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For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

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Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#51

Post by giraffe_lady »

mxkopy wrote: post #38
selcuka wrote: post #15

Slightly tangential but this reminds me of the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut [1]: > In the year 2081, the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments to the Constitution dictate that all Americans are fully equal and not allowed to be smarter, better-looking, or more physically able than anyone else. The Handicapper General's agents enforce the equality laws, forcing citizens to wear "handicaps": masks for…

I don't have any sources other than anecdotal, but I'm under the impression many are diagnosed with ADHD as a result of behavior shown in school. It's almost like, ADHD is the disease you have when you're "unable to do consistent & focused work". Obviously medically it's some dysfunction in dopamine regulation, but how many underpaid overworked teachers/parents have access to equipment that would actually measure tha…

That's the second D.

If it's not a powerful enough effect to disorder your life, or you've developed adequate coping mechanisms, the diagnosis isn't appropriate. You can have people with the same subjective experience, same "symptoms" and one can be considered to have adhd and the other not. If you change your life in such a way that the effects you have are no long disruptive to it, don't negatively affect you, it's not adhd anymore.

What is a disorder or not is determined by the environment, not the individual. The social model of disability applies just as much to mental as physical.

Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#52

Post by bluefirebrand »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #43
klysm wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think anybody is diagnosing themselves with ADHD over this, but if you have ADHD it seems like a good thing to know. I definitely agree smoothed brown noise > brown noise though.

I’m not an ADHD emissary but… please folks, self diagnose. Don’t self treat, that’s what we do anyway. If you think you have ADHD, take it seriously until you don’t. If you’re still taking it seriously, talk to a professional. We’re wildly underdiagnosed, and you’re probably right.

Yeah.. I got diagnosed with ADHD at 34 and my life has improved substantially with the treatment following diagnosis. If I hadn't seen stuff floating around on the internet and "self diagnosed" (Reading people's experiences with ADHD and thinking Hey! That's me!) enough to ask a doctor about it, I'd still be struggling way more than I need to.

Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#53

Post by mxkopy »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #41
mxkopy wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have any sources other than anecdotal, but I'm under the impression many are diagnosed with ADHD as a result of behavior shown in school. It's almost like, ADHD is the disease you have when you're "unable to do consistent & focused work". Obviously medically it's some dysfunction in dopamine regulation, but how many underpaid overworked teachers/parents have access to equipment that would actually measure tha…

Speaking as an adult diagnosee, whose diagnosis had nothing to do with the behavioral problems in the DSM other than finding a way to fit my actual symptoms to diagnostic criteria, with a caring and mindful intake doctor and then a psychiatrist… I agree the diagnostics are unhelpful. I think takes like this are equally if not more unhelpful. I definitely struggled with boredom and didn’t mesh with the design of my ed…

The idea that an ADHD diagnosis can be a band-aid over a deeper personal or societal problem isn't a very unhelpful one, considering that it can reveal, you know, deeper issues.

I'm not saying all ADHD diagnoses are false. My prescription will always be, do whatever helps you. If a kid says ADHD meds/accomodations help them with no problems, then I'm very supportive of continuing that. But if others have been on and quit the meds even before adulthood, and they still feel unable to focus/depressed/etc., maybe we should consider that the problem isn't in their body.

Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#54

Post by etempleton »

I don't know if I have ADHD, but if I do an online survey it says I most probably definitely do. I was never diagnosed as a child because I largely functioned as a kid and was quiet and non-disruptive, but looking back the signs were all there.

Fast forward as an adult I have a number of coping mechanisms and one of them is to have something on in the background. I have never associated the effectiveness with the noise itself, but rather with something that is keeping part of my brain quiet. It prevents my mind from wandering. It is ideally something I already know. Like a show I have seen before or a podcast that I am okay not fully retaining. Not enough stimulation and I get distracted easily, too much stimulation and I shut down completely. Music doesn't usually work for me.

Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#55

Post by _yb2s »

Adult with ADD here. I like to use grey noise while studying and find it has even less of the annoying high pitch of white noise (vs brown). I also like the sound of a stream or creek, which is close to brown noise. Grey sounds like a very large waterfall to me.

These kind of noise also really help for blocking distracting background noises, especially when used with noise canceling headphones. I find noise canceling doesn’t work by itself because it lowers the noise floor so much you can hear everything still.

Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#56

Post by alvarezbjm-hn »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #14
treeman79 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Silence is horrible for me. Best is paid programming. Someone that keeps me on task. At home best I’ve found is ear plugs with music in background. Or I can take my medicine and the horrific pain of boredom goes away. I just get a few days of severe nerve pain throughout body.

Do you mean in ear headphones with music or actual ear plugs with music on a stereo? I don’t know why but I feel a million times better with ear plugs in. I had these etymotic ear plugs that were more like sound filters for years before I lost them, and I loved them so much. I’d wear them with headphones over top while working for this oddly silent and muffled sound experience. I didn’t replace the etymotics because…

Once I lived in the worst place noise wise. The street was transited at night, there were many dogs barking in the neighborhood, and people came in and out of the nearby rooms.

After one month, I managed to sleep by wearing something like these: http://static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/2FLL3_AS01...

and over that, thick headphones playing a recording of popcorn in a microwave.

I managed to stay 4 months there.

Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#57

Post by shaunkoh »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #14
treeman79 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Silence is horrible for me. Best is paid programming. Someone that keeps me on task. At home best I’ve found is ear plugs with music in background. Or I can take my medicine and the horrific pain of boredom goes away. I just get a few days of severe nerve pain throughout body.

Do you mean in ear headphones with music or actual ear plugs with music on a stereo? I don’t know why but I feel a million times better with ear plugs in. I had these etymotic ear plugs that were more like sound filters for years before I lost them, and I loved them so much. I’d wear them with headphones over top while working for this oddly silent and muffled sound experience. I didn’t replace the etymotics because…

I too love having AirPods in!

Do you clean your earplugs daily? I discovered I had to after a minor ear infection. Wet wipes alone didn’t cut it. Needs wet wipes + hand sanitizer. Don’t forget the case too.

I also made the mistake of putting the AirPods on too quickly after a shower. I was like 90% dry but inpatient. That too can trigger ear infections.

Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#58

Post by giraffe_lady »

mxkopy wrote: post #50
lghh wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But also plenty of them could eeeeek actually have ADHD.

ADHD is relatively known, and the solutions for it are institutionalized. In the U.S. at least, people not meshing with society isn't a problem that's super well documented and no institutional solutions exist.

You think... "people not meshing with society" is a new thing you've just discovered? That needs more awareness?

Rather than like, that's approximately half of what mental healthcare is, and "people not meshing with society" is known by dozens of different specific technical names depending on the details of what "not" or "mesh" or "society" looks like in any given case?

This is embarrassing. One of the worst cases of HN "I just noticed something outside my field so it must be a novel insight!" I've ever seen.

Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#59

Post by taberiand »

stevebmark wrote: post #36
austinjp wrote: post #12

It's always worth mentioning https://mynoise.net/ Donate if you can, it's a great resource. No affiliation, just a happy user.

More specifically open https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/whiteNoiseGenerator.php and press ‘b’ for brown noise. Use j/k for volume. I use this all the time, long before the article. White nose improves focus in everyone, not just ADHD folks. This workflow is part of my standard work. If I have a document to read, a code review, or something that’s not mechanical coding (which I use music for), brown noise helps incre…

That's definitely a much nicer sound to my ears than the white-noise hiss.

Re: For some with ADHD, the low rumble of brown noise quiets the brain

#60

Post by mxkopy »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #58
mxkopy wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD is relatively known, and the solutions for it are institutionalized. In the U.S. at least, people not meshing with society isn't a problem that's super well documented and no institutional solutions exist.

You think... "people not meshing with society" is a new thing you've just discovered? That needs more awareness? Rather than like, that's approximately half of what mental healthcare is , and "people not meshing with society" is known by dozens of different specific technical names depending on the details of what "not" or "mesh" or "society" looks like in any given case? This is embarrassing. One of the worst cases…

> "people not meshing with society" is a new thing you've just discovered?

> Rather than like, that's approximately half of what mental healthcare is

> That needs more awareness?

So you're saying mental healthcare (in the U.S., mind!) doesn't need more awareness, got it

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