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Being an extremely hyperactive child (whom my mother refused to medicate and instead just disciplined me often), I always knew I was different. Not special diff
by SEJeff 10y ago
Being an extremely hyperactive child (whom my mother refused to medicate and instead just disciplined me often), I always knew I was different. Not special different, just different in an annoying hard to fit in way. I find it interesting the "sides" in this debate when other studies also find entirely different brain chemistry in ADD/ADHD (whatever the flavor of the day to call it is). People with this demeanor tend to gravitate very heavily towards engineering / technology related fields and excel, although I never understood why.
The way I describe it to most people is very simple. If you give a ADD/ADHD child Ritalin, Adderol, etc, they will calm down. You give those drugs to a normal child and they get super hyperactive. Inversely, you give most people a stimulant such as caffeine and their heart beat increases and they perk up. I've always been very careful about coffee in the morning or teas as it is very much a calming downer. Sometimes I will drink a coffee to really calm my (always thinking too much) brain and let me focus, but can't do it if I'm the least bit tired as I'll be more inclined to doze off mid day.
I'm happy to see more actual science that shows this is a real thing, not something made up by an impatient child or child who had lots of trouble paying attention in school.
EDIT: Removed the first paragraph where I was thankfully wrong. Thanks geoelectric and filoeg for beating me with the cluebat, it is appreciated.
- filoleg 10y agoAre you sure that it is the case? I tried looking into it, and it seems like DSM 5 still has ADHD as a separate disorder, non-related to autism spectrum http://images.pearsonclinical.com/images/assets/basc-3/basc3resources/DSM5_DiagnosticCriteria_ADHD.pdf http://images.pearsonclinical.com/images/assets/basc-3/basc3...
- SEJeff 10y agoEdited to correct this, thanks for calling me on it. I'm glad I was wrong.
- geoelectric 10y agoThink you're confusing what happened to Asperger's--it was redefined as a spectrum variation rather than its own thing. In fact, DSM4 didn't allow simultaneous autism and ADHD diagnoses and DSM5 does.
- SEJeff 10y agoIndeed, I was incorrect. We were talking about a girl who has Aspergers she helps in school and I got confused.
- indolering 10y ago> The way I describe it to most people is very simple. If you give a ADD/ADHD child Ritalin, Adderol, etc, they will calm down. You give those drugs to a normal child and they get super hyperactive. No they don't, ~25% won't feel anything. Most will become more focused. Methylphenidate and Methamphetamine /sound/ the same, but the former is better at "stimulating" certain brain structures : ) > Inversely, you give most people a stimulant such as caffeine and their heart beat increases and they perk up. I've always been very careful about coffee in the morning or teas as it is very much a calming downer. Sometimes I will drink a coffee to really calm my (always thinking too much) brain and let me focus, but can't do it if I'm the least bit tired as I'll be more inclined to doze off mid day. Yeah, the "ADHD people react oppositely to stimulants" stuff is folklore. Go drink a quad shot latte and tell me caffeine actually makes you tired. > I'm happy to see more actual science that shows this is a real thing, not something made up by an impatient child or child who had lots of trouble paying attention in school. Brain scans are fun, but cognitive psychology is where the real work gets done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUQu-OPrzUc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUQu-OPrzUc