5 ms·

Isn't ADHD typically treated with stimulants?

by naner 8y ago

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
    - 3pt14159 8y ago
      I'm just going to combine these responses because they're related. > Neurotypicals can hyperfocus as well, and personally for me (ADHD-PI) I hyperfocus very few times at work, but more frequently at home. Yes, neurotypicals can hyperfocus as well, but I've found that ADHD coders are way more likely to hyperfocus. The key is setting up the environment around them. I'm also ADHD-PI if it matters, though my specific situation is more complicated so it went undiagnosed for decades. > 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. Agree here too; especially for the unmedicated. That said, very few neurotypicals hit the performance I see from high functioning ADHD coders (~2000-3000 commits a year and completely ridiculous learning rate with new technology). Neurotypicals are also less pissed off with minor annoyances than ADHDers and ASDers, so they don't code up solutions to little problems that cost them 5 seconds a day, when in the long run that it is worth it to do so.[0] But you're right that the bigger the team, the worse they do. Especially if the project is a tarball of uninterestingness and wrought with pointless, unscheduled meetings and other interruptions. [0] https://xkcd.com/1205/ https://xkcd.com/1205/
zaarn 8y ago
ADHD is, to my knowledge, caused by a too low reward mechanism in the brain. Ie, the brain constantly attempts to find something to get a dopamine release, constantly flicking to a new channel on the TV, so to speak, because it's incapable of finding a particular program interesting. The stimulants generally used allow the brain to get a reward for the current activity, pushing it over the threshold and allowing it to focus on an activity and pay attention to a situation. On the inverse, simply making the brain slower would yield similar results, IMO. It likely wouldn't fix it overall, you would still suffer from an attention deficit but the overall condition would slow down a bit. That might help a lot.

Isn't ADHD typically treated with stimulants?

by naner 8y ago

Isn't ADHD typically treated with stimulants?

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
  - 3pt14159 8y ago
    I'm just going to combine these responses because they're related. > Neurotypicals can hyperfocus as well, and personally for me (ADHD-PI) I hyperfocus very few times at work, but more frequently at home. Yes, neurotypicals can hyperfocus as well, but I've found that ADHD coders are way more likely to hyperfocus. The key is setting up the environment around them. I'm also ADHD-PI if it matters, though my specific situation is more complicated so it went undiagnosed for decades. > 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. Agree here too; especially for the unmedicated. That said, very few neurotypicals hit the performance I see from high functioning ADHD coders (~2000-3000 commits a year and completely ridiculous learning rate with new technology). Neurotypicals are also less pissed off with minor annoyances than ADHDers and ASDers, so they don't code up solutions to little problems that cost them 5 seconds a day, when in the long run that it is worth it to do so.[0] But you're right that the bigger the team, the worse they do. Especially if the project is a tarball of uninterestingness and wrought with pointless, unscheduled meetings and other interruptions. [0] https://xkcd.com/1205/ https://xkcd.com/1205/

zaarn 8y ago

ADHD is, to my knowledge, caused by a too low reward mechanism in the brain. Ie, the brain constantly attempts to find something to get a dopamine release, constantly flicking to a new channel on the TV, so to speak, because it's incapable of finding a particular program interesting. The stimulants generally used allow the brain to get a reward for the current activity, pushing it over the threshold and allowing it to focus on an activity and pay attention to a situation. On the inverse, simply making the brain slower would yield similar results, IMO. It likely wouldn't fix it overall, you would still suffer from an attention deficit but the overall condition would slow down a bit. That might help a lot.