Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#31

Post by AlwaysRock » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 3:57 PM UTC

geocrasher wrote: post #11

throwawaytemp29 wrote: post #4

100% this. I have been struggling with this for the last 5 years and only after my son was diagnosed with ADHD did I realize that I have it as well. Just having an explanation for the challenges makes life easier and I don’t have to beat myself up about it so much.

I learned I had ADHD last year. I'm in my mid 40's. Just knowing I had ADHD, and learning that I don't think the way normal people think was a huge burden unloaded for me. I'm not lazy, I'm not stupid. I'm atypical. I have executive dysfunctions. It's Normal for ADHD people to do things the way I do. That doesn't mean I like it, but it empowers me to recognize it. THEN I can work around it.

This is true for me as well. I've never taken medication for my ADHD but therapy and KNOWING has helped me tremendously.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#32

Post by bmitc » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 3:58 PM UTC

thebigspacefuck wrote: post #24

I got on meds for ADHD and they objectively didn’t help that much. I also felt like my pulse and emotions were greatly elevated in confrontational situations to an uncomfortable extent (though caffiene was involved). The other aspect was that it was almost $300/month for a prescription. In social situations they did help a bit. Any impact on productivity was minor. I’d also say right after the meds kicked in I would…

Is it possible that you don't have ADHD? I am not an expert, but it is my understanding that the medications affect those with and without ADHD totally differently.

In reponse to the original post, I don't think psychiatrists are really the ones who should be diagnosing ADHD. It is again my understanding that neuropsychologists should be the ones administering the tests and diagnosis, where psychiatrists will then manage the medications.

For myself, I was convinced that I had ADHD but went through neuropsychological testing. It turns out that the primary diagnosis is that I just have severe anxiety, which shares a lot of the symptoms but with completely different cause mechanisms.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#33

Post by falcolas » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 3:59 PM UTC

zug_zug wrote: post #27

Interesting. I'm among the wide swath of people who is trying to decide exactly what proportion of my disinterest in work comes down to me. But I'd love to hear from people who have been sticking with a drug for over a year (or conversely people who tried a drug but it didn't stick for a full year)

I've been on them for closing in on a decade. My dosage is stable, and they make it possible to use other coping methods.

Which is to say that without meds, I can't concentrate long enough to use a coping method, or the coping method just doesn't work.

"You can't sit down until you do X" doesn't work when you're bouncing all over the place, or hyperfocusing on Y - when your brain can't concentrate enough to view sitting down as a reward.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#34

Post by whalesalad » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 3:59 PM UTC

Do we all have ADHD or are stimulants just good? Seriously. Pretty soon all of us will be on legal meth and we sit back and go "hey this is fun I get this from my doctor it's good" and yet as a society we judge meth, crack and cocaine addicts.

Nearly anyone will respond well to a stimulant.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#35

Post by annie_muss » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 4:00 PM UTC

bvanderveen wrote: post #22

A tautology: Adderall improves everyone’s ADHD symptoms! ADHD is just what life feels like when you’re not on speed. Cut down on pot and booze, move your body, avoid stressors, and take control of your things in your life. Don’t rationalize/medicalize your way into a permanent cognitive disability. You’re in control!

ADHD does real damage to people's lives. Unemployment, divorce, secondary health effects. These are serious issues. The disorder is bit sooner vague feeling of disorganization.

Before I was diagnosed I had a good exercise habit, ate well, used a calendar and a todo list and my life was still a mess. After getting diagnosed and medicated I see a steady gradual improvement in all aspects of my life.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#36

Post by lgleason » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 4:00 PM UTC

xyzzy4747 wrote: post #13

I don't think the problem is that you can't focus - the problem is that the reward isn't high enough. I know your post isn't money-related, but let me digress. What is the point of fixing your procrastination? What goal are you really trying to achieve? If you can't pay attention in project meetings, so what? It's not like you'll get a $100,000 bonus for doing so. If there was a $10 million gold bar in the bottom of…

That is not how ADHD works. A person with untreated ADHD will not improve much even with incentives like this without treatment. The problem is that when it is untreated the executive part of the brain is not firing correctly because of a chemical imbalance. The meds help to fix that.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#37

Post by rayusher » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 4:01 PM UTC

thebigspacefuck wrote: post #24

I got on meds for ADHD and they objectively didn’t help that much. I also felt like my pulse and emotions were greatly elevated in confrontational situations to an uncomfortable extent (though caffiene was involved). The other aspect was that it was almost $300/month for a prescription. In social situations they did help a bit. Any impact on productivity was minor. I’d also say right after the meds kicked in I would…

One thing that isn't talked enough is the importance of regular exercise for managing adhd. Humans are not to designed to sit on our butts all day.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#38

Post by waprin » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 4:01 PM UTC

bvanderveen wrote: post #22

A tautology: Adderall improves everyone’s ADHD symptoms! ADHD is just what life feels like when you’re not on speed. Cut down on pot and booze, move your body, avoid stressors, and take control of your things in your life. Don’t rationalize/medicalize your way into a permanent cognitive disability. You’re in control!

5 years ago I would have downvoted you.

Based on some unfortunate personal experiences I have to emphatically agree. I would also throw cut down on social media / porn / addictive games as very important if you’re identifiying as ADHD.

Amphetamines like Adderall have issues with long term tolerance and can have adverse effects on your cardiac health and mood, both of which I unfortunately experienced.

They mostly work by spiking dopamine which there are non pharmaceutical ways to accomplish such as cold water therapy and being more cautious with your baseline dopamine levels (hence the importance of avoiding cheap , easy spikes of those levels).

It’s obviously a complex issue still being figured out by scientists but there is a zeitgeist pushing people towards pills as the simple solution when increasingly the science demonstrates that lifestyle change is both more effective long term and lacks adverse side effects.

I do think psychiatric meds can be appropriate in extreme circumstances and in cases where they temporarily help people “course-correct” . But people viewing them as a panacea because someone’s having a stimulant honeymoon should dig deeper.

Finally, I get ADHD meds advertisement on Facebook constantly. There is simply a financial incentive to push people towards pills over lifestyle change and it’s irresponsible to pretend that doesn’t impact any narratives.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#39

Post by falcolas » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 4:03 PM UTC

thebigspacefuck wrote: post #24

I got on meds for ADHD and they objectively didn’t help that much. I also felt like my pulse and emotions were greatly elevated in confrontational situations to an uncomfortable extent (though caffiene was involved). The other aspect was that it was almost $300/month for a prescription. In social situations they did help a bit. Any impact on productivity was minor. I’d also say right after the meds kicked in I would…

Did you work with your Psychiatrist to try different meds? There's a lot of different types, including some that are not stimulants.

I had 3 different types that didn't work for me until I settled on an extended release dose of an aderall derivative.

Re: Tell HN: If you have trouble focusing on projects/meetings, see a psychatrist

#40

Post by psyman » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 4:04 PM UTC

Good for you, unfortunately some of us with ADHD want to fly airplanes, and soon enough, realize that the FAA still lives in the early 1900s, where you have to "man up" and "deal with it". So we just silently suffer, every single day.