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Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

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Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#631

Post by wyre »

helboi4 wrote: post #318
financltravsty wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really dislike the neurotransmitter discussions because they do not differentiate between "free" or "in-transit" neurotransmitter levels vs. "stored" or "awaiting dispatch" neurotransmitter levels vs. "receptor sites" or "available destinations" for neurotransmitters vs. "receptor activation effect" or "destination's response on delivery." That doesn't even get into the complexity of different types of receptor sit…

Can we all just agree though that coffee and sugar are dopamine not serotonin obviously? Like you don't get less depressed from drinking coffee.

>you don't get less depressed from drinking coffee

Not significantly enough to call it an antidepressant, but meta-analysis shows caffeine lowers risk of depression.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26518745/

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#632

Post by godelski »

notjoemama wrote: post #465
falcolas wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Self-diagnosis is not a diagnosis. Nit: Self-diagnosis is the first step towards a formal diagnosis. You don't go to the doctor to get antibiotics before self-diagnosing that you're sick. That said, as useful as a formal diagnosis is (getting proper help, and even meds), don't skip it if you can afford to do it.

Yes. Thank you for stating it so well. Self diagnosis is like a conjecture based on observation. It needs to be proved out formally to be a working theory. But that’s part of the process and there absolutely is value in self diagnosis. It’s up to professionals to sort the wear from the chaff, webmd be damned.

Similarly anecdotal evidence is just not strong evidence, but it is still evidence. Anecdotal evidence from a lot of people is a dataset and from a wide variety of people is a good dataset. It's all about confidence levels. Consider likelihoods (different from probabilities) and just update your priors but never forget the confidence intervals. They're the most important part!

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#633

Post by godelski »

tpmoney wrote: post #612
timeagain wrote: post #571

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The D in ADHD is “disorder”, which normally means you can’t function socially, at work, and/or take care of yourself. Normally I don’t consider scatterbrained knowledge workers in the top 5% of the income distribution to be in that category. It is kind of fun so do work on speed though!

There are lots of ways "can't function socially, at work, and/or take care of yourself" can manifest even if you're in the top 5% of the income distribution. For example, that person's house might be an absolute disaster zone, with overgrown lawns, tasks piling up and a million tiny piles of bills and papers to be done "later". They might need 4 separate alarm clocks in 3 different physical places in order to wake up…

In other words, being able to live with a condition is not the same as the condition being debilitating.

A lot of mental illnesses go unnoticed by others because they're often very easy to hide (and you're encouraged to hide them). Thinking that you can't be in the top 5% of earners and are just doing "speed for fun" is like thinking you can't be suicidally depressed just because you are a comedian. Hell, most people were surprised by Anthony Bourdain despite him being open about his depression. What you see is not reality, so don't be quick to judge. You'd be surprised how many peoples mental states are a house of cards but look like they're living in the finest of mansions.

Seriously, comments like the GPs are not only bad takes, but actively harmful. It perpetuates the belief that people should hide rather than seek help. The big issue with mental illnesses is that they are typically extreme versions of normal behavior and we often paint them as unrealistically extreme and constant. They're highly variable and the most common thing to happen is people only seek help when they're in the spiraling states, where they are incapable of getting that help, but will not seek it out when they've normalized.

Plus, you don't know if they're in that top 5% post medication and would not have been prior. You don't have the counterfactual power to make such judgements.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#634

Post by godelski »

swozey wrote: post #458
gosub100 wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you have the inability to read books? I notice that I simply cannot focus on reading a book to save my life. I can read internet comments and articles all day though. If I try to read a book I get annoyed that they're "not making their point" fast enough, especially with fiction and visual descriptions of people and places. I used to just complain about it, but now I wonder if thats actually pinpointing something…

I read a ludicrous amount of books as a kid. Stuff like The Wheel of Time, 1000+ page books. Now I just buy books and don't read them. I'll also buy audiobooks and bounce between them not really remembering much of the plots until I fall asleep. I think the instant gratification of refreshing reddit/digg(rip)/instagram and having completely new things to see/read has destroyed my long term attention span. I don't rea…

This is definitely a common thing these days. I'll mention that as someone diagnosed (within the last year) the same is true about me. But what's also distinguishing is that there's hyper-observant behavior. For example I might be out with friends and having a hard time maintaining a conversation because I'm queued into the conversations at the table to my left and to my right. Not because I want to, but because I can't turn it off. I've been like that since a kid too. Even back in 2005 I'd have the TV on, my laptop out, and be doing homework while clicking through Stumble Upon. So I definitely think there are aspects of our modern society that are creating an attention deficit disorder at a larger level but I think there are still things that distinguish ADHD from attention/novelty addiction. But don't be afraid to get tested if you think you have ADHD, it'll be covered by your insurance and can help you learn to better handle your issues.

But I definitely think we do need a discussion, especially as the people developing these addictive technologies, as to the consequences of what we build. Maybe you shouldn't take that job at TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, or Facebook, maybe you should. Just consider more than the money because if you can get one of those jobs you can probably get another high paying job. Or maybe question certain features and/or metrics and ask if they actually align with your real goals and if those goals are actually beneficial or harmful (it's frequently not obvious a priori). Move fast and break things is a useful strategy but not in every situation. Not everything can be repaired as easily as they can be broken.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#636

Post by OneOffAsk »

TheRealHB wrote: post #54

The Blinking LED, A simple Hack that still works for me after years: 1. Place a tiny LED (red or yellow) by the side of your monitor or virtually on the screen corner. Basically anywhere almost bordering your field of view. 2. Make it blink like a fast heartbeat (120-150 bpm) and gradually slowdown to around 60 bpm (or your slow heartbeat base). Make the slope approx 20 to 60 minutes (you can adjust the best rate by…

I just listened to a podcast, Huberman, that discussed how to improve your ability to task switch. Apparently, there’s some connection to how your mind perceives time. He mentioned an exercise to improve your ability to task switch that manipulates how your mind perceives time, switching back-and-forth between slowing it down and speeding it up.

I think the inability to task switch is a big part of ADHD and this thing you’re describing really sounds similar to what Huberman was discussing.

Now, I’m not a doctor and I have no idea what I’m talking about here. Every time I start talking about this stuff I imagine my doctor friend sitting in the corner of the room shaking his head (maybe some of you saying it’s placebo should do the same).

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#637

Post by bratwurst3000 »

hirvi74 wrote: post #617
bratwurst3000 wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am someone with severe adhd and I only use meds ( adderal) if needed. The side effects are heavy on the long run. Having coping mechanisms and and understanding surrounding is way more important. Without that and only meds I am only the person with the highest tension in the room. And my adhd was measured. Low dopamine. Btw I tried a adhd friendly diet and sports once . I don’t know if it was placebo or real but it…

> And my adhd was measured. Low dopamine. What does this even mean?

I was in a clinic where they did ct or mri and measured my brain and the dopamine release. That was as a child. I did say this because most adhd is loosely diagnosed and brain scans are rare but the final proof. Sorry my English is not so good

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#638

Post by dannyw »

throwaway2990 wrote: post #290
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's better to have a diagnosis either way to be honest. If you have it and were undiagnosed for decades, you will finally have an answer to why you're different, and as some that took medication for the first time, it can finally go quiet in your head. And if you don't have it, then you can look at other causes for your problems. Because nobody (and/or their dog) will think they have ADHD unless they have identified…

100%. I’m glad Australia appears to be doing an actual diagnosis rather than just prescribing drugs. All kids are different. Some kids can sit and read for hours. But some kids need to do physical stuff. Schools don’t cater for the latter. Gone are the days of learning wood work and metal work, cooking, sewing. Kids don’t do PE class like they used to. We try to ram all kids through the same meat grinder and when one…

A curated list of NSW High School Electives:

* Dance * Drama * Food Technology * Industrial Technology Timber * Industrial Technology Metal * Music * Physical Activity & Sports Studies * Visual Arts

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#639

Post by mcmoor »

dijit wrote: post #121
mathieuh wrote: post #92

I used to think I had some ADHD symptoms: growing up I never did any revision for any of my school exams until a couple of days before, all my coursework and projects were done last minute in a week of intense focus, I've had issues with drugs in the past etc. Then I met someone who actually has ADHD and saw them before they'd taken their stimulant drugs. They were completely nonfunctional in any sense of the word, t…

Well. 1. Self-diagnosis is not a diagnosis. 2. Things exist on a spectrum. The definition of it becoming a "disorder" is when it negatively affects your life enough. During diagnosis a psychotherapist will be tasked with identifying traits of ADHD (IE; Markers), you will not have all markers. Everyone will have some. Then those markers are investigated to discover how much they impact your quality of life. If it is a…

I still thought "X is a spectrum" is essentially the same as saying that everyone have it, which I don't think is a useful assertion. There should still be a threshold somewhere, something that of course psychology won't try to draw.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#640

Post by RoyalHenOil »

gosub100 wrote: post #259
SquareWheel wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When someone has a solution that works for them, why possibly ruin it for them by pointing out placebo? You are likely aware of this already, but for others readers, it's important to know that placebos are still effective even when you know they are placebo. The term is "open-label placebo". https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33594150/

the first time I tried antidepressants I had this effect. I even knew about the placebo effect, and I knew they take multiple weeks to do anything. but yet the day after I took the first pill I started wondering if things were getting better and I was trying to deny it, but it felt like a change. (spoiler: it had the opposite effect and once they took effect I could barely get out of bed lol). It was just incredible…

I wonder if the placebo effect is actually hope.

I wouldn't be surprised if you felt better even before you took your first dose; I can imagine you started feeling better just having a prescription in hand.

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