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I have had (what I consider) pretty severe ADHD for my whole life. I was only diagnosed 7 years ago, at 15 years old. I haven't seen anything on the disorder in ask/tell except the thread asking how to get help for a friend who might have had the disorder, so I thought maybe this was worth a shot! If you're a normie, feel free to ask anything. Nothing is too personal, I honestly don't mind dealing with some of the misconceptions, and I've been on the internet long enough to shrug off a lot of things that are patently offensive if that's what you're into! If you also have the disorder and want to answer questions or ask some of your own (I know I'll try to pick your brains) that is super great!
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# ¿ Aug 21, 2009 15:33 |
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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 11:31 |
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Rollersnake posted:What were the circumstances that led you to being diagnosed with ADHD? I'm probably going to have a lot of problems with some of these questions, because a big part of the disorder (for me) is that very little actually sticks in my mind well enough to remember. The circumstances were that I was incapable of functioning in school, at home, or in any real social sense. At school, I was in some kind of trouble on a weekly basis, I had been suspended for getting into fights (absolutely couldn't control my anger) and all sorts of outbursts at least once a year from 5th grade to 10th, I couldn't make myself sit down and complete any of my schoolwork unless I found it interesting. Luckily, especially with English and social studies, I found a lot of school really interesting and I had a few friends who would let me copy their science and math work. It might seem like they were enabling me, but I managed to learn a little bit from them and if they hadn't helped me get as far as I did when I was undiagnosed I would probably be homeless or dead by now, because of the effect it had on my family. Even with the subjects I liked though, almost all of my assignments came in late because I would stay up all night writing a paper and then leave it on the desk when I left for school the next morning. Almost every time. My parents knew that I was smart, and my elementary and middle schools were complete rear end in all regards, so it isn't surprising that no one ever brought the possibility of my disorder to their attention. As far as they knew, I was this brilliant kid who never did any work, never listened to them, and constantly embarrassed them with my outbursts in front of their friends and peers. It got to the point where we were screaming at each other on a nightly basis, them because they were sure I was behaving the way I was on purpose, me because, by my teen years, I had gotten so frustrated with my inability to live up to the "potential" my teachers and parents kept telling me about that I couldn't muster the emotional energy to do much but scream back, play video-games, and daydream through school. I was pretty severely depressed by this point (a side-effect of living with a lot of undiagnosed disorders) which didn't help. As far as my social life, the few friends I had were the sort of people who would gravitate to an irresponsible, impulsive, self-destructive and generally destructive person. Except for one or two close friends, I had by necessity surrounded myself with people who could tolerate me, and they weren't very healthy themselves. As far as your fear of behavioral medication...honestly, I was ashamed of it at first. It felt like giving in, like I was going to have to spend the rest of my life using a crutch. Now, though, I just think of it like glasses or orthopedic shoes. It's hard to explain how amazing it is to be able to think clearly and have the person you feel you are on the inside be the person everyone around you sees, but once that happens it's hard to imagine going back. e: I forgot to actually answer the question. I got lucky and ended up with a really good teacher for 9th and 10th grade English who cared about me and knew almost immediately what was wrong. She fought for me and, after a long time, convinced my parents that I needed help even after all the times I raised hell in her class. I am eternally grateful to that woman. Danger Mahoney posted:Vyvanse vs. Adderall vs. Concerta vs. Focalin vs. Ritalin vs. Straterra vs. Wellbutrin. I'm on Concerta now, and for the most part it's a godsend. I started on a different medication, I think it was either Adderall or Straterra. I took one of those two with Wellbutrin for my depression, and while they worked I ended up in this really weird, emotionally dead fugue state a lot of the time. I don't know which was responsible, but although I didn't show a lot of the symptoms of either disorder, I still had a lot of internal stuff going on. So, while I could get up and function like a person who didn't have ADHD/depression, I started to develop this really weird suicide ideation that's stuck with me for a long time and...just, a lot of bad, bad poo poo. I was eventually able to go off Wellbutrin, and my doctor switched me to Concerta. As far as Concerta, it's good but you have to make sure you're on the right dose. I started off on way too high a dose and ended up going a week without sleep because I didn't want my parents to think they'd wasted money on the medicine (even mild depression makes you think some strange things). The doctor put me down to a lower (but still too high) dose, and I lost about 60-70 pounds in a few months (below a healthy weight for my height) and developed bad, but tolerable insomnia. Eventually I got put back on the right dose. Besides being kind of chubby again, life is good. Stofoleez fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Aug 21, 2009 |
# ¿ Aug 21, 2009 16:21 |
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mike grace jones posted:I wasn't diagnosed until a few months ago (I'm 24). You are very lucky to have gotten treatment at 15. I managed to hold a 3.0 GPA through high school and a top college without doing reading, or any work on time, or even buying books through all of college, but every day I resent that I was able to be a "functional ADD," because as soon as I left the womb of academia the real world hit HARD. I never understood how to manage basic little mundane life tasks or even find an occupation that interested me because EVERYTHING was interested at first and then suddenly not at all. When I think about what I could have accomplished by now if I had been treated throughout my middle and high school years...it's all very depressing. Be happy for the time you've had. What category of ADD were you diagnosed with? I notice you said you couldn't do any reading, but reading was one of the only things I was ever able to focus on for any length of time. That and video games, and the way that video games interact with an ADHD person's psyche is really interesting. e: And I am happy for the time I've had. I know the resentment you feel though, because I've spent a lot of time wondering what my life would be like if I'd been diagnosed sooner. A lot of the damage had been done by the time I was 15, as far as the way my personality would develop and how I see the world around me, so the medication just allows the person that I was after those 15 years to accomplish tasks and not say everything that dashed around in his subconscious. Stofoleez fucked around with this message at 16:54 on Aug 21, 2009 |
# ¿ Aug 21, 2009 16:50 |
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mike grace jones posted:
Did you ever experience a kind of mental paralysis or anxiety when you had to do a thing? Like, when I'm unmedicated, if I'm doing something like reading a book or watching television or staring at a wall, and I know I need to take a shower, I'll become physically ill at the possibility of making myself do anything other than what I'm paying attention to. In school and professional life, this...revulsion isn't the word, and neither is illness, but the anxiety of it just drives me over the edge.
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# ¿ Aug 21, 2009 17:37 |
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roads posted:How would you advise someone go about getting diagnosed for ADD? A) Don't sell your prescriptions. B) Do you have a guidance counselor or someone who isn't your teacher or your parents to talk to? My parents were one of the biggest road blocks for a long time, and if you don't have a teacher like mine who really pressed the point then you need to talk to someone yourself. C) Don't sell your prescriptions. D) If, for some reason, you can't get Adderall, caffeine really helps. You should probably avoid binging on coffee or soda, of course, but I don't think you need a prescription for caffeine pills.
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# ¿ Aug 21, 2009 19:36 |
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mike grace jones posted:Yes definitely, there's a common underlying fear of confronting whatever step comes next in my big, unmedicated, addled-up day-planner brain. Mostly because I don't think about the next step, I think about the next 3 dozen steps within that next step, making something mundane into something overwhelming. But also I don't want to derail and turn this thread into a support group, so I'll shut up for a while. The people contributing to a thread on ADHD had trouble staying on topic.
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# ¿ Aug 21, 2009 20:01 |
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ClyL posted:I was diagnosed about 2 months ago and started on Ritalin, which did nothing after about a week, and am now on Adderall 20mg x 2 per day. My question to you all is, what does your medication make you feel like (for lack of a better term)? Is the the effect pronounced or does it work more in the background? Also, I have pretty bad anxiety - is there a combo that anyone has taken that helps combat both? I don't notice the Concerta anymore. My sleep isn't as good, especially if I take it late in the day, and I still eat less than I do when I'm off it. What it has done is made me realize just how absolutely hosed up my behavior and perception of the world around me is when I'm unmedicated. After having been medicated for long stretches of time, going back to 'normal' is like living in a world of mostly smeared, meaningless flashing colors and sounds, uncontrollable and often irrational emotional reactions, and a constant barrage of drives and impulses that I'm mostly powerless to stop. As far as your anxiety, I know that's one of the conditions that tends to piggy-back on ADHD. I was put on an antidepressant at the same time I started my ADHD medication, so I can only assume you would get something similar. Not sure though.
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# ¿ Aug 22, 2009 02:47 |
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Demolisher posted:ADHD loving sucks a lot more than people think. At risk of sounding whiny, this. A thousand times. It's not the worst thing that could happen to a person, but it's still a few magnitudes worse than, "Lol your parents should have hit you more."
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# ¿ Aug 22, 2009 04:05 |
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rainbow kittens posted:EDIT: My question for the OP (and other ADD sufferers) is this: Does it feel like your head will explode ALL THE TIME? Do you ever overthing everything so much that you pretty much just freeze and can't do anything other than sit in a lump while your mind wanders aimlessly? Do you feel rage boil to the surface when you are interrupted while doing something you are attempting to concentrate on? I know my feelings aren't typical of a "normal" person, but I'm really looking to see if they are normal for a person suffering from ADD/ADHD. I don't know. If the doctor comes back and says I don't have it, then what the hell could it be? My cousin has Tourettes, and Mom always told me that I had it because of certain characteristics that I showed as a child (ticks, loud voice, etc), but I read in a book that Tourettes can also be comorbid with ADD. Mom also thought I was bipolar because I was always moody and I would fly off the hanger if someone interrupted me. Of course, I always told Mom off when she hinted there was something wrong with me anyway but now I see where she is coming from. I can tell most of the rest of you probably have ADHD from the way you type. In our posts, if there isn't an edit notification at the bottom, the language usually comes out as a weird, Joyce-y stream of consciousness. If it reads like normal human speech there is almost always an edit notification at the bottom. Now, I'm going to try and tease out the questions from this block. rainbow kittens posted:Does it feel like your head will explode ALL THE TIME? Yes, when I'm off my medication. I know this was tied into some of the questions that followed it, but it's its own phenomenon sometimes. Everything else about the ADHD can just build up so much that there really is a pressure in your head, like a migraine if the pain was replaced with mental white noise. rainbow kittens posted:Do you ever overthink everything so much that you pretty much just freeze and can't do anything other than sit in a lump while your mind wanders aimlessly? Yes. I think I mentioned it earlier, but when I'm not medicated I sometimes can't even make myself take a shower or brush my teeth even though, slob that I am, feeling dirty is the most miserable thing I ever experience. rainbow kittens posted:Do you feel rage boil to the surface when you are interrupted while doing something you are attempting to concentrate on? Not just rage. Impotent, headache-inducing, stomach clenching, sputtering, high-pitched voice rage. This is one of the reasons I'm sure I would be dead or homeless if I hadn't gotten help. rainbow kittens posted:I know my feelings aren't typical of a "normal" person, but I'm really looking to see if they are normal for a person suffering from ADD/ADHD. They sound pretty normal to me. rainbow kittens posted:If the doctor comes back and says I don't have it, then what the hell could it be? rainbow kittens posted:Mom also thought I was bipolar because I was always moody and I would fly off the hanger if someone interrupted me. Bipolar disorder and ADHD with comorbid anxiety or depression can look really similar. I don't know about tourettes though. This is all the sort of stuff that comes out in the wash if you get tested though. Question for other posters: When you got tested, did they do the thing where you had to match up faces to disembodied voices for appropriateness?
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# ¿ Aug 22, 2009 14:04 |
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miss_chaos posted:
This. I've noticed that a lot of people find any person with a disorder really appealing at first, but tiresome once they actually get to know the person. It manifests in different ways, but with ADHD it tends to be (with me, even on my meds): oh wow, look how outgoing and eccentric and passionate this person is! Oh wow, he really knows how to have fun, haha he's hilarious and he's almost always on! Then one of two things happens. 1) He isn't calling me to hang out anymore, and when I call him I'm made to feel like I'm imposing by asking to hang out. He should just tell me to gently caress off if he doesn't like me or doesn't want to spend time with me. Oh, he's calling me again after four months like no time has passed? gently caress him. 2) Oh wow, he literally never turns off. Where's the ibuprofen? Oh, what's that? You forgot [ITEM] that I specifically told you to remember? And you got lost on the way here? Oh hmmm yes I want to hear your very loud opinions again because you forgot all the other times we talked about this exact thing. Ooooh goodie, he's irrationally angry again!
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# ¿ Aug 22, 2009 19:49 |
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KH_BlanK posted:I am of the firm belief that this "disease" plagues the majority of society to a degree, and can be overcome through will power and training. Like anything you want to build up, it requires exercise and dedication. Surely some medication can aid in the process, but if you only use the crutch, your leg will weaken and the withdrawal will leave you worse off. I'm genuinely happy for you. Still, something tells me that either: A) Like with a lot of people the disorder faded after adolescence. B) You have amazing willpower and coping strategies. Neither of these things can be taught, but option A) should give a little hope to any ADHD goons who are still in high school.
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# ¿ Aug 23, 2009 03:17 |
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opie posted:Oh boy, another ADD thread. Goons sure do love blabbing about their ADD. Is this a common thing? I did the best I could to search without the search function and I checked the FAQ. And yes, I've found that multitasking helps a lot.
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# ¿ Aug 23, 2009 18:17 |
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opie posted:It's also amazing how easy it is to just make an appointment with a psychologist and actually talk to a professional, yet so many people can't figure that part out. I guess it's easier to go to a million websites and make a bunch of posts and find people to let you try their ritalin, I dunno. I think a big part of the failure to get it treated is the nature of the disorder combined with the depiction it's gotten of being simply a lack of discipline or something that can be willed away. People are embarrassed at how weak medication makes them feel as a person (with a lot of disorders, probably), or they're terrified that it will take away their person-hood. They're embarrassed to admit they have a problem that is reserved for children or to be seen as trying to make excuses for their "choice" not to properly discipline their child or, if they're the child, to work as hard as everyone else. Then again, it is one of those things that (like the 'sperg) contains behaviors so general to such a large number of people that so long as the idea is never tested it can be adopted into the identity of anyone looking to justify their behavior or the difficulties in their lives.
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# ¿ Aug 23, 2009 22:09 |
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LyonsLions posted:My question to the people in the thread is, what can your employers and bosses do to make it easier for you to do your job? I know it's different for everyone, but do you have some general suggestions? In the case I mentioned, I felt really bad that I wasn't as understanding as I should have been, because at first I didn't realize she had a problem, and thought she was just a flighty slacker. One of the effects of the disorder (at least for me?) is that far fewer things register as important enough to stick in short term memory even if I want them to, and as a consequence my short term memory is awful as hell. If it's important that an ADHD employee remember something, you must write it down. If it's not an extra important piece of information, such as the time for a meeting, the names of your wife and mistress so that they don't get mixed up, that sort of thing, just understand that the person you're dealing with has a hard time with details. He or she is going to forget everyone's names, and it doesn't mean that they don't think they're important enough to remember. Also, if you're not Google or some really casual tech company, this needs to be stressed: let your employees listen to music or radio or something. Especially if they're unmedicated, background music is one of the only ways to concentrate on a task for long periods of time. Music helps by drowning out the meaningless, mostly random static of an ADHD person's environment and replacing it with something coherent that all the "loose" parts of the person's consciousness can latch onto while the important parts focus on work. ALSO, if your employee already has a task and seems really into it, don't interrupt them unless it's an emergency. If you need another minor task done, and another employee can do it, have the other employee. The odds are good that your ADHD employee has entered a hyperfocus, and two things will happen if you interrupt this state: you will lose the greatly increased productivity the employee was going to bring to the table during this period, and you will probably trigger all the comorbid anxiety/rage/depression people have been talking about in their posts. Seriously though, an ADHD person who's hyperfocusing is like a production superhero, accomplishing twice the work in half the time so long as you don't interrupt them. HOWEVER, it's also a mistake to judge all of your employee's work by what's accomplished in these random bursts of focus. Think of them as an added, happy, occasional surprise rather than a dependable resource to be exploited. linkdead posted:If anyone wants, and if it's ok with the OP, I can help provide some insight in this thread from both someone diagnosed with ADD and also someone who treats people with ADD (ADHD for the sticklers in here - although we use the terms interchangeably - ADD is kind of the shorthand). Happy to answer anything without stepping on any toes. Yeah man, I don't care. You can probably answer questions better than me. Stofoleez fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Aug 27, 2009 |
# ¿ Aug 26, 2009 17:44 |
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maznaz posted:i tricked my doctor into giving me ritalin just because it juices you if you dont really have ADD. The downside now though is it's having the opposite effect. Before it used to let me work hard on a project or something for hours and be pretty happy doing it ... now ... i can't do anything on it.
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# ¿ Sep 4, 2009 19:53 |
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Have any of you noticed stomach cramps with the stimulant ADHD medications? When I was starting on Concerta a few years ago, I was way less disciplined as far as when I took it, and I during periods where I missed a lot of them on and off my stomach would start seizing up and, sorry for being gross, it would jettison all of its contents. It still happens now from time to time, but not as bad. Also: the little bit of a loss of appetite that Concerta caused helped me develop a really mild eating disorder, which I'm sure contributed to the cramps*, but I wondered if any other chubby ADHD goons who got put on a stimulant noticed a change in their weight and how you reacted? My reaction was, "Oh hey I can see my hip bones and I'm not hungry...WHELP GUESS I WON'T EAT DERP DERP *PASS OUT AT WORK*" *The fact that they've continued after I started eating again is why I don't lay the blame entirely on starving myself
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# ¿ Sep 5, 2009 12:54 |
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drumwolf posted:Kicking an old thread because I just discovered it now. I'm going to tell you something maybe I shouldn't. I assume you live in America. You have been fundamentally betrayed in this regard by your system of government and its laws, and as such you are not morally beholden to its strictures unless those strictures are conflated with the well-being of others. This is important for you to recognize, because - and I think someone mentioned this earlier - marijuana is a loving wonder drug where this disorder is concerned, if it's the disorder you have. If you can find a way to somehow get a diagnosis, and it turns out to be ADHD; smoke weed. The diagnosis is important though, and I honestly can't help you there. I went to see a specialist on my parents' insurance.
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# ¿ Sep 18, 2009 23:44 |
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I just remember back in high school the only time I could ever bring myself to pay attention in class or do my homework was when I was high.
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# ¿ Sep 20, 2009 00:08 |
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drumwolf posted:I used to be a frequent pot smoker and sometimes it did motivate me to do poo poo but not always. And I've cut down drastically because it often aggravates my emotional insecurities. Of course, maybe I don't have ADHD but something else (autism? schizoaffective disorder? mild bipolar?). You're right that I shouldn't self-diagnose. Like I said, you have been fundamentally failed by your society and your leaders. Do whatever you want with regards to getting your mental health under control provided it doesn't hurt people*. *People here means people who aren't rich.
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# ¿ Sep 20, 2009 03:34 |
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RobotEmpire posted:Forums.SomethingAwful.com: Where people recommend hurting rich people if you have ADHD. I shouldn't come to other forums directly from LF, I think.
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# ¿ Sep 20, 2009 15:58 |
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Qu Appelle posted:Welp, skipping days is probably what messed you up ALSO GRATS!
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# ¿ Oct 6, 2009 21:36 |
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Qu Appelle posted:Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. The skipping didn't help, and then I just stopped altogether. That was a month ago. I also want my body to adjust to it again, as I'm going to be taking a night class in a couple of months, on top of working full time. It'd be good to have the meds straightened out before that happens. I've never really had the spasticity, but I've noticed that when I'm unmedicated and I can actually get myself up and out of the house, I have much more endurance/energy once I get into exercising than I do when I'm medicated. Like, when I'm just regular me, I can run my body into the ground without meaning to. And then once I've worn myself out my mind isn't as scattered for a little while. But weed has the same effect as those endorphins and it doesn't give me shin splints.
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# ¿ Oct 6, 2009 21:47 |
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Tumble posted:If you guys want a good career for ADHD people, strongly think about the creative side of advertising. I hated school with a passion so I never went to college so I don't have a college education, but my friends recognized that I'm pretty smart so they got me a job doing copywriting. Now I'm the director of marketing for a small start up. MAD MEN IS A P. GOOD SHOW AND I MIGHT BE WRITING COPY SOOOOO
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# ¿ Oct 6, 2009 23:00 |
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cjksutherland posted:When y'all started on the medication did you find that it improved your memory at all? How was your memory before with regards to names, times and dates, etc? It improves my memory a little, but it's still bad enough that it interferes with my life and work. I forget most names within one minute of hearing them, I have to write down even simple directions to get from place to place and I'll usually still get lost unless I've been to the place a few times already, I absolutely can't give directions, I usually forget what I'm watching on t.v. during a commercial break, and the list goes on. I started meds in my late teens though, so it might be that my memory was already shot beyond easy repair by the time I started?
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# ¿ Oct 7, 2009 15:04 |
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Kneel Before Zog posted:Unproductive thoughts means "jacking off and playing video games" right? It can't be both?
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# ¿ Oct 10, 2009 01:13 |
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Qu Appelle posted:I would love to see a cite on this, especially when it comes to hearing. I'm not questioning you, I just want to read more about it. Because I know my hearing and audio processing is 'off', and it's not just due to metal shows. It would explain a lot. Holy poo poo, you too? I as well would love to hear more on this.
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# ¿ Oct 10, 2009 18:00 |
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Of course, the problem here is that a person with ADHD doesn't make the sorts of decisions that go into proactive medical care that you're talking about. Or, if we do, our follow-through is sporadic at best. If a person can easily apply herself, get and hold down a job that allows her to get psychiatric treatment and then pursue it with dedication, I don't think that person would need it - at least not for ADHD. Along those same lines, the sort of person who stands a chance of sucking it up and meticulously budgeting 100-200 dollars out of their monthly expenses and sticking to that budget probably doesn't have ADHD in the first place, or if they do they've learned to live with it and/or it's so mild that it doesn't interfere with their life.
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# ¿ Oct 12, 2009 17:27 |
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opie posted:Surely all of us who have been diagnosed and had treatment actually do have ADD and not just mild cases (my last shrink said I had a severe case of inattentive type). I understand it's a problem but we managed to overcome it. I'm trying to explain that it isn't as hard as it seems, and it can be done. I admit that my follow-through isn't good, but at least I know what the problem is and how to get help during the times when I really can't cope. Except when I got knocked up and couldn't take meds, and then working sucked really bad. Thankfully I'm a programmer and being lovely at my company is just par for the course. True, but I think that if you looked into a lot of our histories, the reason we're so successful with it (ahem :\) is that we have good support systems who helped us catch it early to earlyish and ideally had insurance we could use. I don't deny that it's possible to work out of it, and there's always hope, but actually dealing with it seems like trying to find a lost pair of glasses - if you can find them, you don't need them.
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# ¿ Oct 12, 2009 19:24 |
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Philosopher King posted:I know there are huge barriers for ADD people in regards to getting into the military. There are? Explain.
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# ¿ Oct 14, 2009 17:52 |
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If you have good health insurance, just go to your doctor and he should be able to point you in the direction you need if you state your concerns. Also, I don't know if I said it earlier, but this thread makes me feel better about little things like the way I communicate, especially when I'm unmedicated. Rambling and having sentences that bend back on themselves in weird ways seems to be par for the course, and that's alright.
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# ¿ Oct 14, 2009 22:16 |
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I'm thinking about getting a PDA after an earlier poster mentioned how much it helped before they were even medicated. Also goongrats on your progress guys!
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# ¿ Nov 11, 2009 14:56 |
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Hobo Tickler posted:First of all : Hasn't anyone here had bad experiences using Adderall / whatever? I was put on too high a dose of concerta and I stayed awake for a week.
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# ¿ Nov 15, 2009 09:10 |
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Aleksei Vasiliev posted:Sorry about the necropostin'. It's alright, most of the participants in this thread are used to forgetting about/getting bored with something only to be reminded about it later and latch onto it with another flurry of interest.
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# ¿ Dec 22, 2009 16:13 |
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I'm going to start therapy soon for ADHD and depression. I know it's been talked about in the thread before but I'm not going back and reading that poo poo - will therapy help? It feels like it won't. It's hard to imagine how just speaking to someone could change these deep, DEEP things that are wrong with me.
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# ¿ Feb 10, 2010 00:47 |
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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 11:31 |
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Paramemetic posted:Therapy has a terrible track record with ADHD. It's useful for teaching life skills and coping skills to deal with the impairment. No good for symptom remission though. The life skills like time management and stuff are actually what I NEED, I'm already good at sitting still and not talking out of turn most of the time from years of practice. :I
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# ¿ Feb 10, 2010 02:32 |