First of all I have zero hopes of getting good advice here but who knows, maybe I'll hit gold with one gifted user.
I have actual ADD (not ADHD, just put that on the title because it's more known). Not the over diagnosed one, I have the real thing.
Doing normal daily chores is an immense struggle for me, and I can put off washing the dishes for months until all sorts of nasty organisms have grown and taken over the plates. I regularly miss appointments and am late to job/college despite having no excuse. Many would say this is laziness, but doing chores is just unbearable for me, like my brain is desperately begging for something entertaining.
And to prove it's not laziness, I can't even have fun with my hobbies. Playing video games, reading, hanging out with friends, all of that feels like a chore and I usually quit just a few minutes after starting, similarly to what I do with chores. My condition has been getting worse and nowadays the only few things that still keep me entertained is to browse Jow Forums with loud music (music really helps somehow) while occasionally trying to entertain myself with something else and quitting soon after.
Went to a psychiatrist. He doubted I had ADD and gave me antidepressants. I started having auditory hallucinations while taking them, it was terrible. I told my parents about this experience and my father said that he had Ritalin, the most popular medication. He borrowed me some pills. I took 10mg and it had no effect. Next day I took 20mg and once again no effect. So I just sort of lost hope with medications.
Once again I have no hopes of getting good advice here, but just in case, what do?
ADHD
adhd is the official name. add is in dsm4. add is no longer the name
But I don't feel hyperactive, in fact most people comment on how calm I am, or "lifeless" as some said.
At least that's my external appearance, deep inside my brain is constantly racing and I always take two hours to sleep, but my actions are definitely not hyperactive
I guess the mind being hyperactive counts? It also makes me extremely aware of my surroundings, which makes social situations shitty, and contributes to me getting distracted at work
I have those symptoms and the only thing that makes me feel good is getting outside my comfort zone.
Yes, new experiences can be entertaining at the beginning, but as soon as you get used to it your ADHD riddlen brain will throw it in the garbage
With the exception of like 2 or 3 things you can hyperfocus at
If you are able to afford more appointments and/or trying different medications I would recommend that. Also going to another psychiatrist and getting a second opinion might help you figure out what's going on.
From what I've read there is 7 or so different types of AD/HD and you might need an fMRI to figure out which one you have. For some types the classic medications won't work and you might need something else. If that Ritalin was really old it could have lost some potency also.
My boyfriend has ADHD and since we've moved a fair bit recently he's had to get his Focalin generic from different pharmacies and some of them seem to have slightly different formulas that really change how it affects him. He also tried a bunch of other ADHD medications before he settled on this one because they didn't work well for him.
My one other recommendation might be to get a full blood panel done just to make sure nothing else is going on.
Good luck user
>Implying they don't just stop paying attention after a or d.
What anime is this from? Looks lit
You should try a higher dose of medication. I had to go to 50 mg of Ritalin to feel any effects.
So just move onto something else once it becomes boring
That's 'The Daily Lives of High School Boys' and--believe me, it is.
It's now been seven years since it first aired and I still can't get it out of my mind. It's a damn shame it'll never get a second season.
Despite having a fair amount of raunchy humor, it had a wholesome feeling to it.
I know it best for making me laugh in a way that no other Japanese comedy has ever matched.
>I have actual ADD (not ADHD, just put that on the title because it's more known). Not the over diagnosed one, I have the real thing.
It's the same thing. ADD was incorporated into ADHD as ADHD inattentive type. It doesn't make your ADHD (or anybody else's) any less real. I have ADHD combined type (meaning i have a mix of hyperactive and inattentive symptoms) but I'm a 21 year old woman so I'm the least overdiagnosed population.
>Doing normal daily chores is an immense struggle for me, and I can put off washing the dishes for months until all sorts of nasty organisms have grown and taken over the plates. I regularly miss appointments and am late to job/college despite having no excuse. Many would say this is laziness, but doing chores is just unbearable for me, like my brain is desperately begging for something entertaining.
It's a struggle yes.
>Went to a psychiatrist. He doubted I had ADD and gave me antidepressants.
Complete lack of motivation is more typical of depression than ADHD. You tend to be able to still do things you enjoy with ADHD, ie 3 months ago I could play video games and do work on my dissertation because i love them both dearly, but I dumped my boyfriend a bit ago so I'm in a depressive episode with 0 motivation. ADHD symptoms come primarily from a deficit in executive functions (planning, executing complex tasks, self regulation). Are you able to do things when there are deadlines that are hours away? Like oops i put off this thing for so long i have to spend the next 10 hours reading and writing assignments for classes because you kept thinking 'its not immediately pressing so i will put it into the not-now category). Do you try really hard to pay attention to people speaking but have such an issue with distractions that you end up missing chunks of conversations FOR EVERY CONVERSATION. I kinda agree that you're depressed, taking ritalin and nothing happening isn't what's supposed to happen, with add/adhd. You can have both tho
Will eventually try more medications, but I'd really like to avoid that. They are extremely expensive in my country and all of them seem to have bad side effects. Brain medication is just awful to take and best avoid all in all. I wish there were more behavioral tricks. For example, something that helped a lot was to just do things instead of imagining what I would have to do in order to execute them perfectly. Instead of letting dishes sit for months because I don't want to wash everything in one sitting, I'll just force myself to half assedly wash 1/4th of it daily, and over the course of one week it's all clean even if I keep quitting halfway through. This applies to virtually anything and is a life changing trick.
I definitely don't have depression. Never in my life could I even imagine what depression was like before taking the antidepressants my doctor prescribed, which gave me auditory hallucinations and as result made me feel shitty and have suicidal thoughts. Fuck SSRIs. I can understand how taking them might be worth it for someone extremely depressed since it's a softer form of suffering, but fuck taking it when you are not literally about to pull the trigger, the side effects are the manifestation of hell and definitely not worth it
>I definitely don't have depression.
Why?
>Never in my life could I even imagine what depression was like before taking the antidepressants my doctor prescribed, which gave me auditory hallucinations and as result made me feel shitty and have suicidal thoughts.
That's unfortunately really common even in people with depression. Especially in people with depression, actually.
>Fuck SSRIs. I can understand how taking them might be worth it for someone extremely depressed since it's a softer form of suffering, but fuck taking it when you are not literally about to pull the trigger, the side effects are the manifestation of hell and definitely not worth it
I agree. Ask your doc about an atypical antidepressant. Wellbutrin does most of the same things as ritalin.
What makes you think you have ADD/ADHD besides not being able to do things/needing to be entertained? Typically the problems lessen with age because individuals develop coping mechanisms and your neurodevelopmental deficits become less pronounced. What you're describing sounds to me like a depressive episode, or maybe substance abuse. You haven't been abusing cocaine, meth, adderall, ritalin, etc. have you?
your official diagnosis would now be ADHD Type I (Inattentive). It used to be known as ADD. Go find a psychiatrist that specializes in ADHD and get screened for it. If you already have an official diagnosis then ask for ADHD meds. The first prescription may not work so you need to act fast. Medication can change your life
Not him, but it irks me they unified it to ADHD instead of ADD. Why not just call it ADD and include Type II (Hyperactive)?
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. You can have one, the other, or both. ADHD is a misnomer for the condition anyways, and the hyperactivity/inattention are surface level symptoms of a neurodevelopmental disorder. It's better classified as an executive function disorder or self regulatory executive function disorder.
Not only namefagging, but also avatarfagging
Sasuga alphonse
Anything to be done other than medicaton? It's very expensive and most are illegal in my country. Though I am still going to give it a shot.
I just want to get the damn chores done, and to wake up in less than 1 hour
user you don't understand. I have slight blurred speech when not focusing hard on each syllabe, for example, which is a common symptom in people with real ADHD because it's a side effect of dopamine deficit and can be reliably reproduced by artifically inducing a deficit in otherwise healthy people. I have very poor working memory and lose motivation to do activities easily, except one or two I obsess over with. Despite all my shortcomings I'm a happy person, I never cry nor feel any inclination to, in fact I'm always radiant with cherfulness, it's just that whenever I remember my chores piling up I feel angry at myself. Like I'm an undisciplined idiot.
I myself do have some kind of ADHD (don't even know which type honestly) and I'm fine. My personal experience with psychotherapists is they don't help much. I've been also advised to take some brain fucking pills and even though my parents tried hard getting them into me I refused. I didn't feel the need for something like that. Also I had a friend who was actively taking them and he was unable to function properly. He was drinking a lot of crappy energy drinks just because he felt a bit more normal that way.
I am a happy person and I don't feel like I am in need of some help. Yeah, I might have a few disadvantages, but then again, life isn't fair.
I do this too! Not to push you towards medication, but ritalin did fuck all for me, while 27mg Concerta has basically saved my fucking life. It doesn't have a pronounced feeling, but I'm able to select tasks and actually do them when I'm taking it. Have neuroanatomical deficiencies doesn't make you an idiot- set up your working memory externally. Alarms, notebooks, bulletin boards, sticky notes, and a person who can remind you are all important if you want to actually get shit done. A motivational framework does a lot for me.
For dishes--do one per day.
Do this until doing one dish is no trouble.
Then, do two dishes in a given day.
Do this until doing two dishes is no trouble.
When doing two dishes is no big deal--do three, (+1) or four (x2). This is your choice--to either add one dish to the amount of dishes done in a single go, or to double it.
Follow this pattern until your mind is of a state of 'It is not difficult to do some dishes' to 'It is not difficult to do the dishes.'
Over time, slowly, this state of mind will transform from 'It is difficult to do some chores' to 'It is not difficult to do some chores,' to 'It is easy to do some chores' until finally--perhaps with some time and patience with yourself--you arrive at the much desired state of 'It is easy to do the chores.'
Very slight changes, gradually applied over time, is how we get evolution.
For me I just have to do it immediately and hyper focus that. Doesn’t work everytime but it works enough for me.
>dumped my boyfriedn so I’m in a depressive episode
How so? Wouldn’t you be happier if you’d did the dumping? Did you have to dump him because of something he did?
This is precisely the kind of gimmick that might just work, I'll try that, thanks
So can I apply this to other things in life? How would this work in social situations, cause I feel like saying hi and nothing else until you’re happy saying hi would lose you a lot of friends lol
>How so? Wouldn’t you be happier if you’d did the dumping?
You're still losing habits and a connection with another person. It's not like my love for him suddenly died, just the relationship just became toxic and codependent and unhealthy for both of us and there was too much distance. I don't hate him, he was my best friend before bf.
>Did you have to dump him because of something he did?
A lot of things. A year ago I gave him the option, move in with him and I can finish school over there (cause he moved away), or have me finish school here and move after (but he has to be way more present/emotionally available/put in more effort, etc.) For a year I put up with/tried to fix all the things that erased closeness (a lack of intimacy, he stopped flirting with me, limited visits with each other, he would have so many hours and hours of video games but he never wanted to call and skype/facetime, etc.) Eventually, I said enough and said that we're through cause it was like unbearable. I'm not going to put up with a boyfriend who won't even try to flirt with me. Like i'll literally spend a whole week trying everything subtle and explicit to tell him 'hey, i'm horny, do something with me' and he'll just like half acknowledge it, say 'slut' in this half-assed seductive, but ultimately indifferent voice and go back to playing mordhau or whatever flavor of the month shit he plays and it was just not something Im willing to put up with for 2 and a half more years. Like I talked about this with him at least 3 or 4 other times over the last years together, and I finally had enough, I was getting resentful even though I loved him so we decided to take a break, but calling it a 'break' left too much emotional baggage and it was either he's with me or he's not, i'm not going to put up with being strung along, so I told him we're done and that if he really wants to get back together it's 100% on him to get that ball rolling once we both grow up a little.
Sounds like you really are seriously depressed and haven't found the right therapist yet. Living in filth is a mental illness and not from attention problems. Good luck on your journey though
not op, but what should I be looking for in a therapist?
It's not just about attention. ADHD is the lack of dopamine which is what gives you motivation and patience to do boring chores. Someone with ADHD can easily skip chores, get late for everything and take 1 hour to wake up despite not being depressed.
One that you connect with and doesn't agree with everything you say just for a insurance payment
I get what you are saying, but living in a fuckin science experiment is beyond dude's problems he listed
You don't know what ADHD is like. Letting dishes get to that state is something all sorts of people do, even those without ADHD. Of course they hide that fact in their daily lives since it would reflect badly on their image.
try nicotine lozenges. I'm not on meds yet and they help pretty well. buy 4mg nicorrette and cut them into 4ths, then try just one fourth before working your way up. don't do more than 8mg a day and dose yourself. I'm the guy that you replied to btw, sorry for the late reply
Do you have a hard time saying "quarters"? Jesus H
This is why public beating of children by parents and teachers should be allowed
I have ADHD. I had a lot of the sams problems. Since I started taking Adderall it has really helped me. It makes me very motivated to do things. I have a very stressfull job and it really helps me get everything done. It just makes me focused and it also puts me in a really good mood. When you first start taking it you will get a sense of euphoria so watch what you say especially in emails. Also I curbs my appetite a lot so I always ear beforehand. When I first started taking it I got small headaches but I dont get them anymore. Basically all the bad side effects stopped after my body got used to the medication. I only take it when I go to work for the most part. I am married now with a son because I got off my ass and made myself meet people. Adderall wored for me. Good luck