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My ADHD founder toolbox

hypatia.ca

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Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#221

Post by nibbleshifter »

solveit wrote: post #103
brian_cunnie wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> psychiatric meds you can get on and off safely at any time Maybe you can get off them safely, but not always easily. My alcohol/drug recovery group is filled with people who couldn't easily get off them, like my friend N., who rather than swallowing his medication (Ritalin?), he crushed it & snorted it like cocaine.

> rather than swallowing his medication (Ritalin?), he crushed it & snorted it like cocaine. I'm having a hard time pinning this on the meds honestly...

Yeah, that's usually something else. You don't go from taking a therapeutic dose of Ritalin to railing lines of it. The effect profile is different.

Having done exactly that (crushed and snorted Ritalin) in the past. I can't recommend it - its not a very good high.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#222

Post by ChildOfChaos »

I'm not sure if i have ADHD, I seem to come up pretty high for Symptons, but I don't want to play doctor on the internet, i'm also in the UK and as an adult I understand it's very difficult to get a diagnosis.

I'm also not sure if it's caused by something else. I just really struggle to function and it's a killer. I have lots of projects and life improvement things I want to do, but I wake up and i'm like ughh, I can't concentrate, my brain is very foggy, I have a lack of energy, it's a nightmare and i'm no longer sure what to do about it.

I think my issues might be more related to brain fog, which does come and go, but there isn't a clear trigger and even when it 'goes' i'm never clear at all, it's just a little easier to function, I get a lot of small dull headaches, I struggle to think or concentrate, i'm confused often, my energy struggles, I feel blah about most things and just urgghh...

Lots of empathy for people going through this, as i'm sure others just think you are useless or dumb, when I know i'm trying really hard to be the opposite because those things really matter to me.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#223

Post by peepee1982 »

throwawaaarrgh wrote: post #51

I diagnosed when I was like... 8 years old. From then to 17 I was on various meds, finally gave them all up. So for about 22 years I've coped with ADHD without meds. I am a Staff Engineer and make a good living, respected in my field. Regardless of anything else, I think the key thing to remember about ADHD is that you do not need to be a high-performing human being, at all, in life. You will forget things and get di…

Just as an FYI: I recently started working on my CPTSD by reading stuff by Pete Walker and watching interviews with Gabor Mate. My symptoms have been significantly mitigated. My overall mental health has improved massively, too.

Full disclosure: I've been taking Escitalopram and Wellbutrin for a few years now. I've been working on my CPTSD for a few weeks.

EDIT: Of course I don't just consume the material. I actively engage with my suppressed emotions to heal.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#224

Post by brailsafe »

throwawaaarrgh wrote: post #51

I diagnosed when I was like... 8 years old. From then to 17 I was on various meds, finally gave them all up. So for about 22 years I've coped with ADHD without meds. I am a Staff Engineer and make a good living, respected in my field. Regardless of anything else, I think the key thing to remember about ADHD is that you do not need to be a high-performing human being, at all, in life. You will forget things and get di…

I think this is a nice sentiment, but how did you get there? Truly, I'm desperate for the answer.

Problem is, even if you're perfectly comfortable with your own limitations, and being transparent about them, graduating up through the ranks as a software dev IC or w/e means meeting or managing the expectations that higher ups unempathetically and unilaterally apply. You have to get pretty (extremely) lucky with having a space to advance in the ways that you can. The reality is that you do need to be sufficiently successful to get by, and that bar is getting higher as everything increases in cost. If the smallest piece of real estate in my city for example demands the salary of a senior faang dev to pay for, the pressure is hard to avoid.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#225

Post by TeMPOraL »

ChildOfChaos wrote: post #222

I'm not sure if i have ADHD, I seem to come up pretty high for Symptons, but I don't want to play doctor on the internet, i'm also in the UK and as an adult I understand it's very difficult to get a diagnosis. I'm also not sure if it's caused by something else. I just really struggle to function and it's a killer. I have lots of projects and life improvement things I want to do, but I wake up and i'm like ughh, I can…

I was pretty much exactly like you describe yourself here, for most of my life. I vented about it on HN occasionally for years, and every now and then, someone would suggest, "this smells of ADHD; get yourself checked out". So, at 32, I did, got a positive diagnosis, and my life finally started to have a noticeable upward trajectory. One of the major changes was that, for the first time, I could feel I'm actually capable of holding a job and supporting a family. That alone alleviated some serious emotional misery.

So, in the spirit of "pay it forward": this smells like ADHD; go and get yourself checked out if you can. It may be nothing. But it may be something, and if it is something - ADHD or not - an array of new options will open up for you.

Personal tip: if you do decide to get checked out, try and find an adult ADHD specialist. A random psychiatrist will likely first try to evaluate you for depression or some generic anxiety disorder, and you can waste a decade on it with little to show for it (guess how I know). ADHD is much faster to rule out (or in) than either of those.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#226

Post by q-base »

sirsinsalot wrote: post #198

I was diagnosed last year at 35. I've tried and failed to launch my own projects since I was 13. I was a classic adhd child, at a time when diagnosis and treatment was rare. Children whose dopamine regulation issues are treated early can leave medication as their brain adjusts while still plastic. In adulthood you're stuck. I've battled addiction, terrible damage to relationships and failure to achieve my full happin…

How has the meds changed your life? And have you done anything else apart from being prescribed medication?

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#227

Post by ekanes »

bitexploder wrote: post #11
triggercut wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Weirdly, he was there due to some sponsorship related to disabilities because he had ADHD. Can I ask why you find that weird? ADHD is, and is also comorbid with other learning disabilities. ADHD has so many dimensions and interrelationships between those dimensions that everybody's lived experience is different. If you know one person with ADHD, then you know one person with ADHD, you don't know everyone with ADHD.…

I feel the ADHD is a strength not weakness mentality is generally harmful. There are some aspects of it that can help, especially when you are not deep working on one thing, but in general, I think it is unequivocally not a benefit to almost anyone who has it. edit: I would add there is some survivorship bias to it too. Successful CEO says ADHD helped? Huh. Cool. There is a reason alcoholism and substance abuse have…

You might be right, but some of it is also mentally making the best of your situation. If you tell yourself the story that it has pluses and minuses, you might be happier and even more successful than if you tell yourself you lost a genetic lottery. You might feel lower-potential and that might work against you.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#228

Post by thelittleone »

herbst wrote: post #184

Many people here write about trying or hoping to be normal. Do you realize how man founders and extraordinary people have or had ADHD? How about not getting normal, but finding a life/work that fits to you and your lifestyle.

I can't speak for others but "normal" in the context of this discussion is not a reference to character and behavioral norms, but to productivity and in particular, the ability to complete tasks at a similar rate to non-medicated, non-ADHD people.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#229

Post by flakeoil »

notrealyme123 wrote: post #212
flakeoil wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue with your reasoning is that what you describe is not ADHD. It's not a decease. It's nothing wrong. It's normal. It's human. It's pathetic to read about how people take drugs or want to take drugs because they have difficulties to focus on reading a book or focusing on a hobby or a boring job. Sure there are people who really have issues and really have ADHD, but in those cases it's pretty obvious. People wa…

I wish I could downvote. Just because you can't see a disease doesn't remove it. You don't tell a cancer patient to just get up and exercise.

For sure, if it really is ADHD, I'm all in for treatments if they work well for the patient.

It's just that so many here on HN and elsewhere think they need medicines because they have problems to focus at work or in school or while reading a book.

On a slightly different note, focus and concentration is maybe not the ideal state either. Maybe creativity (new ideas, new angles, new thoughts) will be affected which in turn reduces performance and results. As others have mentioned here is that when they take medicines they sometimes get stuck focusing on the wrong things. And even if the focus on the right thing, maybe they get stuck on the problem at hand because they do not get new influences.

Aren't persons with true ADHD often quite creative?

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#230

Post by emptyfile »

mtsr wrote: post #129
yc-kraln wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was diagnosed when I was six, and, like you, I dropped all meds at 17. Recently (as in, this year) through a combination of therapy and introspection, I realized that while indeed I was able to have a successful life, career, relationships without the medication, and that, yes, my coping mechanisms were satisfactory, I was punching myself in the face for no reason Last month I saw a psychiatrist and got a prescript…

No need to feel so bad (edited from: be so negative) about meds. They’re a crutch, sure, or maybe a wheelchair. But you wouldn’t begrudge a disabled person their wheelchair, would you? Or if you dislike thinking of it as a disability (even if there’s nothing morally wrong with being disabled): a pair of glasses. Do we really think less of people (or in this case likely ourselves) for using a wheelchair or wearing gla…

I don't care about stigma, but comparing a drug to a wheel chair is just ridiculous.

I don't want to get addicted to another thing in my life, here in Europe we're quite familiar with (ab)using speed (amphetamine paste) and the idea of being on speed every single day seems pretty bad.

I don't feel "more like myself" on speed and I seriously doubt most positive effect would persist after a year of using and rising tolerance.

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