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Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Re: Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

#191

Post by dylan604 »

stormbrew wrote: post #177
Baeocystin wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I literally just got diagnosed with adult ADD a month ago. I'm 46! It... explains a lot of things, both for better and for worse. I never even realized I was developing coping skills vs. just developing normal skills, if that makes sense. I definitely have had the same types of problems as you describe. I've been on Ritalin for a few weeks now, and the difference is remarkable. If this is how normal people feel most…

I'm a little bit younger, and pretty much the same on all of this (except vyvanse for me). I really wish I'd figured it out in my teens or twenties. Also, every time a post on here comes up about elaborate methods of achieving focus the comments are full of people typical-minding what really might actually be ADHD (the whole "everyone is like this right?" thing) and I'm just sitting there like.. maybe you should look…

>mundane task

That's why we invented shell scripts and cron!

On a serious note, what type of tasks would you consider mundane that you attribute to your ADHD to cause you to not want to do them that any non-ADHD person would also not have procrastination problems? Are these specific to work like filling out time sheets or other TPS reports? Home tasks like laundry/dishes/trash? All of the above? As a non-ADHD person, I hate all of the above tasks and only do them because it's part of adulting. Can't get paid without time sheets (this is my biggest hate). I'd rather do laundry (folding/ironing) than fill out time sheets. I have no rational explanation as it is a rather simple thing.

Re: Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

#193

Post by jiofih »

olyjohn wrote: post #163
didibus wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some children are given coke, pepsi, mountain due or other soda drinks with high caffeine content.

None of those drinks have anywhere near the caffeine of coffee, though. An energy drink of some kind probably does though.

That’s not true. ~100mg in a cup of coffee, 40mg in an espresso shot, the same 40mg in a can of Coca-Cola (and ~60mg in Diet Coke).

Re: Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

#194

Post by jkaplowitz »

smnplk wrote: post #192

In my country you can't get diagnosed and treated for adult ADHD if you weren't diagnosed as a child. Which is a complete bullshit. One can only buy meds on a black market and hope for the best...

That is bullshit, absolutely. My understanding is that the correct clinical criteria do require that the symptoms showed up by age 7, but that it's not at all necessary for the diagnosis to have occurred during childhood.

Re: Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

#195

Post by TheLegace »

kossTKR wrote: post #133
TheLegace wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a look at this new treatment(neurofeedback)[1]. It changed my life. Instead of changing brain chemically you can change the structure of your brain. It's not ADHD that's the problem, its the focus networks in the brain not being trained properly. ADHD becomes a gift when you can focus and the brain just naturally learns, and memorizes very well. I went from being incapable of anything to being really great at an…

I am very interested in this but am currently located in Scandinavia. What does the training practically entail? Is it some kind of device on the head that you then learn to use with an on-screen app where you can get feedback on your "state" like meditation but with an interface? I remember reading about this years ago and wondering when the tech would be available for use in-home. Do you need to go to a professiona…

There can be a lot to understand depending on how much change your actually looking for (so much I could write a book). But its just putting EEG electrodes on the skull to record frequency ranges in the brain. These frequencies(Delta, Gamma and Alpha) relate to the "focus", "relaxation"(related to meditation) and "cross-talk" functions of the brain that primarily are controlled by the Sensory-Motor Cortex.

There are many different programs all with different goals, some try to optimize the relax range, some focus and some try to minimize cross talk. Imagine looking at a screen and it shows your POV from inside a roller coaster car. On the sides you can see a bar chart going up and down and a threshold level you want to attain. Eventually you learn to control it so you bring that bar to the threshold and hold it (Holding it is key). If your really motivated you can tell the technicians to bring the threshold down so far that you are able to focus greater than the average person.

It begins by controlling muscles in your eyes effectively, once movements of the eyes have stabilized(this is the hyperactivity part that negatively effects focus) light can effectively move into the visual cortex. Then tying the other senses(sound and touch) together probably switches on the focus networks in the brain. This leads to experiencing reality at much higher "resolution".

I would advise having professionals around(like I did) they can spot problems/anomalies and can aid in training. It can be dangerous to mess with your brain without professionals around.

Re: Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

#196

Post by I_AM_A_SMURF »

hoot wrote: post #154
acituan wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we don't start giving children coffee at younger ages to help focus > we are inhibiting our full potential because of misplaced fears? I'll argue with the assumption that there is zero long term psychobiological consequences to exogenous psychostimulants (I personally don't buy this, but let's assume it was true). Increasing focus and task salience is only one of the many factors constitutive of human potential. Th…

Thank you for writing this. As someone who has recently been weighing the pros/cons of seeking treatment for ADHD, this has been one of the best points I've read on the potential downsides to it. Currently, in my career (software dev) I've been feeling increasingly burnt out and like it's impossible to focus on anything. I have to sit back and ask myself, is the problem that I can't focus, or is the problem that I'm…

If anything ADHD medications (ritalin) make me _more_ prone to burning out, not less. Just FYI.

It does help with "boring" tasks a little bit, in a sense, but they're still boring an uninteresting. It's not like I get a dopamine hit every time I do a piece of paperwork.

I usually describe it like this: for me ADHD sometimes makes things that are necessary for human life _really_ hard. Things like taking a shower in the morning or having breakfast, getting up to get water while working etc.

All these things take a toll on my day, I still do them but I feel like I'm doing something that I _absolutely_ don't want to do and at the end of the day I don't have any patient left for stuff that actually require my effort (e.g. listening to my wife when she's frustrated with me).

With medication I feel better about doing these necessary things so I can get to the end of the day without hating myself. That doesn't mean I'm gonna eat all the bullshit that gets thrown to me at work!

It's also not all roses, Ritalin is hard to manage, at least for me. I need to make a conscious effort to not devote too much of my attention to uninteresting details, etc. But it's not like it takes away your free will!

Re: Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

#197

Post by thrav »

jv22222 wrote: post #182
stevefan1999 wrote: post #136

I'm an ADD adult and this especially hits me when I'm participating competitions, be it leetcode coding competition or examination. I just hate to do it and every other bits of attention source will got me seeked on, like a notification from my phone, or someone dropped a pen to the ground. That's how fast I lost focus. But on the other hand sometimes I can be extra-focused, with a prerequisite it's something I enjoy…

Has ADD had any kind of effect on your relationships? If so, in what way? I was wondering if ADD might make it seem like one doesn’t care about people because it’s hard to maintain focus on them.

It absolutely does and is extremely challenging for a particular type of partner. There are many books on the subject.

Most ADHD people are also susceptible to RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria(?)) that can make us feel like the entire planet is crumbling when we experience even minor rejections. As in, suicidal ideation level pain that at some point we have to learn how to move through or just avoid relationships altogether.

Re: Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

#198

Post by fnord123 »

smnplk wrote: post #192

In my country you can't get diagnosed and treated for adult ADHD if you weren't diagnosed as a child. Which is a complete bullshit. One can only buy meds on a black market and hope for the best...

>In my country

Why not just say the country?

Re: Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

#199

Post by TheLegace »

saeranv wrote: post #84
TheLegace wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a look at this new treatment(neurofeedback)[1]. It changed my life. Instead of changing brain chemically you can change the structure of your brain. It's not ADHD that's the problem, its the focus networks in the brain not being trained properly. ADHD becomes a gift when you can focus and the brain just naturally learns, and memorizes very well. I went from being incapable of anything to being really great at an…

This is really fascinating. I just sent them an email to see if I could participate (diagnosed with ADHD 6 months ago at age 33, feeling pretty depressed that all the years of struggling/setbacks were to some degree unnecessary). May I ask how long have you been participating in the training?

The training is about 1-2 hour sessions. You need about 20 sessions. They can completed once a week. But if your serious you would do 2-3 times the first 4-6 weeks to change things with greater momentum. After it is complete you never need to think about it again.

Re: Adults with ADHD show decreased function in brain dopamine reward pathway (2010)

#200

Post by TheLegace »

theironlily wrote: post #118
TheLegace wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a look at this new treatment(neurofeedback)[1]. It changed my life. Instead of changing brain chemically you can change the structure of your brain. It's not ADHD that's the problem, its the focus networks in the brain not being trained properly. ADHD becomes a gift when you can focus and the brain just naturally learns, and memorizes very well. I went from being incapable of anything to being really great at an…

I’m just starting neurofeedback, curious what your experience was like. May I email you at the address you have on profile ?

Feel free to email me. You will probably get much more complete response through that medium. Good luck!
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