5 ms·

I'm not a mental health professional, and I don't know the author. Please be assured that I don't mean any disrespect whatsoever: consider getting tested for AD

by otikik 2y ago

I'm not a mental health professional, and I don't know the author. Please be assured that I don't mean any disrespect whatsoever: consider getting tested for ADHD by a mental health professional. I was diagnosed very late, since my ADHD was of the "inattentive" kind. I would not be troublesome at home or at school, like an hyperactive child would. A lot of people like this go undiagnosed. One of the traits of ADHD is that our brains crave novelty, and that is definitely one of my struggles. Having professional help makes a difference. > When I’m building something, that information is the thing coming to life in front of my eyes, every new button etc is awesome. The neurotypical version of this is called "being in the zone", which just means "enjoying what you are doing, so holding concentration for long periods of time takes very little effort". The ADHD version of this is more intense, it's called hyperfocus. The activity absorbs all of your attention. You barely feel hunger or sleepiness, you can literally go a it for days, you keep thinking about it while you are not doing it. It's useful if you happen to hyperfocus on something that is helpful to you.

atlintots 2y ago
how has a diagnosis helped you?
- otikik 2y ago
  I did get depressed for a while, which is a common comorbidity. Drugs helped somewhat. Ultimately sleep, diet, family, friends and sport helped more. I am less hard on myself. My therapist helped me realize that some of the things I was blaming myself for were actually not my fault. I have some techniques to help me with some of my everyday struggles. I sometimes are able to aim my hyperfocus instead of just letting it point to whatever random thing crosses my mind - the trick there is realizing that almost anything worth knowing has some interesting nuggets, you just have to dig for them sometimes. My son was diagnosed at an appropriate age (he has hyperactivity so it has been visible for a while).
- pithanyChan 2y ago
  Druhgs. Dropped his dealer and got the Gustav. I'm kidding. Once you know what, you can check your patterns against the standard and the deviations. Then you can approach the circuits that are fucked and identify triggers. Best to get to the roots of the reinforcement in childhood, though. Behaviors and preferences surpressed, people you didn't beat up for reasons and so on, behavioral triggers, when you held back and why. What distracted you when you did a specific thing or the other. And, of course, the standard stuff, what were you rewarded for and did you really care about that thing yourself? Might take a while but it'll be worth it.
codazoda 2y ago
I am very similar to op. What type of mental health professional should we seek out? I talked to a PA about ADD a couple times, but dropped it because they seemed doubtful and I felt a bit ashamed (because you treat ADD and ADHD with a controlled substance). I went on phentermine for a few weeks, for weight loss, and my mind felt absolutely amazing on that medicine. It’s apparently dangerous for long term use though. I’ve written my own story; how to lose money with 25 years of failed businesses. https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-failed-businesses https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-fail...
- Aurornis 2y ago
  > I talked to a PA about ADD a couple times, but dropped it because they seemed doubtful Let me add some context to this that isn't obvious from the outside: There has been a massive surge in ADHD self-diagnosis in recent years, fueled largely by TikTok and other social media. During COVID it got so bad that there were even pill mills offering ADHD diagnoses via TikTok ads, and anyone who paid their fee was basically guaranteed a diagnosis after a short 5-minute video call. This causes problems for many reasons, but one of the biggest is that people are arriving to doctors with a self-diagnosis to the exclusion of other conditions. It's the job of doctors to look at the whole picture and explore other explanations, which can feel insulting when someone has already arrived at a conclusion. There's a growing problem where people who are actually suffering from depression, anxiety, or even physical conditions like sleep apnea are self-diagnosing as ADHD and then requesting stimulants from their doctors, which temporarily masks their underlying condition and makes everything worse. I understand why you felt shame, but if there's one thing I can tell you it's this: You actually want a doctor who questions the diagnosis, doesn't rush to prescribe habit forming medications, and explores the big picture. Having someone concerned about your health as a whole is very valuable. > (because you treat ADD and ADHD with a controlled substance). There are actually several non-stimulant ADHD medications. They can work quite well, but they come with one caveat: They can take a long time to show their full effects. There are studies showing that the positive effects of Straterra (Atomoxetine) continue increasing even past the first 12 months. Controlled substance stimulant medications have the opposite time course. People take them and feel them working immediately. Within hours. However, tolerance also starts accruing immediately and people will often feel like the medications aren't "working" after a while, when in reality they've just reached steady state. > I went on phentermine for a few weeks, for weight loss, and my mind felt absolutely amazing on that medicine. I have to warn you: All stimulant medications will produce false feelings of euphoria, motivation, and excitement when you first start taking them. These effects do not last. The brain will adjust to the medication over time and that "amazing" feeling will disappear. Your experience is extremely common, though: People take a stimulant, either from their doctor or from a friend, and feel great. They think that if they can secure a constant supply, they will feel that way forever. Unfortunately, it can actually distract from the true goals of ADHD treatment when people start chasing that short-lived feeling while neglecting the treatment of their attention. The truth is that after someone has taken a stimulant for years, it no longer makes them "feel amazing" like that, even though it can help the ADHD. The brain reaches a new homeostasis in the reward centers. This introduces a secondary problem, wherein any missed doses or attempts to lower the dose produces a rebound effect where mood, motivation, and focus are temporarily lowered due to deviation from that new homeostasis. In short: Don't read too much into how you felt while taking powerful stimulants for a short while. It's not analogous to the therapeutic effects of ADHD treatment, though it's easy to mistake one for the other.
Aurornis 2y ago
> One of the traits of ADHD is that our brains crave novelty I know you meant well by your post, but this type of reductionism doesn't really do justice to ADHD and can lead a lot of people astray. It's actually very normal to crave novelty. It's also normal to become bored with repetitive, boring work. It's not a unique feature of ADHD, nor is craving novelty a diagnostic indicator for ADHD. These are normal features of being human and not, by themselves, suggestive of ADHD. I feel like this is important to highlight because the pop-culture definition of ADHD has changed dramatically in recent years. The definition has shifted so much that any description of feeling bored or seeking novelty is mistaken for ADHD, which is definitely not the case for the actual diagnostic criteria. I don't mean to discourage people from seeking help from mental health professionals, but I do want to discourage people from self-diagnosing and getting tunnel vision on a specific diagnosis (generally ADHD) to the exclusion of other explanations.
- otikik 2y ago
  Agree on everything. I must point out that I specifically mentioned “by a mental health professional” and I led with the fact that I am not one. I should have stressed it more perhaps.
- csallen 2y ago
  It's actually very normal to crave novelty. It's also normal to become bored with repetitive, boring work. It's not a unique feature of ADHD, nor is craving novelty a diagnostic indicator for ADHD. These are normal features of being human and not, by themselves, suggestive of ADHD. Thanks for mentioning this. I see so many comments with people self-diagnosing themselves with pathologies because, "I forget things often," "I get distracted a lot," "I get bored," "I sometimes doubt myself when there's a challenge ahead of me." These are normal things! I think a lot of people just don't have a good baseline for what's normal.
  - hnuser123456 2y ago
    Mostly people who grew up in too pristine of a world, who think that everything should be easy following established procedures, that anything being difficult is a sign of a medical issue rather than just... a difficult task. We all have our own interests. We are easily bored by things that are very far away from our interests. You cannot force any given person to care about any given topic as much as you want them to or think they should. Or you can, but then you no longer know who that person really is, and your concept of them becomes inaccurate, setting you up for surprise when that person isn't what you wanted them to be.
user68858788 2y ago
As someone with ADHD that definitely gets dopamine from novelty, is there actually anything that can be done? Adderral and vyvanse work for a couple days and then I build a tolerance. The only indefinite solution is to completely remove all distractions from my area (internet, games, food) but that’s never been sustainable for me. Moderation, rewards on completion, and other mental tricks don’t work for me. Crisis is a good motivator, such as overwhelming student loans, but I’m back to being unfocused now that those are under control. At this point I’ve mostly accepted my success is severely limited by ADHD.
- magnetowasright 2y ago
  > Adderral and vyvanse work for a couple days and then I build a tolerance Have you been able to go through titration and dose adjustment with a (competent) psychiatrist? When starting or restarting meds it's expected for the first few days (or more) to have a more obvious impact. After your body has adjusted to being on the meds, if the meds aren't helping (or are outright making things worse, like making you sleepy), you could just need a higher dose. The adjustment period is a bit different than the issue of proper long term tolerance. There's a fair few options as far as stimulant meds go, and the combinations of drugs, release profiles, and dosages can take a bit of iteration to find what works. There’s also nonstimulant medications used for ADHD but they're generally less effective than stimulant meds, but we're all different and maybe they'll help?
  - user68858788 2y ago
    I haven’t been to a psychiatrist in five years. It wouldn’t hurt to go back and see what they say. Thanks for giving me some hope!
    - magnetowasright 2y ago
      Please do! It took my mate like a year and a half with an amazing psychiatrist to settle on a regimen. I'd recommend having a look through some ADHD groups; they're full of knowledge and tips and tricks that can help you self advocate. A psychiatrist should have explained to you upon prescribing these meds that the first few days may feel like rocket fuel and that thereafter they may feel great (or can make it worse), and they should have advised you to keep a diary about your meds so at your next appointment you can review the impact the meds had and any related struggles like remembering to take your afternoon meds (if you had them, for example). Whatever happened with your last psychiatrist that left you with no helpful meds, no guidance on determining whether the meds are working for you or not, and no follow up to boot is so unacceptable. A little bit of self advocacy can go a VERY long way, though. Things like asking to book the next appointment at the end of your current appointment, and asking if there's any particular side effects you need to watch out for until your next appointment can mean the difference between what happened to you last time and you finding meds that actually work. You shouldn't have to remind them to do any of that but it can really help. Sorry, I ranted a bit! I just really hope you find a psychiatrist who will actually just do their job and work with you to figure it out! Finding meds that actually help is quite achievable.
jbs789 2y ago
Fascinating bc I have seen this behaviour as an observer of others - I read the first couple paragraphs and landed in the same spot.

by otikik 2y ago

atlintots 2y ago

how has a diagnosis helped you?

otikik 2y ago
I did get depressed for a while, which is a common comorbidity. Drugs helped somewhat. Ultimately sleep, diet, family, friends and sport helped more. I am less hard on myself. My therapist helped me realize that some of the things I was blaming myself for were actually not my fault. I have some techniques to help me with some of my everyday struggles. I sometimes are able to aim my hyperfocus instead of just letting it point to whatever random thing crosses my mind - the trick there is realizing that almost anything worth knowing has some interesting nuggets, you just have to dig for them sometimes. My son was diagnosed at an appropriate age (he has hyperactivity so it has been visible for a while).
pithanyChan 2y ago
Druhgs. Dropped his dealer and got the Gustav. I'm kidding. Once you know what, you can check your patterns against the standard and the deviations. Then you can approach the circuits that are fucked and identify triggers. Best to get to the roots of the reinforcement in childhood, though. Behaviors and preferences surpressed, people you didn't beat up for reasons and so on, behavioral triggers, when you held back and why. What distracted you when you did a specific thing or the other. And, of course, the standard stuff, what were you rewarded for and did you really care about that thing yourself? Might take a while but it'll be worth it.

codazoda 2y ago

I am very similar to op. What type of mental health professional should we seek out? I talked to a PA about ADD a couple times, but dropped it because they seemed doubtful and I felt a bit ashamed (because you treat ADD and ADHD with a controlled substance). I went on phentermine for a few weeks, for weight loss, and my mind felt absolutely amazing on that medicine. It’s apparently dangerous for long term use though. I’ve written my own story; how to lose money with 25 years of failed businesses. https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-failed-businesses https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-fail...

Aurornis 2y ago
> I talked to a PA about ADD a couple times, but dropped it because they seemed doubtful Let me add some context to this that isn't obvious from the outside: There has been a massive surge in ADHD self-diagnosis in recent years, fueled largely by TikTok and other social media. During COVID it got so bad that there were even pill mills offering ADHD diagnoses via TikTok ads, and anyone who paid their fee was basically guaranteed a diagnosis after a short 5-minute video call. This causes problems for many reasons, but one of the biggest is that people are arriving to doctors with a self-diagnosis to the exclusion of other conditions. It's the job of doctors to look at the whole picture and explore other explanations, which can feel insulting when someone has already arrived at a conclusion. There's a growing problem where people who are actually suffering from depression, anxiety, or even physical conditions like sleep apnea are self-diagnosing as ADHD and then requesting stimulants from their doctors, which temporarily masks their underlying condition and makes everything worse. I understand why you felt shame, but if there's one thing I can tell you it's this: You actually want a doctor who questions the diagnosis, doesn't rush to prescribe habit forming medications, and explores the big picture. Having someone concerned about your health as a whole is very valuable. > (because you treat ADD and ADHD with a controlled substance). There are actually several non-stimulant ADHD medications. They can work quite well, but they come with one caveat: They can take a long time to show their full effects. There are studies showing that the positive effects of Straterra (Atomoxetine) continue increasing even past the first 12 months. Controlled substance stimulant medications have the opposite time course. People take them and feel them working immediately. Within hours. However, tolerance also starts accruing immediately and people will often feel like the medications aren't "working" after a while, when in reality they've just reached steady state. > I went on phentermine for a few weeks, for weight loss, and my mind felt absolutely amazing on that medicine. I have to warn you: All stimulant medications will produce false feelings of euphoria, motivation, and excitement when you first start taking them. These effects do not last. The brain will adjust to the medication over time and that "amazing" feeling will disappear. Your experience is extremely common, though: People take a stimulant, either from their doctor or from a friend, and feel great. They think that if they can secure a constant supply, they will feel that way forever. Unfortunately, it can actually distract from the true goals of ADHD treatment when people start chasing that short-lived feeling while neglecting the treatment of their attention. The truth is that after someone has taken a stimulant for years, it no longer makes them "feel amazing" like that, even though it can help the ADHD. The brain reaches a new homeostasis in the reward centers. This introduces a secondary problem, wherein any missed doses or attempts to lower the dose produces a rebound effect where mood, motivation, and focus are temporarily lowered due to deviation from that new homeostasis. In short: Don't read too much into how you felt while taking powerful stimulants for a short while. It's not analogous to the therapeutic effects of ADHD treatment, though it's easy to mistake one for the other.

Aurornis 2y ago

> One of the traits of ADHD is that our brains crave novelty I know you meant well by your post, but this type of reductionism doesn't really do justice to ADHD and can lead a lot of people astray. It's actually very normal to crave novelty. It's also normal to become bored with repetitive, boring work. It's not a unique feature of ADHD, nor is craving novelty a diagnostic indicator for ADHD. These are normal features of being human and not, by themselves, suggestive of ADHD. I feel like this is important to highlight because the pop-culture definition of ADHD has changed dramatically in recent years. The definition has shifted so much that any description of feeling bored or seeking novelty is mistaken for ADHD, which is definitely not the case for the actual diagnostic criteria. I don't mean to discourage people from seeking help from mental health professionals, but I do want to discourage people from self-diagnosing and getting tunnel vision on a specific diagnosis (generally ADHD) to the exclusion of other explanations.

otikik 2y ago
Agree on everything. I must point out that I specifically mentioned “by a mental health professional” and I led with the fact that I am not one. I should have stressed it more perhaps.
csallen 2y ago
It's actually very normal to crave novelty. It's also normal to become bored with repetitive, boring work. It's not a unique feature of ADHD, nor is craving novelty a diagnostic indicator for ADHD. These are normal features of being human and not, by themselves, suggestive of ADHD. Thanks for mentioning this. I see so many comments with people self-diagnosing themselves with pathologies because, "I forget things often," "I get distracted a lot," "I get bored," "I sometimes doubt myself when there's a challenge ahead of me." These are normal things! I think a lot of people just don't have a good baseline for what's normal.
- hnuser123456 2y ago
  Mostly people who grew up in too pristine of a world, who think that everything should be easy following established procedures, that anything being difficult is a sign of a medical issue rather than just... a difficult task. We all have our own interests. We are easily bored by things that are very far away from our interests. You cannot force any given person to care about any given topic as much as you want them to or think they should. Or you can, but then you no longer know who that person really is, and your concept of them becomes inaccurate, setting you up for surprise when that person isn't what you wanted them to be.

user68858788 2y ago

As someone with ADHD that definitely gets dopamine from novelty, is there actually anything that can be done? Adderral and vyvanse work for a couple days and then I build a tolerance. The only indefinite solution is to completely remove all distractions from my area (internet, games, food) but that’s never been sustainable for me. Moderation, rewards on completion, and other mental tricks don’t work for me. Crisis is a good motivator, such as overwhelming student loans, but I’m back to being unfocused now that those are under control. At this point I’ve mostly accepted my success is severely limited by ADHD.

magnetowasright 2y ago
> Adderral and vyvanse work for a couple days and then I build a tolerance Have you been able to go through titration and dose adjustment with a (competent) psychiatrist? When starting or restarting meds it's expected for the first few days (or more) to have a more obvious impact. After your body has adjusted to being on the meds, if the meds aren't helping (or are outright making things worse, like making you sleepy), you could just need a higher dose. The adjustment period is a bit different than the issue of proper long term tolerance. There's a fair few options as far as stimulant meds go, and the combinations of drugs, release profiles, and dosages can take a bit of iteration to find what works. There’s also nonstimulant medications used for ADHD but they're generally less effective than stimulant meds, but we're all different and maybe they'll help?
- user68858788 2y ago
  I haven’t been to a psychiatrist in five years. It wouldn’t hurt to go back and see what they say. Thanks for giving me some hope!
  - magnetowasright 2y ago
    Please do! It took my mate like a year and a half with an amazing psychiatrist to settle on a regimen. I'd recommend having a look through some ADHD groups; they're full of knowledge and tips and tricks that can help you self advocate. A psychiatrist should have explained to you upon prescribing these meds that the first few days may feel like rocket fuel and that thereafter they may feel great (or can make it worse), and they should have advised you to keep a diary about your meds so at your next appointment you can review the impact the meds had and any related struggles like remembering to take your afternoon meds (if you had them, for example). Whatever happened with your last psychiatrist that left you with no helpful meds, no guidance on determining whether the meds are working for you or not, and no follow up to boot is so unacceptable. A little bit of self advocacy can go a VERY long way, though. Things like asking to book the next appointment at the end of your current appointment, and asking if there's any particular side effects you need to watch out for until your next appointment can mean the difference between what happened to you last time and you finding meds that actually work. You shouldn't have to remind them to do any of that but it can really help. Sorry, I ranted a bit! I just really hope you find a psychiatrist who will actually just do their job and work with you to figure it out! Finding meds that actually help is quite achievable.

jbs789 2y ago

Fascinating bc I have seen this behaviour as an observer of others - I read the first couple paragraphs and landed in the same spot.