Is ADHD a real disorder?

i've had some success with mindfulness meditation. the idea is that by practicing returning to the mantra, refocusing your mind, you are learning how to gently transition from one priority to the next, so it helps impulsivity and also makes it so curbing impulses -- say, to check ilx instead of doing laundry (what i'm doing now) -- isn't experienced as stressful. it puts you more in the driver's seat of your thinking, theoretically.

xp i suffer from chronic insomnia, just in general, so adderall was a nightmare for me. especially because in college i would *need* to take it late at night to do work that i had put off in the afternoon.

good to know though, hurting, that you rebounded from subpar grades in college. my college grades are very inconsistent. i did very well in humanities courses, but very poorly in classes that didn't interest me.

that sounds very appealing. I don't even mind continuing to grit, I just want a way to increase the efficiency of my gritting, if that makes sense, like to reduce the friction. I feel sometimes like the majority of the energy from my efforts to push myself flies off to the side like sparks from a grinding wheel.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mindfulness+add&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amindfulness+add&ajr=2

this is the book i have. it's pretty good at explicating the theory, but i don't do all the exercises she outlines in order because that is too complicated. what you should do is just pick a two syllable mantra -- say, "Hurt-Ing" or something -- and sit quietly for ten minutes repeating it slowly in your head. when you feel your mind drift try to push your attention back to the mantra, gently. don't reprimand yourself if you can't focus, just try again.

*replace "what you should do" with "what i do." i am not a mental health professional.

I swing so much between finding it freeing to think of myself this way versus just finding it more discouraging.

Anyone else feel like they really lack medical knowledge? And that's now a serious thing u need to know more about?

It's like, we seem to know about more conditions than ever / diagnose more / yet some conditions are hyped up to sell drugs, or falsely diagnosed and or claimed / plus there's all this corn syrup in food. And I have no idea about any of this stuff.

not knowing anything might put you ahead of people who think they know something.

I'm not sure solid medical knowledge is possible or 100% necessary for a lot of this stuff. If it's helpful to talk about a cluster of traits as a condition, do it - yes, that often means the pharmaceutical industry mobilizing, but in this case, I think, it would be more harmful to think that "there's nothing that a little willpower can't fix."

Personally, it was really helpful for me to be able to bracket my attention problems as "that thing" so that I could break the shame/distraction cycle and think about them productively, rather than think of them as a series of failed character tests.

I'm not sure if I posted this upthread, but I DID get a diagnosis of ADHD-inattentive type, which, totally. Not doing anything for it right now. Definitely not going to take stimulants.

wen i ws 13 i tried2 read a comic version of shakespeare while listening to a rock station an it didn't work in my english tedachers class it ws horrible adhd sucks

for sure

'Is ADHD a real disorder' WTF

I usually make an argument that it isn't really a disorder, I have been diagnosed with it a few years ago and honestly, I wouldn't trade ADHD with nothing. It's been a real difficult time at school and I'm still adjusting, staying away of medication as much as I can, but now that I know that I have ADHD I have way more confidence when it comes to creativity and ideas and connections.

What a weird thread.

I'm officially diagnosed, but don't take stimulants (anymore) because they're terrifying. Useful, though, for finding out what it feels like to have intense concentration on a schedule you can predict and control.

Incidentally, some support recently for the idea that "psychiatric disorder diagnoses are superimposed onto an underlying spectrum" and ADHD might be on the easier to deal with end of a spectrum that also includes more serious disorders:

http://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/attention-deficit-disorder-adhd-news-50/shared-genes-may-link-adhd-autism-and-depression-673910.html

Apologies if someone linked this earlier in the thread!

it can be difficult to concentrate

don't take stimulants (anymore) because they're terrifying. Useful, though, for finding out what it feels like to have intense concentration on a schedule you can predict and control.

this is interesting. what do you mean when you say this?

A six year old friend of my daughter's just got a ADHD diagnosis. That blows my mind. How can they tell? We have a neighbor who was diagnosed as a young child, too. He's now 10, and his treatment has made a big difference the past few years, apparently. Sometimes at school they have to let him sprint through the hall for a little why.

A little while.

I usually make an argument that it isn't really a disorder, I have been diagnosed with it a few years ago and honestly, I wouldn't trade ADHD with nothing. It's been a real difficult time at school and I'm still adjusting, staying away of medication as much as I can, but now that I know that I have ADHD I have way more confidence when it comes to creativity and ideas and connections.

― Van Horn Street, Sunday, August 18, 2013 11:23 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

so you believe you have ADHD but you don't think ADHD is real?

I don't think it is a 'disorder'.

just a different way of functioning? or

its a neurological disorder. people with add/adhd have noticeably less activity in the concentration, social behavior regulation and movement centers of the brain. kids with add/adhd have 4 or 5 regions (cant remember tham all right now but i know the pre-frontal cortex and cerebellum are two of them) of their brain that are much smaller than non add/adhd kids. all add/adhd peeps have low dopamine levels too.
A disorder is something that disrupts normal functioning and or development so im pretty sure we can safely use that label when it comes to add/adhd.

Yet, there is plenty of room for adhd/add kids (and adults) to lead normal, successful and fulfilling lives. It's probably corny or just way my way to cope with it, but yeah, I see it more as a different way of functioning. The only thing I'm not thriving in is sentimental relationships, that remains very hard for me to deal with. The rest has been pretty awesome now that I'm aware of being add. There is way enough room in this world for the highly creative type, so it can't completely disrupting like, say, an eating disorder where you are going to lack fundamental ressources. The only disrupting thing I can think of when having adhd/add is low self esteem because you spent X numbers of years at school failing when you know you were as smart as any other kid.

I mean that people characterize ADHD as a lack of concentration, but that's not exactly what it is. It's a lack of control over when the concentration happens and what it's directed towards. There are times when it's hard to concentrate on anything, and times when there is intense focus, but on the wrong thing. Stimulants don't just sharpen concentration, they sharpen it predictably. I know when I take a(n instant release) pill that I'll 4-6 productive hours where I can prioritize what I'm working on, followed by a crash. So it's easier to plan what I'm going to work on that day and when I'm going to work on it.

Otherwise - I mean I'm not a really severe case, so I can sometimes force myself to work anyway, but it's like struggling to roll a ball up a hill. It's hard and the ball keeps rolling down again. It's tempting to just put off whatever it is that needs to be done until the focus is there 'naturally' and everything is easy - which is one of the other problems of ADD, it leads to a lifetime of bad habits and procrastination.

Even not taking stimulants, knowing that they are an option - that if I really <i>need</i> to finish a report tomorrow, I can take the pill and finish the report - takes away a lot of the anxiety having ADD, not knowing if you'll be able to pull through when it counts. I feel like I can take more challenging jobs, and be in more challenging situations with that safety net. Anxiety itself disrupts concentration, while challenge without anxiety creates engagement and sharpens it, so a little bit of help goes pretty far.

As far as stimulants being terrifying... they are. Again, maybe it's because I'm on the edge of this disorder, but stimulants affect my mood a lot. I have trouble sleeping while I'm taking them, I feel like a cokehead motormouth even if I don't say anything, and the crash after they wear off feels an awful lot like depression.

I really think that if we, as a society, were less into predictably scheduled productivity - especially in children - this wouldn't be a disorder. Or at least it would be a much less prevalent disorder.

I think so too. The hardest part of this condition is growing up around ppl who think your eclectic interests and lack of instinctive pragmatism make you either a freak or a somewhat pathetic eccentric. "Spacey" people and "idealists" aren't taken seriously in this country, but goddamit if I am ever going to "learn to laugh at myself" when I make a point of treating other people with consideration. (Obviously I'm venting abt something specific here which might not be general to ADD people.) But yeah, stimulants made me feel out of sync with reality... in addition to the insomnia they tuned me into a different, duller frequency of experience (best way i can describe this) and I refuse to take them ever again. I really don't think this can be seen as a disorder... I think it's more like a personality type that doesn't always gel with our culture.

I'm on the minor end of this though and i dont want to disparage ppl who feel they need stimulants to get by.

Oh I totes agree. I'm just being pedantic and saying that it is a biological disorder but of course you can live a perfectly normal life. I've been diagnosed twice (at 19 y/o and 36 y/o) with severe add (this was the result of that test where you have to click a button when you see a certain pattern - I failed miserably)

The other day I got off the couch to get the plug for the computer, and when I returned my boyfriend observed that the cord had traveled all over the house. I got sidetracked by 5 or 6 different things in the course of trying to complete a very simple task. And I was glad he pointed it out because I hadn't even noticed. When I was talking about a possible adhd diagnosis and describing the symptoms, he was like, "uhhhh....yeah. that's you to a T"

my pdoc is sending me to a 2-hour workshop about adhd meds; he won't prescribe anything to me before i weigh all the options carefully. but i think strattera is the way to go, since i can't do stimulants. i've tried vyvanse and concerta in the past but the side effects were too much for me.

this'll be the first time i've been on an adhd med since 2009. i thought i had it under control and chose to focus on my depression and anxiety instead, but i've found my lack of concentration/general fuzzyheadedness returning.

are you on stuff for your comorbid symptoms? I am.

i take lexapro and abilify for the anxiety and depression, and xanax as needed for anxiety attacks and insomnia. pdoc is nervous about treating the adhd with a stimulant because it might drive the anxiety over the edge.

hmm. At this point, there's gotta be a mix of stuff that can handle one without setting off the other. You;d think there'd be enough diagnoses by now to warrant somebody putting enough study time into it.

i've heard abt weird sexual side-effects w/ strattera, though.

Possibly, but half this stuff has weird side effects. E.g. Paxil

Holy carp, my phone autocorrects to Paxil easily. Whoa.

the workshop really wasn't much help but it did get me thinking about wellbutrin as an alternative. dude mentioned that strattera also causes upset stomach, which i get enough of with lexapro, thanks.

It's a lack of control over when the concentration happens and what it's directed towards. There are times when it's hard to concentrate on anything, and times when there is intense focus, but on the wrong thing.

qft

Had one of my busiest weeks ever at work and honestly felt like I only got through it by faking my way. So many things to do at once and I just got paralyzed. Only made it because I could rely on a more senior person working with me on one of the big projects. I have to find a way to function better. I've made huge strides from my college years but it's not cutting it for my current job.

I felt almost like I had this intermittent "amp noise" going through my head that would come in and make it impossible to follow what was going on in a complex, fast-moving conversation, or that would make me misunderstand a barrage of e-mails and miss the important point, or not get how a point linked to a prior point. I kept having to reask things I had already gotten the answer to, forgetting details, etc.

I know the feeling. This has always been a problem, but now that I'm studying for comprehensive exams it's getting annoying. For the last several weeks especially it's felt like I just go out with the direct intention of buckling down and doing my work, but then never get anywhere close to my goal.

Trying Strattera. Today was day one. Thought I noticed a mental calming effect already but too soon to tell.

omgosh i'm starting something new for this week also - adhd bros <fistbump>

Lol

Fwiw Strattera is the only non stimulant medication on the market ask your doctor about Strattera Strattera may cause nausea sleeplessness erectile dysfunction sweats chills drowsiness Strattera.

i need a new script every month

Fwiw I still think it's a situational disorder, like what I really have is a combination of anxiety, nonlinear thinking and the fact that my job requires sitting in front of a computer ten hours a day agitating rather than relieving the anxiety. But I finally decided that as long as that's my situation and as long as a family is depending on me to continue to function in that situation, I'll take meds if it helps.

like what I really have is a combination of anxiety, nonlinear thinking and the fact that my job requires sitting in front of a computer ten hours a day agitating rather than relieving the anxiety

ha, this is me too. tbf i could stand to stay off the parts of the internet that make me upset, but i do need to be online a lot for work.

I sort of agree with that, much in the same way that I wouldn't have to wear glasses had I been a cowboy in 1875 and not staring directly at a sheet of light for 12 hours a day.

i think the only real remnants of my childhood adhd are poor impulse control and a tendency toward procrastination. i wonder if those are things i can isolate and work on specifically instead of taking a bunch of speed.