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THANK YOU!
This has been an issue I've posted about before on my blog, and I recognise all of that dead on. Now it happens to be that I do have ADHD, but finally some good supportive information that I can use to work from this point to the next step!
In regards to concentration:
Give me a challenge and the first two times I will be completely lost into doing that challenge. It'll be hard to deviate my mind at that point. However, ask me a few days later to repeat the same challenge and its... virtually impossible.
Edit:
I'll grab the points from the OP and give my experiences on it.
Here is the list of the points made in the article I can strongly relate to (I'd like to see yours as well):
"hyperfocusing"
This is something I have noticed a long time ago. Under the right circumstances I can be incredibly productive.
I often note that I am able to concentrate on the new things intensely, and then after a while being incapable of reproducing it. For those wondering, in this context hyperfocus doesn't mean that you can concentrate for a few hours. It often means that you can focus on it while it is fresh, and on other moments you can't perform well. This is much more radical than 'normal' focus. For me, it is like being in some kind of mental zone. I would try to describe it as a moment where for me, the world is unlimited in options and my potential is unlimited. That's how it feels to have those sporadic hyperfocus moments, which also makes the aspect of concentration on normal things much harder to feel.
Many ADDers find that they self-medicate with coffee, chocolate, loud music
Wow. Direct hit. I have noticed a long time ago that somehow loud music helps my performance. Even if I'm reading and it can be thought of as a distraction it actually helps. The music that helps is usually some with heavy beat like house, electro, or pop (with minimum lirics).
Different music, but yes. I must listen to music if I wish to be somewhat productive.
ADDers often are criticized for not paying attention, interrupting, and wandering away in the middle of conversations. This is not intentional impoliteness. It is merely that some distraction has forced attention elsewhere; since the ADDer depends on outside stimulation to keep functioning, attention often gets focused on the greater source of stimulation, which may be other than what either party intends.
Yes yes yes. I find it so hard to chat with people 1on1 when I have no opportunity to walk away (in my thoughts) for a minute. Such chats are rarely very interesting all the way and not only it bores me and I start not to pay attention I also get the feeling that I'm boring the other person to death and that makes me wonna just say goodbye and leave. Group chats of 5+ people are much better though. It allows to talk when you want and when you have something important or funny to say.
For me it's a little different. I have no problem with talking to people for hours. But what I have strongly is that when a lecture is wasting my time (feeling wise) that I just get up, grab my stuff and walk out of the classroom. Why do I need to sit in a classroom for 3 hours when I would take one hour to learn the same thing by myself (provided I am focused on studying)
"Lack of sustained effort"
Oh god, how much troubles I've had with my parents over this one.
T_T Oh how familiar
Novelty and challenge (and threat, guilt, suffering, anger, and a host of other unpleasant emotions) can stimulate enough neurotransmitters to keep alert at first, but if the environment is not cooperating, the ADDer just "runs out of gas."
I just cant stress this enough. For example in the university the threat and guilt keeps you studying at first. But as you get away with it time after time it becomes much less effective.
Lack of clarity is a bad idea, unless you want the typically highly imaginative ADDer to creatively interpret your statements in a few dozen ways, many of which you may not have considered.
oh how many times I've been through that.
but handles crises well (because of the high stimulation it provides)
true, at least it comes with perks. Though sometimes I worry about minor stuff the really important events and situations dont really touch me. It just didn't make sense until now.
True.
excellent peripheral vision
haha true. Love staring at girls without staring.
Not too sure on this one here.
extremely high scores on SAT and intelligence tests, which leads to more poor self-esteem and accusations of laziness when goals are not met, which is very often
oh well, the story of my life.
I am dealing with the next step of that problem. When I have my hyperfocus I am fully aware of my capabilities. To take SC2 as example, when I am not in that mode I play like a low diamond, but when I do get that mode, it's mid-high masters. The problem I face is that I know this well, I know howmuch I can do if I have the right 'mood' so to speak. And that also is the depressing thing, knowing you need to have hyperfocus to reach that top that you KNOW you can reach.
and often insensitive to social cues
yap
Definatly.
Another trait is that they are extremely skilled in visualization due to a unique brain wiring, but often at the expense of verbal ability
hate verbal questions on IQ test. Usually if I dont see the answer on the first read I would just skip the question and return only when everything else is done.
It makes it easier to follow things if you dumb them down to simple images. For example, for my workout my fysiotherapist told me to lie on my belly and lift my feet into the sky (while stretching legs) and same for my head and arms, to train back muscles. For me, this looks like the brackets such as ' ( ' , or like a cheese carrier from Gouda, a Dutch city. It made my fysiotherapist laugh because of all the references, but it's easier for me to remember those things.
Since linear time is an alien abstraction, frequent reminders about meetings and deadlines are needed. This can be done with a pager, or electronic notepad.
I absolutely dont have any sense of time. Thanks god for an organizer on a smartphone.
I do happen to have a reasonable sense of time, but the problem is that I must consistently remind myself 30 minutes in advance to get ready, lest I may start too late and it will become rushwork. Like preparing for work, I need to wake up an hour before departing because if I wake up later, I will miss my timings.
P.S. And one more question to the fellow ADHDers. Do you get slightly better performance at SC when slightly drunk? I find that even a lot (reasonably) of alcohol doesnt impair my thinking patterns but it does provide the stimulation.
Last edit: 2012-11-16 12:35:57
I deliberately do not drink to avoid aggressive tendencies and/or loss of control. So couldn't help you there.
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On November 16 2012 14:19 iamho wrote:
These questions sound like the kind of thing everyone would answer yes to. "Are you really alert sometimes but other times not?" "Are you sometimes lazy but productive at other times?" Not to mention everyone thinks they're an underperforming genius, socially awkward, and pretty much everything else on that list.
I agree to an extent. What we have here is like basicly everything in personality theory - a personality scale. One extreme is a perfect hunter, who doesn't waste energy at all (as much as it is physically possible) without stimulation and gets extreme spike in performance when it is needed. The other extreme is a perfect farmer who has perfect boredom tolerance and thus just doesn't need the increased performance. A normal person would be somewhere at the middle: a hunter-farmer mix with characteristics of both that is average boredom tolerance and average ability to improve performance under stimuli. So to be an ADHD you should be very close to the perfect hunter extreme, that is not just have those characteristics to some extent, but to be able to relate to them strongly. When I was reading I had a feeling the person was writing exactly about me. I am into personality psychology for 5 years now and I basicly never get this feeling. Also I think in a community like TL we should have a disproportionally huge amount of ADHDs.
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On November 16 2012 15:41 Ydriel wrote:
At any rate, if anything, it's all speculations ^^ I'm curious though, are there more concrete ways, or tests of sorts, to figure out one's tendency to be affected from ADHD? (short of asking a doctor, of course)
Well based on the info I posted about IQ of ADHD kids it might be worth it to check your overall IQ and compare it to your verbal IQ. The higher the gap the more likely u got an ADHD. But I think you should not get preoccupied with arbitrary definitions like ADHD yes/no. I'm absolutely positive this is a scale of personality differences. If some psychologists draw a line at 90% hunter-type and say: "if you are any closer to it you have an ADHD", does it change anything? The important part here is understanding yourself, learning to build your life around your strengths and having coping strategies to cover your weaknesses.
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Well, this explains a lot.
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What sources does this article use and who wrote this? I can't seem to find anything.
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On November 16 2012 19:28 dakalro wrote:Show nested quote +On November 16 2012 17:53 Arnstein wrote:
I think that a few percentage of human beings have ADD/ADHD, but I think it's quite overdiagnosed.
I mean, it's completely normal to want immediate reward for things. As a person that loves classical music, I still find myself listening to way more pop-music, because in pop-music, you get your "music-hit" immediately: there's a beat and melody from the first second. In classical music, however, the music builds up etc. If I listen to a 40 minute long classical masterpiece, I will feel much better than listening to a 3 minute long pop song, but since the pop song gives immediate reward, it is so attempting to listen to that one instead. Same goes for everything: I find myself watching more and more 2minute Youtube clips with funny stuff, rather than watching a 20+ minute comedy. Most of the time, a 20+ minute comedy is more thought out and funnier, but since I get my "comedy-hit" from just a 2 minute clip on Youtube, I'd rather just do that. This also applies to studying. If you spend your whole day studying one type of solving integrals or whatever, you will feel like you really learnt a LOT, and you will feel very good, but it's very easy to be tempted into just getting a hint on how to solve it, and then be done with the exercise.
Also, with us growing up playing games and watching TV, no wonder we have a hard time concentrating reading a slow-ass book. We are used to looking at something for maximum of 2 seconds before we see something new, while at the same time being stimulated with sound, and in gaming even with us using our body to push buttons. When you've done that for many hours every day since you were 5, it's rather hard to sit still and concentrate on a book(that you often don't find interesting, if it's a school book). Trust me the problem isn't concentrating reading a book. I can go through a book in one day, never eating, never stopping, never sleeping, just fine. As for the music, it doesn't have to be music. Best use is a movie you've already seen (heard actually) a few dozen times. Music that doesn't have distinguishable lyrics or mood shifts during the music - new movies make me focus the movie, classical makes me focus on the music, it's not the white noise I need.
This is true. I previously wrote a Blog about having ADD and reading has never been an issue. It is a really badly named disorder and should have been called, Attention Inconsistency Disorder. People with ADD can go into a state of hyper focus if something catches their attention and generally enjoy working on whatever that is. However, they have no control over that state and cannot replicate it.
For example, I work in the legal field and often have to go through financial ledges and look for errors or misreporting. We do this when submitting documents to the court reflecting if someone is behind on payments on a specific debt. 90% of the time I loath this task and it is painful to do. However, sometimes when it involves a case I am invested in and I know(through outside information) there is some minor detail hidden in the ledger, I love the task. I love hunting down the critical fact that will turn the case on its head. It is the same task, but some connection in my mind allows me to hyper focus on it. I can’t control it, because if I could, I could do anything.
I strongly recommend Driven to Distraction for people who think they might have ADD, or do and are struggling with it. Knowing what your dealing with is the key to addressing the problem. A lot of people with ADD think they understand it, but would be shocked how it infects every section of your life.
Example and pro-tip for those with ADD: Don't talk to your girlfriend if there is a TV directly behind her, even if it is muted. You will get in trouble.(my girlfriend also has ADD, so we just shut the TV off)
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Come on, it's obvious that everyone has the symptoms of ADHD, as it's an invented disease, specifically designed to sell pills to not sick people (children). The sole fact that everyone reading this says "it's me !" gives it away. (and also the fact that this "disease" only exists in USA)
Perhaps I'm just misinformed, but everything I read about the ADHD always sounds like it's a fraud.
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On November 17 2012 03:18 MrCon wrote:
Come on, it's obvious that everyone has the symptoms of ADHD, as it's an invented disease, specifically designed to sell pills to not sick people (children). The sole fact that everyone reading this says "it's me !" gives it away. (and also the fact that this "disease" only exists in USA)
Perhaps I'm just misinformed, but everything I read about the ADHD always sounds like it's a fraud.
I kind of agree. Obviously some people might have a very severe case. But based on some stuff I've read I also should have ADD :////
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On November 17 2012 03:18 MrCon wrote:
Come on, it's obvious that everyone has the symptoms of ADHD, as it's an invented disease, specifically designed to sell pills to not sick people (children). The sole fact that everyone reading this says "it's me !" gives it away. (and also the fact that this "disease" only exists in USA)
Perhaps I'm just misinformed, but everything I read about the ADHD always sounds like it's a fraud.
Neurological testing has proven that people who truly have ADD have brains that function differently that “normal” brains. They have an inability to filter out stimuli and seek stimuli at an elevated rate that normal brains. Thousands of hours of complex research by people far better educated that you have been used to prove and address the disorder. Just because you do not understand or have not taken the time to educate yourself does not mean it is not real.
Your statement is similar to saying “Depression is made up to sell pills. Everyone gets sad.”
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I believe the real problem is making a correct diagnosis.
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On November 16 2012 18:35 Chaves wrote:
Hahah you make ADHD LOOK SUPERULTRA COOl!!
I got this sh1t, i was diagnosed (is that even a word? anyway ..) a few years ago, and i dont feel so cool like you do ... Lets see, hyperfocusing , looks like a mothafacker super power right? WRONG, it is like a superpower, that just work when you dont really need it ...
lol, didn't mean to make it sound I was the most awesome shit around (maybe I am, but that's a discussion for another day
<.<). To be honest, that mostly worked for me during college, cuz I mostly studied something I really like xD Had a hard time during school though, I could easily pass math and physics book just from reading stuff on my own and practice, but other classes, I didn't do too well. I'd mostly try to study, couldn't get most of the stuff through my skull and, like most students, ended up studying the day before, or even the same day (somehow managed to baaaarely pass a course by reading the textbook 10 minutes before going in ^^)
On November 16 2012 21:38 Cheerio wrote:
Well based on the info I posted about IQ of ADHD kids it might be worth it to check your overall IQ and compare it to your verbal IQ. The higher the gap the more likely u got an ADHD. But I think you should not get preoccupied with arbitrary definitions like ADHD yes/no. I'm absolutely positive this is a scale of personality differences. If some psychologists draw a line at 90% hunter-type and say: "if you are any closer to it you have an ADHD", does it change anything? The important part here is understanding yourself, learning to build your life around your strengths and having coping strategies to cover your weaknesses.
I see. I have to say it is kind of sketchy, as anyone can just be better at numbers than words. I personally tend to do much better in math questions. And yeah, I'm not trying to just diagnose myself with it as a reason to somehow feel better or special, but I think it's fun for some people to see a list of stuff they tend to do out of the ordinary and relate with it (I just...ended up writing a huge block of text without noticing <.<)
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On November 17 2012 03:18 MrCon wrote:
Come on, it's obvious that everyone has the symptoms of ADHD, as it's an invented disease, specifically designed to sell pills to not sick people (children). The sole fact that everyone reading this says "it's me !" gives it away. (and also the fact that this "disease" only exists in USA)
Perhaps I'm just misinformed, but everything I read about the ADHD always sounds like it's a fraud.
I think you're right to an extent - in that the internet/games/movies/smartphones/modern life create some of these symptoms in everyone. But I have met a number people who really have it, and it's definitely real.
One kid I taught just COULD NOT sit still for 30 minutes. He just couldn't, and not because he was bad. He just wanted to dance, and while he would take an interest in the class, he couldn't focus once attention wasn't completely on him (e.g when other students were answering questions). It made teaching hard, but he sure could dance.
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Oh the fake disses, marketed by fake doctors which drugs are mad for by fake medicine companies and that apparently 60% of America has, gotta love it :D
But i thought the trend for taking brain damaging methadone radicals are depressions and autism right now... ADHD was 2006-2010 stuff tbh.
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IS ADHD binary like either you have it or you don't? e.g) certain part of the brain damaged or suppressed?
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On November 17 2012 03:00 Recognizable wrote:
What sources does this article use and who wrote this? I can't seem to find anything.
Well wikipedia article on ADHD has some overlaps with this theory.
A study by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in collaboration with Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York suggest that it is not the dopamine transporter levels that indicate ADHD, but the brain's ability to produce neurotransmitters like dopamine itself. The study was done by injecting 20 ADHD subjects and 25 control subjects with a radiotracer that attaches itself to dopamine transporters. The study found that it was not the transporter levels that indicated ADHD, but the dopamine itself. ADHD subjects showed lower levels of dopamine (hypodopaminergia) across the board. They speculated that since ADHD subjects had lower levels of dopamine to begin with, the number of transporters in the brain was not the telling factor. In support of this notion, plasma homovanillic acid, an index of dopamine levels, was found to be inversely related not only to childhood ADHD symptoms in adult psychiatric patients but to "childhood learning problems" in healthy subjects as well.[95] One interpretation of dopamine pathway tracers is that the biochemical "reward" mechanism works for those with ADHD only when the task performed is inherently motivating; low levels of dopamine raise the threshold at which someone can maintain focus on a task that is otherwise boring.[96]
The references:
95. Coccaro EF, Hirsch SL, Stein MA (2007). "Plasma homovanillic acid correlates inversely with history of learning problems in healthy volunteer and personality disordered subjects". Psychiatry Research 149 (1–3): 297–302. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2006.05.009. PMID 17113158.
96. ^ Identifying Brain Differences In People With ADHD : NPR
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EPT
