Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering • Hacker News Board

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#231

Post by Sakos » Mon, May 02, 2022, 7:09 AM UTC

hirvi74 wrote: post #125

TrackerFF wrote: post #7

I have ADHD (ADD), and was diagnosed after 30 - though I've greatly suffered from it since my teenage years. Sure, it is a big part of me, always has been, but I don't really make it part of my identity. I can't control it like a superpower, and there are serious consequences if you're not careful. I've noticed that in the ADHD community, there are some very vocal people that will wear the diagnosis with pride. I mea…

That is why I think my diagnosis was a double-edged sword. It helped give me a lot of answers and closure to past traumas, but with that knowledge I think it has somewhat held me back from things I have wanted to accomplish. I have used it as a reason as to why I couldn't do something, when the reality is that ADHD wasn't what held me back, but damn was it an easy scapegoat.

My diagnosis last year was primarily a way for me to figure out how to deal with it. It gave me a framework to think inside, gave me treatment options (medical and therapeutic) and it gave me hope that my future didn't have to be as disastrous as my past. It was invaluable.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#232

Post by Sakos » Mon, May 02, 2022, 7:12 AM UTC

thenerdhead wrote: post #14

The part I hate most today is that if you relate to a video on ADHD/DID/Depression/Schizophrenia/etc, you will be fed the content until you convince yourself you have a “character trait”. That’s a serious problem with long term effects on society. I’m very sure I sit somewhere on the spectrum and have depressive disorder markers as well. But the last thing I want to do is to promote these traits. I am not proud of th…

This seems oddly ignorant of the effect ADD/ADHD has on a person's ability to function in modern life at a similar level to other people. It's not something you can introspect away. If I'm not on ritalin, I can introspect all I want, nothing useful is getting done.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#233

Post by astrange » Mon, May 02, 2022, 7:14 AM UTC

throw314_ wrote: post #37

I think I might have ADD, but since I'm a straight A student, socially well adjusted and not hyperactive I can not get any healthcare professional to take my problems seriously. I cannot do things in time. Not even things that should be rewarding and fun. I cannot start tasks until it's too late, or in the rare event I start I cannot focus long enough on them to make a difference. I cannot really explain why. I know…

Sounds like it to me. That's called "twice exceptional"… but I don't know if knowing that helps anything.

If they don't dismiss you the diagnosis process usually involves things like asking your parents about your childhood and things outside classwork.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#234

Post by Sakos » Mon, May 02, 2022, 7:15 AM UTC

lghh wrote: post #50

jrapdx3 wrote: post #41

ADHD is a common condition in adults, estimated to be around 3-5% of the population. It's very frequently comorbid with other behavioral disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc. But even "pure" ADHD can be quite disadvantageous. People with ADHD are much less likely to finish school, have trouble staying employed, more likely to be divorced, have greater health care utilization…

I am 30. I got diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago and I started treatment (adderall and lifestyle changes). Growing up, ADHD was my biggest enemy in life and I didn't even realize it. Once I began treatment, the change was almost overnight. I know I'm just one data point in a sea of data points, but I really just want to add that I'm on the other end of the parent comment and getting diagnosed, other than my marria…

Same here, minus the marriage and son. It's sobering to realize how much failure and self-loathing could have been avoided if it had been diagnosed earlier.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#235

Post by chrsig » Mon, May 02, 2022, 7:26 AM UTC

astrange wrote: post #225

luckydata wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're purposefully misrepresenting what "works" means in this context. ADHD people can think a lot more clearly with it. The effect of stimulants is completely different on a brain like ours compared to a normal person as it helps regulates brain function in a way that ours can't. For normal people it just gets you euphoric and agitated, we get CALMER cause we live in a state of constant agitation.

It really isn't completely different. It does all these things in all people, the difference just being which dose is right for you. I think this was made up to stop it from getting banned entirely like it is in Asia.

citation?

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#236

Post by chrsig » Mon, May 02, 2022, 7:32 AM UTC

refurb wrote: post #119

djur wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "neurodiversity" viewpoint here is that what we call "ADHD" is part of the natural variation in how human brains work, and that it's a category error to think of it as a malfunction to be repaired, but rather as a difference to be accommodated. That accommodation may or may not be via medication and therapy, but that shouldn't necessarily mean that the underlying neurological state is a diseased one. A good analo…

But than the logical conclusion is there are no disorders only a failure to accommodate? If someone is psychotic and disconnected with reality are we just applying our neurotypical filter? Should we just accommodate people who hear voices?

> Should we just accommodate people who hear voices?

We should do a better job than we do now.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#237

Post by EdwardDiego » Mon, May 02, 2022, 7:34 AM UTC

I have ADHD, it's made me who I am, for better or worse, but I'm not making that part of my identity any more than I'm making my asthma part of it.

I'm pretty open that I think ADHD is a disability, and anyone calling it a "superpower" is smoking crack.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#238

Post by kragen » Mon, May 02, 2022, 7:37 AM UTC

chrsig wrote: post #235

astrange wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really isn't completely different. It does all these things in all people, the difference just being which dose is right for you. I think this was made up to stop it from getting banned entirely like it is in Asia.

citation?

Jesus fuck.

Spencer RC, Devilbiss DM, Berridge CW (June 2015). "The Cognition-Enhancing Effects of Psychostimulants Involve Direct Action in the Prefrontal Cortex". Biological Psychiatry. 77 (11): 940–950. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.09.013. PMC 4377121. PMID 25499957.

Ilieva IP, Hook CJ, Farah MJ (June 2015). "Prescription Stimulants' Effects on Healthy Inhibitory Control, Working Memory, and Episodic Memory: A Meta-analysis". Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 27 (6): 1069–1089. doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00776. PMID 25591060. S2CID 15788121.

Malenka RC, Nestler EJ, Hyman SE (2009). "Chapter 13: Higher Cognitive Function and Behavioral Control". In Sydor A, Brown RY (eds.). Molecular Neuropharmacology: A Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience (2nd ed.). New York, USA: McGraw-Hill Medical. pp. 318, 321. ISBN 9780071481274

Bagot KS, Kaminer Y (April 2014). "Efficacy of stimulants for cognitive enhancement in non-attention deficit hyperactivity disorder youth: a systematic review". Addiction. 109 (4): 547–557. doi:10.1111/add.12460. PMC 4471173. PMID 24749160.

Wood S, Sage JR, Shuman T, Anagnostaras SG (January 2014). "Psychostimulants and cognition: a continuum of behavioral and cognitive activation". Pharmacological Reviews. 66 (1): 193–221. doi:10.1124/pr.112.007054. PMC 3880463. PMID 24344115.

Teter CJ, McCabe SE, LaGrange K, Cranford JA, Boyd CJ (October 2006). "Illicit use of specific prescription stimulants among college students: prevalence, motives, and routes of administration". Pharmacotherapy. 26 (10): 1501–1510. doi:10.1592/phco.26.10.1501. PMC 1794223. PMID 16999660.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#239

Post by vkk8 » Mon, May 02, 2022, 8:00 AM UTC

ascar wrote: post #19

TrackerFF wrote: post #7

I have ADHD (ADD), and was diagnosed after 30 - though I've greatly suffered from it since my teenage years. Sure, it is a big part of me, always has been, but I don't really make it part of my identity. I can't control it like a superpower, and there are serious consequences if you're not careful. I've noticed that in the ADHD community, there are some very vocal people that will wear the diagnosis with pride. I mea…

Personally I don't like seeing it as a regular illness. Yes it's a complication to how society wants people to function. Work 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Go to school 6 hours a day 5 days a week. Be productive in that time frame. Keep focus on given tasks. You can take medication to adhere to these artificial expectations on how an individual should function within society. Or you can live in a way that matches your…

I have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and I feel the same way about it. It's not an illness, it's simply a maladaptation to the kind of world we live in.

Most milder mental disorders are probably like this; it doesn't make any sense from the evolutionary point of view that a significant proportion of the population would have largely genetic trait that is only harmful in all situations. It's just that traits like ADHD and high levels of anxiety probably were helpful - or at least not harmful - in our evolutionary context, but are not anymore.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#240

Post by Bayart » Mon, May 02, 2022, 8:12 AM UTC

Since the topic has come up again, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank the people on HN who have commented at length about ADHD in the past. Without it I might not have realized that the thing that's made my life laborious, if not miserable, since I was a teenager wasn't me being « lazy » or my « temper ». I simply happened to have ADHD and never realized it. Without it I might just have lived the rest of my life thinking that I'm just that way and I'll never be able to fullfil my goals because my brain won't let me. That's a sort of despair I don't know many people can emphasize with, at least none whom I'm familiar in my everyday life.

Over the years I had come up with ways to deal with myself, but they're barely sufficient.