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I've had this problem for many years, although it's not perfect that problem is largely solved and being able to shift focus so quickly has become a super power
by TheLegace 9y ago
I've had this problem for many years, although it's not perfect that problem is largely solved and being able to shift focus so quickly has become a super power.
When your focus shifts so often you can't develop basic cognitive functions(especially executive function). The part of your brain that is suppose to regulate focus is really funky. But I bet when you find something your really interested in your brain won't stop focusing and it feels like you have blacked out and are doing everything in "automatic" mode. This is called hyperfocus and it can be incredibly useful if you can "control" it.
You might cycle through various medications over the years, some might even cause you anxiety and other horrible side effects. But it won't actually fix the underlying problem which are structures in your brain that aren't developed properly.
Luckily there are solutions; treatments to improve your mind ability focus like Neurofeedback. Once you can focus you need to find a physically/mentally stimulating task that requires serious cognitive functions like memory, task execution, focus switching and the many other functions. I like to dance and play music. I've done a lot of work reverse engineering the brain and made incredible progress improving its ability to operate.
Don't ever that listen to that pity party in your brain. Once you cross a certain point(after A LOT OF WORK) your ADHD becomes a gift and you will never want to give it up not matter how much failure and loss you have experienced. ALWAYS remember you are different, everything about you is different from the normal population and trying to conform to their systems, ways to of thinking and working will rarely work for you.
EDIT: I will add I understand that medication works for some people and that's great. But it was largely a waste of time for me and seriously affected my liver.
- Klathmon 9y agoI've talked a lot about the bad parts of ADHD here in this thread, but I'm already at the point where I wouldn't change it. It's not something that can be cured, and if given the chance, I don't think I would "cure" it entirely. ADHD has made me much better at many things than most of my peers. Learning to deal with it has given me tools that are applicable to most parts of life, and have made me a very productive and useful person. My own personal "law" of "anything you can forget you will forget" has taught me to externalize everything. I'm a software developer, and I'm militant about testing and automation because of it, and that has benefited me greatly in my life. And hyperfocus is amazing when it happens (and it happens to the right thing! It sucks when you hyperfocus on getting your font sizes right...) But like most things it's different for everyone, and for me the medication is a large part of my treatment of the (bad) symptoms. I'm still not convinced that neurofeedback techniques are effective, and I am quite happy with where I am right now, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. That's why I want to revisit my medication when my life calms down a bit in a few months and see how it goes. Generally things get worse before they get better, and in this case I get to choose when they get worse, so I'm going to plan that choice out well!
- TheLegace 9y agoI'm so glad you have managed to be happy with ADHD. I didn't mean to imply anything in my post, I was talking about some hypothetical person with ADHD (whose had a similar past to mine ;) ). I just wanted to make the point to whomever is reading it that as difficult as ADHD makes life, it can make it so much more rich and meaningful. No matter where you might be stuck you can find a way to overcome the difficulties.