3 ms·

To me, as an adult, getting a diagnosis on ADHD was a godsend. However, after a couple of years, I see the drug's affects waning. I can also see how damaging th

To me, as an adult, getting a diagnosis on ADHD was a godsend. However, after a couple of years, I see the drug's affects waning. I can also see how damaging this dependency creation can be for children. Fortunately, when I was a child back in India, ADHD was virtually unknown (probably the case today as well). Most of the time, my parents chalked off my inattention to "lack of discipline" and were happy as long as my grades were good. I found the coursework very easy (despite studying for only 1-1:30 hrs a day) and topped most of my classes. University here in he U.S wasn't hard either. My problems started once I started working. Couldn't code continuously for more than 15-20 mins at a time. Things got boring very quickly once I got the "aha". I couldn't hold a lot of program state in my head. I was always searching for that "flow" people often talked about. Adderall really helped me. I use it very sparingly these days (especially on days that I have to code some important pieces) though. Bottomline, looks like this is purely genetic and fixing the dopamine pathways isn't exactly like curing malaria, you can juice things up but the brain will want more. Parents can choose to give it to their children but they'll suffer some time down the road. I'd rather let the kid enjoy childhood and help him in other ways (exercise, note-taking, engaging activities etc) and put him in a reasonably good path to success. Let them take drugs if necessary once they've wised up as adults.

eruditely 13y ago
Again vague appeals to solutions that simply do not work as well as stimulant medications. http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=ADHD&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=106893 http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=ADHD&Template=/Cont... T 1. Thirty two percent of students living with ADHD drop out of high school compared to 15 percent of teens with no mental health diagnosis (UC Davis Health System, 2010) 2.Three times as many adolescents living with ADHD as those living without ADHD have failed a grade, been suspended or been expelled from school. (Barkley, 2000). You're right though, let them exercise and make them note-take, that will work(while you ignore that this simply is not effective, as studied in the current literature) "Fixing dopamine pathways isn't exactly like curing malaria", profound. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/6/e749.long http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/6/e749.lon... (Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Overview of the Evidence) Conclusion: "Other evidence documents the long-term nature of ADHD in children and its classification as a chronic condition, meriting the application of general concepts of chronic-condition management, including an individual treatment plan with a focus on ongoing parent and child education, management, and monitoring. The evidence strongly supports the use of stimulant medications for treating the core symptoms of children with ADHD and, to a lesser degree, for improving functioning. Behavior therapy alone has only limited effect on symptoms or functioning of children with ADHD, although combining behavior therapy with medication seems to improve functioning and may decrease the amount of (stimulant) medication needed. Comparison among stimulants (mainly methylphenidate and amphetamines) did not indicate that 1 class outperformed the other."
- gress 13y ago
  What is the objective diagnosis for ADHD?
ddoolin 13y ago
I actually was never diagnosed with ADHD as a child or an adult. I exhibit a similar coding pattern as you did, and still do, since high school. I get bored very, very quickly and kind of live off of the "aha" moments, from one to the next. It's not that it's not genuinely challenging or interesting to me, but I just can't focus much of the time. This is true for just about everything I do these days. Thoughts and ideas come, I act on them, and they leave again just as quickly as they came. It definitely makes it hard to get much of anything done at work or home, despite having quite an agenda at times. I've only taken Vyvanse offhandedly (without Rx) and it worked miracles for me. I quickly learned to ration it and use it sparingly as you do, partly because of the negative effects on my appetite and general well-being. I'm still debating going to see a doctor but I think they might write me off as an addict since I'm in my 20s but still quite young and a lot of kids come out of college abusing the stuff to get through exams and maybe never really drop the habit.
- eruditely 13y ago
  What does "abuse" mean in your context? "Abusing it to get by", very anti-humanistic mentality here. "The kids with polio abused vaccines to get by" "The kids with hunger abused food to get by" What does "abusing to get by" even mean? You mean, USING it to get by, and thus preventing failure of the negative kind? You mean ... the desire-able outcome?
  - ddoolin 13y ago
    I had originally typed "to get through exams" but for some inane reason I changed it at the last minute and now conveys the wrong thought completely.
- jpendry 13y ago
  This sounds an awful lot like imposter syndrome, but with your own health instead of programming ability. See a doctor. Be honest. Let them do their job and then trust their diagnosis.
  - ddoolin 13y ago

eruditely 13y ago

Again vague appeals to solutions that simply do not work as well as stimulant medications. http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=ADHD&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=106893 http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=ADHD&Template=/Cont... T 1. Thirty two percent of students living with ADHD drop out of high school compared to 15 percent of teens with no mental health diagnosis (UC Davis Health System, 2010) 2.Three times as many adolescents living with ADHD as those living without ADHD have failed a grade, been suspended or been expelled from school. (Barkley, 2000). You're right though, let them exercise and make them note-take, that will work(while you ignore that this simply is not effective, as studied in the current literature) "Fixing dopamine pathways isn't exactly like curing malaria", profound. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/6/e749.long http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/6/e749.lon... (Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Overview of the Evidence) Conclusion: "Other evidence documents the long-term nature of ADHD in children and its classification as a chronic condition, meriting the application of general concepts of chronic-condition management, including an individual treatment plan with a focus on ongoing parent and child education, management, and monitoring. The evidence strongly supports the use of stimulant medications for treating the core symptoms of children with ADHD and, to a lesser degree, for improving functioning. Behavior therapy alone has only limited effect on symptoms or functioning of children with ADHD, although combining behavior therapy with medication seems to improve functioning and may decrease the amount of (stimulant) medication needed. Comparison among stimulants (mainly methylphenidate and amphetamines) did not indicate that 1 class outperformed the other."

gress 13y ago
What is the objective diagnosis for ADHD?

ddoolin 13y ago

I actually was never diagnosed with ADHD as a child or an adult. I exhibit a similar coding pattern as you did, and still do, since high school. I get bored very, very quickly and kind of live off of the "aha" moments, from one to the next. It's not that it's not genuinely challenging or interesting to me, but I just can't focus much of the time. This is true for just about everything I do these days. Thoughts and ideas come, I act on them, and they leave again just as quickly as they came. It definitely makes it hard to get much of anything done at work or home, despite having quite an agenda at times. I've only taken Vyvanse offhandedly (without Rx) and it worked miracles for me. I quickly learned to ration it and use it sparingly as you do, partly because of the negative effects on my appetite and general well-being. I'm still debating going to see a doctor but I think they might write me off as an addict since I'm in my 20s but still quite young and a lot of kids come out of college abusing the stuff to get through exams and maybe never really drop the habit.

eruditely 13y ago
What does "abuse" mean in your context? "Abusing it to get by", very anti-humanistic mentality here. "The kids with polio abused vaccines to get by" "The kids with hunger abused food to get by" What does "abusing to get by" even mean? You mean, USING it to get by, and thus preventing failure of the negative kind? You mean ... the desire-able outcome?
- ddoolin 13y ago
  I had originally typed "to get through exams" but for some inane reason I changed it at the last minute and now conveys the wrong thought completely.
jpendry 13y ago
This sounds an awful lot like imposter syndrome, but with your own health instead of programming ability. See a doctor. Be honest. Let them do their job and then trust their diagnosis.
- ddoolin 13y ago