Does anyone hyperfocus? Some say those with A.D.D have a tendency to hyperfocus. For example I am beginning to find that when I am videotaping things on assignment for the news, that when I videotape things I am so focused on the moment to the point where I am videotaping things from all angles, holding the shots long enough and putting a large effort into getting the best video to edit. On simple assignments I am finding that I am videotaping almost too much video because I am so focused. In a very face paced buisiness, I am finding that patience, staying cool, persistance and staying on your feet is what wins. Anyone else hyperfocusing on the job?

:D

Yes...I have....when under pressure...and something -- a task -- HAS to get done....even if there is TONS of noise around me....I'm able to drown it all out...and hyperfocus...it's an incredible coping mechanism of ADD'ers..sometimes it feels like the only option when you feel like your in the sink or swim situation...like autopilot...incidentally, your from Binghamton New York? Not to get off subject..:) Very pretty up there, right? Near catskill mountains...?? I believe I was up that way once upon a time...Anyway, is this hyperfocusing this working for you?:)

Yep. As I commented on this in another discussion string on this subject, I find that sometimes the only way I can get a complicated, or complex (or distastful) task is by hyperfocusing.

I find that it is an asset on those types of tasks, but can interfere in situations where I am expected to multi-task. In those situations like that, my challenge is to find balance between hyperfocus and multi-tasking.

Yes! I will find myself hyperfocused on something...often something standing in the way of me doing what I actually should be doing. But in general...I think it is because I can see things from so many different angles at the same time, that I find myself exploring every aspect of something others might see as uni-demensional. I could go on and on about this, but I'd better stop or I might hyperfocus and write a novel:)

Yesss. All the time...and most often it is not work related when things are slow or boring...I am in the middle of a big Hyperfocus that has been going on for days...cruising the online ADD forums...gotta go get back to some FUN Reports!!

One time I stayed glued to the TV literally unable to make myself get up, just flipping though the channels thinking "there will be something I like on soon"
I think it was close to 3 hours before my medication started weakening that i could make myself get up.
A lot of times when i was helping in a construction project, I concentrated on too much detail and got very little done , but it was near flawless.

This has totally happended to me in the past, and will happen again if I am not careful. One of the benefits of being on an ADD medication is that it allows you to conecentrate with much less effort than was was originally needed to even follow a 3 sentance paragraph.

However, remember that being on medication can allow you to concentrate on ANYTHING- event the TV, or a piece of wallpaper pealing off the kitchen wall. At the same time, many ADD medications diminish anxiety feelings,and allow you to drift into focust thought about, well, anything.

The only way to avoid this "hyperfocusing," is to know when it is happening and to literally put your feet on the ground, stand up, get a glass of water, and do something else. While this will not be your first choice during an episode, I promise that once you do it, you will find that you are able to shift your focus to whatever you wish with ease. The key thing to do is to recognize when it is happening. A good way is by paying attention to the passing of time. I still fight this problem on occasion, so if anyone else has any advice, please let me know, however, so far the best thing is to, all at once, remove my self physically from the situation and move onto something new. - if it's a particular project (or posting on the internet) that you are hyperfocusing on, then perhaps set an alarm or pay close attention to the clock at the lower corner of your screen.

Ok, I'm hyperfocusing now, so I will refrain from fixing all the spelling an gramatical mistakes I made above!

Great suggestions NScott...not easy.....but certainly do-able....

And me too...I've been on here way too long this morning and need to get off...problem is I really like your post here and want to read it again......and again......so now I will refrain....thanks for a great post:)

I do this ALL the time.

I especially do it when I am being competitive. If I am playing chess or Magic, I tunnel vision out everything but me, the game, and the opponent, and I actually get VERY irritated if anyone else tries to get my attention away from what I am doing.

I hear you on the TV as well. Have any of you ever been trapped by music? If my favourite song is on the radio, I have sometimes been forced to stand there and wait for it to end before I could walk away... :D :D :D

I hyperfocus all the time to but its a good thing. For work, it allows me to finish a large amount of sections on a road project without being distracted. It allows me to be completely involved with a movie thus not worrying about things.

I agree it is a very useful talent. I would not give it up if I could.

Originally posted by Paul S
Have any of you ever been trapped by music? If my favourite song is on the radio, I have sometimes been forced to stand there and wait for it to end before I could walk away...

Not being able to get out of my truck until a song has ended.

In spite of the problems of hyperfocusing, I have to agree that I am able to accomplish complicated programming or write with intensity, and I wouldn't give up the talent for the world.

Cary

Been there, done that OFTEN with the music thing, especially if the song touches a chord in my soul, whether it's because of the words or the beat or whatever.

I admit I tend to hyperfocus on things that are bothering me at the time I realize I'm hyperfocusing on them. Frustrating habit, but awareness/admitting I have this problem is the first step, right?

Originally posted by Paul S
I actually get VERY irritated if anyone else tries to get my attention away from what I am doing.
It's like a runaway freight train--it's hard to get it going again once it's stopped. I do this all the time too, whether I want to or not. Luckily, my job has periods where I'm just working on one project, and I can lose myself in it for hours without (much) interruption. I'm very productive in that state, and I think it's a VERY positive thing about having ADD. The challenge is turning it off.

That said, when I get home, my brain sometimes feels like it's out of gas, and I just want to veg in front of the TV for a little while until I can regain some mental energy. Of course, that's when my wife wants to talk about the day or whatever. We both get frustrated for obvious reasons.

Originally posted by tiggwin
That said, when I get home, my brain sometimes feels like it's out of gas, and I just want to veg in front of the TV for a little while until I can regain some mental energy. Of course, that's when my wife wants to talk about the day or whatever. We both get frustrated for obvious reasons.

Gimme a HELL, YEAH!

Sometimes, even if I've had a relatively relaxed day at work, the trip home (1/2 hour by bicycle typically) does this to me! :( :( :(

Reading through different add forums I have found the term hyperfocus is used in two distinctly different contexts.

The first is a relatively passive state where the hyperfocus takes its thinker on a ride down a pathway that wasn't necassarily consciosly or specificly intended by the thinker. They may think about think about something they would like to do, interested in etc... May still use tools such as paper or pc to illustrate and research etc. Sometimes happens when they should be doing something else so its sometimes being used as a distractraction or procrastinating.

The other is an intense and deliberate state where the hyperfocuser is in complete control. They don't lose sight of their objective and can't be accused of avoiding what they intended to do ie: they're focused on the real task at hand. They are fully aware of time, deadlines and other tasks not to be overlooked. They feel exhilerated yet are mentally and physically drained by the experience.

These are only my interpretation of the contexts in which the term was used. If anyone can tell me if its one of these or something completely different I would be thankfull. Also is it a positive or negative attribute? What are the ins and outs. Also can one intentionally go into this state at will? If so how? All Ideas are welcome.

I don't know if I make much of a distinction between the two, except that one is intentional and the other is not.

I think it is a very positive attribute. As a hyperfocused chess player, I can defeat a more generalized thinker any day... only against another hyperfocused one am I challenged.

Essentially, it is the ADD brain taking a rare moment to stay focused on one subject to the exclusion of all others. Therefore, it MUST be a subject that stimulates you in some way.

Hyperfocused ADDers can accomplish the most amazing things humankind is capable of.

I feel it is both

and how you explained it works for me as I have experenced both

Hyperfoucused dreaming and hyperfocused task orentation


is it positive or negative

I think it could be either

focused on a task at hand or foucused on a negative emotion that you just cant shake

Everything I thought was hyperfocus (for me) is now considered OCD now that I have that label too. Now I'm just confused.

Actually i agree with your confusion.
I don't think the terms "focus" and " concentration"
are well defined or distinguished.
By the time "hyperfocus" comes along,
I'm really lost as to what is meant except Intense or narrowly focused,
which are not the same to me!

Sounds like there is a little confusion allround.

I am certain there is a distinct difference between "hyperfocus dreaming" and "hyperfocus task orientation" as Garry aptly put it. Is there a medical definition out there some where can give a clear understanding of hyperfocus in the context of add.

I've experienced both, but unfortunately one considerably more often than the other. I have on very rare occasion enjoyed the exhileration and results of the task oriented version and would love to learn use this skill on demand.

Untill then like Tudorose I'm just confused!

Hi Wheel,

If hyperfocus means: an intense narrow focus to the exclusion of everything else, then does that mean that we're all Asperger's?

Originally posted by tudorose
Hi Wheel,

If hyperfocus means: an intense narrow focus to the exclusion of everything else, then does that mean that we're all Asperger's?

That would be a question better asked of McT...

From my systematics classes I'd have to say that it really depends what standard you are using to define your terms...

Medical diagnostic... not at all...
Simple symptomology... maybe
Functionally... how would we know yet?
Abstract conceptually... SURE you've made the connection, and as far as it goes it is a match.

Is Aspergers just "doing a normal thing outside its common context" or is it doing an abnormal thing frequently?

:) :) :)

Hyperfocus dreaming

(For me -- my explanation )

Is my ability to pick a random thought that pops into my mind and bend and shape the way the dream thought goes, to whatever suits the way I feel.

Most dream thoughts are just silly things that dont deserve any mention and quite often have no real meaning to them but some can turn into a Tangable reality , ie. I look at an old room and see a computer room with a 32 foot desk and dream decide to make it a reality

My Old Workshop
http://www3.sympatico.ca/garrylawton/Computer/DSC01826.JPG

******** Plus My Day Dream *********


The Stage its at now
http://www3.sympatico.ca/garrylawton/Computer/DSC02335.JPG



All pictures aong the way
http://www3.sympatico.ca/garrylawton/Computer/


The hyperfoucus on the dream gave me the abillity to turn the thought into a reality of which my hyperfocus on the task at hand gave me the abillity to build the room by myself with the exception of some help from my family in putting the counter in place and painting and to accomplish this in about 3 weeks along with working at my job and doing family things

for about $1000

500 for counter top
200 for paint
300 for various supplies and taxes (2x4's, drywall, mud,wire, ect)



Waiting to put the new furnace ductwork in before I do the celing

Here's a couple of links to previous threads that discuss hyperfocusing....

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=764

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1128

I think both are the same thing, but one is internal (thoughts) and the other external (activities).

I'm one of those who think that people with AD/HD can experience "flow" situations much more easily than non-AD/HDs (ref. Czikszentmihalyi, although I disagree with his comment that people with "attentional deficits" can't experience flow).

Ken

Originally posted by vinceptor
I think both are the same thing, but one is internal (thoughts) and the other external (activities).

I'm one of those who think that people with AD/HD can experience "flow" situations much more easily than non-AD/HDs (ref. Czikszentmihalyi, although I disagree with his comment that people with "attentional deficits" can't experience flow).

Ken

Could semantics be throwing us off here?

ADHD live only in the present with a very artificial and forced construct of future and past. Sometimes it passes for good enough, but i think it is testable that it is different and not as robust.

some who define flow may be looking into a larger scope than the ADHD can directly perceive.

I hyperfocus but for me its not a controlled thing as with most ADD things its inconsistent. There are days or events I find myself hyperfocusing but to be honest its only 75%. There are days when it just doesn't happen. Factors like emotions, sleep, and caffeine play a part in it. But honestly, I find I hyperfocus only at work, home is too caotic. My two cents :)

Originally posted by Wheel1975


Could semantics be throwing us off here?

.....

some who define flow may be looking into a larger scope than the ADHD can directly perceive.

OK, semantics time....

1) On page 4 of my paperback copy of "Flow", I read....

"flow -- the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it."

I can unequivocally say that I have experienced this state of being, and more than once. These same experiences also remind me of the numerous testaments by AD/HDs I have read (and heard) about "hyperfocus". I am unequivocally AD/HD (Combined Type). I can't believe there is a "larger scope than people with AD/HD can perceive". Sorry.

2) I think the semantics issue hangs on the label, "attention deficit". In this case, it seems to be as misleading as the older label "brain damage". The deficit (IMHO), seems to be in the ability of an authority figure to readily capture and hold the attention of some distractible person with AD/HD, rather than some lack of "bandwidth" that therefore prevents him/her from paying attention to *anything*.

3) If there is any "deficit" involved, it probably regards any AD/HD-related diffictulty in training up to inducing flow at will, which is the apparent self-help goal in Czikszentmihalyi's book.


Ken

Originally posted by vinceptor


OK, semantics time....

1) On page 4 of my paperback copy of

"flow -- the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it."

I can unequivocally say that I have experienced this state of being, and more than once. These same experiences also remind me of the numerous testaments by AD/HDs I have read (and heard) about "hyperfocus". I am unequivocally AD/HD (Combined Type). I can't believe there is a "larger scope than people with AD/HD can perceive". Sorry.

"bandwidth" that therefore prevents him/her from paying attention to *anything*.

3) If there is any "deficit" involved, it probably regards any AD/HD-related diffictulty in training up to inducing flow at will, which is the apparent self-help goal in Czikszentmihalyi's book.


Ken


Ken, thanks for the direct repsonse.

If i may attempt to be more clear about my original intention...

Time flow, not the flow or "in the zone" experience, is testably impaired in people with ADHD. Thus, the "critism" of scope is not scope of bandwidth, here, but duration of time held as "present." The "present" is a finer grain (smaller unit measured in seconds) than "normal people."

Time tracking is implicated in the memory problems of ADHD.

3) IMHO, attention for the ADHD is directed by an external locus of control, rather than internal, period.

Attempts to spit into the wind work in as much as internal efforts can virtualize an external control. When true internal control is required alone, and not "imposed" by drastic external consequences, there is evidently no internal control.

This is also demonstrated in the different profile of ability with respect to situational recall vs. nominal recall.

Oh. i can ALWAYS control hyperfocus. All i have to do is THE MOST INTERESTNG THING I CAN IMAGINE DOING. i'm there. Every time. How about you?

Originally posted by Bucky
Reading through different add forums I have found the term hyperfocus is used in two distinctly different contexts.

The first is a relatively passive state where the hyperfocus takes its thinker on a ride down a pathway that wasn't necassarily consciosly or specificly intended by the thinker. They may think about think about something they would like to do, interested in etc... May still use tools such as paper or pc to illustrate and research etc. Sometimes happens when they should be doing something else so its sometimes being used as a distractraction or procrastinating.it a positive or negative attribute? ...
Isn't this more like an inattentive state (liek daydreaming)? You don't have to be focussed on ANYTHING to be "zonked out" or to blank out the rest of the world.

I know both states you describe, one I get at work a lot when I'm supposed to be doing something and then just sit & stare or when I'm walking to the bus stop, waiting for th ebus, sitting on the bus or walking home, the other I get when I'm doing something I'm interested in or that I enjoy doing.

Obviously, a certain degree of inattention (for everything else) is always linked to hyperfocus, so I might just be talking cr@p :D

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/events/conscvideo.cfm

The presentation concerning dreaming i think applies to us when we get dragged off our target, against our will, like being drugged to sleep, or to day dream, etc.

Thanks for the direct response.

I'm curious about looking at publications about the "testable impairment" you mention. You do seem more informed on the subject.

I actually agree about "living in the present", as that is my own perception of my own existence prior to treatment. In fact, my standard response to anyone's doubtfulness about the effectiveness of medication (in my case Ritalin, after two false starts on other meds), is that my life (after 50 years) really began once I started the medication, because only then did I begin to experience the future as a reality, not a misty fog out of which things kept coming at me.

I think we agree about controlling AD/HD hyperfocus. That was my third point -- that people like us will have more difficulty inducing flow voluntarily for "uninteresting" (?) tasks.

But my hunch is still that however testable this impairment might be, that flow states are still achievable by people with AD/HD, and that, once learned, our hyperfocus abilities will make us excel.

IMHO ;)


Ken

Originally posted by vinceptor

I think we agree about controlling AD/HD hyperfocus. That was my third point -- that people like us will have more difficulty inducing flow voluntarily for "uninteresting" (?) tasks.

But my hunch is still that however testable this impairment might be, that flow states are still achievable by people with AD/HD, and that, once learned, our hyperfocus abilities will make us excel.

IMHO ;)


Ken

I believe that it is the deliberate control, not the ability or lack to be in the state that poses the problem in the first place.

Thus, until the problem is "fixed" "learning" to do it is specifically impossible, though doing it by accident remains likely!

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and will post an intro shortly, but I wanted to first ask a question that has been bothering me. Actually, it's a trait (symptom?) that I have, and was wondering if anyone here shares it.

I have topics that I obsess about. Will have one or two at a time and my interest in them lasts for two years or more, at which time they are replaced by another. I can't technically call them obsessions because they are enjoyable--enthralling and all-encompassing, actually--and obsessions are by definition unpleasant. I could talk about these topics for hours on end but have learned not to because it bores people.

Can anyone here relate?

Thanks

Hyper foucusing is one possible term

I am the same way when I am into something I enjoy

This describes my life to a T... :D

Same here, although my interest is usually more short-lived than that (up to a year, two max).

I've had so many hobbies in my time, I did self defense, woodwork, learnt Portuguese, learnt to play the guitar, joined YWCA, did swimming courses, cooking courses, shorthand courses, tap dancing but stopped all eventually due to getting bored or being unable to keep up with it.

I also had obsessions that I "got into" on my own accord and kept researching / talking about non-stop for a while, at 13 I was obsessed with Woody Allen films, then with the history of nuclear physics, then with going to America for an exchange year and so on.

My parents called these obsessions "farts" because they "evaporated" as quickly as they'd appeared :rolleyes:

So to any of you who can relate to my original post: what is your official diagnosis? I am officially diagnosed with ADD but wonder if this pattern of obsessive behavior is more akin to Asperger's Syndrome. Has that ever been mentioned as a possibility for any of you?

Thanks again.

What other Asperger Symptoms do you exhibit? Perhaps you "just" posess Obsessive traits a la OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

Other Asperger symptoms: many nonfunctional routines, social ineptitude (I am very socially isolated), toe walking and hand flapping when excited, rather flat expression and tone of voice (many people mistake me for depressed), sensory hypo and hypersensitivities, motor incoordination, problems with eye contact. Any one of these alone is meaningless, but together...who knows. I don't have any typical OCD-like symptoms, such as checking or handwashing. My "obsessions" are pleasant and engrossing, not sources of anxiety like the obsessions of OCD. I can't really relate to anything re: OCD.

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17804&highlight=experience+flow#post17804

Hyperfocus can be very helpful. The bad part though, is that we don't always hyperfocus on what needs to be done.

When I though I had ADD I hyperfucused for two days reading about it. When I started posting in the forums I hyperfocused in disorders. Now I think I have Schizoid too, and that a lot of people I know have disorders they don't even imagine XD; it lasted for one night and the morning of the next day. It has happened to me while working with flash, photoshop, etc. You know it's hyperfocus when you don't feel time passing by.

Hyperfocus can be very helpful. The bad part though, is that we don't always hyperfocus on what needs to be done.I wished I hyperfocused in my finals. When I don't know the answer to a problem I zone out. When I come back I don't have enough time to finish it. I hate that.

In accounting I have to be careful not to hyperfocus on finding $ .10, The challenge in going through all the transactions to find 10 cents is like detective work and I can get so caught up in it, if I am not careful.

Hyperfocusing is relaxing to me because I can shut out all other distractions that usually disrupt me.

Hyperfocus can be very helpful. The bad part though, is that we don't always hyperfocus on what needs to be done.


agreed . . . .

Yes, many times. For example, when I read very interesting book, or watch movie, play PC game etc., i don't see anything around me, my mind is litteraly attached to that matter... or when I daydream, and that happens often, I don't see or hear anything around me... but if somebody or something distract me in that point, it's very hard for me to hyperfocus again. That also happens when I have inspiration and write something(poem, short story), or when I learn something new, interesting to me! When I listen music... etc.

One time in school, I hyperfocused on drawing some funny picture so hard that, when teacher called me few times, I didn't respond... :D