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The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

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Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#161

Post by treeman79 »

whycome wrote: post #134
treeman79 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 40s now. Diagnosed a couple years ago. My career was a mix of huge successes and horrible failure. Really hard complicated and interesting projects I would shine at. Basically CTO founder type roles I was amazing. I stunk at routine day to day work. For me the worst pain possible is boredom. I’ve had kidney stones. Boredom is in same range. First time I took medication was shocking to find that the pain of boredom…

What did you end up taking? Similar boat

Vyvanse works best for me. But Causes me a lot of pain. So I only rarely take it.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#162

Post by cheeseomlit »

Tao3300 wrote: post #141
cheeseomlit wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mistake, I meant it in more of an 'often-abused mind-altering addictive scheduled drug' connotation. Not that a drug being scheduled is proof of harm in and of itself, but it seems like many people (particularly on HN for some reason) are in heavy denial that they are addicted to amphetamines and that it maybe isn't such a healthy way to solve behavioral problems. If you're an adult then fine you can make your own…

> many people (particularly on HN for some reason) are in heavy denial that they are addicted to amphetamines and that it maybe isn't such a healthy way to solve behavioral problems You've coasted into the territory of self-appointed expert on ADHD. To me, this reads as "I have no idea what ADHD is like or how to manage it. My mind can't imagine that other minds may work differently, so what would work for my mind mu…

No need to get so defensive, I don't think it's beyond the pale to characterize ADHD as a 'behavior problem'. And I don't think our minds are as different as you say- I take adderall sometimes when I have a lot to do and it helps me focus immensely. It does that for almost everyone believe it or not, you don't have be diagnosed with something for amphetamines to help you focus- it's what they do. I can absolutely understand someone who has trouble focusing seeing it as a godsend. But this hostile defensive reaction that many ADD-diagnosed have when you point out that taking amphetamines every day of their life isn't healthy is well, not healthy. Not to mention normalizing it for kids as I mentioned.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#163

Post by aatd86 »

k__ wrote: post #32
2bitencryption wrote: post #17

I just started working with a new team a few weeks ago. So far I've had "nice to meet you" calls with six or seven of the people on this team. And nearly half of them mentioned "by the way, I have ADHD, just so you know." And since I share so many characteristics with these individuals, now _I'm_ wondering if I have ADHD. Certainly the never-ending Instagram ads want me to think so. Or is this becoming a blanket term…

I went in an ADHD rabbit hole a week ago. I never considered my self suffering from it, my quirks were individual parts of my character! But now I highly suspect I have it. I lose focus all the time. For example, Going from doing laundry, to gathering dishes, and bringing out trash without finishing one of them. Or I can't read long articles with topics that are important for me but don't tickle one of my interests.…

Out of curiosity, do you have intrusive thoughts?

Or if you think about your thoughts calmly, at a distance, what pops up?

When you try to imagine let's say a chess board and the pieces on it, does it look clear to you? Or do you have difficulties controlling your internal visualization?

(if anyone also with ADHD wants to answer, feel free)

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#164

Post by imesh »

d--b wrote: post #49

Can people stop a second with ADHD-as-a-disease? It’s the society that’s sick!! Prevalence in the US is 10% of the general population. Many of whom have active social lives and high paying jobs. Those people play the game they have been told to play. Corporate bullshit, boring tasks, endless meetings, and then they complain to their doctors they don’t feel like it fits. Something’s afoot. and the doctors say: “right…

Going through University and working in tech has been extremely hard for me. I'm terrible at it. Sure, I can come up with an algorithm, I can write code, but something about doing mental work is extremely laborious to me. I spend 30 minutes panicking before I can even open an email.

This past year I took a break and went to work with my Arborist friend as a groundsman. Do I still have ADD? Probably? I can't tell. None of those ADD issues come up unless I'm working on a computer. The tree business has been going well and the work has expanded into all kinds of new opportunities. I don't think I'm going back. Especially if medication is necessary for me to succeed.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#165

Post by Disruptive_Dave »

methyl wrote: post #109
marketerinland wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey. Sorry to hear this. I have also been fired a bunch of times, and people describe interacting with me in the exact same way as you just described it. Your brother is consistently going for the wrong kind of job, from the sound of it. Operations jobs. I eventually succeeded when I switched to work that is more strategic and creative. I got really into language learning, blogging, website building, and then just fo…

I also run a bootstrapped company around with $10M reve as an ADHD founder. Drop an email to lucjan at surferseo.com, I’d love to chat and share experiences.

Big fan of you guys.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#166

Post by whatshisface »

cheeseomlit wrote: post #100
whatshisface wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twin and family studies reveal that it is genetic but don't reveal how genes cause it or which ones are involved.

How can those studies prove it is genetic if there is no quantitative way to diagnose it? If you could do a blood test or brain scan and make a diagnosis on physical data then sure, but until then it's all just conjecture

If ADHD diagnoses were random, fraternal and identical twins wouldn't have correlated diagnoses.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#167

Post by P5fRxh5kUvp2th »

dirtybirdnj wrote: post #126
k__ wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of my friends have ADHD. Probably because ADHD people have trouble getting along with neurotypicals

NTs have no incentive to understand NDs, yet the lives of NDs hinges on how much effort we put into understanding and being understood. One side is motivated to be open and communicative and the other is motivated to be insular and closed. I know the "us vs them" mentality isn't healthy but I've lived an entire lifetime in a societal warzone and I refuse to just roll over and pretend that I'm not part of a socially m…

Lets rephrase what you just said

> straight people are the problem for not wanting to date gay or trans people

It just is. Everyone has challenges, people with ADHD have challenges that can be particularly difficult for sure, but blaming others for not being like you is and telling them it's their responsibility is the same thing just reversed. It doesn't improve your situation.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#168

Post by alwillis »

bcoughlan wrote: post #99
k__ wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went in an ADHD rabbit hole a week ago. I never considered my self suffering from it, my quirks were individual parts of my character! But now I highly suspect I have it. I lose focus all the time. For example, Going from doing laundry, to gathering dishes, and bringing out trash without finishing one of them. Or I can't read long articles with topics that are important for me but don't tickle one of my interests.…

> Or I can't read long articles with topics that are important for me but don't tickle one of my interests. Can't concentrate on boring things - surely that's normal? It feels like they're casting the ADHD net wider and wider and from reading the internet I'm starting to question whether my behavior fits into the ADHD category. And part of me wants it to so that I have a label that explains and excuses me. But how do…

> Can't concentrate on boring things - surely that's normal?

Neurotypical people can get stuff done even if it's of no interest to them or if they find it boring because it has to get done regardless. I've certainly had the experience of assigning something to an intern or trainee that's super boring and they just knock it out, even though they could care less about the subject of task itself.

People with ADHD have lots of difficulty with tasks or subjects that are not of interest to them, which leads to procrastination. They often wait until the last minute (often it's those people who say "I'm good under pressure"); if the consequences are serious enough, that causes them to focus on getting the task done. Pulling an all-nighter to get that report done doesn't scale and it means something else important isn't being attended to.

Dr. Andrew Huberman (Stanford neuroscientist) has an excellent podcast about ADHD [1].

[1]: https://hubermanlab.com/adhd-and-how-anyone-can-improve-thei...

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#169

Post by tempacct99 »

I built up pretty good ADHD for schoolwork tasks after years of practice, and I was good at schoolwork, so if I wasted hours of time, I could still get things done quickly. Working in tech, many of these habits carried over - like spending a day daydreaming, then leveraging adrenaline and all-nighters to catch up on work.

For me, the bigger struggle came late-college/post-college when I had to manage boring and diverse real-life tasks, like acquiring the right documentation to go to the DMV for a new license. I paid crazy numbers of late fees and came close to some serious real-world consequences here. Getting treatment, reading Delivered from Distraction, and leaning on friends/partners made a really big difference. I'm now in my 40s and life things are very safe, stable, and happy (though I'm still constantly distracted).

I guess I'm writing this (from a throwaway) to say - don't feel like your problems are invalid just because you coped ok until your 20s!

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#170

Post by alwillis »

Yiin wrote: post #83
fsociety wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idk my experience is much different. On the weekend, I would have a list of games I really wanted to play. Boot one up, play for a few minutes, feel like I should be playing a different one, switch and repeat. Or I would have hobbies or activities I would want to do. But would end up in the same cycle. Then at the end of my weekend I would feel down because I spent the entire past two days constantly task switching w…

In my experience, simply being "not boring" is not enough. Usually for me it needs to have at least three qualities of the following four: pressure, interest, competition, and novelty. If a game is interesting but lacks competition or novelty, I may start playing it, but it's unlikely I'll continue for more than 15 minutes.

Same. Novelty (or something "innovative") and competition are huge drivers for me to focus on something.
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