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A little side note: I struggled a LOT with procrastination in my 20s. I was convinced I had ADHD because I would waste hours on useless bullshit online instead

by spaceman_2020 3y ago

A little side note: I struggled a LOT with procrastination in my 20s. I was convinced I had ADHD because I would waste hours on useless bullshit online instead of working. Then I started working on something I actually enjoyed and realized that my ADHD was just me avoiding work I hated. I can go hours without taking a break now, so much so that it’s become a health problem. I suspect many such self-diagnosed cases of ADHD are just people stuck doing work that’s not for them. (Doesn’t apply to clinically diagnosed ADHD cases of course)

kyleyeats 3y ago
This is exactly how people with ADHD describe it.
mgolawala 3y ago
That’s classic ADHD. People who have it are able to hyper focus on things they find interesting.
naasking 3y ago
> I can go hours without taking a break now, so much so that it’s become a health problem. That's classic ADHD hyperfocus.
protocolture 3y ago
Yeah so some clinical diagnosis for ADHD includes comparing school books between Subject kid likes and subject kid doesnt like. your self diagnosis is probably still valid.
resonious 3y ago
I have a formal ADHD diagnosis, and I'm the same way (I know, every sibling comment is saying the same thing. just thought I'd chime in with my Credential) At the same time, I do kind of question the utility of the formal diagnosis. Why do I need to go to the doctor to have them tell me "you can only focus on interesting things"? Isn't that everyone to some degree? If we had an education system that was less boring and stupid, "ADHD" wouldn't be an illness.
- qwqetyr 3y ago
  I would guess getting access to drugs is the main (and for some the only) reason.
- Ancapistani 3y ago
  > Why do I need to go to the doctor to have them tell me "you can only focus on interesting things"? Isn't that everyone to some degree? Sure, but ADHD has a couple of others features that break from the norm: * what you find "interesting" is seemingly completely arbitrary, can change in an instant, and is totally outside your control * when you try to do something "uninteresting", the harder you try to focus on it the more difficult it is to do so.
  - resonious 3y ago
    Can non-ADHD people change what they find interesting at will? I've never met anyone who seems to have that ability, but I suppose I don't know for sure.
adastra22 3y ago
That sounds like textbook ADHD my friend. ADHD isn't the inability to focus, it is the inability to control your focus. It's a form of executive disfunction that can cause you to procrastinate things which are annoying, or hyper-focus (to an unhealthy degree) on things which are inartistically interesting. Just this morning I was late to an appointment that was really important, because I was really invested into fixing this bug I was working on. In the grand scheme of things that was a stupid decision, and if I had taken even 2 seconds to think about it I would have closed my laptop and went to my appointment. But I didn't stop to think: that's ADHD.
- jeanloolz 3y ago
  Your comment made me realize that I may have ADHD... I'm 42. I completely relate to parent comment too. Can someone point me to liturgies on the condition, I would like to understand a bit more? What is the process to get a diagnosis?
  - sebmaynard 3y ago
    The one that set off the light bulb for me was a book called The ADHD Effect on Marriage. 2 years ago I got a formal diagnosis having completed the DIVA (and got full marks )
    - jeanloolz 3y ago
      Thank you very much. I will check that out immediately
    - superbenk 3y ago
      I cannot recommend this book enough. It saved my marriage. I also highly recommend taking Melissa Orlov's course as a couple if you can.
      - brianjking 3y ago
        Is this book and course helpful when both parties have ADHD? We used to both be medicated. Now only one of us is.
bdhcuidbebe 3y ago
Thats pretty much my adhd. Maybe its you who should visit the doctor.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
devjab 3y ago
ADHD comes with something called hyperfocus, which is the ability to really focus on something you think is interesting. It’s part of why I got my diagnosis in my 30ies, because I never had an issue working full time in jobs I enjoy. There are other reasons, but that one was a big one. ADHD has an interesting image to many of us as something that has you running around unable to focus, but for a lot of us, it’s nothing like that. It’s much more about energy deficiency. I’ll use myself as an example, I never had an issue working a lot, I did 50+ hour weeks when I needed to, only for a period and with rest afterwards (but that’s sort of how Danish society works, if you work 50 hours one week then you can take two full days off the next, or later). My “strategy” and I put that in quotes because I didn’t know it was a strategy at the time, was to go to bed early in stressful periods. This broke when I had my first child, since you can just go directly to bed when you come home from work for obvious reasons. As well as changing motivations and so on. But really, you won’t have an issue with focus when you’re interested. What you will have an issue with is things you aren’t interested in, and while a lot of us can endure them, we spend more energy than other people while we do it. A lot of us even have a lot of the H but are still capable of sitting in a seat for an entire day. Sitting, not sitting still mind you. I sit wrong, I’ve astonished basically every “ergonomic consultant” or whatever their job is that comes around Danish offices every now and then by how I’m not broken physically from how I sit when they watch. Well until one of them was so curious that she decided to spend more than the usual 5-10 minutes observing me and realised I don’t sit in the same position for long. I’m apparently the embodiment of “the next position is the best position”, which is fun and all, but you probably wouldn’t notice if you didn’t look, so my H wasn’t obvious in my childhood years. Because I can in fact sit through an entire day of school and not listen to 80% of what is said. Same is true for meetings that should’ve been an email. The only real difference is that I’m twice as tired as a normal person who was also bored through the same meeting. So in a sense, what you’re describing is text book ADHD, and may not be an issue for you. At least until some external influences change your situation.

kyleyeats 3y ago

This is exactly how people with ADHD describe it.

mgolawala 3y ago

That’s classic ADHD. People who have it are able to hyper focus on things they find interesting.

naasking 3y ago

> I can go hours without taking a break now, so much so that it’s become a health problem. That's classic ADHD hyperfocus.

protocolture 3y ago

Yeah so some clinical diagnosis for ADHD includes comparing school books between Subject kid likes and subject kid doesnt like. your self diagnosis is probably still valid.

resonious 3y ago

I have a formal ADHD diagnosis, and I'm the same way (I know, every sibling comment is saying the same thing. just thought I'd chime in with my Credential) At the same time, I do kind of question the utility of the formal diagnosis. Why do I need to go to the doctor to have them tell me "you can only focus on interesting things"? Isn't that everyone to some degree? If we had an education system that was less boring and stupid, "ADHD" wouldn't be an illness.

qwqetyr 3y ago
I would guess getting access to drugs is the main (and for some the only) reason.
Ancapistani 3y ago
> Why do I need to go to the doctor to have them tell me "you can only focus on interesting things"? Isn't that everyone to some degree? Sure, but ADHD has a couple of others features that break from the norm: * what you find "interesting" is seemingly completely arbitrary, can change in an instant, and is totally outside your control * when you try to do something "uninteresting", the harder you try to focus on it the more difficult it is to do so.
- resonious 3y ago
  Can non-ADHD people change what they find interesting at will? I've never met anyone who seems to have that ability, but I suppose I don't know for sure.

adastra22 3y ago

That sounds like textbook ADHD my friend. ADHD isn't the inability to focus, it is the inability to control your focus. It's a form of executive disfunction that can cause you to procrastinate things which are annoying, or hyper-focus (to an unhealthy degree) on things which are inartistically interesting. Just this morning I was late to an appointment that was really important, because I was really invested into fixing this bug I was working on. In the grand scheme of things that was a stupid decision, and if I had taken even 2 seconds to think about it I would have closed my laptop and went to my appointment. But I didn't stop to think: that's ADHD.

jeanloolz 3y ago
Your comment made me realize that I may have ADHD... I'm 42. I completely relate to parent comment too. Can someone point me to liturgies on the condition, I would like to understand a bit more? What is the process to get a diagnosis?
- sebmaynard 3y ago
  The one that set off the light bulb for me was a book called The ADHD Effect on Marriage. 2 years ago I got a formal diagnosis having completed the DIVA (and got full marks )
  - jeanloolz 3y ago
    Thank you very much. I will check that out immediately
  - superbenk 3y ago
    I cannot recommend this book enough. It saved my marriage. I also highly recommend taking Melissa Orlov's course as a couple if you can.
    - brianjking 3y ago
      Is this book and course helpful when both parties have ADHD? We used to both be medicated. Now only one of us is.

bdhcuidbebe 3y ago

Thats pretty much my adhd. Maybe its you who should visit the doctor.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

devjab 3y ago

ADHD comes with something called hyperfocus, which is the ability to really focus on something you think is interesting. It’s part of why I got my diagnosis in my 30ies, because I never had an issue working full time in jobs I enjoy. There are other reasons, but that one was a big one. ADHD has an interesting image to many of us as something that has you running around unable to focus, but for a lot of us, it’s nothing like that. It’s much more about energy deficiency. I’ll use myself as an example, I never had an issue working a lot, I did 50+ hour weeks when I needed to, only for a period and with rest afterwards (but that’s sort of how Danish society works, if you work 50 hours one week then you can take two full days off the next, or later). My “strategy” and I put that in quotes because I didn’t know it was a strategy at the time, was to go to bed early in stressful periods. This broke when I had my first child, since you can just go directly to bed when you come home from work for obvious reasons. As well as changing motivations and so on. But really, you won’t have an issue with focus when you’re interested. What you will have an issue with is things you aren’t interested in, and while a lot of us can endure them, we spend more energy than other people while we do it. A lot of us even have a lot of the H but are still capable of sitting in a seat for an entire day. Sitting, not sitting still mind you. I sit wrong, I’ve astonished basically every “ergonomic consultant” or whatever their job is that comes around Danish offices every now and then by how I’m not broken physically from how I sit when they watch. Well until one of them was so curious that she decided to spend more than the usual 5-10 minutes observing me and realised I don’t sit in the same position for long. I’m apparently the embodiment of “the next position is the best position”, which is fun and all, but you probably wouldn’t notice if you didn’t look, so my H wasn’t obvious in my childhood years. Because I can in fact sit through an entire day of school and not listen to 80% of what is said. Same is true for meetings that should’ve been an email. The only real difference is that I’m twice as tired as a normal person who was also bored through the same meeting. So in a sense, what you’re describing is text book ADHD, and may not be an issue for you. At least until some external influences change your situation.