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

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

#111

Post by striking »

falcolas wrote: post #106
freedomben wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likewise. I'm completely off caffeine now (though do occasionally have a coke on bad days) and I feel a lot better. It frustrates me how hard it is (at least in the US) to get medication.

Getting ADHD medication in the US is the single most ADHD-unfriendly activity in existence. Frequent appointments with multiple entities, all-too-frequent interruptions to these appointments (with and without mitigations), incredibly strict windows of time for refills, the #*&$ insurance system... And then there's the inevitable "you run out of meds and have to navigate all these hurdles without being medicated" gaun…

Well, there was Cerebral, but their CEO blew the situation up for everyone and now we can't have nice things.

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

#112

Post by nvarsj »

I'm becoming more of an adult-onset ADHD skeptic. I mean, there is even a crisis now because of an Adderall shortage [1]. People who legitimately need them (they cannot hold a job without it) are not able to get them.

I think there is certainly a spectrum of ADHD. Those with severe ADHD literally cannot function in society, they can't hold jobs, they can't get university degrees, without medication. Then you have the mild ADHD induced tech worker which is becoming more prevalent. Yes, meds are going to help as well. Possibly less social media, less dopamine hits, more exercise, and better sleep would help too.

Another thing to keep in mind is that burn out symptoms look an awful lot like ADHD symptoms. And burn out is very common in our industry.

1: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-a...

edit: Updated to be clear I mean people being diagnosed with ADHD as adults, not everyone with ADHD who is an adult.

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

#113

Post by anonym29 »

For struggles with executive functioning like you are describing, traditional ADHD meds (variants of, and combinations of variants of amphetamine salts) have been demonstrated to increase self-reported perception of productivity more than actual productivity. Try out Modafinil or Armodafinil sometime. They are not chemically amphetamines, and the actual productivity increases on those appears to match the elevated self-perception, rather than falling short.

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

#115

Post by antisthenes »

ecshafer wrote: post #98
carapace wrote: post #51

A friend of mine who's a neuroscientist likes to say, "Psychiatry is not a branch of medicine." He means it in a constructive way, the implied follow on is "that would be good though, and we should strive to do that." My point is, there are lots and lots of different kinds of therapy, and lots and lots of variation in therapists. If you are having problems seek help please! You're not in this alone and it's important…

The reality is that Psychology and Psychiatry are not built on top of science and are in no way legitimate studies of science or medicine. They have a loose cargo culting of science, built on some philosophy of the mind, but they are illegitimate and given far too much credence in our modern day society. The fields have basically 0 studies that have been reproduced in the last 100 years, have no theories that can be…

They are useful though to get a differing opinion in a comforting way.

I saw a grief counsellor that really helped me get through the bad event in a way that my untrained friends were not able to. Did I care in the moment about reproducible studies? Probably not.

But would I trust the same professional to medicate my children based on some hyped-up diagnosis? Also most likely not.

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

#116

Post by CommitSyn »

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…

Taking caffeine with Adderall gives me horrendous anxiety and heart palpitations so I don't drink coffee anymore. When I take adderall + magnesium I'm almost as calm as I am unmedicated.

For anyone else taking them both that may not have made the connection yet.

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

#117

Post by freedomben »

falcolas wrote: post #106
freedomben wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likewise. I'm completely off caffeine now (though do occasionally have a coke on bad days) and I feel a lot better. It frustrates me how hard it is (at least in the US) to get medication.

Getting ADHD medication in the US is the single most ADHD-unfriendly activity in existence. Frequent appointments with multiple entities, all-too-frequent interruptions to these appointments (with and without mitigations), incredibly strict windows of time for refills, the #*&$ insurance system... And then there's the inevitable "you run out of meds and have to navigate all these hurdles without being medicated" gaun…

Yes, 100%. The idea that you have to plan vacations around refill windows since they won't let you get more than 2 days before is utterly ridiculous. And at the same time they make it difficult to impossible to get your medications, they (the medical industry) will (with a straight face) tell you "don't go cold turkey off your medications"

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

#118

Post by uberduper »

waprin wrote: post #38
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 wor…

>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.

This is simply a lie.

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

#119

Post by striking »

joshcsimmons wrote: post #103

Psychologist? Yes. ADHD medication? No. Ritalin, Vyvanse, et al. are are legalized forms of speed. They mask the issue and will erode your reward system's ability to work naturally. > Following advice from my wife, friends, father, and here on HN, I looked for a psychiatrist to understand what was going on. After a lengthy consultation, the doctor told me I most likely had ADHD, and it got worse due to a more demandi…

Lifestyle changes work for some people, but coping with ADHD is not for everyone. Most of the folks taking the meds are not looking for some "medicated state of productivity" that is beyond human, they're trying to stop feeling the urge to get up and run around during meetings.

I spent 24 years of my life without the meds. When I started taking them, I didn't become substantially more productive at my workplace. I became substantially more able to deal with my personal life, my chores, my upkeep. That's it. And I felt like I had been wasting so much of my life looking for coping mechanisms, like I hadn't fully lived until I started taking them.

Or to put it briefly, the fact that I wasn't medicated made me feel less human, made me less able to enjoy the aspects of life and work that make us human.

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

#120

Post by vbezhenar »

My personal anecdote.

I have issues with focusing and prioritizing work.

What helped me is getting a work with absolutely floating work time. For example today I went to work office at 19:30 and I'm going to leave it at 7:00 or something like that. It doesn't matter. What matters is: I work prolonged hours (because I still procrastinate, but I've found out that I start to focus on work after 4-5 hours or something like that. And I can sleep as much as I need, without any alarm clock or calls. I usually sleep 8-9 hours, my whole day is something like 25-27 hours, so it's slowly rotating.

With these weird conditions I'm starting to unleashing my potential and it makes me feel so much better than before. When I'll get to work "late" to 11:00 in a sleepy state, will procrastinate until 18:30, when office is closed I'm going home without completing good work, then work overtime to finish sprint, getting burned out and this cycle repeats again.

I don't think that my current life style is sustainable and I plan to adjust it to a "normal" style slowly, but it's important to feel that I don't just slack at work and I actually do enough work to warrant my salary. This makes my soul happy and then I can move on with other things. Because when I feel uneasy, I can't really proceed with anything.

I don't trust psychiatrists, but it's just me. I prefer to find issues and ways to solve those issues. I tried to visit psychologist, but I felt that it's absolute loss of time and money.

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