Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 141 posts

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#91

Post by e40 »

austenallred wrote: post #11

I was diagnosed with ADHD at a very young age, and have been doing battle with my attention span for most of my life. I had only read a half dozen books all the way through when I graduated from High School, despite reading at a college reading level before I was out of elementary school and having started hundreds of them. The few books that I had read included Les Miserables and War and Peace, both of which I binge…

That's somewhat of a heartbreaking story. I wonder if your mind was calmed during those two years because you had found your calling and were happy with your situation, for the first and only time in your life?

I'm not suggesting you change your life now, btw. Maybe you are, for whatever reason, unable to engage in things which you are not fully committed to.

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#92

Post by chimeracoder »

ahknight wrote: post #19
silencio wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I agree with calling drugs a "crutch". Nobody in their right mind would tell me that Singulair or Dulera is a crutch for my asthma. Nobody would call albuterol inhalers overprescribed or asthma overdiagnosed either. My allergist always has to tell me not to work my life around my triggers past a certain point too. Yet I hear it all the time about the Adderall and Vyvanse I used to take, and about ADHD. A…

I watched a talk by Dr. Barkley a while back and he had a wonderful way of phrasing it (paraphrased): "Suppose you had a person in a wheelchair who needed in your building. Would you build a ramp and then after 30 days take it down, saying 'Well, by now they should have figured out how to get into the building.' NO! It's a remedy for a handicap. Neither should you deny medication to someone with another kind of handi…

> After I let that sink in I suddenly didn't give a crap about the anti-pharma crowd. I have what I need and it helps me, so fuck 'em.

Unfortunately the anti-pharma crowd is actively making it more difficult for you to access your medication, by placing increasingly strict controls on access to Adderall and other Schedule II drugs, placing quotas on production (which cause medication shortages[0]), and other measures to 'combat overuse'.

Of course, the only people this actually hurts are people who need the medication on a daily basis and only use legal means to access it, whereas people who abuse/'overuse' it simply stock up ahead of time, or turn to the black market.

[0] http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/anatomy-of-the-great-addera...

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#93

Post by amelius »

I think I'm having the exact reverse problem. My focus at work is very good, but I feel anxiety levels going up during the day. Drinking coffee sends my anxiety through the roof. Also I'm often so concentrated on things happening inside my head, that I forget to pay attention to the outside world. This is especially problematic when talking to other people (that talk slowly), or in traffic.

Probably these symptoms are not so bad when compared to ADHD, but at times I just wish there was a (preferably natural) medicine to deal with this.

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#94

Post by jacques_chester »

Xcelerate wrote: post #43

Well huh. I'd never thought I had ADHD, just a complete inability to motivate myself to do things. However, the descriptions in this article describe me perfectly! Everything seems dull, I'm constantly seeking new experiences, the idea of a daily routine terrifies me (even though my father keeps encouraging me to develop one), but I can play piano for an entire day.

Ask to see a psychiatrist. A proper diagnosis will require a history going back to childhood.

I'm 33, I was diagnosed about a year ago. It's made a positive difference on my life.

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#95

Post by bayesianhorse »

This unscientific narrative is dangerous. ADHD can go away over the years, without medication. But you can't predict it, and there is no evidence for particular causes of "remission".

More stimulation is hardly the answer to the social problems arising from ADHD, to drug addictions or a myriad of other problems patients have. It certainly doesn't work against depression, and good luck curing 5-10% of children just by "stimulating" them more.

Coping with ADHD means improving Attention and Focus. The single most effective way is medication. Additionally mindfulness/awareness meditation has been shown to work. Other activities like martial arts or dancing may have similar effects, but less reliably so.

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#96

Post by cpursley »

spenuke wrote: post #70
ahknight wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar story here: early age, 0 or 100, high tests and little completion. The difference is I've been programming for most of my life (I'm not exaggerating; I started at 7y). It's likely because I started so young that I find that's my hyper focus outlet, though I still find that every time I try to learn Java it feels so painful I break something and run away (though I know C, C++, Obj-C, Swift, Python, PHP, Perl,…

My uncle is a psychiatrist, and he has a theory that the definition is more of a matrix than a spectrum. He says that what is often called attention deficit would better be described as intention surplus - you have more intention than your attention can handle. A lot of A.D.D. cases are confused by the fact that they can spend several hours hyperfocused on something, so it's not a lack of attention that's the problem…

"intention surplus" interesting, this makes a lot of sense.

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#97

Post by bayesianhorse »

guiambros wrote: post #6

It's sad that the article didn't even mention exercise as a potential treatment for ADHD. The OP implies that kids will simply "grow out" of ADHD, drugs, or changing the environment may be enough. While these are valid solutions, exercise may be equally or even more effective. John J. Ratey, one of the pioneers of ADHD [1], recently wrote the excellent Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain [2…

You can't rely on exercise to treat ADHD. It may prove beneficial, but medication is clearly more effective.

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#98

Post by Tehnix »

emotionalcode wrote: post #87
schalab wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article insinuates that the core problem is the higher base line of stimulus required for motivation. How does Adderall fix this? Do you feel mundane repetitive tasks are more rewarding now? What about tasks that would feel great even without the medication? Do they overload your circuits then? Am curious as to how the drug manifests itself in your day to day routine.

I was late diagnosed with ADHD. I used to be on Adderall for years. I'm now on a non-stimulant medication, as well as an anti-anxiety anti-depressant. Adderall helped me in college. It helped me get every homework done, even if the homework was pointless. I spent some time trying to switch medications, as I personally did not like feeling glued to whatever activity I was doing. I like having the choice to focus, or n…

Regarding nootropics, gwern has an excellent writeup on different ones, and how he tested them http://www.gwern.net/Nootropics. You might already have seen it, in case it might be helpful to others.

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#99

Post by ohyes »

I've never been diagnosed but I'm bored all of the time. I'm almost 30. I've been fairly successful in jobs where I'm learning new stuff all the time. Is it possible I'm ADD?

Edit: I got bored halfway through the article.

Re: A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D.?

#100

Post by eclipsor »

adhd_anon wrote: post #79

I have severe inattentive ADHD. 1. There is absolutely no sympathy: The problem with ADHD is that it is a disorder of degree not kind. If I had epilepsy or cancer or had some of my limbs missing then people around me would be supportive and understanding. But not ADHD. Everybody's mind wanders. Everyone would like to only do interesting things. Everyone forgets things from time to time. But, the problem is the degree…

Recently diagnosed myself, I spent years and years trying to control it via willpower. The real turning point when I realized I needed to see someone was a few months ago. I found that hobbies I loved (gaming, programming, etc) would no longer hold my attention and I was compulsively getting up and wandering to the kitchen/bathroom just because my brain felt like it was frying. This is extremely hard to explain, because I'm not slacking to get off of work and do something fun like everyone else, I was compulsively slacking because very little would grab me.
Post reply on HN