91–100 of 109 posts
Regaining focus involves a few simple steps. First, identify distractions and eliminate them or create a conducive environment. Prioritize tasks by setting clear goals and breaking them into smaller, manageable segments. Use techniques like the Pomodoro method, which involves working in focused bursts with short breaks. Practice mindfulness through meditation or deep breathing exercises to calm your mind. Ensure adeq…
Chatgpt?
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That's interesting. I thought it was obvious that ADHD does exist because it's just a constellation of behaviors that some people indeed do exhibit. I feel like we agree completely on the base facts and somehow have arrived at opposite conclusions.
That's more a semantic disagreement than an opposite conclusion, considering you both agree the constellation of behaviors exists. The degree to which any medical diagnosis exists is on a spectrum. A cancerous tumor obviously exists, high blood pressure exists but is relative, schizophrenia - and psychiatric diagnoses generally - exist but can be more difficult to observe externally. The behaviors associated with ADH…
I'm not well-versed in the risks of stimulants given to children so I'm not commenting on that specifically, but I want to push back on the insinuation (if I understood you correctly) that ADHD or its treatments are any less legitimate because we haven't yet figured out if we can use brain imaging to diagnose and measure treatment efficacy.
It would be great if all medical disorders could be externally measured and quantified objectively, but when they're not, we often rely on evaluating and diagnosing them based on the (often somewhat more subjective) impact of their symptoms. That's not ideal, but it seems better than nothing to me.
Full disclosure: I'm also diagnosed with ADHD and take daily stimulants. Apologies if I came off as combative, I'm relatively new to my ADHD journey and genuinely curious to learn more about the medical/scientific aspects.
Any prolonged pattern of distracted behavior will get you an ADHD diagnosis, provided you say it's (1) part of a pattern dating back to childhood and (2) affects multiple areas of your life. That in turn will get you a prescription for powerful stimulants, and it's up to you to decide whether the artificial focus those provide is a solution to your problem, or a cop-out from it. (I personally don't believe there's su…
Feeling the same as OP and I've tried the vacation/detox thingy and I just came back worse. First I passed it as "just still in vacation mode", but as the days kept passing by, it did not get better. Might have to look up a doc too :|
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I’m sort of aligned on your ADHD view and would love to hear more from your point of view. Any book rec’s? Blogs? Podcasts?
So far I've been too distractible and absent-minded to do a proper nerd-out on the topic. :-) But I found section I of this blog post to be pretty interesting: https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-mo...
Full disclosure, I am diagnosed with ADHD and take stimulants daily, and initially felt pretty defensive when reading your comments here and starting to read that article. I have some problems with the article and generally find that author pretty insufferable, but the article concludes that the risks of medically-supervised stimulant use are low enough that the author personally finds stimulants worth prescribing to patients who benefit from them.
Even Section 1 which you specifically referenced, and which admittedly made me pretty annoyed until I read it a few times, and even though the author certainly seems to be trying to insinuate that ADHD isn't real, doesn't really seem to be actually backing up that point. His main point or objection seems to be that ADHD is diagnosed using arbitrary subjective criteria rather than objective measurements like other spectrum disorders (isn't blood pressure also a normally distributed trait, where we* "arbitrarily" draw a line and say people on the wrong side of that line have hypertension and should be prescribed beta blockers?).
I'll admit to feeling a little argumentative after reading some of the comments here but I do genuinely want to understand these points better, and I feel like I must be missing some fundamental context or point that the article is making.
*for various definitions of "we", since different countries and organizations define hypertension differently.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's interesting. I thought it was obvious that ADHD does exist because it's just a constellation of behaviors that some people indeed do exhibit. I feel like we agree completely on the base facts and somehow have arrived at opposite conclusions.
That's more a semantic disagreement than an opposite conclusion, considering you both agree the constellation of behaviors exists. The degree to which any medical diagnosis exists is on a spectrum. A cancerous tumor obviously exists, high blood pressure exists but is relative, schizophrenia - and psychiatric diagnoses generally - exist but can be more difficult to observe externally. The behaviors associated with ADH…
There’s nothing more annoying when people respond to you with “yeah, well, everyone feels/behaves/think like that”
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Huberman is the man. He's also got an episode specifically on ADHD which OP may find valuable.
Unless you go there for advice on health and sports performance, for which he dissminates much bullshit.
He is almost on par with bro-science fitness youtubers.
It could be ADHD, or just your regular brain on years of "cheap dopamine" (or vitamin deficiency, or under-stimulating goals, or a dozen other things). Exercise and periods of extreme boredom followed by some mellow stimulation (a good book, a conversation with an interesting person) never fail me. I start with "extreme silence mode" - no music in the car, no podcasts, no checking social media. Just silently moving a…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's more a semantic disagreement than an opposite conclusion, considering you both agree the constellation of behaviors exists. The degree to which any medical diagnosis exists is on a spectrum. A cancerous tumor obviously exists, high blood pressure exists but is relative, schizophrenia - and psychiatric diagnoses generally - exist but can be more difficult to observe externally. The behaviors associated with ADH…
> To my knowledge, you cannot scan the brain of someone with ADHD and point out an abnormality associated with the disorder. Yet we give 8 year old boys stimulant medication because they can't sit still in a classroom for hours a day. I'm not well-versed in the risks of stimulants given to children so I'm not commenting on that specifically, but I want to push back on the insinuation (if I understood you correctly) t…
I was playing devil's advocate to explain why someone might feel that way. My personal opinion is that every adult should have the right to assess for themselves whether they feel stimulants can improve their quality of life. The question of whether ADHD is "real" or legitimate is totally unimportant to me. And I agree with your take: if we can identify symptoms and effectively treat them, that is more important than uncovering some underlying "legitimacy" of the treated condition.
Congratulations on getting diagnosed. ADHD has the highest treatment success rate among psychiatric conditions. Be sure to keep up with all the other healthy habits for improving focus (sleep, exercise, nutrition, hydration, etc.).