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> Does this sound like masked ADHD? I asked myself the same question. However, after cycling through numerous ADHD treatment protocols - from extensive therapie

> Does this sound like masked ADHD? I asked myself the same question. However, after cycling through numerous ADHD treatment protocols - from extensive therapies to high-dosage medications - my cognitive acuity remained unaltered, and there was no tangible progression. It felt akin to executing null operations in a code. > Interestingly, the MD paradox points towards an unintended consequence of ADHD treatment - it could potentially amplify daydreaming, a peculiar side-effect I noticed while medicated with methylphenidate. In essence, ADHD medication might turbocharge MD. This isn’t a paradox, and it doesn’t necessarily rule out ADHD as an underlying cause/exacerbating factor. Hyperfocus is a common ADHD symptom; said hyperfocus can be fixated on just about anything, yes even daydreaming; stimulants used to treat ADHD symptoms like lack of focus can reinforce unwanted hyperfocus, it’s an unfortunate side effect.

mkaic 3y ago
I got diagnosed a year ago after not knowing I had it my whole life, and I can definitely confirm this. I take Adderall, and the way I describe it to people is that while it definitely helps me focus, it doesn't make it any easier for me to choose what I focus on. So heck yeah, sometimes it's super useful and helps me stay on task at work! Other times, I spend 5 hours diving extremely deep into research papers from fields I have no experience in and end up learning a ton of really cool stuff that is not at all relevant to my day job whatsoever. I have not yet figured out a way to control which scenario occurs on any given day.
- naasking 3y ago
  > I have not yet figured out a way to control which scenario occurs on any given day. One tip I heard that seems to work pretty consistently: leave some work unfinished at the end of the day. Whatever you're working on at the end of the day, leave the last one or two tasks almost finished, as in, leave only a few minutes of work left. Say writing some comments to document code, writing a detailed commit message of what you're working on, maybe renaming the functions or variables to something more meaningful before you commit, etc. The next day you can easily convince yourself, "well I might as well take a minute or two to finish off these one or two trivial things", and now you're in "focused on work" mode and that's often enough momentum to keep going.
  - bick_nyers 3y ago
    For me I either forget, or stop caring if I try that. If you want to get a project from 0% to 90% I'm your guy. 90% to 100%? Brutal.
    - naasking 3y ago
      > For me I either forget, or stop caring if I try that. This is a tactic in addition to some usual means of tracking tasks, like a TODO list.
- steve_adams_86 3y ago
  > Other times, I spend 5 hours diving extremely deep into research papers from fields I have no experience in and end up learning a ton of really cool stuff that is not at all relevant to my day job whatsoever. Me too. In the last year or so I’ve been crazy about hydrology, climate, and nutrition. I can’t really do anything with any of what I learn, but I love learning more. But my diet is fine, I don’t do anything with hydrology, the climate is well beyond my sphere of control. What the hell am I doing? I’m glad (kind of) that I’m not alone.
lazide 3y ago
Yup. If there is an actual, real threat that someone is facing that they have reason to believe they'll have a legitimately bad time trying to address, it's not only a legitimate response to avoid it, but requires active delusions to prevent seeing it. Which, interestingly, ADHD meds can help do. Near as I can tell, ADHD symptoms have an absurd amount of overlap with Complex PTSD [https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/complex/ https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-s...], especially when the complex PTSD was caused by repeated childhood exposure to someone with Narcissitic Personality Disorder that wouldn't let them see the source/cause of the actual problems causing them their pain. Additionally, narcissistic abuse produces symptoms which are VERY similar to what adult ADHD folks present with. [https://www.charliehealth.com/post/the-long-term-effects-of-narcissistic-abuse https://www.charliehealth.com/post/the-long-term-effects-of-...]
- Mezzie 3y ago
  I would say the main difference between ADHD and CPTSD is that those of us with CPTSD can eventually 'rewire' our brains and act more 'normally'.
  - lazide 3y ago
    Interestingly, there really may not be much difference there either. Almost all of those diagnosed with ADHD/ADD do indeed still have the brain structure differences forever. However, almost all adults get better (as in no longer have clinically significant symptoms). They rewire. They still experience some of what is going on, but they’ve found ways to cope, or environments that fit them better, or have learned things that let them avoid the issues, Which is, basically what we’re talking about CPTSD wise, no? [https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/grow-out-of-adhd-not-likely/ https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/grow-out-of-adhd-not-likely/]. I think that you’re saying and what it is saying are equivalent in both cases (without much squinting required), just using different terms for the same real-world situations. I’m also wondering if it’s also possible that the three sub-types of ADHD are attachment style related due to the ways of coping. Inattentive being avoidant, Hyperactive being anxious, and Combined type being disorganized (a mix of the two with no particular balance/with confusion - which would happen when there was no consistent pattern of avoidance or over-attention that worked).

mkaic 3y ago

I got diagnosed a year ago after not knowing I had it my whole life, and I can definitely confirm this. I take Adderall, and the way I describe it to people is that while it definitely helps me focus, it doesn't make it any easier for me to choose what I focus on. So heck yeah, sometimes it's super useful and helps me stay on task at work! Other times, I spend 5 hours diving extremely deep into research papers from fields I have no experience in and end up learning a ton of really cool stuff that is not at all relevant to my day job whatsoever. I have not yet figured out a way to control which scenario occurs on any given day.

naasking 3y ago
> I have not yet figured out a way to control which scenario occurs on any given day. One tip I heard that seems to work pretty consistently: leave some work unfinished at the end of the day. Whatever you're working on at the end of the day, leave the last one or two tasks almost finished, as in, leave only a few minutes of work left. Say writing some comments to document code, writing a detailed commit message of what you're working on, maybe renaming the functions or variables to something more meaningful before you commit, etc. The next day you can easily convince yourself, "well I might as well take a minute or two to finish off these one or two trivial things", and now you're in "focused on work" mode and that's often enough momentum to keep going.
- bick_nyers 3y ago
  For me I either forget, or stop caring if I try that. If you want to get a project from 0% to 90% I'm your guy. 90% to 100%? Brutal.
  - naasking 3y ago
    > For me I either forget, or stop caring if I try that. This is a tactic in addition to some usual means of tracking tasks, like a TODO list.
steve_adams_86 3y ago
> Other times, I spend 5 hours diving extremely deep into research papers from fields I have no experience in and end up learning a ton of really cool stuff that is not at all relevant to my day job whatsoever. Me too. In the last year or so I’ve been crazy about hydrology, climate, and nutrition. I can’t really do anything with any of what I learn, but I love learning more. But my diet is fine, I don’t do anything with hydrology, the climate is well beyond my sphere of control. What the hell am I doing? I’m glad (kind of) that I’m not alone.

lazide 3y ago

Yup. If there is an actual, real threat that someone is facing that they have reason to believe they'll have a legitimately bad time trying to address, it's not only a legitimate response to avoid it, but requires active delusions to prevent seeing it. Which, interestingly, ADHD meds can help do. Near as I can tell, ADHD symptoms have an absurd amount of overlap with Complex PTSD [https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/complex/ https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-s...], especially when the complex PTSD was caused by repeated childhood exposure to someone with Narcissitic Personality Disorder that wouldn't let them see the source/cause of the actual problems causing them their pain. Additionally, narcissistic abuse produces symptoms which are VERY similar to what adult ADHD folks present with. [https://www.charliehealth.com/post/the-long-term-effects-of-narcissistic-abuse https://www.charliehealth.com/post/the-long-term-effects-of-...]

Mezzie 3y ago
I would say the main difference between ADHD and CPTSD is that those of us with CPTSD can eventually 'rewire' our brains and act more 'normally'.
- lazide 3y ago
  Interestingly, there really may not be much difference there either. Almost all of those diagnosed with ADHD/ADD do indeed still have the brain structure differences forever. However, almost all adults get better (as in no longer have clinically significant symptoms). They rewire. They still experience some of what is going on, but they’ve found ways to cope, or environments that fit them better, or have learned things that let them avoid the issues, Which is, basically what we’re talking about CPTSD wise, no? [https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/grow-out-of-adhd-not-likely/ https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/grow-out-of-adhd-not-likely/]. I think that you’re saying and what it is saying are equivalent in both cases (without much squinting required), just using different terms for the same real-world situations. I’m also wondering if it’s also possible that the three sub-types of ADHD are attachment style related due to the ways of coping. Inattentive being avoidant, Hyperactive being anxious, and Combined type being disorganized (a mix of the two with no particular balance/with confusion - which would happen when there was no consistent pattern of avoidance or over-attention that worked).