4 ms·

Very, very similar to my experience. I'm now approaching my mid-30s and under investigation with my therapist for ADHD. School was always a breeze, I would get

by piva00 4y ago

Very, very similar to my experience. I'm now approaching my mid-30s and under investigation with my therapist for ADHD. School was always a breeze, I would get hyperfocused during classes paying attention to instructors and content but could never, ever do homework. Any kind of school work outside of school hours was a struggle. Still managed to be always on top of my classes. I never actually learned how to learn, studied statistics in university and was hit by a brick wall on how to actually learn things which depended on more than just passively absorbing content... To this day I don't believe I have a decent strategy for learning, it's a very scattered approach where I dunk into the subject from multiple angles and slowly build a mental model based on the patterns I see repeating from multiple sources. I'll start with an introductory book to gather an overview of the subject and then will jump in between other books and more advanced sections to see earlier concepts already applied and then backtrack to the gaps I see missing in my knowledge. Somehow this way of learning is much more motivating to me than simply parsing through a linear approach of theory building. Whenever I try to go front-to-back with a textbook I get terribly unfocused.

nvarsj 4y ago
You don’t really sound like someone with ADHD to me. You sound like someone who is smart and gets bored with easy tasks. I’ve worked with kids with clinical ADHD and it is very obvious to everyone involved. HN (and probably the Bay Area which usually is reflected here) has become a weird echo chamber of nerds all claiming they think they have ADHD. When really, it’s that smart people get bored very easily. And most of what we do in our jobs are boring. Of course, stimulants help with this - why do you think we all drink so much coffee. Prescription stims are even better and are well tolerated. The right western doc will happily diagnose and prescribe for ADHD regardless of the severity. I know ADHD is a spectrum, but I believe that diagnosis is only really warranted for those truly clinical - people who literally cannot hold any job at all and would be homeless otherwise. I guess there is the argument we should all just be allowed to take whatever drug we want and there is certainly merit to that. Even the most productive coders, writers, musicians etc talk about their struggles to stay focused. It takes grit and intense self discipline to sit for 8 hrs doing work that isn’t immediately satisfying. Most people can’t do this, it’s not abnormal. People goof off at work all the time in most jobs, because they can’t hold their attention for so long.
- piva00 4y ago
  I don't live in the Bay Area, I'm not American, I'm not going through this investigation to get medicated, I'm actively avoiding pursuing this path due to the impact that getting medicated with Aderall/Ritalin/etc. had on close friends. I have not yet been diagnosed with it but my therapist felt it was important after almost 3 years of therapy to check it. I believe my therapist has a bit more of insight into my mental health (and mental health in general) than a random HN comment. I appreciate your point of view but feel it can come off wrong, I have multiple signs that warranted from my therapist a deeper investigation and I will trust them. Again, I'm not looking into getting medicated to focus, I don't want to be constantly on speed to function. I feel like your kind of comment is exactly what made me not ever think about this. I can hold a job, I could do well in school (but not in university, at all), it's not because others might have it much worse than I do that I'm not worth to be checked on. You have no idea about the state of my mental health and struggles to be able to judge if I'm just smart and bored or if there is something else underlying it all. I just bring this up because I feel your comment comes from a good place of caring but it's ultimately unhelpful and, depending to who else you could have directed this comment, could be actively harmful.
  - soylentcola 4y ago
    Thankfully, I don't feel like I am "on speed" at the dose I take. The goal was to increase the levels of neurotransmitters I'm not good at producing/not sensitive enough to while stopping short of noticeable stimulation. I honestly don't want to feel high or like I'm "tweaking out" because that's just as distracting. But the inability to maintain focus held me back for many, many years as my parents did not believe ADHD was a "thing". I didn't get medicated until I was in my 30s and it has made a world of difference. It's not a panacea and I still have my own tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses. But it's more like wearing glasses instead of having to squint for my entire life. Sure, I'd survive without it, but it's a tool to somewhat make up for a biological shortcoming versus the accepted norm. I wish you luck in your pursuit of self improvement and I hope you discover effective ways to get closer to where you want to be. It's a good thing to explore and learn about for sure.

by piva00 4y ago

nvarsj 4y ago

You don’t really sound like someone with ADHD to me. You sound like someone who is smart and gets bored with easy tasks. I’ve worked with kids with clinical ADHD and it is very obvious to everyone involved. HN (and probably the Bay Area which usually is reflected here) has become a weird echo chamber of nerds all claiming they think they have ADHD. When really, it’s that smart people get bored very easily. And most of what we do in our jobs are boring. Of course, stimulants help with this - why do you think we all drink so much coffee. Prescription stims are even better and are well tolerated. The right western doc will happily diagnose and prescribe for ADHD regardless of the severity. I know ADHD is a spectrum, but I believe that diagnosis is only really warranted for those truly clinical - people who literally cannot hold any job at all and would be homeless otherwise. I guess there is the argument we should all just be allowed to take whatever drug we want and there is certainly merit to that. Even the most productive coders, writers, musicians etc talk about their struggles to stay focused. It takes grit and intense self discipline to sit for 8 hrs doing work that isn’t immediately satisfying. Most people can’t do this, it’s not abnormal. People goof off at work all the time in most jobs, because they can’t hold their attention for so long.

piva00 4y ago
I don't live in the Bay Area, I'm not American, I'm not going through this investigation to get medicated, I'm actively avoiding pursuing this path due to the impact that getting medicated with Aderall/Ritalin/etc. had on close friends. I have not yet been diagnosed with it but my therapist felt it was important after almost 3 years of therapy to check it. I believe my therapist has a bit more of insight into my mental health (and mental health in general) than a random HN comment. I appreciate your point of view but feel it can come off wrong, I have multiple signs that warranted from my therapist a deeper investigation and I will trust them. Again, I'm not looking into getting medicated to focus, I don't want to be constantly on speed to function. I feel like your kind of comment is exactly what made me not ever think about this. I can hold a job, I could do well in school (but not in university, at all), it's not because others might have it much worse than I do that I'm not worth to be checked on. You have no idea about the state of my mental health and struggles to be able to judge if I'm just smart and bored or if there is something else underlying it all. I just bring this up because I feel your comment comes from a good place of caring but it's ultimately unhelpful and, depending to who else you could have directed this comment, could be actively harmful.
- soylentcola 4y ago
  Thankfully, I don't feel like I am "on speed" at the dose I take. The goal was to increase the levels of neurotransmitters I'm not good at producing/not sensitive enough to while stopping short of noticeable stimulation. I honestly don't want to feel high or like I'm "tweaking out" because that's just as distracting. But the inability to maintain focus held me back for many, many years as my parents did not believe ADHD was a "thing". I didn't get medicated until I was in my 30s and it has made a world of difference. It's not a panacea and I still have my own tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses. But it's more like wearing glasses instead of having to squint for my entire life. Sure, I'd survive without it, but it's a tool to somewhat make up for a biological shortcoming versus the accepted norm. I wish you luck in your pursuit of self improvement and I hope you discover effective ways to get closer to where you want to be. It's a good thing to explore and learn about for sure.