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I'm not ADHD. I do, however, love chasing rabbits right into their holes. And exploring the intricate network of passages they've made. What I mean is that as

by delinka 13y ago

I'm not ADHD. I do, however, love chasing rabbits right into their holes. And exploring the intricate network of passages they've made. What I mean is that as I search for a solution in the API docs, I stumble across other things that look interesting. Or bits of detail that further explain how this library is built. Or explain the dependence of this function on a specific language feature. It's fascinating. And ultimately, that information makes me a better coder ... but it seldom solves the immediate problem. And now I've got all these ideas for new projects. Or ideas for future features for this project. I feel focused (on obtaining my goal) but distracted. Or maybe I'm building a new system. But to support feature F, I need this library. To serve feature Q, I need that daemon. To support that daemon, I need a database engine ... but nope, it doesn't support PostgreSQL. To support the database engine, I need a logging daemon with feature L that the bleeding edge metagammalogd doesn't offer. And why am I building all this again? At this point, I'm feeling not focused and also distracted.

lancer383 13y ago
Are you sure? I came right into the comments and did a Command+F for "ADHD", as this is what I thought as well. Know that all types of ADHD aren't the same, and specifically that there is ADHD without the outward hyperactivity. Look up "Inattentive ADHD" - I am 30, and up until this past year I just thought that I had issues with procrastination, lack of follow-through, and was easily distracted. Does this sound like you? - Underperformed in school, despite being incredibly bright. - Frequently didn't complete homework in school. - Easily distracted. - Shifts from one uncompleted task to another. - Frequently skips large sections of text when reading. - Procrastination. - Frequently switches jobs
- admiralmidnight 13y ago
  That sounds exactly like me, but I don't skip large sections of text. I also read and think and talk about programming a lot more than I do it. At work I don't have this problem. The work place establishes the focus, which is hard to maintain at home. Anyhow, why should one get a diagnosis for ADD/ADHD. What difference would it make for a 20 something?
  - lancer383 13y ago
    At least for me, just understanding myself better has helped me cope with the difficulties I have.
jasonlotito 13y ago
> I'm not ADHD. Please note, I'm not saying anyone has ADHD. I'm not qualified to make that assessment. However, I'm going to make a guess and assume you aren't qualified to make that assessment either. Getting checked for ADHD and OCD has made a big impact on my life. I didn't think I had ADHD either. I was getting checked for OCD for something unrelated to ADHD, and this came up. What I considered a normal life, being distracted normally, etc - well, I learned it wasn't normal.

by delinka 13y ago

lancer383 13y ago

Are you sure? I came right into the comments and did a Command+F for "ADHD", as this is what I thought as well. Know that all types of ADHD aren't the same, and specifically that there is ADHD without the outward hyperactivity. Look up "Inattentive ADHD" - I am 30, and up until this past year I just thought that I had issues with procrastination, lack of follow-through, and was easily distracted. Does this sound like you? - Underperformed in school, despite being incredibly bright. - Frequently didn't complete homework in school. - Easily distracted. - Shifts from one uncompleted task to another. - Frequently skips large sections of text when reading. - Procrastination. - Frequently switches jobs

admiralmidnight 13y ago
That sounds exactly like me, but I don't skip large sections of text. I also read and think and talk about programming a lot more than I do it. At work I don't have this problem. The work place establishes the focus, which is hard to maintain at home. Anyhow, why should one get a diagnosis for ADD/ADHD. What difference would it make for a 20 something?
- lancer383 13y ago
  At least for me, just understanding myself better has helped me cope with the difficulties I have.

jasonlotito 13y ago

> I'm not ADHD. Please note, I'm not saying anyone has ADHD. I'm not qualified to make that assessment. However, I'm going to make a guess and assume you aren't qualified to make that assessment either. Getting checked for ADHD and OCD has made a big impact on my life. I didn't think I had ADHD either. I was getting checked for OCD for something unrelated to ADHD, and this came up. What I considered a normal life, being distracted normally, etc - well, I learned it wasn't normal.