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I'm 72 and retired. A blessing and a curse. I spend a lot of time ferreting out obscure facts on obscure topics and pursuing and commenting on social issues on

I'm 72 and retired. A blessing and a curse. I spend a lot of time ferreting out obscure facts on obscure topics and pursuing and commenting on social issues on web sites and to elected officials. I can't stand online videos or podcasts as the transmit information too slowly. I prefer to read and think about issues or concepts being presented. I have thousands of books in my house. I have thousands of bookmarks that I continually re-categorize. When I interact with people (which my wife, a nurse, forces me to do as a mental health measure) topics come up that I feel compelled to research and provide a report on later. This need to know, this feeling of missing out is exhausting. I have to force myself away from the computer and relocate myself physically somewhere where there is no access to the internet. My eyesight is failing me which is a blessing as I find it frustrating to use my mobile to look up things on the internet and instead actually use it for what it was originally designed to do - handle phone calls. Drugs just put me in a contemplative state that makes the browsing just that more dopamine rewarding. Therapy has been frustrating - primarily for the therapist - as I bring far too much information to sessions in order to "share". I've come to accept this state of existence and do my best to time manage the impact and not let the compulsion overwhelm other aspects of my life. My growing existential realization that the end of life is closer than the beginning provides an incentive to experience other things besides the internet as it may be the last time I experience that other thing. My advice to younger people with ADHD is to force yourself away from the compulsion. Very hard I know. You need to recognize and internalize that it's simply not possible to absorb everything we, as a species, are creating. The rewards for actually experiencing life far out weigh the rewards from simply reading about it.

mattbdc 4y ago
good point about the paradox between drugs + dopamine hits from browsing. completely agree there.
jkmcf 4y ago
My advice to younger people with ADHD is to force yourself away from the compulsion. Very hard I know. You need to recognize and internalize This is the first part of the Stoic, and habit breaking, approach. The second part is to ignore your rationalization in favor of indulging yourself “just this once,” which might be just as hard as the first part. One thing I try is to move away from the distraction and attempt to reset my brain to focus on the what’s important.

mattbdc 4y ago

good point about the paradox between drugs + dopamine hits from browsing. completely agree there.

jkmcf 4y ago

My advice to younger people with ADHD is to force yourself away from the compulsion. Very hard I know. You need to recognize and internalize This is the first part of the Stoic, and habit breaking, approach. The second part is to ignore your rationalization in favor of indulging yourself “just this once,” which might be just as hard as the first part. One thing I try is to move away from the distraction and attempt to reset my brain to focus on the what’s important.