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Another myth, even among doctors, is that this is a condition of children who run up walls and across ceilings. Not so. It afflicts adults who are not hyperac

by russell 17y ago

Another myth, even among doctors, is that this is a condition of children who run up walls and across ceilings. Not so. It afflicts adults who are not hyperactive. It is characterized by periods of intense concentration and other periods of complete inability to focus. It is pretty easily treatable with amphetamine type prescription drugs, which help them to calm down and concentrate, exactly the opposite effect from most of us. Unfortunately it is harder to diagnose in high IQ adults, because they are better at disguising the symptoms.

tokenadult 17y ago
Thanks to you and to the other participants for your replies. I see a real opportunity here to further advance the psychology of human mental abilities by further investigating the distinction Keith Stanovich http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300123852 http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=97803001238... http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Tests-Miss-Psychology/dp/030012385X http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Tests-Miss-Psycholog... draw between "intelligence" (I would say "IQ," but his terminology is standard) and "rationality." There are various forms of human cognition, and IQ tests miss many of them. Stanovich reports that there are mental tests that would reliably show, among adults with high IQ, who has executive function problems and who does not.
- rkts 17y ago
  Are you related to this Stanovich guy, or do you just like repeating yourself? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=536558 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=536558 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=565842 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=565842 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=588797 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=588797 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=518828 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=518828 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=559054 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=559054 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=514086 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=514086 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=480331 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=480331 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=497733 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=497733 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=483771 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=483771 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=514856 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=514856 This is just from a quick Google search. I'm sure there are more.
  - tokenadult 17y ago
    I think it's an important clarification of the conceptualization of human cognitive abilities, and I can't count on everyone to do the Google search that you have done, especially on a site with new participants every day. No, I'm not related to him at all. Are you related to someone who has an opinion on research on human cognitive psychology?
cstejerean 17y ago
"It is characterized by periods of intense concentration and other periods of complete inability to focus." "They tended to procrastinate and be forgetful and had difficulty in harnessing their talent to complete many daily tasks" Crap, I guess I really might have ADHD. Would effective and safe is the prescription medication?
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- rjurney 17y ago
  Everyone is that way to some extent, but if you have ADHD its severe. Treatment is effective for most people, and its completely safe for adults. Occasional concern for children.
- tokenadult 17y ago
  "It is characterized by periods of intense concentration and other periods of complete inability to focus." "They tended to procrastinate and be forgetful and had difficulty in harnessing their talent to complete many daily tasks" What's scary for parents is that a lot of that sounds like "teenage boy," and I'm not sure how well I understand differential diagnosis of ADD as contrasted with adolescent brain restructuring. I know young people whose parents have told me that the young people have ADD, and some of those young people are BRILLIANT. Some other young people I know seem every bit as disorganized, but who am I to diagnose someone, even my own child, without a lot of clinical experience?
  - rjurney 17y ago
    The profile is usually pretty clear: the kid is unable to behave himself or perform any action for which there is not an instant reward. Its not something that shows up with hormones, it is the central characteristic of the child's life from day one.
  - rarrrrrr 17y ago
    I'm sure I'll get downmodded for even mentioning this, but in the natural health community we don't believe that ADHD is really a brain disorder, certainly not to the extent the APA maintains. I find it absurd that close to 1/4th of school age children in some schools supposedly need to be on brain altering pharmaceuticals. Why don't we see this in other countries? Some dietary triggers for the ADHD like behavior commonly mentioned are artificial colors, sugar, MSG, and processed grains (and a lack of sufficient nutrition in general.) For instance, there was a segment in the movie SuperSize Me describing a school for behaviorally problematic children. The staff found they could improve things by changing only the school lunch selection.
rjurney 17y ago
I had to explain to my neurologist yesterday, that it was the old model for ADD where it just 'went away' and that the new model for ADHD is that it often persists until adulthood, and that even though I'm almost 30 I most definitely need to take amphetamine salts daily to accomplish meaningful work with computers. Even doctors don't understand.

by russell 17y ago

tokenadult 17y ago

Thanks to you and to the other participants for your replies. I see a real opportunity here to further advance the psychology of human mental abilities by further investigating the distinction Keith Stanovich http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300123852 http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=97803001238... http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Tests-Miss-Psychology/dp/030012385X http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Tests-Miss-Psycholog... draw between "intelligence" (I would say "IQ," but his terminology is standard) and "rationality." There are various forms of human cognition, and IQ tests miss many of them. Stanovich reports that there are mental tests that would reliably show, among adults with high IQ, who has executive function problems and who does not.

rkts 17y ago
Are you related to this Stanovich guy, or do you just like repeating yourself? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=536558 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=536558 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=565842 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=565842 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=588797 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=588797 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=518828 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=518828 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=559054 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=559054 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=514086 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=514086 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=480331 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=480331 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=497733 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=497733 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=483771 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=483771 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=514856 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=514856 This is just from a quick Google search. I'm sure there are more.
- tokenadult 17y ago
  I think it's an important clarification of the conceptualization of human cognitive abilities, and I can't count on everyone to do the Google search that you have done, especially on a site with new participants every day. No, I'm not related to him at all. Are you related to someone who has an opinion on research on human cognitive psychology?

cstejerean 17y ago

"It is characterized by periods of intense concentration and other periods of complete inability to focus." "They tended to procrastinate and be forgetful and had difficulty in harnessing their talent to complete many daily tasks" Crap, I guess I really might have ADHD. Would effective and safe is the prescription medication?

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
rjurney 17y ago
Everyone is that way to some extent, but if you have ADHD its severe. Treatment is effective for most people, and its completely safe for adults. Occasional concern for children.
tokenadult 17y ago
"It is characterized by periods of intense concentration and other periods of complete inability to focus." "They tended to procrastinate and be forgetful and had difficulty in harnessing their talent to complete many daily tasks" What's scary for parents is that a lot of that sounds like "teenage boy," and I'm not sure how well I understand differential diagnosis of ADD as contrasted with adolescent brain restructuring. I know young people whose parents have told me that the young people have ADD, and some of those young people are BRILLIANT. Some other young people I know seem every bit as disorganized, but who am I to diagnose someone, even my own child, without a lot of clinical experience?
- rjurney 17y ago
  The profile is usually pretty clear: the kid is unable to behave himself or perform any action for which there is not an instant reward. Its not something that shows up with hormones, it is the central characteristic of the child's life from day one.
- rarrrrrr 17y ago
  I'm sure I'll get downmodded for even mentioning this, but in the natural health community we don't believe that ADHD is really a brain disorder, certainly not to the extent the APA maintains. I find it absurd that close to 1/4th of school age children in some schools supposedly need to be on brain altering pharmaceuticals. Why don't we see this in other countries? Some dietary triggers for the ADHD like behavior commonly mentioned are artificial colors, sugar, MSG, and processed grains (and a lack of sufficient nutrition in general.) For instance, there was a segment in the movie SuperSize Me describing a school for behaviorally problematic children. The staff found they could improve things by changing only the school lunch selection.

rjurney 17y ago

I had to explain to my neurologist yesterday, that it was the old model for ADD where it just 'went away' and that the new model for ADHD is that it often persists until adulthood, and that even though I'm almost 30 I most definitely need to take amphetamine salts daily to accomplish meaningful work with computers. Even doctors don't understand.