Comment by cybrexalpha
1 day ago
Ignore the advice of anyone who doesn't have ADHD, or a medical degree with a speciality in ADHD treatment. Anyone that tells you that you just need to try one "trick", a planner, a mindset change, default mode networks, "try sleeping more", whatever, can either never understand what it's like or is trying to sell you something. Or both. If someone neurotypical gives you advice, just smile and nod, and ignore it. If someone tells you ADHD is a "superpower" promptly ignore them. Unfortunately, this often applies to generalist doctors who don't specialise in ADHD.
The reality is that there is no single thing that will help. You'll have to try shit and see what works for you. What one person swears "fixed" them might do nothing for you.
That said, the one thing that is the most likely to work out is medication. Get yourself a diagnosis, try the meds, see if it helps. Caffeine is fine, but it's no substitute for the real stuff.
Well, if you didn't, you SHOULD try sleeping more. Like, do try to sleep for a whole day. No TV, no music, no mobile phone. Only go to bathroom and eat some quick to make meals, schedule away ALL chores. Everyone I know told me I should walk out more, be more active, but what REALLY helped me regain mental health when I had mental breakdown was a full day of sleeping.
Of course it won't help you just by itself, it's not the only trick you need, but please do try it.
> If someone neurotypical gives you advice, just smile and nod, and ignore it.
Neurotypicals gave me "do not sleep so much, go out in nature or do something". This advice is good for depression, not for ADHD.
> The reality is that there is no single thing that will help. You'll have to try shit and see what works for you. What one person swears "fixed" them might do nothing for you.
Yes, but you have to try different approaches. If you don't try all of them (including sleeping for a day) you won't know.
How often do you sleep for an entire day?
I did it only once, but it helped me a lot. Otherwise, there is too much to do. Doctor declared that I'm overworked several years ago, before I built a house and got a second job. YMMV.
And as great as it is, even the "real stuff" isn't a silver bullet. In my experience stimulants remove like 25-50% of the difficulty over the long term, depending on the day, which is extremely valuable but it's far from a cure.
Sorry, but this sounds straight up like “lock yourself up in echo chamber”. I don’t completely disagree that many things just don’t work, especially planners. Meds are just too easy to use, you basically buy yourself a “walking stick” and do nothing to learn walking by yourself. This is something a lazy/ADHD person would do, not a one willing to strengthen their mind.
At some point you become exhausted of self-managing in an environment that is not suited to how your mind works.
IME with the meds, the biggest benefit is not focus during its effective period, but the fact that I can still live my life properly afterwards. As in, I haven't had to spend all my day's willpower to stay on task with work, so I have more mental energy for the rest of my life.
You're arguing that meds are a crutch. Crutches are needed if you have a broken leg, or, in this case, a broken neural signalling system.
It's always nice to have the professional opinion of a psychiatrist over here. It's the first time I hear that "meds being too easy to use" is a drawback, coming from a professional, guess I've come addicted to my psychiatric ailments solely due to how easy the medication is to take, I mean, just a pop and a gulp and I'm the happiest person in the world, so much so that I stop trying completely to better myself!
Oh, how little I am learning to walk by myself. I would be running by now if I was unmedicated and about, the problem is that my mind is weak and I'm lazy. If only I had traded these woke mind virus pills for a stoicism book, or lifting metal, or 'detoxed', what a silly human I am. But I guess the weak and mentally strong, unlike yourself, can't do much about it but keep taking all this poison and remaining sheep. Please keep enlightening us with your knowledge and superiority.
They are an ADHD person. I don’t think we’re at the point in history any more where we leave people to deal with it alone - as with other chronic conditions like depression, sleep apnea, anxiety, obesity, and heart disease, where there are a wide variety of techniques, but with them alone you’ll still be left with a significantly impacted and less fulfilling life.
Don't bother. They know what's up, every ailment can be overpowered and "cured" with willpower. This person is clearly on another plane of "enlightenment", so to say.