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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

#121

Post by thenaturalist »

nvarsj wrote: post #112

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…

Are you affected by ADHD?

Do you know someone really close to you affected by ADHD?

I am really frustrated by regular people with affiliation to the tech industry at best and stories about chemically induced productivity enhancement "lifestyle" experiments to question the existence of the condition.

I am right there with you when it comes to criticizing prescribing stimulants to anyone on a whim.

I can say that here in Germany any typical diagnosis includes submitting early school year report cards to establish the fact that what the patient is describing as lived experience was already recognizable during child/ early teen years.

I can say that getting the diagnosis and access to medication has been absolutely life changing. I am 30 years old.

I can say that having talked to other adults who were diagnosed late, they mostly share this perspective.

People are really suffering and anyone discrediting that fact is piling on top of said suffering for literally no reason.

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

#122

Post by striking »

whalesalad wrote: post #61
fein wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN doesn't seem to like to be told to stop taking heavy drugs. I agree with you. These things seem to be handed out like candy to whoever says the right things to a shrink. I think every single one of my neighbors has an addy script from willy wonka internet docs. When I was a kid, my parents were told to put me on meds as I didn't want to participate in school activities that I didn't find interesting. They smartly…

Give virtually any human being on this earth an adderall prescription and they will spend the next few months espousing how wonderful it is and how much better their life is. No shit buddy! It's amphetamine! Put it in the water supply to strengthen our GDP.

What's your take on caffeine?

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

#123

Post by haffi112 »

CommitSyn wrote: post #116
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.

Some people don't experience anxiety from caffeine whereas others do.

This effect has been linked to polymorphisms on the A2a receptor gene (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12825092/).

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

#124

Post by psyman »

ryandrake wrote: post #83
psyman wrote: post #40

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.

It's nuanced, and explained pretty well by this HN commenter[1] in a past article. Generally ADHD that is currently being treated is disqualifying, and reliance on medication is definitely disqualifying. Past diagnoses are a toss-up and you're gambling on the system / your AME. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25996306

Hence my comment about the FAA saying "just Man up" aka "coping mechanisms"

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

#125

Post by haffi112 »

green-eclipse wrote: post #48

Not ADHD, but some similar symptoms for me. I could not focus on anything at work. Massive procrastination. It was just brutally painful to try to finish things I was working on. Long story short: the culprit was sleep apnea. After a sleep test, I got a CPAP machine. After a bit of time to adjust to the equipment, it made a profound change to my life. The next year or so was perhaps the most productive of my life. My…

What made you decide to get tested for it?

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

#126

Post by nvarsj »

thenaturalist wrote: post #121
nvarsj wrote: post #112

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…

Are you affected by ADHD? Do you know someone really close to you affected by ADHD? I am really frustrated by regular people with affiliation to the tech industry at best and stories about chemically induced productivity enhancement "lifestyle" experiments to question the existence of the condition. I am right there with you when it comes to criticizing prescribing stimulants to anyone on a whim. I can say that here…

I believe ADHD exists. I've worked with children who have moderate/severe ADHD and it is very apparent.

What I'm skeptical about is the rise in ADHD cases only diagnosed in adulthood. I think there are likely other explanations for it rather than ADHD.

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

#127

Post by ynniv »

maxverse wrote: post #92
ynniv wrote: post #26

I did the same two years ago and it's been transformative. There are people who will tell you that medication isn't a complete solution, or that it's not the best one. They're not wrong, but telling someone who is drowning that they just need to learn how to swim isn't doing them any favors. I was 40 when I was diagnosed, and understanding the implications of that diagnosis has made my life much better. My first coup…

It's really helpful to hear from someone a few years out from a diagnosis. There are so many accounts from people who just started meds and are thrilled with how it's going and the initial excitement of "life didn't have to be this hard". I'm in the "I should really see someone" stage, and part of the reason I'm skeptical of these accounts is that I imagine stimulants would make anyone more focused and productive. To…

Now I can procrastinate on twice as many things! (It is important to realize that medication doesn't make you a different person.) I am still on it, and I did ask to slightly increase my dosage after 12 months. I'm often worried that the effects will wane over time, so I work on improving all of those long term tools (sleep, diet, exercise, etc), but the two most important lessons that I've learned are that its okay to be happy that you stopped drowning, and that caffeine is also a drug that is used to treat ADHD and no one feels guilty about using that.

There was an interesting point a while ago when I could focus on more, I could handle more, but I still couldn't focus on or handle everything... I was still just one normal person. But realizing that, making sense of it, and making decisions based on it, were also new things that were easier. As was connecting with the people in my life. Medication wasn't just making me better at work, but at being a human being. Obviously YMMV, but I think that in our society there is too much guilt around certain drugs. If you feel like you need a life vest, maybe try one on. As many people have said, it isn't especially difficult to stop.

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

#128

Post by fein »

striking wrote: post #122
whalesalad wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give virtually any human being on this earth an adderall prescription and they will spend the next few months espousing how wonderful it is and how much better their life is. No shit buddy! It's amphetamine! Put it in the water supply to strengthen our GDP.

What's your take on caffeine?

Unless you're dosing your morning coffee with amphetamines, why make the comparison?

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

#129

Post by orev »

vbezhenar wrote: post #120

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 li…

It sounds like you might have a sleep problem instead of a focus problem. Without good sleep, you can’t focus.

One thing to try is melatonin (0.3 to 0.5 mg). Take it around 8:30 PM, then stay up past the point it makes you drowsy (it will kick in in about 30 minutes after taking). Got to bed at a normal time like 11:00 PM. You’ll probably wake up around 7:00 and be wide awake, and have much better focus during the day.

Doing this will help you align to the rest of the world’s schedule, which like it or not, is really when most people are expected to be working and available, and will also help to align your social schedule with others.

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

#130

Post by tarokun-io »

I got on ADHD 2-3 months ago and my life changed.

Up until now, every day was an uphill battle, causing me tons of stress and anxiety. I, too, self-medicated.

I never thought anything of it because I was always able to work and finish stuff. It was my normal.

Now I know it shouldn't be that way.

I did try many other options before starting meds. They helped a little bit, but not significantly.

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