5 ms·

Years ago, when I was a phd student, I had been to the psychologist at the university health center because I was unable to concentrate on anything. I had fille

by mad44 17y ago

Years ago, when I was a phd student, I had been to the psychologist at the university health center because I was unable to concentrate on anything. I had filled the ADHD diagnosis survey they gave me beforehand, and I was convinced I had ADHD. The psychologist discarded the survey and focused on a personal problem I had that time (my dad has been in a very bad accident). She told me there is nothing wrong with me, except that I was having a bad time. Her evidence was that I had a brilliant academic record (best student researcher, my GPA was not that good though). After all, when I am really interested in something I could concentrate very intensely for a couple of hours on that thing. She asked me if I would like to have some help with time management and organization techniques. I told her that I had read so many books on that, that I could give a seminar on it myself. I was actually very relieved with her diagnosis, because, well, it sounded good, and I dislike the idea of medicating myself. But my problems came back frequently to haunt me. There have been numerous days when I couldn't get myself to do a simple task such as paying bills (just the physical act of writing checks and mailing). It sounds weird, but when I have many things to do, my brain shuts off and reacts by refusing to do anything at all. I know about getting things done and every conceivable productivity technique, but I never can get myself to put these in practice. I am very disorganized, and this costs me a lot. I am doing considerably good in my academic career, but doing awful in taking care of trivia. I always took pride in doing OK without having to take any medication, but I guess I could do much better with medication. It hurts sometimes to endure these symptoms, but I have been able to carry on so far, so good. I don't know, after reading this article, I think maybe I should be seeing a psyciatrist this time, and get a second opinion.

wheels 17y ago
I think the "paying the bills" thing is pretty normal, at least within a certain class of folks. And it's something you can learn to work with. I have all of my bills auto-paid. I've learned from experience -- having the power cut off, the phone cut off, the internet cut off -- that it just works better that way. I've never had a shortage of cash, but sometimes even opening the envelope with the bill inside seems oddly intimidating. But again, you can work with that. Now everything is auto-paid; I don't even bother to open the bills. Nothing gets cut off anymore. I still get the odd annoying thing to deal with, and I've tried to get in the habbit of when there's something that I catch myself ignoring to open it immediately. I've also become a huge user of to-do tracking and set deadlines for myself -- having my daily checklist with past due things staring back at me in red works wonders. Everything goes in there. Mails to family, mails I need to respond to for business stuff (I have a hot key that creates a to-do list with a 24 hour deadline to answering a mail), stuff that needs to get done for a next release. It helps immensely. These patterns are far too normal, especially among gifted folk for me to be willing to call them an illness and my feeling is that medicating people for these things represses some of the responsibility to build coping mechanisms that people have traditionally used to deal with this sort of thing since time immemorial. They also change your personality. If I weren't so restless when doing stuff I find boring, maybe I wouldn't have done as many interesting things? Maybe I'd still be working in a standard 9-to-5? Surely there were smart people that had to overcome difficulty focusing before the intervention of amphetamines.
jamesbritt 17y ago
"I don't know, after reading this article, I think maybe I should be seeing a psyciatrist this time, and get a second opinion." Please, do yourself a favor. Don't suffer. Take drugs. Been there, glad I did. They're not a cure-all, but they certainly help. And, yes, under a doctor's supervision. Try to find a doctor who will work with you, and give you the leeway to try different things until you find what's best for you.
- liminalist 17y ago
  Yes, I have to second this. Almost 50% of adults diagnosed with ADD have a substance abuse problem by the time they get help for it, and something like 30% have major depressive disorder. If you don't get actual medical help, there's a very good chance you will slip into either self-medication or major depression or both in the long run. Been there, done that, lost years of my life in the process. Learn from my life, please.

by mad44 17y ago

wheels 17y ago

I think the "paying the bills" thing is pretty normal, at least within a certain class of folks. And it's something you can learn to work with. I have all of my bills auto-paid. I've learned from experience -- having the power cut off, the phone cut off, the internet cut off -- that it just works better that way. I've never had a shortage of cash, but sometimes even opening the envelope with the bill inside seems oddly intimidating. But again, you can work with that. Now everything is auto-paid; I don't even bother to open the bills. Nothing gets cut off anymore. I still get the odd annoying thing to deal with, and I've tried to get in the habbit of when there's something that I catch myself ignoring to open it immediately. I've also become a huge user of to-do tracking and set deadlines for myself -- having my daily checklist with past due things staring back at me in red works wonders. Everything goes in there. Mails to family, mails I need to respond to for business stuff (I have a hot key that creates a to-do list with a 24 hour deadline to answering a mail), stuff that needs to get done for a next release. It helps immensely. These patterns are far too normal, especially among gifted folk for me to be willing to call them an illness and my feeling is that medicating people for these things represses some of the responsibility to build coping mechanisms that people have traditionally used to deal with this sort of thing since time immemorial. They also change your personality. If I weren't so restless when doing stuff I find boring, maybe I wouldn't have done as many interesting things? Maybe I'd still be working in a standard 9-to-5? Surely there were smart people that had to overcome difficulty focusing before the intervention of amphetamines.

jamesbritt 17y ago

"I don't know, after reading this article, I think maybe I should be seeing a psyciatrist this time, and get a second opinion." Please, do yourself a favor. Don't suffer. Take drugs. Been there, glad I did. They're not a cure-all, but they certainly help. And, yes, under a doctor's supervision. Try to find a doctor who will work with you, and give you the leeway to try different things until you find what's best for you.

liminalist 17y ago
Yes, I have to second this. Almost 50% of adults diagnosed with ADD have a substance abuse problem by the time they get help for it, and something like 30% have major depressive disorder. If you don't get actual medical help, there's a very good chance you will slip into either self-medication or major depression or both in the long run. Been there, done that, lost years of my life in the process. Learn from my life, please.