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The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

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Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#201

Post by jedinix »

codegangsta wrote: post #82
EdwardDiego wrote: post #61

So much of this is familiar, the timeliness, forgetfulness, the blurting things out, but especially that feeling of "FFS, why can't I do these things like everyone else, I suck". I was incredibly lucky, once I got into software dev, that my untreated ADHD often manifested in hyperfocus, so I could deliver large amounts of business value in bursts, that meant my other foibles were tolerable. Of course, my spending 20…

One thing I think a lot of folks don't realize about ADHD is that even with treatment, there is still a whole skillset to pick up regarding organization, self-management related to time etc. Many neurotypical people pick those things up over time, but those of us who are diagnosed late usually need to develop those skills, often for the first time. That said, gaining those skill and having treatment feels like a supe…

This is a very important point which I don't see repeated enough in discussions about managing and treating ADHD. As you noted, it's particularly important for those diagnosed later in life.

Treatment - whether medication or otherwise - will help you to focus, but it won't magically teach you organization, time management, note-taking, active listening, etc.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#202

Post by k__ »

swozey wrote: post #150
ravenstine wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect a lot of ADHD people become programmers because software can compliment the countless fleeting interests we have. That said, programming as a career is still more challenging to us because non-ADHD programmers are more likely to succeed with numerous responsibilities and more complex and boring tasks. The more an ADHD programmer advances, the fewer of his immediate peers will have ADHD. This is one of the r…

My problem with programming (of which I've been trying to really do decent at for years but failing) + ADHD is my memory is absolutely trash. I'll spend a week or two working on an app and then put it down for a month and it takes me a day just to get rolling with it again because I basically learn/work by brute forcing things to work as opposed to remembering concepts that would make it work without having to do so.…

Tooling helped a bit.

Debuggers or things like Sentry and Honeycomb. Basically everything that gives me runtime insights to the software.

Using static types and tests to ensure every dumb change I make gets caught somewhere.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#203

Post by JoeJonathan »

treeman79 wrote: post #161
whycome wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Was your doctor reluctant to prescribe it for occasional use? As I understand it, providers typically expect you take ADHD meds daily.

I ask because my attention issues are task-dependent, but doctors tend to view even the suggestion of occasional use as a red flag for recreational abuse.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#204

Post by LocalPCGuy »

nvarsj wrote: post #75
Moissanite wrote: post #5

As an adult who feels like they identify with these characteristics, it is hard to know when to try to get help, or whether you are just seeing what you want to see and looking for an excuse. I have always shied away from seeking an adult ADHD diagnosis, partly because of prideful denial (not wanting to acknowledge that there might be something wrong with me), and partly because I have no faith in the NHS giving a sh…

Getting an adult ADHD diagnosis on the NHS is very hard and time consuming. Most people in the UK get a private diagnosis - there are many online websites now that will diagnose you completely over zoom in 1 hour. In the US it's even easier. There is a profit motive in the US to get people onto lifetime medication, and many websites for online diagnosis and delivery. If you have private insurance, it's easy - just se…

> nothing at all like severe ADHD ... cases generally diagnosed in children because it's so obvious

I think the thing you might overlook with this statement (truncated slightly) is that sometime people are able to mask their symptoms, especially those who are highly intelligent and who may fall into an "inattentive" diagnosis, rather than the "hyperactive" side. I agree there are different levels that the affect can have on folks, however there is a difference between the boredom/procrastination/etc. struggles with someone who has ADHD and someone who doesn't. It's isn't just something that "everyone deals with to some extent or another". And proper diagnosis techniques will also sort for false positives, to eliminate folks who are actually "just bored", for example.

That said, this is something that studies have shown very much needs to be addressed not only from a medication aspect - sometimes it is definitely necessary and in many cases all the behavior techniques in the world won't make up for the chemical imbalances. But it should also be addressed from a behavior standpoint, via CBT or other therapy as well as other wellness techniques you mention, like good nurtition, sleep, exercise. From the studies I've read, the best results come from a combination of the two, not from ignoring or promoting one over the other.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#205

Post by dgb23 »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #38

I recently came across Tracy Marks' channel on YouTube [0]. I've been programming for a long time, but I only got neuropsych testing about 10 years ago. I was unambiguously diagnosed with ADHD, and I've been on stimulants ever since. Despite all that personal experience, I still found that her ADHD videos connected a lot of dots for me. The videos also give some practical advice that's working well for me. [0] https:…

Great resource. Straight to the point and well explained.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#206

Post by k__ »

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…

Losing focus is an automatism for me.

It's not that I think "Well, this is boring, I won't read it!"

It's like I want to really read it, suddenly I'm on Twitter, Reddit, 9gag, IG, etc.

It happens in a matter of seconds to minutes and I don't even remember how I opened an app/website.

I can dampen this effect a bit by blocking websites and uninstalling apps, but then I zone out in my mind and don't remember what I read.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#207

Post by skyyler »

spritefs wrote: post #185
fallingfrog wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it's an anaesthetic. It makes the discomfort of forcing yourself to focus on something you find maddeningly pointless more tolerable. As long as the pain is there the anaesthetic will have a purpose.

> Well, it's an anaesthetic I thought it was a stimulant

Are you being coy? They clearly explained what they meant by anesthetic in this context.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#208

Post by brazzledazzle »

wincy wrote: post #186
brazzledazzle wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds somewhat like depression/anxiety paired along with ADHD. In adult ADHD they can often be very intertwined because by the time you've reached adulthood you have a history of impulsive decisions or bad time management to regret. Or perhaps it's just a symptom of ADHD combined with aging. I don't know about you but "hyperfocus" seemed to come much easier when I was younger which I associate with being less a…

I am not depressed and experience the exact same weekend malaise of the person you’re responding to described. I found an exceptional game last weekend that I played through. I laughed, I cried, it was fantastic. I spent a lot of my free time on it, and beat it. This weekend I was just a little disappointed I couldn’t wipe my brain and play that game again. I don’t think that’s depression, it’s just being unwilling t…

Yeah for sure, I wouldn't ever say anything is truly universal. Just a trend I've noticed with my own ability to focus on even things I do enjoy and in my own experience it can be difficult to untangle things when you have a comorbidity of depression, ADHD and anxiety which is pretty common in adults.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#209

Post by JackAndJack »

Phosphatidylserine (It is a nootropic) + Bacopa Monnieri, It comes as capsule and you can get it on Amazon.

Plus Ashwagandha (KSM 66), other non patent Ashwagandha is not that effective.

After trying everything and not getting results, this works. Phosphatidylserine puts one in zone for hours and Ashwagandha (KSM 66) (morning and evening) calms down chatter in mind.

Stating this after trying multiple things.

Re: The silent struggles of workers with ADHD

#210

Post by PragmaticPulp »

DannyBee wrote: post #104
EdwardDiego wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are non-amphetamine medications available now that might work for your brother, and cognitive-behavioural therapy can really help too.

+1 After 30+ years, I have found the non-amphetamine medications work a lot more consistently and helpfully than the amphetamine ones. The one downside is that if your brother also ends up on SSRI's, he won't be able to use most of the non-amphetamine medications until he is done with SSRI's.

> After 30+ years, I have found the non-amphetamine medications work a lot more consistently and helpfully than the amphetamine ones.

I've watched a lot of friends go through the same cycle: Initial excitement from an Adderall prescription which gradually gives way to tolerance and a mismatch between reality and their perceptions of Adderall as a miracle pill.

The non-stimulant medications have worked wonders for a lot of people I know.

The catch (and it's a big one) is that they generally don't work immediately. In fact, they can be kind of unenjoyable for the first weeks or months while they begin to work. This is the exact opposite timeline of stimulants, which puts a lot of people off. If you can gradually titrate up and you're willing to give it a multi-month trial before ruling it out, the non-stimulant medications can actually be quite good. Some times better than the stimulants at controlling impulses and improving cognition, even. First-time stimulant users can easily get sidetracked by focusing too much on distractions.

The other catch is that it's hard to objectively evaluate the positive changes when they happen gradually over the course of a month. A lot of Straterra (Atomoxetine) users will think the medication isn't working, but when you ask them to objectively walk through their daily routines and work performance they realize they've improved tremendously. For others, they don't realize the benefits until the quit the medication and lose the positives, at which point they're back for round 2 of titration.

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