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I wonder how many of these "work ethic" stories are just undiagnosed ADHD stories in disguise... I mean, this is the second time I see ADHD mentioned in this t

by hnfong 2y ago

I wonder how many of these "work ethic" stories are just undiagnosed ADHD stories in disguise... I mean, this is the second time I see ADHD mentioned in this thread, and the story of somebody who just can't keep focus study for long hours kind of fits textbook symptoms. To be clear, I'm not saying everyone commenting here with similar stories have ADHD, but uh... if it rings a bell, maybe think about it. (FWIW, I suspect I'm also an undiagnosed case...)

matheusmoreira 2y ago
Oh lots. Not all but lots. It's not like I have a study to point to but I still have no doubt about that. You'll see lots of ADHD types here and in similar forums. For some reason, ADHD people seem to be really attracted to technology. They have "attention deficit" and yet don't have any trouble at all concentrating for 10 hours straight on things they care about and I often find that technology in general is in that list. Remember that "bipolar lisp programmer" article? It's more like ADHD lisp programmer. Actual bipolar patients I've seen weren't like that. When I talk to an ADHD patient, I end up getting this distinct feeling they're talking about me instead. I run them through the diagnostic criteria and they match. I still refer them to a trusted psychiatrist regardless so that a proper differential diagnosis can be made, which does include bipolar disorder. Psychiatry is hard and I'm not about to underestimate the difficulty of it, especially since I could kill the patient if I'm wrong. So far getting this feeling seems to be virtually pathognomonic though.
- hnfong 2y ago
  Maybe because tech is responsive. In most cases the time required to compile, run and test code is a couple minutes. A couple hours at worst. The immediate gratification is really attractive for ADHD people. ^ This was what I intended to comment, and then I thought I should look up the "bipolar lisp programmer" article since I haven't read it before. And I'll just note that, while the article doesn't mention it, a major feature touted by Lisp enthusiasts is the REPL :) Talk about immediate gratification... By the way, the story sounds like mine too. Except I went to law school (law is undergrad in where I live). Everyone assumed I did poorly because I wasn't interested in the subject (a reasonable assumption since I was clearly oriented towards programming), but I think the real problem was the "artifice" mentioned in the article. Today, I still read legal cases/materials with interest from time to time, but if I were put back in that artificial law school environment I don't think I'd survive.

by hnfong 2y ago

matheusmoreira 2y ago

Oh lots. Not all but lots. It's not like I have a study to point to but I still have no doubt about that. You'll see lots of ADHD types here and in similar forums. For some reason, ADHD people seem to be really attracted to technology. They have "attention deficit" and yet don't have any trouble at all concentrating for 10 hours straight on things they care about and I often find that technology in general is in that list. Remember that "bipolar lisp programmer" article? It's more like ADHD lisp programmer. Actual bipolar patients I've seen weren't like that. When I talk to an ADHD patient, I end up getting this distinct feeling they're talking about me instead. I run them through the diagnostic criteria and they match. I still refer them to a trusted psychiatrist regardless so that a proper differential diagnosis can be made, which does include bipolar disorder. Psychiatry is hard and I'm not about to underestimate the difficulty of it, especially since I could kill the patient if I'm wrong. So far getting this feeling seems to be virtually pathognomonic though.

hnfong 2y ago
Maybe because tech is responsive. In most cases the time required to compile, run and test code is a couple minutes. A couple hours at worst. The immediate gratification is really attractive for ADHD people. ^ This was what I intended to comment, and then I thought I should look up the "bipolar lisp programmer" article since I haven't read it before. And I'll just note that, while the article doesn't mention it, a major feature touted by Lisp enthusiasts is the REPL :) Talk about immediate gratification... By the way, the story sounds like mine too. Except I went to law school (law is undergrad in where I live). Everyone assumed I did poorly because I wasn't interested in the subject (a reasonable assumption since I was clearly oriented towards programming), but I think the real problem was the "artifice" mentioned in the article. Today, I still read legal cases/materials with interest from time to time, but if I were put back in that artificial law school environment I don't think I'd survive.