4 ms·

Heh Maybe reading a good physical book for the same time would work as well??

acchow 2y ago
If you do find a book which manages to totally captivate you, then you’d just rather read that instead of returning to normal life. Not sure if this really counts as helping ADHD
- bitwize 2y ago
  The key is to find a hard, less captivating book and just power your way through it. Crime and Punishment may be this for some. You could also try learning X11 programming with the famous wall-o'-manuals that entails.
  - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
    My productive habit is that every morning I wake up, eat a healthy breakfast, and pop a couple Atomoxetine
  - RoyalHenOil 2y ago
    >The key is to find a hard, less captivating book and just power your way through it... This is a lot like saying that the way to treat a broken leg is to just start running on it and not have it be broken anymore.
    - yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
      Unironically yes. Neuroplasticity means that that is exactly a way to improve brain function. Not perfect, not universal, not the only way, but absolutely a working approach. (Obvious disclaimer: Not a doctor, not your doctor, this is not medical advice.)
      - RoyalHenOil 2y ago
        The brain is plastic, but it does not respond well to being hit with a brick wall. It needs reinforcement in the direction you want it to go. For example, you treat a phobia through gradual exposure to the source of fear, not through undergoing a sudden overwhelming experience. That usually creates a traumatic response that actually makes the phobia worse. Likewise, if you want to learn how to read a long book, start with shorter books and work your way up. If you can't sit through a novella and so you try to force yourself to read Crime and Punishment, you will fail — and you risk actually making it harder to read books in the future by strengthening the neural association between reading and feeling bored/frustrated.
        FrustratedMonky 2y ago
        I think yjftsjthsd-h is correct. These posts are arguing over 'scale' or degree. Everyone is agreeing on 'brain is plastic'. Just arguing over starting with 'Crime and Punishment' or 'Snow Crash'. I would just add, that it all depends on where the kid is at. This just jumped out at me because I did have one kid at young age, set a schedule and forced himself to read 'Crime and Punishment'. So it can be done. But maybe for others, that is a huge step. Everyone is starting at some different levels of current skills, with different levels of drag. -- So any discussion here about 'where to start' will all be wrong.
      - lazyasciiart 2y ago
        Unironically wrong. That’s like saying the key to a kid being good at calculus is skipping the silly arithmetic and geometry topics and taking a calculus course.
        aleph_minus_one 2y ago
        As a mathematician, I say: if the kid is "somewhat mature" in mathematics, I wouldn't say this is necessarily a bad idea. I honestly love to read mathematical textbooks that are quite above my current mathematical level and knowledge. It is brutal to go through and attempting to understand the material, but this is soooo rewarding. This method of learning mathematics is clearly not for everyone, but if you are sufficiently motivated to go this way, and love the brutality innate to this method, I actually would recommend it.

If you do find a book which manages to totally captivate you, then you’d just rather read that instead of returning to normal life. Not sure if this really counts as helping ADHD

bitwize 2y ago
The key is to find a hard, less captivating book and just power your way through it. Crime and Punishment may be this for some. You could also try learning X11 programming with the famous wall-o'-manuals that entails.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
  My productive habit is that every morning I wake up, eat a healthy breakfast, and pop a couple Atomoxetine
- RoyalHenOil 2y ago
  >The key is to find a hard, less captivating book and just power your way through it... This is a lot like saying that the way to treat a broken leg is to just start running on it and not have it be broken anymore.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
    Unironically yes. Neuroplasticity means that that is exactly a way to improve brain function. Not perfect, not universal, not the only way, but absolutely a working approach. (Obvious disclaimer: Not a doctor, not your doctor, this is not medical advice.)
    - RoyalHenOil 2y ago
      The brain is plastic, but it does not respond well to being hit with a brick wall. It needs reinforcement in the direction you want it to go. For example, you treat a phobia through gradual exposure to the source of fear, not through undergoing a sudden overwhelming experience. That usually creates a traumatic response that actually makes the phobia worse. Likewise, if you want to learn how to read a long book, start with shorter books and work your way up. If you can't sit through a novella and so you try to force yourself to read Crime and Punishment, you will fail — and you risk actually making it harder to read books in the future by strengthening the neural association between reading and feeling bored/frustrated.
      - FrustratedMonky 2y ago
        I think yjftsjthsd-h is correct. These posts are arguing over 'scale' or degree. Everyone is agreeing on 'brain is plastic'. Just arguing over starting with 'Crime and Punishment' or 'Snow Crash'. I would just add, that it all depends on where the kid is at. This just jumped out at me because I did have one kid at young age, set a schedule and forced himself to read 'Crime and Punishment'. So it can be done. But maybe for others, that is a huge step. Everyone is starting at some different levels of current skills, with different levels of drag. -- So any discussion here about 'where to start' will all be wrong.
    - lazyasciiart 2y ago
      Unironically wrong. That’s like saying the key to a kid being good at calculus is skipping the silly arithmetic and geometry topics and taking a calculus course.
      - aleph_minus_one 2y ago
        As a mathematician, I say: if the kid is "somewhat mature" in mathematics, I wouldn't say this is necessarily a bad idea. I honestly love to read mathematical textbooks that are quite above my current mathematical level and knowledge. It is brutal to go through and attempting to understand the material, but this is soooo rewarding. This method of learning mathematics is clearly not for everyone, but if you are sufficiently motivated to go this way, and love the brutality innate to this method, I actually would recommend it.