| I know this is a joke, but I'd be careful about assuming: I had a trained therapist diagnose me with ADHD ... incorrectly. It turns out, there are other conditions out there that can appear to be be ADHD. If a trained therapist can confuse them, outside observers certainly can too, so it is possible that "very ADHD-acting" person you know might not have it. (Or, especially for females, the reverse can be true, as not everyone with ADHD manifests with the same trademark hyperactivity.) |
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| ▲ | annzabelle a day ago | parent | next [-] | | I listen to a lot of psychiatry podcasts, and they generally think that ADHD is being seriously overdiagnosed at this point. Executive dysfunction, especially that which was not impairing as a child, has a lot of potential causes. Anxiety, depression (yes, ADHD can cause these, but these can also cause executive dysfunction in people without ADHD), OCD, Bipolar (manic people in particular often attribute worsening of hyperactivity and distractability to ADHD instead of mania), Schizophrenia pretty much universally is related to cognitive symptoms and lowered motivation even when not psychotic, and borderline personality disorder can cause changes in interests and identity. For many of these conditions, stimulants can act as a band aid on something else. It can superficially make people feel better (of course, it's speed), but it can distract from other symptoms that are impairing functioning, and prevent people from seeking long term solutions. | | |
| ▲ | erlich 15 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | People are way too happy when they find out that the treatment is taking speed every day for their whole life, as if this isn't going to take its toll on the body and that the brain is not going to adapt to this. | |
| ▲ | pstuart a day ago | parent | prev [-] | | I can roll with that. I do have executive dysfunction and other "fun" facets of a funky neurobiology. I also recognize that every body and mind is different and it's a personal journey to find the right tools. I recognize that non-medical options should always be front line approaches but there can be a chicken and egg effect as to making that happen. In my youth I adhered to a "better living through chemistry (wink wink)", I do now too (rip Mitch Hedburg) but the wink wink part is very rare and disciplined and now it's all about pharma and supplements to wring what I can out of what I've got left. | | |
| ▲ | annzabelle a day ago | parent [-] | | On the non-medical options front, I will note that my lifelong hyperactive and neurotic tendencies dramatically improve with a 3-4 day a week distance running training regimen. I enjoy running enough, even though it is very difficult, that I've kept up with it for several years. I'm not as consistent about this, but I also found yoga classes to be a way to make mindfulness fun and easier. That's not to say I'm not on the medication train (despite moaning about medications a lot). I do personally avoid taking any controlled substances. This is easy because I hate how stimulants make me feel, but in general I worry about the effects of having a direct reward signal from taking a pill. | | |
| ▲ | jaggederest a day ago | parent | next [-] | | Exercise is one hell of a drug, to be honest. I suppose you shouldn't exercise for a few issues in particular, but in general, boy. | | |
| ▲ | Herrum 18 hours ago | parent [-] | | Jumping on this conversation a bit: I was recently diagnosed and am still very much in the "what helps?" and "what parts of my personality/habits are connected to this and which aren't?" stage. Do either of you by any chance know a healthy online space to discuss this with others? | | |
| ▲ | annzabelle 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I would recommend avoiding any subreddit related to ADHD. I honestly would try to stick to materials written by mental health professionals and possibly talking to a therapist (your company might have an EAP that can help with this) over interacting with any online community I'm aware of on this matter. I find online mental health communities tend to be "if I have a hammer, everything is a nail," and aren't open to other explanations for any traits or struggles. They also tend to suck in the people who aren't doing better with treatment, while the people who found systems that work for them leave for greener pastures. On the opposite side there are communities that are anti-psychiatry and refuse to consider medical treatments. In general these spaces tend to be very black and white. I do like the Astral Codex Ten open threads as a space that's relatively neutral on the topic, though they lean very biohacker in a way that gets ahead of the science. | |
| ▲ | dchristian 16 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I found Finally Focused by James Greenblatt to be quite helpful. He makes sure key minerals and vitamins are in a good range before prescribing stimulants. This sometimes solves the problem by itself, or it reduces the levels of stimulants needed. |
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| ▲ | pstuart 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I wish I could run. I recognize that exercise is a foundational facet of health all the way around. I'm "blessed" with enough comorbidities that make that a challenge but I am going to get a personal trainer to help me work through that. | | |
| ▲ | annzabelle 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | Good idea. Feel free to try different options until you find something that you genuinely want to stick with. Running is just what I like, but my understanding of the current research is that it's more important to do something you actually want to do consistently for years than to do the ideal workout for 6 months and then quit exercising entirely. |
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| ▲ | jaggederest a day ago | parent | prev [-] | | Differentials for ADHD include: panic disorder, metabolic issues, anxiety disorder, depression, adrenal disorders including deficiency and excess like pheochromocytoma, bipolar, autism, learning disorders, personality disorders like borderline and antisocial, OCD, trauma including PTSD and CPTSD, sleep disorders including narcolepsy, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, insomnia, ironically substance use disorder like cocaine and amphetamine addiction, thyroid issues again ironically including both hypo and hyperthyroid, seizures, hearing and vision issues, and life stressors. So, uh, ... a whole textbook. And I probably forgot some. |
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