Comment by LinuxAmbulance
4 days ago
ADHD makes a mockery of working memory. The number of times I'll have to go back to see what the the fourth, fifth and sixth digit of a six digit sequence were is truly frustrating.
The article indicates that working memory can be improved though, going to have to give that a try.
> ADHD makes a mockery of working memory.
Honestly, I don't find I have much of a problem with working memory. Sure, my ability to recall a meaningless number several minutes later is absolutely terrible, but a handling an analysis or conversation about a complicated subject (complex is a different matter that relies on raw intelligence more than working memory) with lots of important detail seems to be easier for me, to the point where other people tap out with "information overload" when I'm moving along just fine.
Of course, executing a complicated process is a whole different matter, because the ADHD brain quickly loses interest and focuses on something else.
I took a properly administered IQ test as part of my ADHD diagnosis. It was eye opening.
All through the test I felt like I was crushing it. Spacial reasoning, pattern recognition, memory tasks. When the results came back I got 135 on spatial reasoning but 89 on processing speed and working memory.
Looking back on my life I realize I had always made up for limited working memory with systems, mnemonics and other techniques. When you've lived your whole life with a limitation you can have a huge blind spot. You've never known what it's like to have "normal" working memory.
It's really hard to tell to what extent I've developed techniques for dealing with limited working memory. I certainly don't use things like mnemonics or other common memory techniques you commonly hear about. Unlike most anyone else I know, note taking with a pen or pencil seems to actively reduce my working memory. If I hyperfocus, I can memorize decently long sequences of meaningless numbers, but it requires what I suspect is a lot more effort than it does for other people (I score about average on working memory, and that's very much how it feels it's going to go during the testing). Hyperfocus can compensate, but you pay a heavy price for it.
My working memory is also hopeless with context switching. If I'm juggling three contexts at once, odds are I will lose working memory of all three (or was it four? ;-).
When I look back at my life, I've absolutely had to compensate for all that, but most of the "compensation" is just acknowledging the limitations. Memorizing dates and times just isn't going to happen (add time blindness compounds the problem), names of people & places are going to be impossible, etc. The closest thing I have to a compensation technique is the crutch that is hyperfocus.
However, when it comes to information (i.e. data that has some kind of meaning), I seem to be able to do much better than most, to the point where people often remind me that I need to consider that everyone else isn't able to keep all that context in their head at once. I can't speed read, but I can digest material with complex subject matter, analyze complex problems, etc. just faster and seemingly more easily than a lot of people. Some of that is likely due to other factors, but working memory is definitely an asset.
I don't recall the exact numbers but I had a very similar experience, scoring very highly on spatial reasoning almost to the detriment of everything else.
I remember a close friend getting frustrated administering a working memory test on me. She couldn't believe how far removed from the norm my working memory capacity was given everything else she knew about me.
Well you're not just noticing the problem or you don't have ADHD because the working memory impairment is well documented and it's essentially THE symptom of ADHD.
What you say about being more easily distracted is a side effect of impaired working memory for example.
It's more complicated than that.
For me, executive disfunction is the most significant issue; and that compounds the problem of limited working memory by wasting it on irrelevant stimulus.
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Keep in mind that ADHD presents differently in different people. I, like a good chunk of people with the diagnosis, exhibit none of the hyperactivity symptoms.
ADD is the lack of serotonin in the frontal lobe. The best way I've heard it described: there is no motivation except to not die. In the worst parts of the disorder, even that isn't motivating.
I know it is over-diagnosed because high school and college kids want to to tweak legally. But it makes it harder for those of us that actually suffer with ADD
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Might still be worth trying, though!