Just as a heads up more serious mental illnesses have symptoms similar to ADD in there very early stages. Instead of self diagnosing with ADD do 2 things 1. get a real psychiatrist ( sorry to say but this person will probably not give you adderall, dex or Ritalin on your first visit). Get a nuero psychological exam done by a nuero scientist ( a real psychiatrist will be-able to connect you with one assuming you need one) Lots of people who think they had ADD in college go on to find out they have more serious conditions.
2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
41–50 of 68 posts
Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
#42Young people nowadays have so many things to cause distraction. When I was younger, we didn't have cellphones and the numerous electronic related items that cause you to lose focus. Try eliminating everything but the necessities, and then focusing on one thing at a time. Even if you get distracted, set a goal of going back to it even if it is for a very short amount of time. Just like a tree, keep chipping away at it…
The problem here is that you're basically required to be connected at all times in any post-secondary environment, unless you're working for a company that has made it a core value to limit connectivity.
I have professors now that e-mail the class at 1:30am on a Friday creating new assignments due the following Monday. They all say the same thing: this is the world we live in now, get used to it. Crises happen at work around the clock, and the expectation now for pretty much everyone in the working world is that you have at least some way to be reached 24/7.
Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
#43I haven't been medicated for my pretty severe ADD in years (I was very uncomfortable with the personality changes/dampening of creativity/unknown health impact of meds, etc.), thinking I could summon the willpower and discipline to get through it. I've been spiraling downward in a tailspin of "unproductivity" - to coin a state of being - for a while now, leaving a trail of half started startups and projects in my wak…
Sounds a lot like me. I hear meditation can help. I'll do it tomorrow...
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Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
#44I found out that my case is more severe than you...
But the comments here don't seem to come to any conclusion...
Maybe I will find treatment as well..
Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
#45I haven't been medicated for my pretty severe ADD in years (I was very uncomfortable with the personality changes/dampening of creativity/unknown health impact of meds, etc.), thinking I could summon the willpower and discipline to get through it. I've been spiraling downward in a tailspin of "unproductivity" - to coin a state of being - for a while now, leaving a trail of half started startups and projects in my wak…
Just like depression (oversimplified) is being fed up with life, ADD is being bored with life. Your environment has created artificial boundaries that prevent you from doing what interests you, hence said boredom.
Get into the hyper-focus at all cost (it's actually just 'really caring about something,') then learn to stay there longer and longer (also known as 'finding your passion.')
You'll have to break through some boundaries to get there, but that's OK. Once you're passionate about something most of the time, you'll be fine.
P.S. This is intentionally written from the one-sided perspective that does considers ADD to be caused by external factors and not a mental illness or chemical imbalance. Those perspectives are equally valuable; pick the one(s) that works for you.
P.P.S. Remember that if your hyperfocus is valuable enough to other people, you'll be able to pay people to do anything you can't bring yourself to.
Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
#46Seriously, there's nothing wrong with seeing a psychologist and/or psychiatrist. There are many possible scenarios, including that something other than ADD is causing your symptoms, or even that there's nothing "wrong" with you. I think there are many good mental health professionals who focus on providing a minimal viable treatment for patients. Simply getting diagnosed with something doesn't mean you need to be medicated, and being diagnosed with something isn't even a necessary condition for a professional to help you find a way to help yourself succeed.
Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
#47[deleted]
Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a stigma about the meds in a lot of places, but I still remember how much they helped me through middle school. I literally got math-related work done 10 times faster that way. Unfortunately the stuff that worked for me (Adderall) is basically just meth, and I can't get a hold of it in Japan on account of it being illegal. I think it's not even very possible to get a hold of ADD-related meds outside of the US…
Can we quit perpetuating this idea that prescription stimulant meds are "basically just meth"? Different molecules, different delivery systems, different dosages, different therapeutic goals (euphoria not being one of them).
The extant differences are not universally thought to be so great as to warrant the dramatically greater public acceptance and promotion that prescription drugs receive in the US. This is not aided by the fact that methamphetamine is itself an FDA-approved treatment for ADHD (http://www.drugs.com/pro/desoxyn.html).
I would agree that "basically just meth" may not be the best way to say describe this, though, as it's only as true as saying they're entirely unlike meth.
Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Stop blaming ADD. Even if it is related to ADD, this situation could not possibly have been caused by ADD alone. You know that at the crux of it, poor planning was to blame. Poor time management followed, and you screwed yourself. If you want to get out of this hole, you've got to get off HN now, (I use noprocrast). After that, do 1 project per night at a time. Yes. You will need to work in the dead of night, all not…
Spoken like someone who hasn't the slightest clue how mental illness and mental disorders work, or what it feels like to suffer from them. "Just do X"! If only it were so easy, the world would be a much different place.
1. I never said the commenter above didn't have ADHD.
2. There's nothing we can do to help him other than say "just do it" because frankly if he doesn't "just do it" pretty soon he's fucked.
3. ADHD 1/3 scapegoat 1/3 misdiagnosed 1/3 ? maybe. Neurological evidence for disease? Yes. Vague diagnostic criteria for actual patients? Check.
Re: 2nd year Comp Sci student that just now figured out I have ADD
#50Just as a heads up more serious mental illnesses have symptoms similar to ADD in there very early stages. Instead of self diagnosing with ADD do 2 things 1. get a real psychiatrist ( sorry to say but this person will probably not give you adderall, dex or Ritalin on your first visit). Get a nuero psychological exam done by a nuero scientist ( a real psychiatrist will be-able to connect you with one assuming you need…
Out of curiosity, what are the more serious conditions that have similar symptoms to ADD in the beginning?