what was your diagnoses? Cause I'm the same way, laid back, can sometimes get lost in games or shows for plenty of time, but with most things it's like people describe above, doesn't matter if i prepare, things are getting done at the last possible second, always, and they have to be emergencies
You see, I have a theory about this and it's probably gonna get buried but i'm gonna give it a shot anyway.
You know how they call this generation this age of ADHD and it's diagnosed alot more in the past years. What if ADD / ADHD is just really young people watching tv or playing video games and OVERDEVELOP the ability to progress information faster in short periods of time but in exchange lose the ability to hold their focus and concentration longer because of this "hyper active focus".
You see, your muscles have a short muscle to explode and run super fast, but they also have long muscles which trained, can run marathons! it's the same theory but in your brains.
This would also explain why stereotype athletic & fighter types of people are not all that bright but good at what they do, because they have trained their fast memory muscles to quickly process information and calculations, gamers also have insane reactions because of this but they're vived learners most of the time. That's why the stereotypical "nerd" is not very athletic, it's because they trained their long memory muscles over their short ones, they never needed the short ones anyway because they were in a safe enviroment so they focused on abstract and smart thinking what makes out the great thinkers of today.
I had the same thought about this. I am hoping someone who knows what they're talking about can disprove your comment because it'd be a lot easier to blame my inattentiveness on my "genetics," i.e. ADHD, rather than the fact that I played too many videogames as a kid. I am also concerned that not enough research has been done on the effect of videogames on information processing and attentiveness and might bear bad news at large for people who play videogames.
My degree is in psychology and while there could be some truth to the comment, comparing the brain to how an athlete's body differs depending on their sport is just false. Our brain isn't like muscle where too much knowledge in one area means we are worse in another like how a world record sprinter wouldn't stand a chance in marathon running. If you watched the video, it seems that ADHD is genetic so there's absolutely nothing wrong with blaming it on that. Learning how to apply knowledge or use the knowledge you currently have may be able to be taught, but the video makes it seem like the our brain naturally has the ability to apply learned knowledge to future events. According to the video this is because of the neuroscience involved with knowledge and the unconscious application of the knowledge. Brains of people with ADHD either don't have the neural connections that link these areas or they are just much weaker. This leads to them not being able to think far ahead into the future. People with and without ADHD both have the knowledge of how to plan for a future event, but people without ADHD are able to unconsciously apply this knowledge to their actions. A person with ADHD doesn't do this naturally so they have to react to things as they come up.
I agree with this totally. The myolun sheath. However you spell it. Miolyn sheath? Is built in the brain to create super atheletes. What if your band width is limited. You are excersising or have a predisposition to excersise certain parts of the brain. Crowding out the ability to grow other pathways due to limited badwith.
Myelin sheath I believe is what is wrapped around nerves throughout the body. Not sure what you mean re super atheletes. And this is true in general with IQ, athletic ability, etc.; use it or lose it, and if you exercise or work an area excessively it may improve, but it isn't just because of playing too many videogames. You have to have the predisposition as well.
I agree completely. I've taken months ifd the internet and videogames and my brain rewired for awhile to be more activity based. More productive. Less input and less planning and thinking. It just gradually happened as the constant stimulus went away.
I'm now back to hyper stimulated by games and the internet.. ahwell rip those pruductive 3 years.
I've heard this before. Also chronic sleep deprivation (due to video games and other sources of significant stimulation) can cause ADD/ADHD symptoms. Lots of kids in my school were tired for one reason or another and I among them almost always due to staying up due to TV or the computer. Missing sleep is the easiest way to stifle your mental facilities and if it becomes a chronic problem those mental facilities can become permenantly damaged in a very physical way.
While something similar may be happening, ADHD is different. It's a disorder linked to at least 10 genes, and results in the underdevelopment of numerous brain areas. Unfortunately for myself and approx. 5% of the population with adhd, the modern world has so many ways to get your dopamine fix that it's hard to be a productive citizen. It's not laziness, and it's not caused by video games, and it's slightly insulting to suggest it, even if you didn't mean to be ❤️
You touch on a topic, how we define "mental disorder". Because really all it means is "not neuro-average. But "disorder" connotates "bad" or "undesirable".
Calling neuro-differences "disorders" perpetuates a certain type of thinking, preventing natural change and offshoots of mental types and abilities.
I worry that the growing trend of diagnosing "mental disorders" will stifle mental growth, creativity, and our uniqueness as individuals. Instead of "fixing" people, we should find a place for people.
We should stop using the phrase "mental disorder". It's a bad phrase and philosophically bankrupt, supposing nature knows the difference between "disordered" and "natural".
That totally depends on the kind of game. There are games you can not touch and the game won't do anything. There are others that will keep on going without you, some will ask you one input from you every ten minutes and some will ask you up to 20 inputs in a seconds.
What game doesn't keep track of all that for you? It's very easy to just go through your quest log in sequence and follow the shiney bobble to your next destination. No strict planning required.
I seriously can't think of a common game genre that can't be played procedurally and "in the moment". Simcity? You layout the city as you go, only the pros plan far ahead.
It's very easy to just go through your quest log in sequence and follow the shiney bobble to your next destination. No strict planning required.
Most video games don't have huge arrows to your destination. Some do, but most don't. Saying what you just said is equal to saying "books read themselves". No they don't. Books don't read themselves, you have to read the books. A category of books named "audiobooks" do, but other books don't.
I seriously can't think of a common game genre that can't be played procedurally and "in the moment"
Anything that has a notion of planning into the future or of non-repetitive gameplay (i.e. every single game in existence) enters in that category. I listed the most demanding in terms of planning ahead above. Watch the videos of the dude OP linked. ADHD isn't caused by your environment. You're born with it.
Oh cool, when did "A lot" come out? Can't find anything about it on google. Do they speak english in "A lot"?
Most video games don't have huge arrows to your destination. Some do, but most don't.
Good thing that was one small example and not an exhaustive list. And yes, every game with quests made in the last decade has quest logs with map markers / minimaps telling you exactly where to go. Of any genre. Feel free to provide a single counter-example.
Saying what you just said is equal to saying "books read themselves". No they don't. Books don't read themselves, you have to read the books.
Sorry, I don't see what that analogy has to do with anything. We're talking about planning ahead in video games in case you forgot.
None of those games genres revolve around forward planning... You can't just list game genres and claim that's evidence... you need to give examples of mechanics that require planning ahead.
Anything that has a notion of planning into the future or of non-repetitive gameplay (i.e. every single game in existence) enters in that category
Ok, so it should be very very easy for you to list literally one game that features a mechanic that requires you to plan ahead and then execute those plans in order to beat the game. So far you've failed to do so.
ADHD isn't caused by your environment. You're born with it.
Ok. Not sure why you felt the need to say that, but ok.
What if you have no physician and can't afford therapy? I've been struggling with mental issues for years and still don't know what to do about it. I've been making slow progress for a while now but there's only so much I can do without help.
I can't really recommend anything outside that. Prescriptions cost money and when it comes to Adderall, you can only get a month supply at any time so it requires regular doctor visits
I think your only option then is finding a social worker, they should be able to help you out or tell you where to go and what hoops you need to jump through to get your stuff covered when you're poor. Good luck, you should be able to get some help, I believe there's money earmarked in all state budgets for stuff like this, but I've personally never tried the system.
This pretty much describes me. Got diagnosed and tried Adderall XR, regular adderall and now Vyvanse. Vyvanse seems to work the best because I could feel the addiction quickly building on the Adderall, even the XR. The immediate "burst" of "omg i can get shit done" is great but something about it felt very unhealthy. Vyvanse isn't really like that, it also has, for me, very little of the over the top energy. I just get going and get stuff done more regularly and find myself drinking substantially less caffeine.
I started work full time almost 5 months ago and the amount of caffeine I have consumed is probably unhealthy. Being at school I managed to get by because I could extend assignments out weeks but in the working world deadlines are usually next day. So to get motivated I need some kind of kick like caffeine.
I saw a school psychologist for a couple sessions and she said I have the signs of ADHD but I should get tested. Well I have never gotten the motivation to get tested so here I am, still crushing 6-7 coffees a day.
It took nearly getting divorced and not being the father I needed to be to my twin babies to finally go get diagnosed. I don't think I have it as severe as some people to have made it as long as I did and be fairly successful at work. If I had a deadline where it was my ass on the line I would find a way to get it done, even with procrastination still mixed in.
Either way, I will say the meds only help as much as you let them. My ADD is nearly fully controlled if I have good sleep + meds. I find sleep to be crucial, beyond to obvious.
I've tried friend's Adderall and Vyvanse before and I got things like I had never done before. It felt like the motivator in my brain was finally unlocked and couldn't believe how easy it was to do the simplest things. I just don't want that to come across as me having "abused" drugs before.
I took Vyvanse and I hit euphoria. I was the happiest I've ever been and would not stop talking to myself because I had no one else to talk to. I got so much shit done that when I came back down i threw out the rest of the pills. That feeling is dangerous.
I read once that this is why antidepressants can cause someone to commit suicide. Part of depression is a lack of motivation to do anything. For some people, the drugs bring the motivation back before they get rid of the desire to commit suicide.
Find a mental health psychiatrist near you and just schedule and appointment if you have the means to do so. Mention as much as you want to them, they're there to help you, not judge you. After you describe your feelings and problems, if you feel like saying "I tried a friend's Vyvanse once and It really did seem to help" and you can quantify X, Y and Z things in your life that really seemed demonstrably better it may be valid input.
I have been meaning to make an appointment and have a litany of problems in my life (both past and present) that stem from my inability to just get things done.
I mean I still haven't created an account with the electric company for my apartment after two months and it was supposed to be done when I moved in. Work is getting increasingly difficult because I'm letting deadlines slide, and never mind I barely graduated with a 2.091 in my major (minimum 2.0 to graduate) because I chose the hardest major that requires the ability to get hours and hours of work done a day.
Sounds like you're afraid of what may or may not be found out and you're upset, but comfortable with the way things are right now because it's the world you know and have come to accept.
Reaction rate? Reaction time you mean? Like how quick you can see and shoot somebody while playing BF1? Or how quick you reach to getting hit in the arm?
That has nothing to do with ADHD or impulsiveness. You just have good reaction time and a lot of it probably comes from playing FPS/high intensity action games from childhood.
As in part of the adhd testing they had me take was measuring the time between something appearing on a computer screen and me pressing a button. Another part of the test was the accuracy (don't press when you see this, only press when you see this). Tested well above average for reaction time but "failed" the accuracy portion. Whether that has to do with gaming or not is just a connection I made to explain it for this post so it doesn't sound like I'm bragging about something that has no effect on my day to day life.
It's a common myth that hyper activity is the hallmark symptom of ADHD. While it is a good indicator there are plenty without this symptom but a slew of others. There's a subtype specifically for this type (Inattentive).
I'm the Combined type so I have a bit of both. I still doubt my diagnosis every occasionally but it does explain alot of who I am.
so i've actually gotten adderoll near the end of last year, but it really hasn't helped, but at this point I can't tell if it's just due to the world and current events constantly distracting me, or me distracting me. I can't go radio silent on news, I know I can't do shit about any of it but if I ignore it I feel like i'm just contributing to the problem. It's incredibly hard to focus on anything long term at this point cause it just seems like things will be changing so massively in the near future that any plans are pointless. all the drugs end up doing is help me focus more on reading stuff that continues the anxiety circle of not doing anything. But i've got a job that is simple and pays enough for now, I have savings and no debt, it's so hard to panic about my personal situation since no one depends on me
Sorry for late login. How are you doing now? I identify a lot with what you're talking about. When you find the right meds they should make you feel like the driver in your life, not the passenger. That means that they should give you the opportunity to control your actions. (Not a medical professional, just my understanding)
For me, what needs to happen is I have to set daily goals. Like, literally write them down. And be kind in the beginning. Just write down one or two things you want to get done that you might not otherwise do. Maybe write it down the evening before, so you have it prepared when the meds kick in the day after.
If that doesn't work maybe Adderall isn't for you, maybe it is. I'm on vyvanse and it's working really well for me. Haven't tried Adderall, it's heavily restricted here.
Most people with ADD love video games because they deal with intense react now behaviors that allow us to focus. people with ADD need the adrenaline of the moment of impending doom to get in gear and then they love it.
When I was diagnosed the doctor explained to me that the ability to get lost in an activity for hours at a time is not uncommon for people with ADHD, it's actually pretty typical. The thing is that for many people not much can actually get their attention enough to focus but once something finally does they'll be there with that thing for days at a time.
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u/[deleted] May 30 '17
what was your diagnoses? Cause I'm the same way, laid back, can sometimes get lost in games or shows for plenty of time, but with most things it's like people describe above, doesn't matter if i prepare, things are getting done at the last possible second, always, and they have to be emergencies