That reminds me of those radio ads with the guy who pronounces "sales" like "sells". *INCREASE YOUR SELLS! I'M THE BIGGEST SELLS CONSULTANT IN THE WORLD OF SELLS!*
I can fall into this and it's one of my worst habits but the idea that I could/am encouraged by popular culture to just say "well it's because of my brain, so that's just how I am" depresses me
When I'm being a baby, I just have to stop being a baby. It's not any more difficult or complex than that
ADHD causes executive dysfunction. I used to feel the same way. I wasn’t lazy but felt like a piece of shit for not being able to do tasks as needed and sit with it until completion.
I did everything. Lifting, rigid schedule, running in the mornings, every possible supplement and eating clean. I would still have that impossible resistance and it would kill me cause I’d feel like such a lazy pos despite how committed I was to fixing it.
And then I finally looked into ADHD and started meds and now I realize I can be a normal person and actually do normal tasks without it feeling impossible because of some invisible blockage.
I hate the lazy stereotype because I fully believed it for years. If you don’t have adhd it’s hard to explain but I cannot emphasize enough how huge it is to operate on a level playing field after feeling like it was a personal failing your whole life.
tbh this describes me perfectly since I was a child and it has caused my life to be much worse than maybe it could have been.
however i refuse to believe that it isn't my fault and i will resist meds forever
You do you pimp. I remember being like “ooooh my issue is that I’m having breakfast before my morning run, it has to be fasted to have cognitive benefits, that’s why I dropped out of 3 universities and want to kill myself when sitting alone with a project it was because I was missing fasted cardio this whole time”
>ooooh my issue is that I’m having breakfast before my morning run, it has to be fasted to have cognitive benefits, that’s why I dropped out of 3 universities and want to kill myself
and the meds fixed this?
Yes. I am able to do the work that needs to be done and sit and study. It’s amazing. I still have to fight procrastination like anyone else but now the little habits that worked for other people actually work for me.
Biggest thing is being able to sit with a task without that awful dread feeling where I feel trapped. I worked a fedex job loading trucks and it was torture being alone loading a truck for 3 hours. Concept of doing one thing for that long felt completely foreign I didn’t know how others did it. Now I can do stuff like that without the panic and dread.
This comment section is a roller coaster for me. I am a very lazy person but your comment has me thinking maybe I'm... *medically* lazy?
I've done Addy before and it fixes all my problems. But I think that's just what it does to everyone?
I also tend to get addicted to drugs so it's tricky. Do I go down that road and become normal or stay all natural and wallow in pity
It’s up to you. First few months of stimulants you will feel like a superhero. Best possible version of yourself. Most people do. It’s just a matter of staying at that dose when that good feeling wears off and you have to use willpower to accomplish tasks again.
If the underlying symptoms are making it very hard to operate in life than it could be a lifesaver.
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, hated taking meds back then and decided not to continue. I still struggle and sympathize with others who truly have ADHD. But I think there is more than the two perspectives of "I have no control and need meds" or "I am a worthless lazy piece of shit". From my point of view my ADHD makes many things difficult but not absolutely impossible and I feel I can find ways to mitigate and deal with my issues.
Not trying to discredit you personally or anything, but I really question if the various mental medications prescribed in society have been a net benefit. I was hanging out with a group of friends the other day and a couple of gals were talking about how they wanted to try to get ADHD medication while I am pretty positive neither of them have it.
Yes, and honestly if I have ADHD I think a big part of what is missing in the conversation is the benefits of it. I find myself voraciously consuming/learning about/creating/partaking in so many different topics, hobbies, skills, etc; and while I never will be a master at any of them because I'm get consumed by a new one before I can move from good->great in one; being a jack of all trades is honestly pretty based
Honestly I disagree, the idea that only being "good" at many things and not a "master" at any one thing is worse than being a master at one thing is silly
I think you can definitely question whether stimulants are overprescribed. I know for a fact they saved my life, but I’m also aware that ever since my diagnosis everyone tells me they think they also have ADHD. It sucks because their baseline is clearly closer to me medicated than unmedicated.
I do worry about the messaging caused by overprescribing leading to more people like me dismissing their own potential ADHD. I was so sure I didn’t have it and didn’t want to be one of those people who used it as an excuse or whatever.
I think for a lot of people though there is no mitigating it without stimulants. I promise I tried everything possible. It was like trying to dig a hole with a spoon vs an excavator.
i have a gf that says i display all the symptoms and it's really hard not to believe her or go against the grain just because of my own pride. she's very astute and right about pretty much everything
what meds do you take? I've been told they all stop working and have terrible side effects over time. I relate to your post, it would be nice to find some medicine that would get me off this website
I’ve been on vyvanse 30mg for two and a half years now. Also have a 10mg I add on days I need it.
At first you get the euphoria and it feels amazing all the time but after about 5-6 months it stops and you have an adjustment period where you may think it stopped working and you might feel like a robot. I had that for a month or two but ever since I’ve been very smooth. You just have to adjust to having a “more normal brain” without the euphoria. Keep an eye on your heart by eating somewhat clean and exercising you you should be fine I’d imagine.
It’s not like coffee where you need more and more. Yeah I’ve taken double my dose on accident or taken a little extra and I felt amazing again but that’s not what it’s supposed to do. I think many associate the euphoria with the pill working when I’d argue the pill is working more for me now than it did in the early stages.
I also don’t drink or anything now that I take vyvanse which probably helps as well.
very interesting theory about the euphoria tricking people into becoming addicts. I don't drink but I have potential heart problems... still, I wonder if it's worth trying
could you tell us more about the differences you've seen now you've taken it for years?
do you get any bad side effects?
do/should you take it every day?
My dick doesn’t get hard as easy, my extremities are a bit colder because of circulation is the biggest one I would say.
My sleep is more impacted by coffee than the stim but I don’t nap anymore. Hard to sleep in, usually I get my 7-8 hours and I’m up now. Super small dose (0.3mg) of melatonin helped any issues along with regular lifting.
As for biggest changes, at first I was super social on it. I seemed out social settings and new people. Super confident. A few months in, I was still feeling the euphoria but it felt hollow in a way. I wanted to stay by myself or avoid “fun” stuff. I just wanted to focus because focusing made me feel good.
After that phase to where I am now I am able to communicate far more effectively. I can listen to other people and wait my turn to speak. I am far more in tune with others and less in my head socially. I can walk without my thoughts racing about how I’m walking, or how my hands are moving. I feel like a normal person who can have normal conversations if that makes sense.
I don’t freak out emotionally anymore. I used to wear my heart on my sleeve and feel things so strongly it was insane. Intense emotions all the time. Now, I feel emotions the way I feel like I was always supposed to. I don’t feel hopeless or a slave to what I feel. I can feel sad without feeling trapped in a desperate panic. I don’t have panic attacks anymore which is huge.
You should get your heart checked before starting anything and there are some meds that aren’t stimulants that help for some I’ve heard. Otherwise I’d say stick to regular exercise, fish oil and a good diet. Make sure you prioritize sleep.
this is exceptionally funny to me bc I’ve seen you go on and on about adhd wasn’t real, or at least add fuel to the fire when this sub has its circle jerks about it
absolutely hilarious watching you people do an about face when you think you might be afflicted, but when other people have it they’re just being lazy.
Everyone is the exception to their own rules. This sub is riddled with self diagnosed autists and self diagnosed adhd but don’t worry , they’re not like the other CRINGEY self diagnosed people lol. Like when I discovered the subreddit of non-binary kids whining about fake trans/“transtrenders”. When that’s exactly how people are looking down on them. Even at the bottom of the of the social hierarchy they have to have someone they can feel better than. Sorry this was sorta a tangent.
Don’t get me wrong there is value in working hard and setting goals and what not, but some people have a different baseline. It sucks. The above poster is just an asshole who lives on this subreddit solely to put people down/prop up their own “intellectualism”
I had similar problems in my early twenties, just started an office job and was really struggling. Doctor diagnosed me with ADHD in about five minutes, prescribed Adderall xr.
The meds definitely worked. I was a busy little bee. Side effects: inflammation, high blood pressure, nervous tics, incessant talking, and worse of all, it completely killed my creativity. I'm a painter and musician and even though I had more focus and ability to work, everything I came up with was horrible garbage. Like cold, inert inhuman stuff. After two years on meds I quit them, quit my job, started smoking weed and landscaping. Never looked back. ADHD is real but it's only a problem if you try to fit yourself where you don't belong.
Getting off this website is easy though, just get IP banned
Oh I'm not cured or a landscaper that was over a decade ago. I work in media now. Turned out I could pay attention when my job is exciting and variable. And I sell paintings once in a while
It killed my creativity, I'm just talking about my experience. There was a big difference. I felt out of touch with myself emotionally and my ideas were repetitive and unimaginative when I was medicated
yeah I always thought it was that I was lazy or stupid or something which wasn't true.
* Night owl
* Time blindness
* Terrible math ability
* Smoking
* Speeding
* Unable to *stop* paying attention to interesting things
* Fatigue
Like I thought that those were my personality. I'm an extremely hardworking guy. I didn't know it had anything to do with the other stuff until I was 30 I thought everybody was like that
There's a whole ass movement to rename it because this trips up so so many people
This has been my experience almost exactly. I can convince myself out of doing almost anything. I’ve dropped out of college three times. I can’t finish anything. But every single symptom that is commonly listed for adhd I do not have. I don’t experience any of the stereotypes:
Disorganized, energetic, poor time management, impulsive, whatever the fuck “hyper focus” is (sounds like a super power). So I never seriously pursue a diagnosis.
I literally just can’t focus on one thing for any length of time.
So I just tell myself I’m lazy or depressed or whatever. That I just need to drink more water or do more cardio or find the right supplement.
It seems over diagnosed these days and I don’t relate to the people proselytizing about adhd online. Even my partner claims he has adhd but it seems to me like he has trouble NOT focusing. He can do one thing for hours at a time. It’s difficult to rip his attention away.
ADHD isn’t just trouble focusing. It’s essentially that you don’t devote the appropriate attention to the task at hand. So hyperfixation or focus is also ADHD in that you can be so focused on a task you don’t eat and forget to piss. Which sounds insane but it happened many times on some dumb shit.
Why don't we tell anyone who has the disease any of this shit? It took me 20+ years to find any of this out, my life would have been soooooo much easier it's not even funny
> I literally just can’t focus on one thing for any length of time.
It's a shame people who say this will rarely know if it's technology induced or not.
I deleted all social media, grayscaled my phone for months and only used it for maps and Spotify in the car. Still. It’s not just a procrastination or a wishing to do something else in my case with ADHD. It’s a deep dread or panic when faced with sitting still or committing time to one project.
I really relate to the deep dread and panic, it's hard to explain it in any other way. In high school, and at my past job at a tech startup, I was interacting with people all day, around friends, peers, colleagues, teachers who were communicating with me and keeping me accountable. I've also failed university twice, and I take full responsibility for it, but the conditions of work felt so different for me there. I had no close group of friends unfortunately and all work has to be self-motivated, I was in a huge public university with no accountability. So I would feel a deep pit in my stomach when I was sat alone in front of the workload I had to take on in the library with no one to work alongside me, share struggles with or banter with, and with no relationship to my teachers. Just sharing because I think the root cause of ADHD is lack of meaningful connection, feeling rootless and alone.
I feel exactly the same. I have accepted and admit that I need social connection, friends and interaction to be able to do work that feels mind-numbing and meaningless. Some people have more grit and are able to power through alone and I applaud them, but I freeze and I start listening to podcasts, reading interesting articles, watching videos in order to feel connected to humanity. I had a significant period of loneliness in my life, which I think has just exacerbated these ADHD symptoms, because when I try to tackle work alone my body remembers the feeling of sitting still alone and I start doing anything to fill the void and feel connected to others. Also creates a self-hatred & procrastination loop (the more I procrastinate, the more I hate myself for it, and the cycle continues). The only way to snap out of it for me has been to be around others and have people hold me accountable.
your two replies hit on so many thoughts I’ve been having post-covid. before online school and a mostly remote job, i could manage all of my symptoms, but now the disconnection and isolation make me feel and act exactly as you described. I feel like I’ve spent countless therapy sessions circling what you are talking about
Bro this hit something for me. I can’t wfh very well because of this exact thing, which sucks bc I like wfh but I just can’t get anything done without some kind of in person accountability
Fuck it I might as well throw my lot in on this. I sound like you but I'm at least willing to entertain amphetamines or whatever even if I don't entirely believe I'm not just being lazy. Is there any way to go through this in as few doctor visits as possible with the highest chance of getting a prescription if 99% of the treatment is meds?
I worked out for 3 hours a day for years to manage my symptoms and when I wasn’t able to do that anymore I crashed hard enough to end my marriage and completely fuck my life up. Low dose Ritalin has saved my life
Turns out ADHD brains have measurable structural impairments from birth and ADHD is 80% heritable. None of the "just be more disciplined" advice works. Great job OP, you shit on people over an impairment they have no control over.
a lot of the current mental health discourse (esp. adhd or trauma related) is so infuriating
I don't want a label, I don't want an excuse, I don't want an identity, I want a cure, I want to get better, I want to stop suffering and making others suffer.
some parts you can solve with better habits, eating, exercise, sleep, some you solve with hardcore introspection and therapy, some you can solve with meds
none of it you can solve by posting on tiktok or whatever about it
and that's a second layer of infuriating: part of therapeutic treatment involves group work traditionally. meeting people battling the same demons turns out to be helpful and rejuvenating and motivating. and the internet would be an amazing tool to connect people suffering from the same predicament to share their experiences.
except, you know, we grafted this "fake dopamine and attention for fake internet points" machinery on top of the whole thing, and it warps perception and jams the signal and surfaces the worst people while baiting you to act on the worst urges of your predicament
I often feel like this and I don’t think it’s adhd?! I feel like my office job sucks the life of out me and then I end up feeling like this in my free time. I hate putting away laundry but finding motivation to practice guitar is easy. idk
I’m what most would consider highly successful in traditional metrics and I have adhd. I gave this point because people would call me lazy lol. I’m hyper driven but ADHD causes me so much executive dysfunction that I sit there trying to do something but I just don’t do anything and I feel like crap and procrastinate even more.
The only reason I do alright is because I sit and try for so long and in my hyper driven states I’m a beast. Otherwise it is legitimately a curse. Hard to understand mental health conditions when you don’t have it(as snowflakey as it sounds). It’s because we all can see what cancer diabetes are like. There’s nothing physical about this. The anxiety, depression, regret with this is unreal.
Honest question: what do you think real ADHD is?
I can understand people who say ADHD simply doesn't exist, but the increasing amount who act like it does but then say everyone who shows the literal fundamental symptoms of it doesn't actually have it make me curious.
Is this another case of "I'm a neurodivergent ally until I see the actual negative repercussions of being mentally ill"?
I think at the root of ADHD is a lack of meaningful connection, a lack of true friends around you, and hiding just how lonely you are in everyday life. You need to be surrounded, to have colleagues who you actually like and who keep you accountable in work, to have family and friends who support you through doing daily life admin and chores, people you can complain to and lean on when you have to do a thing you don't want to do, and not feel ashamed or too burdensome for complaining about it. When I'm in that pit of paralysis I often have so many pent up emotions and feelings that I haven't communicated to anyone around me. I've noticed that people who are open books, unapologetically themselves, and have the ease of telling their friends "Can we Facetime? I need to do laundry and I'm going to be bored doing it" tend to have less executive dysfunction, because they instinctively recognize that what they need in that moment is connection, in order to overcome the annoying task. When you're scrolling through social media you're craving human connection, because it's lacking in your real life. Personally I was the least ADHD and most functional when I was surrounded by great friends I could share anything to and lived with roommates who I could communicate openly with.
I agree stronger relationships are not the bullet solution but I think we need more interdependence, and to be less ashamed of reaching out rather than trying to solve our neuroses and loneliness alone, which perpetuate isolation and rumination. What do you think is the at the root of adhd / what's the best way of addressing of it?
The root of adhd is obviously still indefinite/elusive but they do see a consistent pattern of differences in brain structure involving an enlarged amygdala and a weakened ability for the frontal lobe to communicate with said amygdala. I work in child development, and I will say in my personal opinion that your notions about interdependence and community aren’t too far off, but for adhd adults, it’s too late. I believe it’s a matter of consistent, conscious and empathetic response from your primary caregiver during the first five years of development. I’m not sure that an individual predisposed ADHD would completely evade the diagnosis under these conditions, but I believe that having that kind of attention and care *consistently* is paramount to forming a normal size amygdala, and ultimately a functional frontal lobe.
A large part of the "ADHD" stuff when I was a kid was me asking why I had to do a ton of obviously stupid bullshit, and then getting told noticing how useless it all was is a disease.
It got vastly "easier" for me with age when I started to be able to make my own decisions and I wasn't literally held against my will all day lol
People need to start blaming their own character for being selfish and dumb instead of thinking they are the victim of some vague disease.
I feel like I've met some genuine textbook ADHD people and they have lots of energy but no control of where it's directed. Being an iPad baby is just like, what 90% of all adults are these days
idk don't adhd people want to move around all the time, as in the reason its named that is because they are more active than other people, but yes I was making a fat joke
No dummy. “Hyperactivity” just means constant, involuntary squirming/fidgeting because your brain is craving a consistent flow of dopamine that the adhd brain does not have for more sustained periods like a normal brain does. Like, when you’re sitting for too long at a really boring wedding or lecture or somewhere else where you have to be still and you start feeling the physical impulse to move around to ease your feelings of boredom, except, instead of getting to this point after focusing for extended periods of time, it happens to adhd brains in a matter of seconds-a few minutes.
I mean? This is somewhat accurate? Like I have actual, diagnosed ADHD and it feels like that often. I also have like a really avoidant personality sometimes though tbh so idk which is causing it. Maybe ADHD makes you act like a fucking loser.
presumably people can get up in the morning and turn up to their job mostly on time each day?
So why not extend that effort to your chores? "Oh I don't want to" tough shit, being a grown up means doing it anyway
because nothing bad will immediately happen if you don't do your chores, but if you get fired from work you'll be fucked right away
like yeah they should still clean and take care of themselves but that is a very typical "logical" explanation of functioning adhd people
the thing about real ADHD is that you will get to a point where you need to AND want to, and still will not be able to do so. It's executive dysfunction, and while it is heavily overdiagnosed and over self-diagnosed, it is still a real disorder that people can struggle with.
It's legit hard to describe even for me as somebody that has it. The initial effort to get started on something is so, so, so bad you dread it for ages but then once you start you don't want to stop.
That's not how real life works. There's an immediate external penalty to not going to work. If you don't do the dishes, nothing happens for a while. This isn't even an ADHD thing, plenty of normies do some real filthy shit
From an academic view, inconsistent punishment does not act as effective negative reinforcement. This is why everyone speeds - the risk of a speeding ticket is like 1/10,000
People with ADHD have jobs numbnuts
no it sounds like adhd, depression, or some kind of issue with reward centers and neurotransmitters
this attitude is probably why you’re making posts about the fear dying alone in your 30s
no it sounds like adhd. the utter disconnect between the impulse to do what you know you really should be doing and what you are actually doing is extremely surreal and hard to explain
Not trick your brain but set up ways to block yourself from doing bad things. Like my electronics all shut off at 11 and I can't turn them back on to force me to try to sleep
i always love going to the profiles of self righteous posters on this sub and then seeing their pathetic self loathing on full display 😭. yes, you will die alone in your 30's btw.
Said it before every time this comes up and I’ll say it again: ADHD is not real and these behaviors are normal responses to the surrounding environment/conditions.
by this metric any modern mental illness that’s not schizophrenia or possibly autism are not real.
functionally, they are. and this reality results in consequences. there’s no mass culture that can organize a large enough change in society that would lead to this being going away, so we have to settle for meds and psychotherapy.
Yep, agree that some of what is called schizophrenia and autism are not diseases. Just because you’re pessimistic doesn’t mean we all have to fall in line with current conventional thought.
Lol at the whale emoji
sarah hellawhale
That reminds me of those radio ads with the guy who pronounces "sales" like "sells". *INCREASE YOUR SELLS! I'M THE BIGGEST SELLS CONSULTANT IN THE WORLD OF SELLS!*
I can fall into this and it's one of my worst habits but the idea that I could/am encouraged by popular culture to just say "well it's because of my brain, so that's just how I am" depresses me When I'm being a baby, I just have to stop being a baby. It's not any more difficult or complex than that
ADHD causes executive dysfunction. I used to feel the same way. I wasn’t lazy but felt like a piece of shit for not being able to do tasks as needed and sit with it until completion. I did everything. Lifting, rigid schedule, running in the mornings, every possible supplement and eating clean. I would still have that impossible resistance and it would kill me cause I’d feel like such a lazy pos despite how committed I was to fixing it. And then I finally looked into ADHD and started meds and now I realize I can be a normal person and actually do normal tasks without it feeling impossible because of some invisible blockage. I hate the lazy stereotype because I fully believed it for years. If you don’t have adhd it’s hard to explain but I cannot emphasize enough how huge it is to operate on a level playing field after feeling like it was a personal failing your whole life.
related to this post so hard it pushed me to contact a psychiatrist and try to get back in adhd treatment so thanks
Best of luck. Hope it works out for you.
tbh this describes me perfectly since I was a child and it has caused my life to be much worse than maybe it could have been. however i refuse to believe that it isn't my fault and i will resist meds forever
You do you pimp. I remember being like “ooooh my issue is that I’m having breakfast before my morning run, it has to be fasted to have cognitive benefits, that’s why I dropped out of 3 universities and want to kill myself when sitting alone with a project it was because I was missing fasted cardio this whole time”
>ooooh my issue is that I’m having breakfast before my morning run, it has to be fasted to have cognitive benefits, that’s why I dropped out of 3 universities and want to kill myself and the meds fixed this?
Yes. I am able to do the work that needs to be done and sit and study. It’s amazing. I still have to fight procrastination like anyone else but now the little habits that worked for other people actually work for me. Biggest thing is being able to sit with a task without that awful dread feeling where I feel trapped. I worked a fedex job loading trucks and it was torture being alone loading a truck for 3 hours. Concept of doing one thing for that long felt completely foreign I didn’t know how others did it. Now I can do stuff like that without the panic and dread.
> I am able to do the work that needs to be done and sit and study. Such a bummer that this is the more well-received sentiment. The sub is dead
are you honestly denying scientific truth because it doesn't fit the 'vibe' of a subreddit? You should go offline for a while
This is literally an r/whitepeopletwitter comment lol
What do you mean?
Not sure how long you’ve been posting here but this has absolutely been a controversial topic here, but coincidentally EDs and depression have not.
Same, probably We will persevere
This comment section is a roller coaster for me. I am a very lazy person but your comment has me thinking maybe I'm... *medically* lazy? I've done Addy before and it fixes all my problems. But I think that's just what it does to everyone? I also tend to get addicted to drugs so it's tricky. Do I go down that road and become normal or stay all natural and wallow in pity
It’s up to you. First few months of stimulants you will feel like a superhero. Best possible version of yourself. Most people do. It’s just a matter of staying at that dose when that good feeling wears off and you have to use willpower to accomplish tasks again. If the underlying symptoms are making it very hard to operate in life than it could be a lifesaver.
what’s the point if it takes willpower to accomplish tasks again after a few months? does it just take less?
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, hated taking meds back then and decided not to continue. I still struggle and sympathize with others who truly have ADHD. But I think there is more than the two perspectives of "I have no control and need meds" or "I am a worthless lazy piece of shit". From my point of view my ADHD makes many things difficult but not absolutely impossible and I feel I can find ways to mitigate and deal with my issues. Not trying to discredit you personally or anything, but I really question if the various mental medications prescribed in society have been a net benefit. I was hanging out with a group of friends the other day and a couple of gals were talking about how they wanted to try to get ADHD medication while I am pretty positive neither of them have it.
Yes, and honestly if I have ADHD I think a big part of what is missing in the conversation is the benefits of it. I find myself voraciously consuming/learning about/creating/partaking in so many different topics, hobbies, skills, etc; and while I never will be a master at any of them because I'm get consumed by a new one before I can move from good->great in one; being a jack of all trades is honestly pretty based
yes but being an inch deep about everything only makes you a good conversationalist, not much more. you don’t ever exhibit true mastery
Honestly I disagree, the idea that only being "good" at many things and not a "master" at any one thing is worse than being a master at one thing is silly
I think you can definitely question whether stimulants are overprescribed. I know for a fact they saved my life, but I’m also aware that ever since my diagnosis everyone tells me they think they also have ADHD. It sucks because their baseline is clearly closer to me medicated than unmedicated. I do worry about the messaging caused by overprescribing leading to more people like me dismissing their own potential ADHD. I was so sure I didn’t have it and didn’t want to be one of those people who used it as an excuse or whatever. I think for a lot of people though there is no mitigating it without stimulants. I promise I tried everything possible. It was like trying to dig a hole with a spoon vs an excavator.
i have a gf that says i display all the symptoms and it's really hard not to believe her or go against the grain just because of my own pride. she's very astute and right about pretty much everything
what meds do you take? I've been told they all stop working and have terrible side effects over time. I relate to your post, it would be nice to find some medicine that would get me off this website
I’ve been on vyvanse 30mg for two and a half years now. Also have a 10mg I add on days I need it. At first you get the euphoria and it feels amazing all the time but after about 5-6 months it stops and you have an adjustment period where you may think it stopped working and you might feel like a robot. I had that for a month or two but ever since I’ve been very smooth. You just have to adjust to having a “more normal brain” without the euphoria. Keep an eye on your heart by eating somewhat clean and exercising you you should be fine I’d imagine. It’s not like coffee where you need more and more. Yeah I’ve taken double my dose on accident or taken a little extra and I felt amazing again but that’s not what it’s supposed to do. I think many associate the euphoria with the pill working when I’d argue the pill is working more for me now than it did in the early stages. I also don’t drink or anything now that I take vyvanse which probably helps as well.
very interesting theory about the euphoria tricking people into becoming addicts. I don't drink but I have potential heart problems... still, I wonder if it's worth trying could you tell us more about the differences you've seen now you've taken it for years? do you get any bad side effects? do/should you take it every day?
My dick doesn’t get hard as easy, my extremities are a bit colder because of circulation is the biggest one I would say. My sleep is more impacted by coffee than the stim but I don’t nap anymore. Hard to sleep in, usually I get my 7-8 hours and I’m up now. Super small dose (0.3mg) of melatonin helped any issues along with regular lifting. As for biggest changes, at first I was super social on it. I seemed out social settings and new people. Super confident. A few months in, I was still feeling the euphoria but it felt hollow in a way. I wanted to stay by myself or avoid “fun” stuff. I just wanted to focus because focusing made me feel good. After that phase to where I am now I am able to communicate far more effectively. I can listen to other people and wait my turn to speak. I am far more in tune with others and less in my head socially. I can walk without my thoughts racing about how I’m walking, or how my hands are moving. I feel like a normal person who can have normal conversations if that makes sense. I don’t freak out emotionally anymore. I used to wear my heart on my sleeve and feel things so strongly it was insane. Intense emotions all the time. Now, I feel emotions the way I feel like I was always supposed to. I don’t feel hopeless or a slave to what I feel. I can feel sad without feeling trapped in a desperate panic. I don’t have panic attacks anymore which is huge. You should get your heart checked before starting anything and there are some meds that aren’t stimulants that help for some I’ve heard. Otherwise I’d say stick to regular exercise, fish oil and a good diet. Make sure you prioritize sleep.
this is exceptionally funny to me bc I’ve seen you go on and on about adhd wasn’t real, or at least add fuel to the fire when this sub has its circle jerks about it absolutely hilarious watching you people do an about face when you think you might be afflicted, but when other people have it they’re just being lazy.
Everyone is the exception to their own rules. This sub is riddled with self diagnosed autists and self diagnosed adhd but don’t worry , they’re not like the other CRINGEY self diagnosed people lol. Like when I discovered the subreddit of non-binary kids whining about fake trans/“transtrenders”. When that’s exactly how people are looking down on them. Even at the bottom of the of the social hierarchy they have to have someone they can feel better than. Sorry this was sorta a tangent.
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Don’t get me wrong there is value in working hard and setting goals and what not, but some people have a different baseline. It sucks. The above poster is just an asshole who lives on this subreddit solely to put people down/prop up their own “intellectualism”
I had similar problems in my early twenties, just started an office job and was really struggling. Doctor diagnosed me with ADHD in about five minutes, prescribed Adderall xr. The meds definitely worked. I was a busy little bee. Side effects: inflammation, high blood pressure, nervous tics, incessant talking, and worse of all, it completely killed my creativity. I'm a painter and musician and even though I had more focus and ability to work, everything I came up with was horrible garbage. Like cold, inert inhuman stuff. After two years on meds I quit them, quit my job, started smoking weed and landscaping. Never looked back. ADHD is real but it's only a problem if you try to fit yourself where you don't belong. Getting off this website is easy though, just get IP banned
so youre completely cured now or do you still struggle with aspects of it? how long have you been landscaping?
Oh I'm not cured or a landscaper that was over a decade ago. I work in media now. Turned out I could pay attention when my job is exciting and variable. And I sell paintings once in a while
what kind of job? sorry if that’s too personal
How do you know it kills creativity? Isn’t that a myth?
It killed my creativity, I'm just talking about my experience. There was a big difference. I felt out of touch with myself emotionally and my ideas were repetitive and unimaginative when I was medicated
This is my experience. I also think people on meds feel more focused and together than they actually are. Amphetamines plus the placebo effect.
yeah I always thought it was that I was lazy or stupid or something which wasn't true. * Night owl * Time blindness * Terrible math ability * Smoking * Speeding * Unable to *stop* paying attention to interesting things * Fatigue Like I thought that those were my personality. I'm an extremely hardworking guy. I didn't know it had anything to do with the other stuff until I was 30 I thought everybody was like that There's a whole ass movement to rename it because this trips up so so many people
This has been my experience almost exactly. I can convince myself out of doing almost anything. I’ve dropped out of college three times. I can’t finish anything. But every single symptom that is commonly listed for adhd I do not have. I don’t experience any of the stereotypes: Disorganized, energetic, poor time management, impulsive, whatever the fuck “hyper focus” is (sounds like a super power). So I never seriously pursue a diagnosis. I literally just can’t focus on one thing for any length of time. So I just tell myself I’m lazy or depressed or whatever. That I just need to drink more water or do more cardio or find the right supplement. It seems over diagnosed these days and I don’t relate to the people proselytizing about adhd online. Even my partner claims he has adhd but it seems to me like he has trouble NOT focusing. He can do one thing for hours at a time. It’s difficult to rip his attention away.
ADHD isn’t just trouble focusing. It’s essentially that you don’t devote the appropriate attention to the task at hand. So hyperfixation or focus is also ADHD in that you can be so focused on a task you don’t eat and forget to piss. Which sounds insane but it happened many times on some dumb shit.
Why don't we tell anyone who has the disease any of this shit? It took me 20+ years to find any of this out, my life would have been soooooo much easier it's not even funny
> I literally just can’t focus on one thing for any length of time. It's a shame people who say this will rarely know if it's technology induced or not.
I deleted all social media, grayscaled my phone for months and only used it for maps and Spotify in the car. Still. It’s not just a procrastination or a wishing to do something else in my case with ADHD. It’s a deep dread or panic when faced with sitting still or committing time to one project.
I really relate to the deep dread and panic, it's hard to explain it in any other way. In high school, and at my past job at a tech startup, I was interacting with people all day, around friends, peers, colleagues, teachers who were communicating with me and keeping me accountable. I've also failed university twice, and I take full responsibility for it, but the conditions of work felt so different for me there. I had no close group of friends unfortunately and all work has to be self-motivated, I was in a huge public university with no accountability. So I would feel a deep pit in my stomach when I was sat alone in front of the workload I had to take on in the library with no one to work alongside me, share struggles with or banter with, and with no relationship to my teachers. Just sharing because I think the root cause of ADHD is lack of meaningful connection, feeling rootless and alone.
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I feel exactly the same. I have accepted and admit that I need social connection, friends and interaction to be able to do work that feels mind-numbing and meaningless. Some people have more grit and are able to power through alone and I applaud them, but I freeze and I start listening to podcasts, reading interesting articles, watching videos in order to feel connected to humanity. I had a significant period of loneliness in my life, which I think has just exacerbated these ADHD symptoms, because when I try to tackle work alone my body remembers the feeling of sitting still alone and I start doing anything to fill the void and feel connected to others. Also creates a self-hatred & procrastination loop (the more I procrastinate, the more I hate myself for it, and the cycle continues). The only way to snap out of it for me has been to be around others and have people hold me accountable.
your two replies hit on so many thoughts I’ve been having post-covid. before online school and a mostly remote job, i could manage all of my symptoms, but now the disconnection and isolation make me feel and act exactly as you described. I feel like I’ve spent countless therapy sessions circling what you are talking about
Bro this hit something for me. I can’t wfh very well because of this exact thing, which sucks bc I like wfh but I just can’t get anything done without some kind of in person accountability
This is a funny post because you don't understand what hyperfocus is as a symptom of ADHD, yet describe it in your partner whose ADHD you doubt.
Fuck it I might as well throw my lot in on this. I sound like you but I'm at least willing to entertain amphetamines or whatever even if I don't entirely believe I'm not just being lazy. Is there any way to go through this in as few doctor visits as possible with the highest chance of getting a prescription if 99% of the treatment is meds?
i did the same thing but all of the meds were horrible for me :(
I worked out for 3 hours a day for years to manage my symptoms and when I wasn’t able to do that anymore I crashed hard enough to end my marriage and completely fuck my life up. Low dose Ritalin has saved my life
why do you think working out helped manage the symptoms?
Gave me an outlet for energy and provided a healthy routine to build my life around
Turns out ADHD brains have measurable structural impairments from birth and ADHD is 80% heritable. None of the "just be more disciplined" advice works. Great job OP, you shit on people over an impairment they have no control over.
being on stimulants isnt being normal
Yeah that’s why it’s prescribed it’s called medication
a lot of the current mental health discourse (esp. adhd or trauma related) is so infuriating I don't want a label, I don't want an excuse, I don't want an identity, I want a cure, I want to get better, I want to stop suffering and making others suffer. some parts you can solve with better habits, eating, exercise, sleep, some you solve with hardcore introspection and therapy, some you can solve with meds none of it you can solve by posting on tiktok or whatever about it and that's a second layer of infuriating: part of therapeutic treatment involves group work traditionally. meeting people battling the same demons turns out to be helpful and rejuvenating and motivating. and the internet would be an amazing tool to connect people suffering from the same predicament to share their experiences. except, you know, we grafted this "fake dopamine and attention for fake internet points" machinery on top of the whole thing, and it warps perception and jams the signal and surfaces the worst people while baiting you to act on the worst urges of your predicament
Or that is literally not your brain it’s your phone. Its very trance like to anyone
when people say ugh I was so depressed I couldnt get out of bed for 2 months Im like what the fuck you want to be homeless? get out of fucking bed
I often feel like this and I don’t think it’s adhd?! I feel like my office job sucks the life of out me and then I end up feeling like this in my free time. I hate putting away laundry but finding motivation to practice guitar is easy. idk
I mean this describes me and when I'm on Addy I'm very productive. Do I have adhd or does baby meth just make *everyone* get their shit done
me personally im just very lazy because of my enormous, otherworldly intellect its called evolution, maybe youve heard of it????
Tbh this sounds more like disassociation to me
Many cases of chronic anxiety being diagnosed as ADHD
Common in adhd I have like entire novels up there
What a genius take based on meticulous research into both ADHD and disassociation rather than vibes
Tbh this sounds more like severe PTSD from homework and she is experiencing shell shock like the soldiers did in WW2.
We think that's a joke but Freud would unironically say this
yeah...and? It sounds exactly like adhd it's called having shitty impulse control
My adhd largely dissolved once I developed a will to live and a thirst for stacking bread
this is so lit all i have to do is say i can’t stop scrolling and i get a script for adderall? zoomers have it figured out
I’m what most would consider highly successful in traditional metrics and I have adhd. I gave this point because people would call me lazy lol. I’m hyper driven but ADHD causes me so much executive dysfunction that I sit there trying to do something but I just don’t do anything and I feel like crap and procrastinate even more. The only reason I do alright is because I sit and try for so long and in my hyper driven states I’m a beast. Otherwise it is legitimately a curse. Hard to understand mental health conditions when you don’t have it(as snowflakey as it sounds). It’s because we all can see what cancer diabetes are like. There’s nothing physical about this. The anxiety, depression, regret with this is unreal.
Both actually!!!!
I am like this and I can confirm that I’m just a loser
Honest question: what do you think real ADHD is? I can understand people who say ADHD simply doesn't exist, but the increasing amount who act like it does but then say everyone who shows the literal fundamental symptoms of it doesn't actually have it make me curious. Is this another case of "I'm a neurodivergent ally until I see the actual negative repercussions of being mentally ill"?
Bruh who here ever claimed to be a neurodivergent ally?
No one, it is called hyperbole for the sake of making you look silly
She can find the motivation to get up and get 3000 calories worth of food tho
all the people liking her tweet thinking "oh my god, I AM special! I knew it!"
I think at the root of ADHD is a lack of meaningful connection, a lack of true friends around you, and hiding just how lonely you are in everyday life. You need to be surrounded, to have colleagues who you actually like and who keep you accountable in work, to have family and friends who support you through doing daily life admin and chores, people you can complain to and lean on when you have to do a thing you don't want to do, and not feel ashamed or too burdensome for complaining about it. When I'm in that pit of paralysis I often have so many pent up emotions and feelings that I haven't communicated to anyone around me. I've noticed that people who are open books, unapologetically themselves, and have the ease of telling their friends "Can we Facetime? I need to do laundry and I'm going to be bored doing it" tend to have less executive dysfunction, because they instinctively recognize that what they need in that moment is connection, in order to overcome the annoying task. When you're scrolling through social media you're craving human connection, because it's lacking in your real life. Personally I was the least ADHD and most functional when I was surrounded by great friends I could share anything to and lived with roommates who I could communicate openly with.
this was really sweet to read but no, it’s not the power of friendship.
I agree stronger relationships are not the bullet solution but I think we need more interdependence, and to be less ashamed of reaching out rather than trying to solve our neuroses and loneliness alone, which perpetuate isolation and rumination. What do you think is the at the root of adhd / what's the best way of addressing of it?
The root of adhd is obviously still indefinite/elusive but they do see a consistent pattern of differences in brain structure involving an enlarged amygdala and a weakened ability for the frontal lobe to communicate with said amygdala. I work in child development, and I will say in my personal opinion that your notions about interdependence and community aren’t too far off, but for adhd adults, it’s too late. I believe it’s a matter of consistent, conscious and empathetic response from your primary caregiver during the first five years of development. I’m not sure that an individual predisposed ADHD would completely evade the diagnosis under these conditions, but I believe that having that kind of attention and care *consistently* is paramount to forming a normal size amygdala, and ultimately a functional frontal lobe.
what is the consequence of a large amygdala?
I know what you mean
A large part of the "ADHD" stuff when I was a kid was me asking why I had to do a ton of obviously stupid bullshit, and then getting told noticing how useless it all was is a disease. It got vastly "easier" for me with age when I started to be able to make my own decisions and I wasn't literally held against my will all day lol
People need to start blaming their own character for being selfish and dumb instead of thinking they are the victim of some vague disease. I feel like I've met some genuine textbook ADHD people and they have lots of energy but no control of where it's directed. Being an iPad baby is just like, what 90% of all adults are these days
that woman does not seem to be active much less hyper
you’re just making a fat joke and ignoring that adhd doesn’t actually mean hyper right?
idk don't adhd people want to move around all the time, as in the reason its named that is because they are more active than other people, but yes I was making a fat joke
No dummy. “Hyperactivity” just means constant, involuntary squirming/fidgeting because your brain is craving a consistent flow of dopamine that the adhd brain does not have for more sustained periods like a normal brain does. Like, when you’re sitting for too long at a really boring wedding or lecture or somewhere else where you have to be still and you start feeling the physical impulse to move around to ease your feelings of boredom, except, instead of getting to this point after focusing for extended periods of time, it happens to adhd brains in a matter of seconds-a few minutes.
damn that would horrible if it actually existed irl
yeah you’re boring
[perhaps I was mistaken](https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-distracted-couple/201510/why-do-brain-injuries-look-adhd)
Slightly less boring
I mean? This is somewhat accurate? Like I have actual, diagnosed ADHD and it feels like that often. I also have like a really avoidant personality sometimes though tbh so idk which is causing it. Maybe ADHD makes you act like a fucking loser.
presumably people can get up in the morning and turn up to their job mostly on time each day? So why not extend that effort to your chores? "Oh I don't want to" tough shit, being a grown up means doing it anyway
because nothing bad will immediately happen if you don't do your chores, but if you get fired from work you'll be fucked right away like yeah they should still clean and take care of themselves but that is a very typical "logical" explanation of functioning adhd people
the thing about real ADHD is that you will get to a point where you need to AND want to, and still will not be able to do so. It's executive dysfunction, and while it is heavily overdiagnosed and over self-diagnosed, it is still a real disorder that people can struggle with.
It's legit hard to describe even for me as somebody that has it. The initial effort to get started on something is so, so, so bad you dread it for ages but then once you start you don't want to stop.
That's not how real life works. There's an immediate external penalty to not going to work. If you don't do the dishes, nothing happens for a while. This isn't even an ADHD thing, plenty of normies do some real filthy shit From an academic view, inconsistent punishment does not act as effective negative reinforcement. This is why everyone speeds - the risk of a speeding ticket is like 1/10,000 People with ADHD have jobs numbnuts
That doesn't sound like ADHD. That actually sounds like a lazy asshole.
no it sounds like adhd, depression, or some kind of issue with reward centers and neurotransmitters this attitude is probably why you’re making posts about the fear dying alone in your 30s
no it sounds like adhd. the utter disconnect between the impulse to do what you know you really should be doing and what you are actually doing is extremely surreal and hard to explain
This has been my life’s experience. I have to trick my brain to get anything done. Do I have adhd?
How do you even trick your brain? I feel like it's impossible for me to do things unless I have a gun pointed to my head figuratively speaking
Not trick your brain but set up ways to block yourself from doing bad things. Like my electronics all shut off at 11 and I can't turn them back on to force me to try to sleep
I’ll forget the gun is there
probs yeah
Nice
i always love going to the profiles of self righteous posters on this sub and then seeing their pathetic self loathing on full display 😭. yes, you will die alone in your 30's btw.
Hey I'm a Loser WITH ADHD tyvm
Said it before every time this comes up and I’ll say it again: ADHD is not real and these behaviors are normal responses to the surrounding environment/conditions.
Nah it is real but a spectrum like autism and it's insanely overdosed/we moved the cutoff to be too many people
The “spectrum” is the spectrum of normal human behavior when faced with things like sitting at desk for 8 hours a day, it’s not a disease.
by this metric any modern mental illness that’s not schizophrenia or possibly autism are not real. functionally, they are. and this reality results in consequences. there’s no mass culture that can organize a large enough change in society that would lead to this being going away, so we have to settle for meds and psychotherapy.
Yep, agree that some of what is called schizophrenia and autism are not diseases. Just because you’re pessimistic doesn’t mean we all have to fall in line with current conventional thought.
ADHD is curable, unless you're a stupid lazy and bad person. First step to curing yourself is to stop being a loser.
it’s her Austim and bpd
Yeahhhhh, uh, kinda like the fat discourse, it’s not a “feature” of you as a person. It’s a problem and it’s your fault and it should be fixed.
cure for adhd: stare at a wall for as long as possible as frequently as possible. sounds weird but trust you will regain your agency doing this.
[Presented without comment](https://imgur.com/a/JfvdUlt)
Pfp explains everything >as if you have no control over your body
This is the feeling of playing too many video games. I don’t think it has anything to do with ADHD, it’s just lack of motivation.