3 ms·

Giving a smartphone to a child is creating a lot of problems. In Korea, many parents play YouTube videos to their whining children, and many wonder if this is c

by r2vcap 3y ago

Giving a smartphone to a child is creating a lot of problems. In Korea, many parents play YouTube videos to their whining children, and many wonder if this is contributing to the rise in ADHD in children. Parents and the government must make a decision before a bigger social problem arises.

scrollaway 3y ago
If everyone has ADHD, is it really a disorder anymore? I say this because I have ADHD. Diagnosed very late, because it never bothered me… I just used it to my advantage all my life and I never understood how people can spend years in the same place with the same job. That, to me, sounds like the real sickness. I learned more about it since and of course there’s a spectrum to it, but still. ADHD is no doubt the #1 factor why I’m able to have the career I have, the life I have. And I’m very happy there.
- hammyhavoc 3y ago
  ADHD isn't a "sickness". It's a neurodevelopmental condition. And not "everyone" has it. I was the youngest person in the UK to be diagnosed in the '90s. Was medicated with Ritalin until I was 10, at which point I abruptly stopped taking it as my dosage was wrong as my weight and height pre-puberty were all over the place and was incapable of conveying this. 20 years on after stopping the Ritalin, realizing that the drugs worked and that normal people don't struggle with socializing or organizing their personal life, it fucking sucks. The waiting list for titration is very long in the UK, and going private doesn't speed anything along as the NHS now just refer to private providers for it. Been trying to get help since last August. I used to say the same thing about ADHD being why I have the life I do, but with age comes the realization that my life isn't my work, that's such a small part of it, and my personal life is fucked in terms of social aspects.
- bruh2 3y ago
  Are we talking about the same disorder? The inability to concentrate on thing that don't immediately pique my interest has costed me quite a lot. Had I gotten diagnosed and medicated earlier, I feel like I could have finished my Bachelor's, or keep my last job, or get a driver's license. I was shocked to find out that the concentration capabilities I have while high on Adderall are considered just normal for most people. I still think the root of the problem lies in the insane amount of work hours we're expected to put out, and I'm sure that I would have an easier time if tech companies (that I can score a job in) actually made something real rather than adtech bullshit jobs. But until then...
  - scrollaway 3y ago
    Right. I could never hold an office job. The requirements for me are impossible to hold. So I never did it. I went the path of self reliance and built my own system in which I can work. School was torture; thankfully my parents let me drop out. My career was built by this.
    - bruh2 3y ago
      Do you mind elaborating? Sounds sweet and I hope I can draw some inspiration
      - scrollaway 3y ago
        Very early in my life I went into freelancing. Now it’s consulting but it’s basically the same thing, just formalised. I never hold a client for a very long time (I tried; if I do it goes badly as I’m unable to focus on it). I hold a variety of personal projects which I work on in short bursts of time as they hold my interest vs not. I use the money I make from my regular clients to fund them. I learned to become passionate and find interest in just about everything - I focus on figuring out what is cool or interesting about the things in front of me. And I also learned to delegate as much as possible, especially on the things that do not interest me. If you want I’d be happy to elaborate more in a direct call..
  - tstrimple 3y ago
    I had a similar experience. I absolutely would not have the career I have today if it wasn't for ADHD driven hyper-focus on things I was curious about. I was lucky enough to be interested in technology and programming. By the time I (barely) graduated high school, I'd become proficient in multiple programming languages. My first "real" job after school wasn't with technology. I was copying microfilm and filming newspapers for archival. I walked by one of the programmers who was working on the website and started asking questions and pointing out potential issues I saw. I'm fortunate that this was an open minded guy, because I don't think many software developers would react well to some know-it-all teenager pointing out issues in their code. Instead it turned into my first software development job. This curiosity for technology and programming continued for about 10 more years. I was absorbing everything I could find from patterns and practices to other programming languages. I learned about linux by following the Gentoo guide. All of this was easy and natural for me because my brain wanted to dig into these topics. At least until it didn't anymore. At some point learning a new programming language wasn't "new". It was just patterns I'd seen before in other languages, so exploring those things became far less interesting and all but stopped. I got to the point where I could see the solution to a software problem before writing code, so the act of writing the code became extremely tedious for me to the point where I literally couldn't do it. I lost jobs over this until I was able to shift more to architecture work. The same pattern followed there, where I was able to quickly absorb tons of content around systems designs and larger concerns for large software projects. I threw myself into it for more years because it was easy and my brain liked this content. Until it didn't. Things that were so easy for me because a huge personal effort to complete because it wasn't in that "zone" of things my brain wanted to engage with. It wasn't new and shiny. It was boring and tedious. It's a job I'm great at, that I cannot perform adequately because it's not interesting to me anymore. So throughout my life ADHD has helped me enormously by enabling me to pick up skills that my peers didn't have because I was almost "addicted" to learning these things. But it's also a huge limit because I always have to be working on new things or things which are on fire. I love critical issues because the immediacy of the problem helps engage my brain on delivering solutions. I absolutely cannot work on "boring" projects which are well maintained and delivering effectively. In that regard, ADHD is a huge anchor holding me back. Sometimes I feel like I have super powers, but I think it's more similar to being an "idiot savant" where I'm very good at the things my brain agrees I should be doing and very bad at things I cannot focus on and I cannot control where that focus goes. If you're lucky that your focus tends towards things which are worth money in the job market, I can see how it could be a huge help early in your career when you're still soaking in information like a sponge. I can't imagine what my life would look like if my ADHD took me down the path of anime or something like that instead. None of this touches on the social issues which arise from my ADHD. I also got very lucky to have a wife who understands and helps compensate but it still adds a lot of friction.

by r2vcap 3y ago

scrollaway 3y ago

If everyone has ADHD, is it really a disorder anymore? I say this because I have ADHD. Diagnosed very late, because it never bothered me… I just used it to my advantage all my life and I never understood how people can spend years in the same place with the same job. That, to me, sounds like the real sickness. I learned more about it since and of course there’s a spectrum to it, but still. ADHD is no doubt the #1 factor why I’m able to have the career I have, the life I have. And I’m very happy there.

hammyhavoc 3y ago
ADHD isn't a "sickness". It's a neurodevelopmental condition. And not "everyone" has it. I was the youngest person in the UK to be diagnosed in the '90s. Was medicated with Ritalin until I was 10, at which point I abruptly stopped taking it as my dosage was wrong as my weight and height pre-puberty were all over the place and was incapable of conveying this. 20 years on after stopping the Ritalin, realizing that the drugs worked and that normal people don't struggle with socializing or organizing their personal life, it fucking sucks. The waiting list for titration is very long in the UK, and going private doesn't speed anything along as the NHS now just refer to private providers for it. Been trying to get help since last August. I used to say the same thing about ADHD being why I have the life I do, but with age comes the realization that my life isn't my work, that's such a small part of it, and my personal life is fucked in terms of social aspects.
bruh2 3y ago
Are we talking about the same disorder? The inability to concentrate on thing that don't immediately pique my interest has costed me quite a lot. Had I gotten diagnosed and medicated earlier, I feel like I could have finished my Bachelor's, or keep my last job, or get a driver's license. I was shocked to find out that the concentration capabilities I have while high on Adderall are considered just normal for most people. I still think the root of the problem lies in the insane amount of work hours we're expected to put out, and I'm sure that I would have an easier time if tech companies (that I can score a job in) actually made something real rather than adtech bullshit jobs. But until then...
- scrollaway 3y ago
  Right. I could never hold an office job. The requirements for me are impossible to hold. So I never did it. I went the path of self reliance and built my own system in which I can work. School was torture; thankfully my parents let me drop out. My career was built by this.
  - bruh2 3y ago
    Do you mind elaborating? Sounds sweet and I hope I can draw some inspiration
    - scrollaway 3y ago
      Very early in my life I went into freelancing. Now it’s consulting but it’s basically the same thing, just formalised. I never hold a client for a very long time (I tried; if I do it goes badly as I’m unable to focus on it). I hold a variety of personal projects which I work on in short bursts of time as they hold my interest vs not. I use the money I make from my regular clients to fund them. I learned to become passionate and find interest in just about everything - I focus on figuring out what is cool or interesting about the things in front of me. And I also learned to delegate as much as possible, especially on the things that do not interest me. If you want I’d be happy to elaborate more in a direct call..
- tstrimple 3y ago
  I had a similar experience. I absolutely would not have the career I have today if it wasn't for ADHD driven hyper-focus on things I was curious about. I was lucky enough to be interested in technology and programming. By the time I (barely) graduated high school, I'd become proficient in multiple programming languages. My first "real" job after school wasn't with technology. I was copying microfilm and filming newspapers for archival. I walked by one of the programmers who was working on the website and started asking questions and pointing out potential issues I saw. I'm fortunate that this was an open minded guy, because I don't think many software developers would react well to some know-it-all teenager pointing out issues in their code. Instead it turned into my first software development job. This curiosity for technology and programming continued for about 10 more years. I was absorbing everything I could find from patterns and practices to other programming languages. I learned about linux by following the Gentoo guide. All of this was easy and natural for me because my brain wanted to dig into these topics. At least until it didn't anymore. At some point learning a new programming language wasn't "new". It was just patterns I'd seen before in other languages, so exploring those things became far less interesting and all but stopped. I got to the point where I could see the solution to a software problem before writing code, so the act of writing the code became extremely tedious for me to the point where I literally couldn't do it. I lost jobs over this until I was able to shift more to architecture work. The same pattern followed there, where I was able to quickly absorb tons of content around systems designs and larger concerns for large software projects. I threw myself into it for more years because it was easy and my brain liked this content. Until it didn't. Things that were so easy for me because a huge personal effort to complete because it wasn't in that "zone" of things my brain wanted to engage with. It wasn't new and shiny. It was boring and tedious. It's a job I'm great at, that I cannot perform adequately because it's not interesting to me anymore. So throughout my life ADHD has helped me enormously by enabling me to pick up skills that my peers didn't have because I was almost "addicted" to learning these things. But it's also a huge limit because I always have to be working on new things or things which are on fire. I love critical issues because the immediacy of the problem helps engage my brain on delivering solutions. I absolutely cannot work on "boring" projects which are well maintained and delivering effectively. In that regard, ADHD is a huge anchor holding me back. Sometimes I feel like I have super powers, but I think it's more similar to being an "idiot savant" where I'm very good at the things my brain agrees I should be doing and very bad at things I cannot focus on and I cannot control where that focus goes. If you're lucky that your focus tends towards things which are worth money in the job market, I can see how it could be a huge help early in your career when you're still soaking in information like a sponge. I can't imagine what my life would look like if my ADHD took me down the path of anime or something like that instead. None of this touches on the social issues which arise from my ADHD. I also got very lucky to have a wife who understands and helps compensate but it still adds a lot of friction.