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Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

stackoverflow.blog

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Re: Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

#41

Post by [deleted] »

ryukoposting wrote: post #20
dijit wrote: post #5

I have a pet theory that the role of old school sysadmins (what we refer to as DevOps today; yes Sysadmins coded, or the good ones did, I will die on this hill) was strangely attractive to those who would assuredly be diagnosed with ADHD. You have endless areas to noodle on solutions to avoid issues; you work hard to avoid working hard (strong ADHD trait) and interruptions are either fine and they fuel you completely…

It affects your insurance? MORTGAGES? What the hell? In the US, the only external downside of ADHD is when you change doctors and the new one automatically assumes you're trying to swindle them to get Adderal, so they make you do another psych evaluation that will inevitably say the same thing as the last one. Defibutely doesn't affect mortgages. I doubt that it would affect vehicle licenses.

[deleted]

Re: Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

#42

Post by Muromec »

spacephysics wrote: post #10
dijit wrote: post #5

I have a pet theory that the role of old school sysadmins (what we refer to as DevOps today; yes Sysadmins coded, or the good ones did, I will die on this hill) was strangely attractive to those who would assuredly be diagnosed with ADHD. You have endless areas to noodle on solutions to avoid issues; you work hard to avoid working hard (strong ADHD trait) and interruptions are either fine and they fuel you completely…

I wonder at what point is XYZ job within tech better for those with ADHD, or is especially challenging. I’ve made many stupid small mistakes where someone checks my code in review and finds a small error, or I forget to run the unit test suite (we don’t currently have an auto-testing pipeline) where it’s led me to question my career. On the other hand, what you describe fits very well with my experiences, endless tas…

It’s all fun and games until you also get a (micro)manager with the same ADHD, but always looking at the other squirrel

Re: Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

#43

Post by kayodelycaon »

oo0shiny wrote: post #14
m3sh wrote: post #8

[flagged]

Do you have a source for this? From everything I've researched, it's actually a chemical imbalance that affects the management of dopamine in the brain, making it hard to focus.

The chemical imbalance is one side-effect of the actual structural issues in the brain that cause ADHD.

This is why ADHD medication does not fix many secondary problems. (Examples include memory retrieval, time blindness, emotional regulation, etc)

Re: Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

#44

Post by v8xi »

brianwawok wrote: post #29
ryukoposting wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It affects your insurance? MORTGAGES? What the hell? In the US, the only external downside of ADHD is when you change doctors and the new one automatically assumes you're trying to swindle them to get Adderal, so they make you do another psych evaluation that will inevitably say the same thing as the last one. Defibutely doesn't affect mortgages. I doubt that it would affect vehicle licenses.

Seems important to double check yah? Vs randomly prescribe any medicine and person requests?

Of course, but its an absolute pain when you switch jobs/insurers or move and have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get prescribed the drugs you need to get through those bunches of hoops.

Re: Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

#46

Post by Muromec »

annie_muss wrote: post #36

I appreciate the article's efforts to raise awareness, that said, as a developer with ADHD I wish 'hyperfocus' wasn't always trotted out as a kind of ADHD superpower. The inability to control your attention in order to achieve complex tasks and effect desired outcomes is ADHD. So called 'hyperfocus' is just as likely to waste your time on something unrelated and unhelpful to what you want to do. It's like telling a s…

In the long run all the unrelated stuff you wasted your time on before will add up as in-depth knowledge relevant to what you liok for now

Re: Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

#47

Post by mrangle »

Although presently there is a strong institutional drive to disconnect nearly everything from IQ, the traditional medical dogma is that median IQ for ADHD individuals is lower than average. That's not to say that there aren't higher IQ individuals with ADHD.

But if IQ skews lower, what explains the paradox between this traditional view and supposed ADHD concentration in STEM?

My working theory is that ADHD-PI is actually an autism spectrum symptom and skews higher IQ.

ADHD hyperactive is probably still clinically related to ADHD-PI, but I'd guess that the hyperactive expression is just enough outside of the spectrum to disconnect it from AS. And that the higher IQ related "symptom" is less likely to be present as well.

Possibly due to a less overactive visual cortex: the increased visual processing theoretically being related to the daydreaming symptom of PI. And the attentional fatigue that triggers the daydreaming being related to ADHD-PI as well, in addition to the possibility of it being related to AS.

Although I don't work in IT, I suspect that the presence of ADHD-PI skews higher than expected in comparison with the hyperactive expression.

Re: Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

#48

Post by kayodelycaon »

ryukoposting wrote: post #20
dijit wrote: post #5

I have a pet theory that the role of old school sysadmins (what we refer to as DevOps today; yes Sysadmins coded, or the good ones did, I will die on this hill) was strangely attractive to those who would assuredly be diagnosed with ADHD. You have endless areas to noodle on solutions to avoid issues; you work hard to avoid working hard (strong ADHD trait) and interruptions are either fine and they fuel you completely…

It affects your insurance? MORTGAGES? What the hell? In the US, the only external downside of ADHD is when you change doctors and the new one automatically assumes you're trying to swindle them to get Adderal, so they make you do another psych evaluation that will inevitably say the same thing as the last one. Defibutely doesn't affect mortgages. I doubt that it would affect vehicle licenses.

I’m pretty sure ADA stops companies from increasing rates for having a disability.

(ADHD is a recognized disability under ADA.)

There are public safety provisions allowed, for example, if you are bipolar, you can not be a commercial airline pilot. Driving a car does not meet the public safety exceptions.

Re: Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

#49

Post by b7r6 »

I've been diagnosed with ADHD 4 times by 4 separate qualified clinicians and stimulant medication undoubtedly makes me more effective, so asked and answered I guess.

But I sort of philosophically struggle with the "disorder" bit of it. I live in a box with a glass wall facing other boxes with glass walls and type into a computer screen any time that I'm not actively going to the gym or doing something outdoors becuase the default thing I do is try to create enough material prosperity to exist.

This seems like something that would have a caveman climbing the walls, which is roughly how I feel about the glass box / computer screen routine when I'm not on ADHD medication.

Is is "neurotypical" to be perfectly at ease spending hours hunched in front of a screen under artifical light in order to eat, or is it "neurotypical" to be fantasizing that the pool cue next to my monitor would fly pretty straight if a lion walked through the door?

Re: Developer with ADHD? You’re not alone

#50

Post by sirsinsalot »

jnovek wrote: post #15
m3sh wrote: post #8

[flagged]

I’m so tired of people dismissing ADHD as something other than ADHD. My diet has evolved throughout my lifetime, but you know what hasn’t? My ADHD experience. I’ve always struggled to stay focused, get started, finish tasks, manage time and set priorities since I was a young child. Claiming it’s a food allergy — with no evidence! — just reinforces the idea that ADHD is a moral failing rather than a developmental diso…

These idiots are so eager to write off what they don't understand

ADHD is neurostructural ... you can see it in an MRI

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