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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. Some background on myself: In first grade I threw a chair at my teacher, so they tossed me in special ed and would of thrown away the key if my parents had not fought for my freedom. Of course the fact that I was smart helped convince the system I was worth saving. A couple pills later I was on Ritalin, and by fourth grade when we moved, I had been mainstreamed back into regular classes. Even on the pill, I could still have problems concentrating on things that I didn't find interesting, and still had problems doing home work when Id rather be playing video games or doing other things. I do believe the pills helped me concentrate better, and at the very least gave me a nice pick me up in the morning so that I was awake during class. I also had bouts with depression during puberty, that of course were compensated by more pills (Nortriptyline?), but it went away with time. My assumption is, most of these things are "normal" to a lesser extreme, and probably something most kids suffer from, but only the extreme casses get pumped full of meds. By college, I decided enough was enough, and I needed to see what I was capable of without the medication. I took myself off the meds, and did the best I could, still procrastinating on work like any normal college student, ignoring and cramming the courses I thought were BS and uninteresting, and living my life relatively "drug free". Nine years later, I look back on a relatively successful college career in which I excelled at the things I was passionate about. I avoid pills whenever I can, and normaly take half doses of things when necessary (read pain medication that most of society is hopped up on). I have a job as a software engineering, and when my mind branches off into tangents I let it explore a bit and then stop myself and role back to the direction that is actually important and critical. I consider my thought process to be a tool and not a disability.
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Aug 22, 2009 22:59
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It is quite possible that it has faded over time due to natural mental and physical growth. I'd like to believe though that to a degree I overcame some issues, while others still remain. I bring my mind back on track when I chose to do so, but I'm not sure if it really still wanders that much more then the average individual. It use to be pretty bad, and now I simply don't notice it as much. I believe that part of that is simply due to the desire to focus on what I am doing. It still does kick in occasionally. Ill be reading a book and try to read the same paragraph four or so times, and every time find that I stopped paying attention to what I was reading and was off thinking about other things. If there is a conversation going on that I can hear, its usually pretty hard for me to ignore it. I'll also occasionally have a random kick of hyper enter the moment, but its only happened during out and about situations, and probably self induced. Every person has their own individual dynamic, so I don't expect everyone to be able to learn how to focus and control, until the point that it becomes second nature. Some people may struggle with it until the day they die, but I do believe in mind over body. As far as my job goes, I worked at Motorola for several summers, and definitely find my mentality to be much more corporate then the average Software Engineer. I actually oversee other people, and strive to uphold a good work ethic. Perhaps I am just lucky enough to have found a good balance, but I would like to believe that anyone can achieve what they put their mind towards. DBlanK fucked around with this message at 08:34 on Aug 23, 2009 |
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Aug 23, 2009 08:25
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TrueChaos posted:Good for you buddy! I did 6 months with a learning specialist who refered me to a doctor after nothing worked well enough that I could complete my work. You sound like that one dude who had a really easy time quitting smoking because they only had 1 or 2 a day anyway, and thinks its the easiest thing in the world because of it. I spent half my life in therapy and my mom sitting on my rear end so I would actually get poo poo done. Before I went off to collage I went to see a specialist as well who diagnosed me with an auditory processing disability, which supposedly might conflict with the original diagnosis of ADHD (back when it meant something different then ADD). Personally I think it was just icing on the cake. I apologize if I was implying that things were easy, but looking back I can't really isolate any particular moment of massive progress or major frustration in regards to the ADHD. It was just a long and slow evolution to a new state of mind. Being easily distracted was definitely a big deal while growing up, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who have/had it worse then I did. Part of the problem was that I couldn't control it, but another issue was that to a degree I enjoyed it. When it happens nowadays, it feels more like a choice of exploration. Of course every mind is a completely different ball game, and as I said I think my overall progress was in part due to training, part due to will, and part due to the natural growth of my mind. DBlanK fucked around with this message at 08:30 on Aug 26, 2009 |
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Aug 26, 2009 08:12
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I just wanted to second whoever mentioned getting special privileges in school. I got tested for the auditory processing stuff, which allowed me to have note takers if I wanted them, preferential seating, as well as extended time on tests. I was against the whole idea because it felt like cheating, so I rarely used any of it, but it was nice to have in a pinch when it made sense for the subject. Since reading this thread, I have found myself paying more attention to what symptoms I still have. When I was younger, I think I was distracting myself internally, while today its mainly external. I probably run into it a couple times a week, and its rarely debilitating for any length of time, but it is still there for sure. Generally it comes in the form of noticing something odd or absurd while I am in the middle of a conversation, and I will have this urge to stop and mention it. I generally just keep talking, but sometimes its easier to mention the distraction and then continue on. I'm sure things like that are "normal" but I slip it in oddly enough that it seems a bit out of the ordinary. Another big one is overhearing other people's conversations. Sometimes I can just let the conversation float off, or multi-task through it, but other times I just have to listen and wait for the right moment to move on. The best one by far though is when someone is hovering over my shoulder. Its strange because I don't feel nervous or concerned, but somehow it just becomes really easy to forget which of the countless tasks I was planning to look into, so I find myself bouncing around trying to decide what it was I was planning to do. A couple times I have had to literally just sit there and wait until my boss walked away, because I basically had given up on trying to think straight  For the record, I bounced around some random drugs 1st through 3rd grade, then took Ritalin 4th through 12th, as well as some anti-depressants when I was going through puberty. When I started college, I basically decided to find out what I was able to accomplish without the meds. I was a little below average in my Gen Eds, but was above average in my core engineering classes, which was fine by me. Luckily, I have a great memory when it comes to things I am interested in, and I think the wide attention span actually helps me collect the information I need to do my job, so I have no plans to start taking medication again.
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Jul 26, 2010 09:42
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It might be helpful to set aside a specific time each day to do work, or find a particular environment that is away from typical distractions. Like I said though, sometimes its just easier to take a moment and explore the thought, and then return to what you were doing, instead of trying to avoid it or getting frustrated. It seems that a lot of these symptoms are similar to things most people experience, so determining if you really have a disability is not something you can self diagnose. Your best bet is probably to talk to someone at your school and get a referral to someone. The test I took was specifically for Auditory Processing, and involved things like memory tests where you would look at pictures with word labels and then try to match them back up from memory, etc. I don't like the idea of having a learning disability, because I know I am smart, but sure enough the test was able to pinpoint specific occurrences where my abilities were degraded.
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Jul 26, 2010 17:34
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