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How I Run a Company with ADHD

andrewaskins.com

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Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#11

Post by bigDICK »

Lazare wrote: post #6
justboxing wrote: post #4

Very informative article. The author didn't really delve into whether he uses meds to cope with ADHD. How do other people who have ADHD cope with it as startup founders? Do meds like Adderall, Ritalin or Concerta work? What about Nootropics? Asking cos this situation seems to be very common in our profession i.e. starting some side project, getting overwhelmed with perfectionism, distractions and never shipping. Is t…

I noticed the omission too. Even if he's not using any medication, that seems like something worth mentioning. Incidentally, I've had really good experiences with modafinil (aka Provigil). It's not approved for ADHD treatment in the US, but studies suggest it is effective, and it's widely prescribed off label.

Modafinil pales in comparison to Adderall. Very weak.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#12

Post by lioeters »

blakesterz wrote: post #2

ADHD sucks. I mean, it ain't cancer, but it sucks. I was never officially diagnosed, but when my son was at 7 is when I realized what ADHD really is, and that I'm an ADHD guy. Some how I made it through 40+ years with it and never knew it. I struggled though college, took me 9 years to get my BA. Somehow got a masters. Somehow managed to get a series of better jobs after my degrees. And I've somehow succeeded in life…

> Some how I made it through 40+ years with it and never knew it.

I can relate to this, and I think there's a potentially large underbelly of society, that many (most?) of us are walking around with undiagnosed personality "disorders" (let's say, traits) like ADHD, the autistic spectrum, agoraphobia, narcissism, sociopathy, and so on - maybe even ones we haven't discovered or classified yet.

The infamous DSMMD (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is a massive tome, where pretty much every member of human society can find a matching category..

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#13

Post by garmaine »

justboxing wrote: post #4

Very informative article. The author didn't really delve into whether he uses meds to cope with ADHD. How do other people who have ADHD cope with it as startup founders? Do meds like Adderall, Ritalin or Concerta work? What about Nootropics? Asking cos this situation seems to be very common in our profession i.e. starting some side project, getting overwhelmed with perfectionism, distractions and never shipping. Is t…

Yes the meds work. Stimulants and ADHD are one clear cut medical win. Stimulants have a >90% success rate, and the instances where they don’t work are often more along the lines of the side effects not being worth it. The only difficulty is in finding a doctor that will prescribe, and a personal regimen that works.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#14

Post by QuackingJimbo »

I disagree with his list of upsides -- there is no upside to ADHD. It is a disability. I've been able to manage it without using stimulants, through very careful planning and trial and error (step #1 is avoiding useless wastes of time such as reading HN). But it just sucks.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#15

Post by QuackingJimbo »

akarma wrote: post #10
blakesterz wrote: post #2

ADHD sucks. I mean, it ain't cancer, but it sucks. I was never officially diagnosed, but when my son was at 7 is when I realized what ADHD really is, and that I'm an ADHD guy. Some how I made it through 40+ years with it and never knew it. I struggled though college, took me 9 years to get my BA. Somehow got a masters. Somehow managed to get a series of better jobs after my degrees. And I've somehow succeeded in life…

As someone who also has it: have you tried medicine like Adderall? I’m so torn on it. On one hand, it makes me so productive, but on the other, it makes me so unemotional and cold and abrasive. It also makes me sweat, increases my heart rate, and has a terrible comedown when taken often. I was diagnosed at 16 and was on it for years, eventually moving up to 4x the dosage as my body grew resistance. I’ve stopped it fo…

It definitely helps the day to day but I cant help but think it is a horrible idea long term

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#16

Post by [deleted] »

garmaine wrote: post #8
povertyworld wrote: post #5

Edit: Off-topic, not ADHD related. Carry on.

Coaching does almost zilch to address ADHD needs. There’s some initial benefits, but it’s the same sort of benefit anyone would get from coaching. Coaching does not and cannot address anything specific to ADHD symptoms that manifest themselves in the moment.

[deleted]

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#17

Post by Biologist123 »

To the writer (if looking on this board), thank you for this piece.

Have you ever come across this article in the Economist, summarizing research providing evidence that ADHD is a legacy of our nomadic past when ADHD traits conferred an evolutionary advantage?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.economist.com/science-and-t...

My takeaway is that entrepreneurship is one of the few areas of modern life where ADHD might actually be a help rather than a hindrance.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#18

Post by falcolas »

akarma wrote: post #10
blakesterz wrote: post #2

ADHD sucks. I mean, it ain't cancer, but it sucks. I was never officially diagnosed, but when my son was at 7 is when I realized what ADHD really is, and that I'm an ADHD guy. Some how I made it through 40+ years with it and never knew it. I struggled though college, took me 9 years to get my BA. Somehow got a masters. Somehow managed to get a series of better jobs after my degrees. And I've somehow succeeded in life…

As someone who also has it: have you tried medicine like Adderall? I’m so torn on it. On one hand, it makes me so productive, but on the other, it makes me so unemotional and cold and abrasive. It also makes me sweat, increases my heart rate, and has a terrible comedown when taken often. I was diagnosed at 16 and was on it for years, eventually moving up to 4x the dosage as my body grew resistance. I’ve stopped it fo…

Work with a psychiatrist to try other meds. There are non-stimulant meds that work with ADD too.

Adderall is not the only option; it didn’t work for me. It took a bit, and I ended up with Dextroamphetemine. The physical side effects dulled down to the occasional restless leg, and the mental effects work well.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#19

Post by colechristensen »

blakesterz wrote: post #2

ADHD sucks. I mean, it ain't cancer, but it sucks. I was never officially diagnosed, but when my son was at 7 is when I realized what ADHD really is, and that I'm an ADHD guy. Some how I made it through 40+ years with it and never knew it. I struggled though college, took me 9 years to get my BA. Somehow got a masters. Somehow managed to get a series of better jobs after my degrees. And I've somehow succeeded in life…

ADHD doesn't suck. Forty years of 9-5 jobs, mortgages, university degrees, and elementary school sucks when you're the type of person who can get diagnosed as ADHD. The world discriminates against people who don't have the temperament to fit in to its patterns of society.

We don't quite know how to pursue ἀρετή, virtue, eudemonia, excellence, whatever you want to call it in life because modern life was built for another kind of person and the animal life we left behind is far gone. Advice about "fixing" ourselves is mostly about finding effective ways to fit square pegs into round holes (like Adderall)

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#20

Post by ryanianian »

QuackingJimbo wrote: post #15
akarma wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who also has it: have you tried medicine like Adderall? I’m so torn on it. On one hand, it makes me so productive, but on the other, it makes me so unemotional and cold and abrasive. It also makes me sweat, increases my heart rate, and has a terrible comedown when taken often. I was diagnosed at 16 and was on it for years, eventually moving up to 4x the dosage as my body grew resistance. I’ve stopped it fo…

It definitely helps the day to day but I cant help but think it is a horrible idea long term

I don't have the research handy, but Adderall has been proven very safe for long-term use when taken at "normal" dosages and with oversight by a doctor.

I've been on it for 20 years and with the oversight of responsible doctors, and I have never had to increase my dosage (in fact I've reduced it 25% in the last 5 years). All my heart/blood/* tests come back good and I'm not a particularly health-conscious person. I regularly take week-long breaks to assess if it's still the right regimen for me. (Like the parent post says, the days off of it can be brutal but avoiding tolerance and assessing its true impact are invaluable.) I don't "like" Adderall but it is the only way I feel sane.

My point: don't be afraid to seek meds that help just because you may fear some long-term effects. A doctor can help you decide if the long-term effects are worth the gain, and there may not in fact even be the long-term effects you're worried about, especially if you talk about those worries with your doctor.

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