232
bin_bash wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in my mid-30's. I quit reading Reddit because in pretty much all the subreddits I was in I started to feel old. People sound like I did 10-15 years ago when I lacked the life experience I have now. I don't have this experience on HN really. I suspect I'm closer to the average age here. There is the occasional poor opinion but it usually gets downvoted pretty hard. Even people that I disagree with I learn a lot fr…

No matter what the subreddit is, it’s full of radically far left political comments. They get upvoted and any attempt to provide reason gets downvoted. Not sure how it became this way but perhaps it’s as simple as what you say: > People sound like I did 10-15 years ago when I lacked the life experience They’re kids. Or perhaps it’s more sinister and coordinated. Either way, the political component of Reddit has made…

You're being downvoted for bringing up politics—or maybe the "sinister and coordinated" sentence which I certainly find hard to believe. That's actually interesting since I was going to include pretty much this in my parent comment but left it out since I thought it would cause people to miss my point.

I think like a lot of people I'm moving more towards the center from the left as I get older and I find this is a point of contention with me and people on reddit. It's not only that though, it's also things like people being dogmatic about particular programming languages. I used to do that too but now I tend to see the world in grayscale. There are positives and negatives about pretty much everything.

Regardless, I think this is mostly an age thing since people remind me so much of younger self. I don't think they're even wrong necessarily but I did find myself practicing "Duty Calls" quite often: https://xkcd.com/386/

Re: I'm an addict

#289

Post by Robotbeat »

bsedlm wrote: post #249
supernihil wrote: post #160

I dont like the idea of replacing the time spend compulsively procrastinating with "learning a new language, getting a pet, going to the gym" is the right way. I see the root cause (for me atleast (used to read HN and blogs for 4 hours everyday)) is that i cant stand being with myself. During the last two months ive been trying to not panic when i'm idle. And not take out my phone or read the nearest material i can l…

> I hold unto my right as a mammal to be inefficient and sit drooling looking at trees. yes, I even like framing this as an environmental conservation activity. I'm doing nothing at all (only consuming oxygen, no content, no nothing) as a conscious action to save the environment.

I don’t want to guilt anyone here, but just sitting there and consuming oxygen and therefore calories is a significant environmental impact. Feeding humans, especially fresh fruits and vegetables or meat, has a pretty large environmental impact. (Staples like grains and such don’t because they’re storable and calorie-dense on a per-acre metric.)

And humans can have a positive impact on the environment. We can plant trees, do civil engineering to shore up damaged ecosystems, care for animals, develop cleaner ways to live and make food, etc. humans do not have to be a net negative for the environment.

Which isn’t to say that resting and daydreaming are bad or net negative. I think they’re good! Even if just good for the soul, that helps fight the encroaching nihilism of modern life and think more in a positive-sum manner.

Re: I'm an addict

#290

Post by jnovek »

narag wrote: post #283
thomastjeffery wrote: post #271

Sounds like OP isn't necessarily an addict: they have ADHD. Half the article was them complaining about poor working memory, and the rest about getting stimulation/dopamine from unhealthy sources. Everyone has "a little ADHD". We all occasionally , forget things, hyperfocus on things we are excited about, etc. ADHD is the disorder of having those struggles so often it's debilitating. It stems from having an underdeve…

Another alternative explanation, that I find that extends to many alleged addictions is that he is avoiding doing what he needs to do because anxiety. A recent related post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31408431

Both could be true: for a person with ADHD, lack of stimulation can cause anxiety.
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