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2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD

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Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD

#11

Post by xijuan »

nivekastoreth wrote: post #4
loceng wrote: post #2

It could be food-related. Look into an elimination diet ... Also, look into innerchild / regression therapy. There's usually an underlying reason why our behaviours lead to procrastination. Good luck. Edit: Oh, and yoga's good too. You can train the mind to be more focused. Everything takes practice to get good at it ... focus isn't any different - though with computers and multi-tasking, we sometimes think we're "fo…

I'll grant you that for the most part that's true, but for someone that actually has attention or hyperactivity disorders, telling them to "train the mind to be more focused" is equivalent to telling a depressed person to "train to be more happy". It's good advice, but positive willpower isn't always capable of battling the chemical/receptor imbalances that are the root cause of the issue.

But by doing yoga and other psychological therapy, your neurochemistry may be changed. That is how cognitive behavioural and mindfulness therapies work. I think in the end, your neurochemistry needs to be changed in order for the therapy to have an effect. But using drugs are not the only way to change your neurochemistry. In short, I don't think he is suggesting that the author of the article to use willpower. He simply suggests that maybe he can try some psychotherapy.

Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD

#12

Post by xijuan »

t0 wrote: post #8

Exact same situation. I'm switching majors. Edit: Another thought: Computer Science is boring as hell . Even the tiniest bit of ADD makes it impossible. Even a person without ADD will probably show some symptoms of it. Rather than figuring out ways to just "get through it", I think avoiding this situation altogether is a better solution.

Which major are you switching to ?

Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD

#13

Post by t0 »

xijuan wrote: post #12
t0 wrote: post #8

Exact same situation. I'm switching majors. Edit: Another thought: Computer Science is boring as hell . Even the tiniest bit of ADD makes it impossible. Even a person without ADD will probably show some symptoms of it. Rather than figuring out ways to just "get through it", I think avoiding this situation altogether is a better solution.

Which major are you switching to ?

Probably business. Something exciting. Sitting at a computer or solving math problems all day is a nightmare, even though I've been doing it forever. These things are usually a "sudden realization".

Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD

#14

Post by marshray »

In addition to all the other advice you get, consider this:

It's a not a minor thing by any means, but it is at least a relatively common thing. You're not the first person to encounter this.

Unless you're a literature scholar, no one will look down on you for not having read War and Peace cover-to-cover.

You don't have to figure it all out right away. You have the rest of your life to figure out how to operate your head. Thinking about thinking is fun, but too much at once can be like eating too much candy.

Keep up your expectations for self-discipline, it's valuable and has gotten you this far. That's enough for most people, but you're different. So let yourself off the hook a bit judgmentally.

A lot of folks end up having fun with it.

Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD

#15

Post by phyalow »

t0 wrote: post #8

Exact same situation. I'm switching majors. Edit: Another thought: Computer Science is boring as hell . Even the tiniest bit of ADD makes it impossible. Even a person without ADD will probably show some symptoms of it. Rather than figuring out ways to just "get through it", I think avoiding this situation altogether is a better solution.

Dude, I'm pretty sure I have ADD aswell, switching majors wont fix anything (somehow I did 2 degree's Computational finance and computer science). Switching wont fix anything!

Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD

#17

Post by marshray »

rtpg wrote: post #7
nivekastoreth wrote: post #3

I went through this myself a couple of years ago. I had managed to make it all the way through school but once I entered professional life, I realized that people actually had conversations that I couldn't keep focused for. Using urgency to complete projects no longer worked with the time frames I was looking at. The best thing in the world I ever did was go see a psychiatrist to get tested to see if I was ADD. After…

There's a stigma about the meds in a lot of places, but I still remember how much they helped me through middle school. I literally got math-related work done 10 times faster that way. Unfortunately the stuff that worked for me (Adderall) is basically just meth, and I can't get a hold of it in Japan on account of it being illegal. I think it's not even very possible to get a hold of ADD-related meds outside of the US…

Can we quit perpetuating this idea that prescription stimulant meds are "basically just meth"?

Different molecules, different delivery systems, different dosages, different therapeutic goals (euphoria not being one of them).

Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD

#18

Post by Xorlev »

t0 wrote: post #13
xijuan wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which major are you switching to ?

Probably business. Something exciting. Sitting at a computer or solving math problems all day is a nightmare, even though I've been doing it forever. These things are usually a "sudden realization".

Software engineers employ math sometimes, but the real world is nowhere near like solving problem sets and writing proofs.

You use this theoretical platform to empower your work and improve it.

Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD

#20

Post by wikiburner »

I haven't been medicated for my pretty severe ADD in years (I was very uncomfortable with the personality changes/dampening of creativity/unknown health impact of meds, etc.), thinking I could summon the willpower and discipline to get through it.

I've been spiraling downward in a tailspin of "unproductivity" - to coin a state of being - for a while now, leaving a trail of half started startups and projects in my wake. I've got freelance deadlines that I've missed this week, but I'm sitting here with 30+ HN tabs open in my browser, and probably 10,000 more bookmarked that I'll never read.

I've been working on the "final 10%" of several projects at a snail's pace, for way longer than the first 90% took, and I constantly vacillate between thinking they're the next big thing or a complete waste of time, but I can't - or won't - finish them. More importantly, I'm incapable of doing the smart thing and just choosing one to focus on.

If I'm honest with myself, I haven't been nearly as aggressive as I should have been in researching cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and other non-pharmaceutical coping techniques, or even pursuing some sort of therapy.

Am I kidding myself thinking I can somehow get past this without medication? Is there any other REAL path forward?

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