4 ms·

Have you considered that you might just have a Slack problem? honestly. Labels can be dangerous and polarising - individual psychology and behaviour fall on a

by tomxor 4y ago

Have you considered that you might just have a Slack problem? honestly. Labels can be dangerous and polarising - individual psychology and behaviour fall on a nuanced multidimensional spectrum, and I think these labels target such a large range and severity of behaviour that they have a high risk of conflating symptoms with completely different causes. Combined with misaligned intensives to sell drugs, I'm highly sceptical of the majority of diagnoses. I was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, but it turns out I was just a stubborn child who disliked accepting the seeming illogic of the written English language where other kids are usually less questioning and do what they are told, compared to truly? or "more" dyslexic people who genuinely struggle with placing letters in the correct order rather than merely bothering to remember them. This is the danger of diagnosing what is supposed to be a neurological disorder through relatively subtle behavioural symptoms. It's completely possible to exhibit "ADHD" symptoms from an unhealthy work life... WFH and covid has caused instant messaging like Slack to take centre stage in all communication, and that has definitely messed with a lot of people's ability to focus on their work, myself included. I've had to take some quite extreme measures, making sure it's completely closed between certain times (not in away mode, but actually not loaded, unreachable). If there is an emergency, people have your phone number, sometimes you need time to yourself and that's when people can wait, unless it's an emergency.

thatfrenchguy 4y ago
> Combined with misaligned intensives to sell drugs, I'm highly sceptical of the majority of diagnoses. ADHD and executive disfunction are under-diagnosed rather than over-diagnosed (I have so many friends who have obvious undiagnosed adhd), mostly because of parents who think like you, or the classic "it does not exist, you're just a slacker, pharma is just trying to sell you some drugs". Most physicians who diagnose you don't make any significant additional money from selling you drugs. > It's completely possible to exhibit "ADHD" symptoms from an unhealthy work life Or maybe OP really has severe ADHD?
- tomxor 4y ago
  > or the classic "it does not exist, you're just a slacker, pharma is just trying to sell you some drugs" I don't think it doesn't exist, I think it's not a useful label. Partly due to the way it's treated as a long term issue that should be addressed with drug use, and partly because it can often be unhelpful to the individual's own psychological state, some people flip into an "i'm broken" mode and stay hidden behind it rather than make progress. There is however good reason to believe in over diagnosis. ADHD is considered a neurological disorder due to physiological differences in the brain. However it's diagnosed through observation of a combination of individually non-unique behavioural symptoms... which is why when you are suspected of ADHD, you are sent to a psychiatrist. Regardless of whether the cause of such behaviour is physiological or purely environmental, in both cases environmental factors can have a huge impact on how it affects you, this is pretty obvious for anyone who has been in the presence of someone severely autistic. Drugs are not the answer to everything, and not usually a healthy long term solution.
  - roxgib 4y ago
    > it's treated as a long term issue that can only be addressed with drug use. But that's what it is? Drugs aren't the only treatment, but they are by far the most effective.
    - tomxor 4y ago
      > but they are by far the most effective. That depends on how efficacy is measured. Drugs appear the most effective because they can substantially change behaviour in the short term (for better and worse), they are fast. But it's not necessarily stable, and it's only cost is not monetary. Psychology is transient, even when there are underlying physiological components, and although slow to effect, consistent changes to daily routine and environment can result in a more stable outcome. But it also takes effort, analysis and consideration, drugs are easy. There is a place for both. There are people like me who are over cautious of drug use, and sometimes they are in a position where their mental state is so messed up that it really makes sense in the short term to medicate, but it should be short term. [edit] To make this more tangible... consider my original suggestion. ADHD symptoms, whatever the underlying cause, will be triggered by attention sapping activities, like being subjected to Slack every minute of your working day. Turning it off for long periods will help regardless. Also having the mindset of "my environment is broken" rather than "I am broken" is far more positive and healthy, it's also more realistic, because frankly, we are all broken in different ways and need to either find the right environment for us, or change it.
- eikenberry 4y ago
  Another reason it is under-diagnosed is because what it takes to get diagnosed. One of my children has ADHD (got it from me) and to get it officially diagnosed so it would be accepted by school and such required testing that cost >$3k. Costing that much it is not surprising it is under-diagnosed.
jasonhansel 4y ago
OP's post strongly implies that they were diagnosed with ADHD long before the issues with Slack.

by tomxor 4y ago

thatfrenchguy 4y ago

> Combined with misaligned intensives to sell drugs, I'm highly sceptical of the majority of diagnoses. ADHD and executive disfunction are under-diagnosed rather than over-diagnosed (I have so many friends who have obvious undiagnosed adhd), mostly because of parents who think like you, or the classic "it does not exist, you're just a slacker, pharma is just trying to sell you some drugs". Most physicians who diagnose you don't make any significant additional money from selling you drugs. > It's completely possible to exhibit "ADHD" symptoms from an unhealthy work life Or maybe OP really has severe ADHD?

tomxor 4y ago
> or the classic "it does not exist, you're just a slacker, pharma is just trying to sell you some drugs" I don't think it doesn't exist, I think it's not a useful label. Partly due to the way it's treated as a long term issue that should be addressed with drug use, and partly because it can often be unhelpful to the individual's own psychological state, some people flip into an "i'm broken" mode and stay hidden behind it rather than make progress. There is however good reason to believe in over diagnosis. ADHD is considered a neurological disorder due to physiological differences in the brain. However it's diagnosed through observation of a combination of individually non-unique behavioural symptoms... which is why when you are suspected of ADHD, you are sent to a psychiatrist. Regardless of whether the cause of such behaviour is physiological or purely environmental, in both cases environmental factors can have a huge impact on how it affects you, this is pretty obvious for anyone who has been in the presence of someone severely autistic. Drugs are not the answer to everything, and not usually a healthy long term solution.
- roxgib 4y ago
  > it's treated as a long term issue that can only be addressed with drug use. But that's what it is? Drugs aren't the only treatment, but they are by far the most effective.
  - tomxor 4y ago
    > but they are by far the most effective. That depends on how efficacy is measured. Drugs appear the most effective because they can substantially change behaviour in the short term (for better and worse), they are fast. But it's not necessarily stable, and it's only cost is not monetary. Psychology is transient, even when there are underlying physiological components, and although slow to effect, consistent changes to daily routine and environment can result in a more stable outcome. But it also takes effort, analysis and consideration, drugs are easy. There is a place for both. There are people like me who are over cautious of drug use, and sometimes they are in a position where their mental state is so messed up that it really makes sense in the short term to medicate, but it should be short term. [edit] To make this more tangible... consider my original suggestion. ADHD symptoms, whatever the underlying cause, will be triggered by attention sapping activities, like being subjected to Slack every minute of your working day. Turning it off for long periods will help regardless. Also having the mindset of "my environment is broken" rather than "I am broken" is far more positive and healthy, it's also more realistic, because frankly, we are all broken in different ways and need to either find the right environment for us, or change it.
eikenberry 4y ago
Another reason it is under-diagnosed is because what it takes to get diagnosed. One of my children has ADHD (got it from me) and to get it officially diagnosed so it would be accepted by school and such required testing that cost >$3k. Costing that much it is not surprising it is under-diagnosed.

jasonhansel 4y ago

OP's post strongly implies that they were diagnosed with ADHD long before the issues with Slack.