The ADD/ADHD Thread (cont'd from Peeves)
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@juke Yeah, that video and the ones about Walls of Awful in particular have had a bit of an impact. It's taken me years to get where i am, unwinding all of that 'you're just being lazy, how come you could do it then but not now, omg hurry up and just do it' that has piled up over the years, and just learning that I'm not alone, we're just a subset. I enjoy a lot of the 'hunter theory' and other ideas about ADHD's evolutionary advantages, even if a lot of it feels like sketchy speculation.
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Just as a fun aside, I do not buy at all that adderall/ritalin/etc works 'differently' on the ADD brain than on other brains. Speed is speed is speed, but that's not a bad thing. If you take a stimulant for ADD as prescribed by your doctor and the side effects don't trouble you or are manageable that isn't a way to know if you have it or not. Comprehensive testing by a neurologist, or neuropsych, or a developmental pediatrician for your kid, is how to find those answers.
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@Gingerlily said in The ADD/ADHD Thread (cont'd from Peeves):
I do not buy at all that adderall/ritalin/etc works 'differently' on the ADD brain than on other brains.
I don't think it works differently - the underlying pharmacological mechanism of action is the same in both cases, but the effects are very different. It's like how folks with ADHD are affected differently by caffeine.
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This. Stimulants absolutely have differing effects on brains with ADHD. I mean, you don't have to believe it, but I got my testing and my info from Duke University Neuroscience center, and I feel like they probably have a lot more data than either of us.
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@Kanye-Qwest My Dr wont give me stimulants, because of the Cannabis, tho this Guanfacine + prozac has been keeping me pretty good these days.
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@Gingerlily said in The ADD/ADHD Thread (cont'd from Peeves):
@Atomic said in The ADD/ADHD Thread (cont'd from Peeves):
My brother broached the idea to me that I should get .. I dunno, tested? Examined? However folks put a pin in figuring out how one isn't textbook neurotypical? He thinks I'm in the AD* zone, somewhere. A lot of reading later I'm inclined to take his advice. I guess the question is, outside of the possibility of a diagnosis, does it actually help getting it identified?
100% yes, at least if it is impacting your daily life in negative ways. Lots of adults who make it to adulthood without diagnosis have already developed effective strategies for mitigating the impact of ADD in order to get there. But if you feel like it does have a negative impact on life, whether its work or with interpersonal stuff or whatever else, its definitely worth getting the diagnosis. There are lots of new medications, they no longer just toss ritalin at the problem and hope it works, and there are also strategies and skills to learn whether you want to go the meds route or not. I'd go to a neurologist for testing rather than a GP if you have the option.
I'm feeling that way now. A few years back I had to quit caffeine and chocolate(really, all stims and one dopamine-affecting drug) due to an arrhythmia, and since then I'd swear I had a brain tumor with all my memory and concentration failures. I usually just try to deal, but it feels like this is something I can't reach this time.
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@Kanye-Qwest hah I was born at Duke University Hospital. (Useless info no one needed at all!)
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@nyctophiliac yeah, but what was the name of your high school mascot?
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@WildBaboons I homeschooled myself sooooo I guess technically... me! \o/ Goooooooooo ME!
The road to hell is paved with adverbs.
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@nyctophiliac said in The ADD/ADHD Thread (cont'd from Peeves):
@WildBaboons I homeschooled myself sooooo I guess technically... me! \o/ Goooooooooo ME!
oh hey, same.
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I've been realizing that I don't know the difference between anxiety and stress, because I have entirely rationale reasons to be stressed. All the time. I've also realized I can give my therapist contact PTSD just talking about it. He is already contaminated, so guess I'll keep it up and see if it gets sorted out before he takes a sabbatical.
Wouldn't be able to do that without having the medication for the ADHD, the whole mindfulness thing. I always felt like I knew what was going on, but now I can actually unpack it, and damn. Damn.
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@Selerik I spent a whole year of therapy talking about how my bipolar was out of control, with my therapist pointing out that I was being put under massive pressure at work... And that anyone would be breaking. Took me ages to accept that bipolar is actually steady as a rock compare to the shit left in my head from trauma.
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I am massively stressing because i started this job in December and I'm sick again. But coughing and runny nose + working at a drugstore dont mix. But because this is America, we are always understaffed. My boss (who is the best) keeps reassuring me, but man I still feel like I'm about to be fired.
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