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Life with ADD

Blogs > Kuja
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Kuja
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
United States1759 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-06-10 12:41:17
June 10 2013 10:45 GMT
#1
+ Show Spoiler +


Two Adderal, multiple cups of coffee and a hearty dash o' THC. These ingredients merge to give me the mental clarity, the focus that I cannot, hard as I try, will upon a sober, non-medicated self. I can at last keep my mind in peace and clarity, for as long as I need. The problem isn't you, it's your brain. How can I be expected to explain, to have people understand, the torture 10 minutes of uninteresting, mind-numbing work is to the brain with ADD. How despite slaving over homework, I sit unable to focus.

Is the child struggling from un-diagnosed ADD supposed to self-recognize a neurobehavioral disorder? When you grow up with un-diagnosed ADD teachers and parents make assumptions that you are careless, irresponsible, immature, you're lazy, you don't care, show any effort, that you just aren't even trying. I tried and I tried, I would have given my right arm to have been able to fix myself. What was so wrong with me that I couldn't fix it? Why was I told over and over again to try harder when it wasn't working? Naturally feelings of shame, guilt and remorse over not living up to my “potential” set in. My self-esteem was devastated, and I despised myself. All I had to show in life, in spite of my fine mind, were failures. Believing that if I "tried just a little harder" I'd be able to achieve my goals. Then watching, helpless and confused, as the dreams I held slowly shattered. As the only things I wanted out of this world drifted farther and farther away, becoming impossibilities.

It's impossible to relate how I'm physiologically unable to succeed in things like school. That no matter how grand and earnest the effort I can never fix this issue on my own because its not my mind, its unbalanced brain chemistry. I've tried so fucking hard to not have this complication. I can't change myself, it's a disorder and it's impossible. I've also learned that the general public has great misconceptions about how ADD affects an individual.

Life is now constant medication, but I can finally concentrate. For the first time in my life I had the tools I was not born with, that I needed in order to excel. I'm calmer, more attentive, more socially outgoing, motivated and have less social anxiety. Iniquities that haunted and impaired me vanished, temporarily and artificially purged. To think that, having put countless hours of effort to naturopathicly improve or cure myself, the only thing I had to do, the only thing I could do, was take medication. Although I am objectively "better" for medicating my ADD, the pills make me feel like I'm not myself, and I hate it. I curse the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that needing medication makes me somehow inferior. I panic at the thought of not being able to fill my prescription on time, not because I'm addicted to it, but because I know that going off it for a few days means a steep, rapid decline in productivity from which my grades may never recover. Do I just take this drug that makes me not myself and succeed? Or do I be myself, doomed to failure by no accord of my own.

+ Show Spoiler +


I dream in melancholy about if, by some miracle, or freak accident I could have treated this sooner. How did I or a family member, even a close friend not recognize my disorder earlier? What might my life be if I had been diagnosed before high school, instead of after? So much all too precious time and youth lost suffering from ADD, so many opportunities wasted. It enrages and motivates me to look back at the pattern of failure before treatment, juxtaposing it with the success I am now able to achieve with the tools my medication provides me.

In truth, I am disturbed by how much this drug changes and helps me. I am terrified that I have to take these medications in ignorance of what negative repercussions might follow later in life. Yet how can I choose a life of stagnation instead? To be the way I was born means to be fated to failure. So I refuse to set sail into the uncharted seas of my life on the self-sinking boat that is un-treated ADD. I push onward, succeeding at any cost, because "your regrets aren't what you did, but what you didn't do. So take every opportunity".


***
“Who's to say that my light is better than your darkness? Who's to say death is better than your darkness? Who am I to say?”
GhostOwl
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
766 Posts
June 10 2013 12:03 GMT
#2
I don't know much about ADD, and I do feel sorry about what you have to go through. If it really is a medical condition, then that really sucks. But I grew up believing that ADD is not real and it's a excuse used to justify the slacker kids in my school. I thought it was a way to make pharmaceutical companies to get rich. I feel like I'm disrespecting the OP by posting this on his blog but I was just wondering if the rest of TL'ers thinks it's real or not. Either way, dependence on any medication is bound to be not good for your health. I would be careful about that.
spinesheath
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Germany8679 Posts
June 10 2013 12:12 GMT
#3
On June 10 2013 21:03 GhostOwl wrote:
I don't know much about ADD, and I do feel sorry about what you have to go through. If it really is a medical condition, then that really sucks. But I grew up believing that ADD is not real and it's a excuse used to justify the slacker kids in my school. I thought it was a way to make pharmaceutical companies to get rich. I feel like I'm disrespecting the OP by posting this on his blog but I was just wondering if the rest of TL'ers thinks it's real or not. Either way, dependence on any medication is bound to be not good for your health. I would be careful about that.

Calling people slackers just because they aren't what society expects them to be is an excuse to justify not trying to understand those people.
If you have a good reason to disagree with the above, please tell me. Thank you.
divito
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Canada1213 Posts
June 10 2013 12:24 GMT
#4
On June 10 2013 21:03 GhostOwl wrote:
I don't know much about ADD, and I do feel sorry about what you have to go through. If it really is a medical condition, then that really sucks. But I grew up believing that ADD is not real and it's a excuse used to justify the slacker kids in my school. I thought it was a way to make pharmaceutical companies to get rich. I feel like I'm disrespecting the OP by posting this on his blog but I was just wondering if the rest of TL'ers thinks it's real or not. Either way, dependence on any medication is bound to be not good for your health. I would be careful about that.

While incredibly over-prescribed, ADD/ADHD are definitely real conditions. I do think that people use it too much as an excuse, but it definitely hampers aspects of one's life. I self-diagnosed myself with ADHD when I noticed things about certain habits in my life, and on my abilities in gaming slowly changing as I got older (although based on accounts and behaviour, I'm sure it could have been diagnosed when I was younger too).

I went to my doctor and asked if ADHD could be the culprit. He listened to my explanations, had me fill out some stuff and agreed with me, then prescribed me Ritalin SR. Now, I only took the one month supply that he gave me, but I noticed a drastic improvement in my overall attentiveness, clarity and ability to stay on and complete tasks compared to before the medication.

Now while it definitely helped in so many areas, my decision not to re-fill my prescription was based on money at the time, as well as aspects relating to how much I'd become dependent on it. I've been considering going back to it, but to say it's not real is kind of strange.
Skype: divito7
SomethingWitty
Profile Joined May 2013
Canada94 Posts
June 10 2013 12:30 GMT
#5
On June 10 2013 21:03 GhostOwl wrote:
I don't know much about ADD, and I do feel sorry about what you have to go through. If it really is a medical condition, then that really sucks. But I grew up believing that ADD is not real and it's a excuse used to justify the slacker kids in my school. I thought it was a way to make pharmaceutical companies to get rich. I feel like I'm disrespecting the OP by posting this on his blog but I was just wondering if the rest of TL'ers thinks it's real or not. Either way, dependence on any medication is bound to be not good for your health. I would be careful about that.


My post is blunt, if criticism scares you, don't read it.

What you said was disrespectful, because of one word you used, "believing". In a pharmaceutical and medical context "belief" means absolutely nothing. Medication, mostly notably, Adderall has extremely helpful effects for people with diagnosed ADHD when a comorbid disorder that was mimicking ADHD was ruled out. For example in this double blind, placebo controlled study of adults with ADHD researchers found that Adderall resulted in 70% of patients have significantly improved ADHD symptoms, while only 7% did with the placebo. Next time before you state that a medical disorder is "fake" and used to justify "slackers" which is literally the stigma that the OP talked about as scaring him from looking for a diagnosis from a medical professional, you should look on the internet for around, 5-10 minutes so that you actually can review the evidence and so that you don't continue to proclaim your ignorance.

OP - You don't have ADD. ADD isn't a medical diagnosis and hasn't been since 1994. It was merged into ADHD with three types of ADHD being defined as inattentive, hyperactive and a mix of inattentive and hyperactive. While Adderall has been proven in double blind, placebo controlled studies to help with ADHD, marijuana doesn't have any effects that would fit the treatment reasoning when related to the neurological conjecture for explaining ADHD and there haven't been any studies on the effect of marijuana with ADHD; so please, don't put marijuana into the category of "medication that helps me focus".
"A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery." - James Joyce, Ulysses
Kuja
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
United States1759 Posts
June 10 2013 12:37 GMT
#6
On June 10 2013 21:30 SomethingWitty wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 10 2013 21:03 GhostOwl wrote:
I don't know much about ADD, and I do feel sorry about what you have to go through. If it really is a medical condition, then that really sucks. But I grew up believing that ADD is not real and it's a excuse used to justify the slacker kids in my school. I thought it was a way to make pharmaceutical companies to get rich. I feel like I'm disrespecting the OP by posting this on his blog but I was just wondering if the rest of TL'ers thinks it's real or not. Either way, dependence on any medication is bound to be not good for your health. I would be careful about that.


My post is blunt, if criticism scares you, don't read it.

What you said was disrespectful, because of one word you used, "believing". In a pharmaceutical and medical context "belief" means absolutely nothing. Medication, mostly notably, Adderall has extremely helpful effects for people with diagnosed ADHD when a comorbid disorder that was mimicking ADHD was ruled out. For example in this double blind, placebo controlled study of adults with ADHD researchers found that Adderall resulted in 70% of patients have significantly improved ADHD symptoms, while only 7% did with the placebo. Next time before you state that a medical disorder is "fake" and used to justify "slackers" which is literally the stigma that the OP talked about as scaring him from looking for a diagnosis from a medical professional, you should look on the internet for around, 5-10 minutes so that you actually can review the evidence and so that you don't continue to proclaim your ignorance.

OP - You don't have ADD. ADD isn't a medical diagnosis and hasn't been since 1994. It was merged into ADHD with three types of ADHD being defined as inattentive, hyperactive and a mix of inattentive and hyperactive. While Adderall has been proven in double blind, placebo controlled studies to help with ADHD, marijuana doesn't have any effects that would fit the treatment reasoning when related to the neurological conjecture for explaining ADHD and there haven't been any studies on the effect of marijuana with ADHD; so please, don't put marijuana into the category of "medication that helps me focus".


To clarify, I never saw marijuana as a medication for my ADD (ADHD), only the legitimately prescribed stimulants. I, for my own ends and purposes, smoke cannabis. Although I won't say that I've had negative experiences mixing THC with my ADD (ADHD) medication.
“Who's to say that my light is better than your darkness? Who's to say death is better than your darkness? Who am I to say?”
Targe
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United Kingdom14103 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-06-10 13:18:11
June 10 2013 13:16 GMT
#7
On June 10 2013 21:03 GhostOwl wrote:
I don't know much about ADD, and I do feel sorry about what you have to go through. If it really is a medical condition, then that really sucks. But I grew up believing that ADD is not real and it's a excuse used to justify the slacker kids in my school. I thought it was a way to make pharmaceutical companies to get rich. I feel like I'm disrespecting the OP by posting this on his blog but I was just wondering if the rest of TL'ers thinks it's real or not. Either way, dependence on any medication is bound to be not good for your health. I would be careful about that.

ADD/ADHD is definitely real, I had to spend the majority of my pre-teen (Edit: and early teen) childhood on ritalin due to my inability to focus and had frequent one on one therapist sessions to try and solve the issues in the years before that.

Several years later and I still struggle to concentrate for long periods of time without stimulants, believe me it's not just an excuse for being unable to work.
11/5/14 CATACLYSM | The South West's worst Falco main
FoxShine
Profile Joined January 2012
United States156 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-06-10 13:39:56
June 10 2013 13:32 GMT
#8
Hello OP. I also have ADHD. I have spent a great deal of time discussing ADHD with friends with and without ADHD, family members, doctors, teachers, and even strangers on forums. I won't go into it much here, that is the nature of ADHD and diagnosis thereof.

I take Adderall, aswell. I used to smoke herb. I found that when smoking herb on Adderall it brings a sort of resurgence. I read somewhere before, the medical reason, for this synergistic effect. It indirectly effects Adderall's dopaminergic action in the brain. I can assure you, it does increase the stimulating effect.

When Adderall starts working, I can feel it in my abdomen. I noticed the feeling in the abdomen with the same motivating stimulation after combining marijuana - well into the dose of Adderall, after the initial effect. This feeling prompted me to look into it. This is of course, independent of the initial come on 20-40 minutes after taking the pill, as well as the second come on 3-5 hours after taking it ( for the timed release or XR version). I have since stopped smoking for health reasons; i.e lungs and memory...now that I mention it, I get supply blocked A LOT less, remember key bindings more, and continue unit production more consistently than when not smoking.

This isn't to dissuade you to stop smoking. However, I really really want to recommend drinking Black Tea as opposed to Coffee. Or, at least, in addition to it. This part I can't stress enough.

-Tea releases Caffeine over a longer period than coffee making the come up and down less jarring.
-Most importantly, Tea contains L-Theanine, which is a godsend for ADHD. In addition to increasing dopamine in the brain, it also does a lot more cool stuff.
Personally, I find it produces a calming effect that makes it easier for me to focus. It's like the caffeine still provides that wakefulness but without jitter and racing thoughts. The best word I can describe it as is 'clarity'.

From WIKI - "Theanine has been studied for its potential ability to reduce mental and physical stress..."
"The combination of L-theanine and caffeine has been shown to promote faster simple reaction time, faster numeric working memory reaction time and improved sentence verification accuracy."

It is found in higher concentrations in green tea, but I prefer black because of the caffeine. Earl Grey is the best. GLHF
We do what we must, because we can
Tobberoth
Profile Joined August 2010
Sweden6375 Posts
June 10 2013 13:36 GMT
#9
On June 10 2013 21:30 SomethingWitty wrote:
What you said was disrespectful, because of one word you used, "believing". In a pharmaceutical and medical context "belief" means absolutely nothing. Medication, mostly notably, Adderall has extremely helpful effects for people with diagnosed ADHD when a comorbid disorder that was mimicking ADHD was ruled out. For example in this double blind, placebo controlled study of adults with ADHD researchers found that Adderall resulted in 70% of patients have significantly improved ADHD symptoms, while only 7% did with the placebo.

Doesn't Adderall work for everyone though? We don't really have it in Sweden, but from what I hear, it's quite common among american students to use Adderall to boost their grades since it helps everyone concentrate and do homework etc better. I mean, a drug letting you concentrate better doesn't mean there's a disease at work. (I'm not denying the existance of ADHD, just saying that your argument is irrelevant).
Saechiis
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands4989 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-06-10 13:50:47
June 10 2013 13:48 GMT
#10
Funny how you can read a blog and feel like you wrote it yourself. I can definitely relate, having Aspergers, nothing sucks more than literally not being able to do something even though your mind can easily think of it. It also sucks that that they're invisible handicaps, meaning that most of the time they're only diagnosed when you've already hit rock bottom. And even then, as GhostOwl demonstrates, there's so many people who believe that some people just lack of willpower where others don't. Since there's not something obvious like missing arms, there's still this belief you should be able to just do shit, in fact, that's still too often what I myself think too. I guess we're still waiting for some revolution where people accept that choice isn't as straightforward a concept as their conscious mind would like to believe
I think esports is pretty nice.
lantz
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
United States762 Posts
June 10 2013 13:59 GMT
#11
Every asian that I know that takes this drug uses it because they feel like they can't keep up with their peers so they cave into the pressures of a miracle drug.

Certain slackers or other people that don't need attention drugs give this disease a bad name.
dakalro
Profile Joined September 2010
Romania525 Posts
June 10 2013 14:06 GMT
#12
Best way to cope with ADD is to find something interesting. I could easily sit through most classes at school since the teachers were pretty good and it was all interesting. I could read a book from start to finish without ever moving except for biological needs (think my record was around 20h of continuous reading). I could never keep on a homework till it was done. I just copied it next day from colleagues, while also fixing their mistakes :D. Essays I mostly skipped class and used nights to work on (easier to sit still when tired).

Only actions I could focus on were playing (outside/pc), reading (literature), listening to teachers in class. Pretty much all that was new and stimulating for my brain.
sc4k
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United Kingdom5454 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-06-10 14:17:49
June 10 2013 14:14 GMT
#13
Damn I can't imagine what it's like. Without medication, what happens when you are tired/ lacking sleep? Do your thoughts slow down like the rest of us or do you still constantly buzz but are even less focused?

On June 10 2013 22:59 needcomputer wrote:
Every asian that I know that takes this drug uses it because they feel like they can't keep up with their peers so they cave into the pressures of a miracle drug.


That is brutal, when kits are under that much pressure to succeed it is a recipe for mental breakdown.
Targe
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United Kingdom14103 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-06-10 14:37:53
June 10 2013 14:37 GMT
#14
On June 10 2013 23:14 sc4k wrote:
Damn I can't imagine what it's like. Without medication, what happens when you are tired/ lacking sleep? Do your thoughts slow down like the rest of us or do you still constantly buzz but are even less focused?

Show nested quote +
On June 10 2013 22:59 needcomputer wrote:
Every asian that I know that takes this drug uses it because they feel like they can't keep up with their peers so they cave into the pressures of a miracle drug.


That is brutal, when kits are under that much pressure to succeed it is a recipe for mental breakdown.


When I am tired or am not getting enough sleep I cannot concentrate on something longer than 5-10 minutes, my attention completely goes. I will still feel wide awake and can be active but if I needed to sit down and do something I would be doomed.

Edit: btw not OP, just someone else with ADHD.
11/5/14 CATACLYSM | The South West's worst Falco main
FoxShine
Profile Joined January 2012
United States156 Posts
June 10 2013 14:46 GMT
#15
On June 10 2013 23:06 dakalro wrote:
Best way to cope with ADD is to find something interesting. I could easily sit through most classes at school since the teachers were pretty good and it was all interesting. I could read a book from start to finish without ever moving except for biological needs (think my record was around 20h of continuous reading). I could never keep on a homework till it was done. I just copied it next day from colleagues, while also fixing their mistakes :D. Essays I mostly skipped class and used nights to work on (easier to sit still when tired).

Only actions I could focus on were playing (outside/pc), reading (literature), listening to teachers in class. Pretty much all that was new and stimulating for my brain.


This sounds a hell of a lot like my experience with school. I read a shitload, still do. Never did homework (my grades suffered dearly for it), aced tests and scored high on essays i wrote the night before. This is exactly why people have a negative stigma against ADHD, it's the constant focusing on what were interested in, and inability to focus on what we aren't. It is extremely convenient to assume its intentional. I can say without a doubt this is why the thread was written...because this is why it's a difficult disorder.

Seriously though, one could start a whole debate about the benefits of having it.

The best example is Hyperfocus. It's when you lose track of time and are completely involved in what you are doing. Its closely related to the Flow State, only that people with ADHD are notorious for having limited control over it. This is where responsibilities are easily forgotten, and organization suffers.

[image loading]

Flow just so happens to be the best mindset you can have for focusing on any given thing so ADHD is kind of ironic that way.

wiki links:
Flow
Hyperfocus



We do what we must, because we can
neocronx
Profile Joined December 2009
United States20 Posts
June 10 2013 15:46 GMT
#16
Your post really resonates with me OP. I was diagnosed late in high school with ADHD.

I could barely concentrate on anything that wasn't interesting and socially/academically experienced the usual ADHD situations. I could type all day about them from the classic assumed laziness to even a teacher telling me ADHD wasn't real and that I deserved no help before he even knew what the help was. But you already know what it's like.

They put me on Ritalin, then adderall, then concerta and I HATED them all. The drugs changed who I was and I actually ended up not taking them anymore secretly. But each person's case is different.

The worst for me was the ritalin and adderall. I took it in the morning and it changed me during the day, and then it would wear off and I'd need another. It felt awful. Eventually I complained enough about it that they put me on concerta, which was a once a day at breakfast 24-hour time relase version of adderall I believe. It was much better for me, much less up and downs.

I think I should have taken the concerta through school in retrospect, but I am much happier now than I've ever been and I think just knowing as much about how my own brain works is the main reason. Knowing that I can hyperfocus on interesting things, and understanding why I can't remember things that bore me, and yet can recount in perfect detail literally thousands of games of BW, is huge for me. I've managed to work around my different brain chemistry and go from an academically under-achieving high schooler with no belief that I would ever be able to fit in a world defined by the school system I was in (to sit through boring period after boring period and then go home and work on meaningless problems that had no relevance to me) to as fairly successful 29yo software developer that is happily married and just bought a house. I still have a crazy hard time focusing on boring problems and minute details at work, but through organization and hyperfocusing on the more interesting problems when I can I think I can say having ADHD is sometimes more of a benefit in the real world, where in school it was as you describe.

Anyways I just wanted to thank you for this blog, because it really reminds me of myself in a lot of ways when I was younger.
Random - The only way to play.
AnachronisticAnarchy
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
United States2957 Posts
June 10 2013 17:12 GMT
#17
On June 10 2013 21:03 GhostOwl wrote:
I don't know much about ADD, and I do feel sorry about what you have to go through. If it really is a medical condition, then that really sucks. But I grew up believing that ADD is not real and it's a excuse used to justify the slacker kids in my school. I thought it was a way to make pharmaceutical companies to get rich. I feel like I'm disrespecting the OP by posting this on his blog but I was just wondering if the rest of TL'ers thinks it's real or not. Either way, dependence on any medication is bound to be not good for your health. I would be careful about that.


If you don't believe in ADHD, then you just haven't actually bothered to find the massive amount of evidence that confirms its existence. I myself have ADHD, and it is in my mind, without even a hint of doubt, a disorder that requires treatment. It's actually almost comical how much the inattentiveness can mess me up. I'm way above average when it comes to IQ, in the range of 30-40 points above average. Still, off my meds I can barely snag a 90 on my tests even with knowledge of the material.

Also, dependence upon ADHD medication is not an addiction or anything similar. It is not even in the same ballpark. It is like a schizophrenic needing to take his medicine. He has an innate need for treatment, and odds are that need will never go away. Would you warn a schizophrenic about the dangers of dependence upon his medicine?
A lot of people with ADHD are in the same boat. I once tried an experiment to see if I had "recovered" enough from my ADHD to go on without the meds. It was completely and utterly hopeless. It took months to recover from the backlog of schoolwork my little experiment had left behind.
"How are you?" "I am fine, because it is not normal to scream in pain."
docvoc
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
United States5491 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-06-10 17:52:01
June 10 2013 17:46 GMT
#18
On June 11 2013 02:12 AnachronisticAnarchy wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 10 2013 21:03 GhostOwl wrote:
I don't know much about ADD, and I do feel sorry about what you have to go through. If it really is a medical condition, then that really sucks. But I grew up believing that ADD is not real and it's a excuse used to justify the slacker kids in my school. I thought it was a way to make pharmaceutical companies to get rich. I feel like I'm disrespecting the OP by posting this on his blog but I was just wondering if the rest of TL'ers thinks it's real or not. Either way, dependence on any medication is bound to be not good for your health. I would be careful about that.


If you don't believe in ADHD, then you just haven't actually bothered to find the massive amount of evidence that confirms its existence. I myself have ADHD, and it is in my mind, without even a hint of doubt, a disorder that requires treatment. It's actually almost comical how much the inattentiveness can mess me up. I'm way above average when it comes to IQ, in the range of 30-40 points above average. Still, off my meds I can barely snag a 90 on my tests even with knowledge of the material.

Also, dependence upon ADHD medication is not an addiction or anything similar. It is not even in the same ballpark. It is like a schizophrenic needing to take his medicine. He has an innate need for treatment, and odds are that need will never go away. Would you warn a schizophrenic about the dangers of dependence upon his medicine?
A lot of people with ADHD are in the same boat. I once tried an experiment to see if I had "recovered" enough from my ADHD to go on without the meds. It was completely and utterly hopeless. It took months to recover from the backlog of schoolwork my little experiment had left behind.

ADD not ADHD. Big difference dude. ADHD is understood as real with little controversy, ADD has a lot of controversy around it. Many people, including psychology and psychiatry specialists do not believe it exists simply because of the wide range of symptoms that can cause it and/or because it is the stereotypical bad teacher scapegoat of recent times. ADD not only has that controversy because of its huge range of symptoms that may or may not actually affect one's life, but it also is the gateway to getting adderall on prescription with ease; I don't think I need to say anything about that, most people know about prescription adderall abuse in students and adults. The other thing that causes the controversy is that ADD is often the blame of teachers in the same vein of teachers of the past. In recent times, the failure of the student is blamed on the inability of the teacher (though not always rightfully so, that mantra is most likely the best way to combat bad teaching in the class room), but in the past the failures of the student, even if the teacher was awful, had been blamed on the student; ADD gives teachers a way to simply blame the student, tell them to see a doctor, give them a drug they don't need that increases their focus unnecessarily, and costs the parents money while putting the student on an unnecessary drug. Basically there is a split about whether ADD exists because it's impossible to tell if children actually need what they are getting due to both the symptoms and the people who advocate its treatment.

EDIT: ADHD has several forms, and while the term of ADD became assimilated into that of ADHD, ADHD has several forms, one of which is ADHD A, which is colloquially refered to as ADD. ADHD A is the ADHD that has a lot of controversy around it.
User was warned for too many mimes.
GaNgStaRR.ElV
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada535 Posts
June 10 2013 17:53 GMT
#19
I've always felt I've had undiagnosed ADD or ADHD.

I was diagnosed with a "learning disability related to time organization" when I was a kid, found the whole thing confusing.

Speaking to doctors, psychologists, taking tests, all without knowing the outcome because your not deemed "responsible" enough for those conversations. Never received any medical substances for it because my rents never believed in it.

What's the point in giving me extra time on tests like that will help when I always finished tests completely quicker than anyone else, I can sight-read faster than most people I know even now. But the process of organising my homework and having the determination to do it is something that has plagued me and been the main contributing factor in my mediocre grades throughout uni. It hurts me to know i got a 63% on my 7000 word dissertation which I wrote within 24 hours of submission, knowing if I could control my mind like others I would have had the focus to do something so much better.

Much like yourself, I excel at things that I am interested or find success in, everything else I barely have time for.
neocronx
Profile Joined December 2009
United States20 Posts
June 10 2013 18:21 GMT
#20
On June 11 2013 02:53 GaNgStaRR.ElV wrote:
I've always felt I've had undiagnosed ADD or ADHD.

I was diagnosed with a "learning disability related to time organization" when I was a kid, found the whole thing confusing.

Speaking to doctors, psychologists, taking tests, all without knowing the outcome because your not deemed "responsible" enough for those conversations. Never received any medical substances for it because my rents never believed in it.

What's the point in giving me extra time on tests like that will help when I always finished tests completely quicker than anyone else, I can sight-read faster than most people I know even now. But the process of organising my homework and having the determination to do it is something that has plagued me and been the main contributing factor in my mediocre grades throughout uni. It hurts me to know i got a 63% on my 7000 word dissertation which I wrote within 24 hours of submission, knowing if I could control my mind like others I would have had the focus to do something so much better.

Much like yourself, I excel at things that I am interested or find success in, everything else I barely have time for.


In regards to the extra time on tests, I actually received this for the SATs and thought like you it would be useless since I usually finish a tests first. The way they had it set up though was that I had unlimited time per section, and then I could go on to the next section.

This ended up being perfect for me, as I wasn't hindered by all the waiting around for everyone else, and hyper focused on the math sections, completing them with likely 20-30 seconds per question.

The english was more boring to my mind and took me much longer. When a passage was particularly boring I would have to re-read it because I'd filtered it all away in my brain as useless and was actually thinking about something else while reading.

The end result is I scored very high on the math and didn't do too bad on the english because i was able to take the time to refocus and not worry about being unable to focus on the more (to me) mindless sections.
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