7 ms·

One the other hand, people who feel like their engines are firing on all cylinders all the time (ie ADHD and friends) might find some relief in a drug that allo

by zaarn 8y ago

One the other hand, people who feel like their engines are firing on all cylinders all the time (ie ADHD and friends) might find some relief in a drug that allows them to slow down and switch of their head radio while firing on only one cylinder...

leesec 8y ago
I definitely benefit from this. I find pot to be a great context switcher. Formerly after working on a problem for long hours, when I would go home I would still be immersed in the problem and unable to take my mind off it. Now when I come and have my things in order I warm up a vape bag and put on some jazz and am able to completely detach from work and really just enjoy my nights.
- nashashmi 8y ago
  I have never understood this concept of detaching from work only to wake up the next day and having to face it. Why would you detach so much? Relaxing is overrated. It deprives you of powers you have developed or will develop, only to make you a more powerless person. And a powerless person can never and should never relax.
  - leesec 8y ago
    Haha, you are on some hyperbole stuff my dude. If you want to work super hard your whole life go for it. I am very satisfied working my 8 hours and then putting that work aside and enjoying my leisure time. I still of course work extra some times or do productive things in my time off, but yeah unless there's a deadline I'm not gonna worry about some work problem on off hours when I can't even make progress until I get back to my work computer anyways. Fear/worry/anxiety is the mind killer and often helps nothing.
  - thecatspaw 8y ago
    And I never understood slaving away for your employee while you're not getting paid for it. Relaxing is not overrated at all, it improves your ability to focus, and even makes you more productive. Far from depriving you of any powers or skills.
  - nickdandakis 8y ago
    Do you also think you don't need to make your bed in the morning since you're gonna sleep in it later that day?
    - nashashmi 8y ago
      I don't make my bed in the morning. But when my bed happens to be made, it is so refreshing to just come at night and sleep soundly. Like a reset button was hit. I get it now. Sort of. But the problem doesn't go away.
  - Kadin 8y ago
    To each their own, but I'm not paid to work 24 hours per day, and doing so would undoubtedly affect my outside-of-work relationships and interests. My experience is that there is not a linear relationship between effort invested and output. It's a diminishing returns problem after 8-10 hours per day, so it's not even productive for me to spend all day and night churning on a work problem, even if I wanted to do that.
  - madamelic 8y ago
    Working 24 hours a day is a good way to burn out. Sometimes you need to switch contexts and look at the problem in a new direction.
- Tor3 8y ago
  I use a completely different method (to detach from whatever it is - work or something else). I pick an instrument and play some music. Something anyone can do, as long as you don't fret about being good or not.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- xkcd-sucks 8y ago
  I always end up coming home from work, eating dinner, showering, queuing up a movie, smoking weed, having some random insight on a work related problem, and never getting around to the relaxing activity I had planned!
geff82 8y ago
The anti-drug-guy I am in this discussion: you are so right. It should be much more acceptable to just fire on one cylinder sometimes, just for the sake of human dignity.
Waterluvian 8y ago
ADHD was pretty much the reason I struggled in school. The diagnosis gave me access to medication which turned a knob between two settings: Be social, happy, energetic, hungry, incapable of succeeding in the education system of the 90s, 00s. (default me) Be quiet, jittery, never eat, anti-social, depressed at times, but kick ass at school. Tried a lot of different ADHD medications and generally found success in simply selectively switching that knob when I wanted to be a human or when I wanted to be a learning machine. I wonder what pot would have done... never really thought about it.
- nashashmi 8y ago
  Nope. ADHD is a spectrum. Often times it was/is misunderstood and its victims would feel isolated from the world. Marijuana would make that worse on certain vectors. It is not a silver bullet. It is a role of the dice. And the condition of the moment that you take it in decides the fate of the drug's effects on you. Could be good or bad.
  - warent 8y ago
    I have diagnosed ADD/ADHD. Would hardly consider myself a "victim." It has pros and cons just like everything else in life. Personally I don't take medication and am totally sober. Mindfulness meditation helps tremendously
    - thecatspaw 8y ago
      What pros are there? I havent found any personally.
      - Maskawanian 8y ago
        Noticing changes faster, faster reactions. Probably how it evolved in the first place.
        thecatspaw 8y ago
naner 8y ago
Isn't ADHD typically treated with stimulants?
- 3pt14159 8y ago
  It is. This topic is more complex than simple HN comments are going to cover. There are different types of ADHD and though ADHD is good for software development (because of hyperfocus) it's also correlated with having a lower IQ. So high functioning ADHD people are a rarity and they're often in software or something similar for a multitude of reasons. What you read here is how smart people with ADHD feel about their condition. It's dangerous to extrapolate to the broader public. You're also going to miss much of the conversation because most people that have tried pot once or twice aren't going to comment on it because they know how it's going to end up in a database somewhere. So you're going to see more pro-pot arguments than "I tried it and it didn't work for me" arguments.
  - thecatspaw 8y ago
    Neurotypicals can hyperfocus as well, and personally for me (ADHD-PI) I hyperfocus very few times at work, but more frequently at home. I would argue that hyperfocus vs inattention is a net-loss for my employee
    - cowpewter 8y ago
      Also ADHD-PI, and yeah, hyperfocus is great for coding, but you have to be working on something "interesting enough" to trigger it. Not all the work you will do at work will be interesting, so without treatment you swing wildly between being super productive and massively unproductive, which might be okay in a small startup but fails to mesh with larger companies that expect any sort of consistency in your output. So it's not just the loss of productivity from inattention that's a problem for most jobs, but the lack of consistency in your output.
      - thecatspaw 8y ago
        and companies usually have lots of meetings, people interrupting you to ask question, lots of distractions breaking that hyperfocus
gbanfalvi 8y ago
The problem with ADHD and friends cause is that my brain actually _doesn't_ fire on all cylinders. While I think I feel the same way as everyone else and I have the same cognitive ability, I don't have the energy to structure my work, complete it and keep track of things in ways other classmates/coworkers magically can. Cannabis certainly has a calming effect that could lower the hyperactivity component, but it doesn't address the attention deficit part. The reason the most common treatment are stimulants like Ritalin, is because it "wakes us up" and brings us ADHD people to an alertness level similar to what our peers have by default.
- TimTheTinker 8y ago
  Yes, this is true. ADHD is caused by the frontal lobe "executive control" cylinder not being able to take control as much as it should. Often low dopamine and noradrenaline levels are to blame. (L-Tyrosine on an empty stomach can help, if you're looking for a natural solution.)
gwbas1c 8y ago
Exactly! My study strategy in college was to review my notes for about an hour, take a bong hit, and watch a movie. Then I would get a great night sleep. Otherwise, test anxiety would keep me awake and do more harm than good.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
bytematic 8y ago
But the normal treatment is amphetamines, isn't weed sorta the "opposite"
city41 8y ago
I'm a very anxious person and my mind is always going a million miles an hour. I have find the occasional light usage of marijuana does wonders for me.

by zaarn 8y ago

leesec 8y ago

I definitely benefit from this. I find pot to be a great context switcher. Formerly after working on a problem for long hours, when I would go home I would still be immersed in the problem and unable to take my mind off it. Now when I come and have my things in order I warm up a vape bag and put on some jazz and am able to completely detach from work and really just enjoy my nights.

nashashmi 8y ago
I have never understood this concept of detaching from work only to wake up the next day and having to face it. Why would you detach so much? Relaxing is overrated. It deprives you of powers you have developed or will develop, only to make you a more powerless person. And a powerless person can never and should never relax.
- leesec 8y ago
  Haha, you are on some hyperbole stuff my dude. If you want to work super hard your whole life go for it. I am very satisfied working my 8 hours and then putting that work aside and enjoying my leisure time. I still of course work extra some times or do productive things in my time off, but yeah unless there's a deadline I'm not gonna worry about some work problem on off hours when I can't even make progress until I get back to my work computer anyways. Fear/worry/anxiety is the mind killer and often helps nothing.
- thecatspaw 8y ago
  And I never understood slaving away for your employee while you're not getting paid for it. Relaxing is not overrated at all, it improves your ability to focus, and even makes you more productive. Far from depriving you of any powers or skills.
- nickdandakis 8y ago
  Do you also think you don't need to make your bed in the morning since you're gonna sleep in it later that day?
  - nashashmi 8y ago
    I don't make my bed in the morning. But when my bed happens to be made, it is so refreshing to just come at night and sleep soundly. Like a reset button was hit. I get it now. Sort of. But the problem doesn't go away.
- Kadin 8y ago
  To each their own, but I'm not paid to work 24 hours per day, and doing so would undoubtedly affect my outside-of-work relationships and interests. My experience is that there is not a linear relationship between effort invested and output. It's a diminishing returns problem after 8-10 hours per day, so it's not even productive for me to spend all day and night churning on a work problem, even if I wanted to do that.
- madamelic 8y ago
  Working 24 hours a day is a good way to burn out. Sometimes you need to switch contexts and look at the problem in a new direction.
Tor3 8y ago
I use a completely different method (to detach from whatever it is - work or something else). I pick an instrument and play some music. Something anyone can do, as long as you don't fret about being good or not.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
xkcd-sucks 8y ago
I always end up coming home from work, eating dinner, showering, queuing up a movie, smoking weed, having some random insight on a work related problem, and never getting around to the relaxing activity I had planned!

geff82 8y ago

The anti-drug-guy I am in this discussion: you are so right. It should be much more acceptable to just fire on one cylinder sometimes, just for the sake of human dignity.

Waterluvian 8y ago

ADHD was pretty much the reason I struggled in school. The diagnosis gave me access to medication which turned a knob between two settings: Be social, happy, energetic, hungry, incapable of succeeding in the education system of the 90s, 00s. (default me) Be quiet, jittery, never eat, anti-social, depressed at times, but kick ass at school. Tried a lot of different ADHD medications and generally found success in simply selectively switching that knob when I wanted to be a human or when I wanted to be a learning machine. I wonder what pot would have done... never really thought about it.

nashashmi 8y ago
Nope. ADHD is a spectrum. Often times it was/is misunderstood and its victims would feel isolated from the world. Marijuana would make that worse on certain vectors. It is not a silver bullet. It is a role of the dice. And the condition of the moment that you take it in decides the fate of the drug's effects on you. Could be good or bad.
- warent 8y ago
  I have diagnosed ADD/ADHD. Would hardly consider myself a "victim." It has pros and cons just like everything else in life. Personally I don't take medication and am totally sober. Mindfulness meditation helps tremendously
  - thecatspaw 8y ago
    What pros are there? I havent found any personally.
    - Maskawanian 8y ago
      Noticing changes faster, faster reactions. Probably how it evolved in the first place.
      - thecatspaw 8y ago

naner 8y ago

Isn't ADHD typically treated with stimulants?

3pt14159 8y ago
It is. This topic is more complex than simple HN comments are going to cover. There are different types of ADHD and though ADHD is good for software development (because of hyperfocus) it's also correlated with having a lower IQ. So high functioning ADHD people are a rarity and they're often in software or something similar for a multitude of reasons. What you read here is how smart people with ADHD feel about their condition. It's dangerous to extrapolate to the broader public. You're also going to miss much of the conversation because most people that have tried pot once or twice aren't going to comment on it because they know how it's going to end up in a database somewhere. So you're going to see more pro-pot arguments than "I tried it and it didn't work for me" arguments.
- thecatspaw 8y ago
  Neurotypicals can hyperfocus as well, and personally for me (ADHD-PI) I hyperfocus very few times at work, but more frequently at home. I would argue that hyperfocus vs inattention is a net-loss for my employee
  - cowpewter 8y ago
    Also ADHD-PI, and yeah, hyperfocus is great for coding, but you have to be working on something "interesting enough" to trigger it. Not all the work you will do at work will be interesting, so without treatment you swing wildly between being super productive and massively unproductive, which might be okay in a small startup but fails to mesh with larger companies that expect any sort of consistency in your output. So it's not just the loss of productivity from inattention that's a problem for most jobs, but the lack of consistency in your output.
    - thecatspaw 8y ago
      and companies usually have lots of meetings, people interrupting you to ask question, lots of distractions breaking that hyperfocus

gbanfalvi 8y ago

The problem with ADHD and friends cause is that my brain actually _doesn't_ fire on all cylinders. While I think I feel the same way as everyone else and I have the same cognitive ability, I don't have the energy to structure my work, complete it and keep track of things in ways other classmates/coworkers magically can. Cannabis certainly has a calming effect that could lower the hyperactivity component, but it doesn't address the attention deficit part. The reason the most common treatment are stimulants like Ritalin, is because it "wakes us up" and brings us ADHD people to an alertness level similar to what our peers have by default.

TimTheTinker 8y ago
Yes, this is true. ADHD is caused by the frontal lobe "executive control" cylinder not being able to take control as much as it should. Often low dopamine and noradrenaline levels are to blame. (L-Tyrosine on an empty stomach can help, if you're looking for a natural solution.)

gwbas1c 8y ago

Exactly! My study strategy in college was to review my notes for about an hour, take a bong hit, and watch a movie. Then I would get a great night sleep. Otherwise, test anxiety would keep me awake and do more harm than good.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

bytematic 8y ago

But the normal treatment is amphetamines, isn't weed sorta the "opposite"

city41 8y ago

I'm a very anxious person and my mind is always going a million miles an hour. I have find the occasional light usage of marijuana does wonders for me.