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Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

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Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#31

Post by drewcoo »

GavinMcG wrote: post #16

The author really does not do a great job, here, at least in saying something sensible as a response to DeBoer's piece. The core premise seems to be that: > I find it so very irritating that there is no term for my so-called ⸢attention deficit disorder⸣ that does not have the word “disorder” baked into it. I know what a disorder is, and this isn't one. But the author then argues against a strawman: > Why does any dev…

That's not a straw man. He's just stating the same thing you are when you say:

> disorders require that the deviation amount to a disorder

That is medicalizing diversity. Creating "disorders" where no one is bothered by them.

This is not uncommon in psychology. In the 1970s, homosexuality was also a "disorder."

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#32

Post by lr4444lr »

orangepurple wrote: post #15
freemint wrote: post #9

Medicated AD(H)D of Hacker News, did your medication (please specify) influence your personality? If so how?

Daily 20 hour water (& salt) fasting reduced my desire to jump between tasks. Less scatter-brained too. My thoughts stay on rails longer. Didn't change my diet much; I don't eat many refined foods or carbs other than occasional bread. Years ago in college I was prescribed Adderall but it didn't make me focus more. It made me compulsively clean my apartment, masturbate, tweak out, and occasionally be extremely paranoi…

Daily 20 hour water (& salt) fasting reduced my desire to jump between tasks

You mean you only consumed water and salt for 20 hours of the day, or avoided these? Just trying to get clarity.

Also, did you find that type of carb food had much impact, or just overall amount?

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#33

Post by thevagrant »

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…

There are many who believe certain abilities they have are because of adhd rather than skills they have developed despite the disorder or plainly individual traits.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#34

Post by djur »

GavinMcG wrote: post #16

The author really does not do a great job, here, at least in saying something sensible as a response to DeBoer's piece. The core premise seems to be that: > I find it so very irritating that there is no term for my so-called ⸢attention deficit disorder⸣ that does not have the word “disorder” baked into it. I know what a disorder is, and this isn't one. But the author then argues against a strawman: > Why does any dev…

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 analogy would be height: a person who is several standard deviations from the mean will face challenges in life that require various forms of intervention, but we don't generally think of them as having a _disorder_ unless there's an identifiable biological cause that usually has other effects.

Another good point of comparison is vision. We can accurately measure vision and create medical devices to correct unwanted variation. As someone with myopia, I find it to be only slightly medicalized -- going to get an eye exam doesn't feel much like visiting a doctor, and people don't tend to talk about it as one does a medical condition. I imagine that if we were able to make a similar kind of standardized assessment of whatever neurological basis there is for ADHD, we would consider medication for it more akin to a stepladder or a pair of glasses (or even an antihistamine) than a treatment for a mental illness.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#35

Post by FollowingTheDao »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #2

“ Depression is not something with upsides and downsides.” Not sure if this is true. Evolutionary psychologists have explored the improved tunnel vision that accompanies depression as a means for finding one’s way out of harmful situations. Society-wide it seems many people are living in harmful situations/ways and are able to medicate their way out of the tunnel vision before recognizing the sources of pain.

Truth. The author seems to want to make some distinction between his ADHD and depression. Only because he can handle his ADHD, and not his depression.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#36

Post by FollowingTheDao »

orangepurple wrote: post #15
freemint wrote: post #9

Medicated AD(H)D of Hacker News, did your medication (please specify) influence your personality? If so how?

Daily 20 hour water (& salt) fasting reduced my desire to jump between tasks. Less scatter-brained too. My thoughts stay on rails longer. Didn't change my diet much; I don't eat many refined foods or carbs other than occasional bread. Years ago in college I was prescribed Adderall but it didn't make me focus more. It made me compulsively clean my apartment, masturbate, tweak out, and occasionally be extremely paranoi…

It’s quite possible you don’t have ADHD. They diagnosed me with ADHD and gave me Adderall. It threw me in to manic episode which landed me into the hospital.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#37

Post by throw314_ »

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 I should just do them, but there's some mental block that I cannot overcome. It has always been this way. None of the strategies I've tried ever made a difference. I always have a to-do list of a hundred small and big things I should have done two weeks ago that stresses me out. I also always lose things.

It's not unusual that I end up crying alone due to stress over all the things I should have done and feeling stupid for putting myself in the same spot again.

I manage to get good grades simply due to the expected workload being much less than my capability and being a good test-taker. At the final weeks before an exam the urgency of the situation allows me to absorb whole courses in a single week and get an A on the exam. But had I just worked 2 hours a day during the whole semester instead I could have saved myself all the stress and the depression and been a lot happier. And even though I know this, I will invariably do the same thing next semester.

I've tried getting help and a diagnosis, but the doctors will dismiss me after a single look at my grades. All they see is a student with great grades (and therefore not in need of help) looking to scam them out of some study drugs.

I get by, and manage to never get in any huge trouble despite my shortcomings. The big problem, except my mental health, is how it negatively impacts my relationships. I have a heard time prioritizing my girlfriend when I'm always stressed and always have a hundred things I should do, which is a reoccurring problem in our relationship. And making time for my friends is even harder.

I have cut out most nonessential responsibilities from by life just to reduce the stress a little. But I have no idea how I will manage big responsibilities like having children in the future without burning out.

I have given up any hope of getting a diagnosis. But I'm worried about the future, and I don't know what to do.

There's probably no help to get here, of course. I just wanted to get if off my chest.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#39

Post by chrischen »

FollowingTheDao wrote: post #29
GavinMcG wrote: post #16

The author really does not do a great job, here, at least in saying something sensible as a response to DeBoer's piece. The core premise seems to be that: > I find it so very irritating that there is no term for my so-called ⸢attention deficit disorder⸣ that does not have the word “disorder” baked into it. I know what a disorder is, and this isn't one. But the author then argues against a strawman: > Why does any dev…

If the authors life is not being impacted by his ADHD then he does not have ADHD. The clinical diagnosis for a mental illness is that it impacts your life in a negative way. His attention deficit does not impact his life in a negative way, therefore it’s not a disorder. The author frankly does not know what he’s talking about. And, clinically, he does not have ADHD. I have a mood disorder (NPSLE). I am on permanent d…

> If the authors life is not being impacted by his ADHD then he does not have ADHD.

I’m not sure this is correct. If someone is managing their ADHD it doesn’t mean they don’t have it.

Re: Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering

#40

Post by iamdbtoo »

FollowingTheDao wrote: post #29
GavinMcG wrote: post #16

The author really does not do a great job, here, at least in saying something sensible as a response to DeBoer's piece. The core premise seems to be that: > I find it so very irritating that there is no term for my so-called ⸢attention deficit disorder⸣ that does not have the word “disorder” baked into it. I know what a disorder is, and this isn't one. But the author then argues against a strawman: > Why does any dev…

If the authors life is not being impacted by his ADHD then he does not have ADHD. The clinical diagnosis for a mental illness is that it impacts your life in a negative way. His attention deficit does not impact his life in a negative way, therefore it’s not a disorder. The author frankly does not know what he’s talking about. And, clinically, he does not have ADHD. I have a mood disorder (NPSLE). I am on permanent d…

ADHD is a physical condition, not a mental illness. You can still have it an not be negatively affected by it.
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