I just thought of something. ADHD patients sometimes have a tendency to get addicted to everything, whether it be sports, TV, internet, or drugs. ADHD patients have a lot of enthusiasm for anything they run into that they like.

So wouldn't taking stimulants and treating ADHD remove this. If someone was a huge huge soccer lover due to ADHD, wouldn't his/her commitment to soccer drop upon treatment?

Anyone have any comments?

It's a bit of an overgeneralization to say that all ADHDers are 'addicted' be it sports, tv, etc. But I do agree with the sentiment that we're an enthuastic bunch :p

The ability to hyperfocus is a part of ADHD; that's just the nature of the beast so to speak. All the management in the world can't eliminate this quality. What management does it is it channels it so that the hyperfocus doesn't have any destructive qualities. So for me, I'm always on the internet. I suppose to some that might be considered an addiction, but I choose to channel my focus into this vs. shopping or something else potentially hazardous. I also try to keep it balance. It's not like I would neglect my responsiblites or relationships for the internet.

There's a bit of an misunderstanding with the term stimulant when it comes to ADHD medication. For ADHDers, stimulants don't speed up a mind that's already going a hundred miles a minute. Quite the opposite, it slows down our minds. Imagine a bunch of light beams all bouncing around, going in all kinds of direction. Medication brings all of these beams together, so that it's one solid steady beam.

So to answer the question, stimulants shouldn't put a damper on someone's ability to enjoy the soccer game. Instead it should enhance it making it more enjoyable because their mind isn't going in a hundread different directions. It's all on the game and what's going on.

NO it is not going to change your love for something. If you loved soccer before the meds you will still love soccer.

It's a bit of an overgeneralization to say that all ADHDers are 'addicted' be it sports, tv, etc. But I do agree with the sentiment that we're an enthuastic bunch :p

The ability to hyperfocus is a part of ADHD; that's just the nature of the beast so to speak. All the management in the world can't eliminate this quality. What management does it is it channels it so that the hyperfocus doesn't have any destructive qualities. So for me, I'm always on the internet. I suppose to some that might be considered an addiction, but I choose to channel my focus into this vs. shopping or something else potentially hazardous. I also try to keep it balance. It's not like I would neglect my responsiblites or relationships for the internet.

There's a bit of an misunderstanding with the term stimulant when it comes to ADHD medication. For ADHDers, stimulants don't speed up a mind that's already going a hundred miles a minute. Quite the opposite, it slows down our minds. Imagine a bunch of light beams all bouncing around, going in all kinds of direction. Medication brings all of these beams together, so that it's one solid steady beam.

So to answer the question, stimulants shouldn't put a damper on someone's ability to enjoy the soccer game. Instead it should enhance it making it more enjoyable because their mind isn't going in a hundread different directions. It's all on the game and what's going on.

NO it is not going to change your love for something. If you loved soccer before the meds you will still love soccer.

But part of the reason ADHDers love many things so enthusiastically is due to the ADHD itself, right? So wouldn't eliminating "a bunch of light beams all bouncing around, going in all kinds of direction" cut down this tendency?

I think the first question would be, what about ADHD patients causes more enthusiasm than the average, and how do ADHD medications affect this? I believe it had something to do with dopamine. ADHD patients have low levels of dopamine in some areas of the brain, and sudden enthusiasm about things/events increases dopamine levels. So the bottom line is, how do stimulants affect dopamine levels in the brain?

Firstly..meds are not a cure and you still have an ADHD mind.

Secondly..fanatical behaviour is not confined to AD/HD.

Thirdly..meds help me concentrate and now I get to watch the entire match.

There's much much more than simply changing dopamine levels (or norepinephrine etc) going on with meds and the mind.

when you eat chocolate, listen to music or any activity that gives you pleasure dopamine naturally releases from it's pocket and into your receptors. amphetamines actually look like dopamine molecules they not only trick your brain into thinking this activity ie chocolate is happening but release dopamine into the receptors at an intense rate.

- Christine

Amu,

You're probably not getting many responses because your question won't make sense to people on this board. No insult intended. But where did you get your ideas about adhd? I'm afraid you've got some incomplete ideas about adhd and how it affects people and incomplete ideas about what medications do for adhd'ers.

But part of the reason ADHDers love many things so enthusiastically is due to the ADHD itself, right? No. Loving many things enthusiastically has nothing to do with adhd. Some adhd'ers have a thousand interests, some have a few. The problem is that having adhd makes it difficult to enjoy or pursue to fulfillment however many interests you have.

If anything, adhd undermines our enthusiasm. There is a high rate of depression and anxiety among adhd'ers and depression zaps enthusiasm and interest. You might be confusing hyperactivity with having multiple interests.

So wouldn't eliminating "a bunch of light beams all bouncing around, going in all kinds of direction" cut down this tendency? Bouncing light beams are bouncing light beams. They are not interests. A hyperactive kid or an adult who can't bring his mind to focus is not engaging in multiple interests! They are actually engaging in no interests. That's the debilitating nature of adhd. Activities and hobbies require sustained attention over time. To the extent that someone is jumping from activity to activity, that is NOT an interest or an enthusiasm. That is simply jumping from activity to activity.

Analogy: If I'm out at a social party and I encounter 20 women and I just turn from one to the other and can't remember what I've said to any of them or any of their names and if when I'm talking to one, I'm thinking of the previous two, that is not a good time or a connection. (This guy is different from the non-adhd guy who may choose to not connect and choose to just keep turning his head. The adhd guy isn't really choosing.) In other words, talking to those 20 under the worst adhd conditions is NOT really talking to those 20. It just looks like the person is engaging those women. He's not because his mind is just out of control. He can't read body language or tone or voice or remember what they're saying or get any hint of their personality when they talk. He's disconnected.

Contrast that with the person who can hone in on say woman #4 because she's a great storyteller and she has similar interests to him. This person knows there are other women at the party and he may take note on them. He will learn that #5 is friends with #4 and that they in fact work together. He will focus in on a few people and try to speak more closely and intently with those with whom he has a connection. This person is having real conversations and connections. He's following conversations, understanding people's tones, reading their body language, noticing how they react to him. That's living. Contrast that with the person in the previous paragraph, that is not living at all.

That's the best I can do ...

For me, the big problem that led me to seak treatment was that I wasn't motivated to do the things that I enjoyed doing, let alone being able to get motivated enough to do things that were boring and mundane. It was greatly disturbing to be that I couldn't get going and complete the things that I loved doing, like my job, my work. I do enjoy doing my job, that's why I spent my whole life devoting my energies to learning and developing my skills. Treatment renewed my enthusiasm for my work, but it also gave me enough motivation/common sense/patience to get the mundane things done as well.

Don't think of it as anti-add. It's really not. It just seems to help me get more interested in things, and if anything it will make you MORE focused on things, not less. If you are taking too much you could be ok with staring at a wall blankly all day long and find it fascinating.

No.

Not really.

Without medication I tend to go into things 150% for the start, but tend to lose interest and move onto something else. Meds seem to help me stay on track and not veer off to something else.:)

I just thought of an interesting question: Are there any common symptoms of ADHD that stimulant medications don't improve at all?

No.

Not really.

Yes.

Really.

I've seen people do exactly that :rolleyes:

Broader context.

Do people get bored & complacent?

Yes.

Is there anything "negative" to getting ADHD treated?

No.

The risk factors for untreated ADHD are well documented & potentially devastating in scope & nature.


tc

mctavish23

(Robert)

Is there anything "negative" to getting ADHD treated?

No.

Interesting. I heard SOME have said that ADHD is actually a good thing and helps with multi-tasking, etc...

By the way, are you a professional psychologist by any chance? I've read some of your older posts and they seem to indicate this.

If anything ADHD has prevented me from doing things that I enjoy. I don't believe your ADHD "makes" you enthusiastic. Maybe being enthusiastic is just part of your unique personality. I don't understand why people think of ADHD as part of their personalities. I refuse to let ADHD define me. I am not an "ADHD-er". I am a person who just happens to have ADHD.

I havent noticed that my enthusiasm drops at all for my passions, it has altered them though....

Where I have a passion for writing, I can still do it, and I love doing it, it's a great outlet, and I get to vent, and noone gets hurt.

Where the change has came in, is im no longer my own worst enemy, so im not as critical about what I write. Im more apt now to keep something and post it rather than throwing it in the trash because i think 1 line is off...

another... my music.
i used to just get ****ed because I couldnt find that ONE note that completed what I thought was the perfect solo.... so again, i would throw the guitar down in frustration and forget about it...

Now, if I cant find it... there are other options... just slam the whammy bar, or throw in a harmonic, or maybe even a slide, ANY analog effect to take place of that note and keep the solo now. ( plus theres less damage done to my instruments now)

Thirdly..meds help me concentrate and now I get to watch the entire match.

i think this sums up how the meds help me, although footbal isnt my bag as such ...

Negatively...

I do notice myself sometimes becoming TOO involved in a project.
( sometimes thats not a bad thing, resilliance has overturned a MANY supreme court rulings..)


though, im unsure that the 3 or 4 days without sleep is worth it at times.

Amu,

I have NEVER heard of one single adhd person saying it helps with multi-tasking. Adhd'ers can't multi-task. To say that adhd helps people with multi-tasking is sort of like saying that having paralysis in all four limbs helps one run marathons.

You seem to be confusing the superficial aspects of running around without focus and either having multiple interests of engaging in multiple tasks. People who can multi-task are very organized. They can remember two or three things at one, can keep in their minds, 2 or 3 deadlines, calls they need to make etc. Doing that is simply impossible for most adhd people who have to get lots of help to do this or who, like me, have to really try to focus on one thing at a time.

Some adhd people say the condition helps them generate lots of ideas ... but throwing out ideas is not multi-tasking.

ADHD has several positive attributes, but multitasking (as the world knows it) is not one of them.

I am very good mechanically, understanding how something works, I figured out computers to a high, but random level of knowledge, and I am very passionate about the things I like.

ADHD multitasking is starting several things at once, and then not completing anything. All we can do is go back to the first thing and finish it, then the second, third and so on. That's not all that useful. I like to work on projects uninterrupted for extended periods of time. If I keep getting interrupted I get frustrated.

One thing that has happened with my work is that I get bored easily, and I am having trouble finding a job that I am interested in and will pay decently. In offices I start playing with the computer or browsing the net, mostly to relive boredom. Sitting still is a waste of time.

Negatively...

I do notice myself sometimes becoming TOO involved in a project.
( sometimes thats not a bad thing, resilliance has overturned a MANY supreme court rulings..)


though, im unsure that the 3 or 4 days without sleep is worth it at times.



Wait, I'm confused. Do you "notice [yourself] sometimes becoming TOO involved in a project" when you're ON medication?

Yes, so involved that if im not careful I'll shut other things out,... completely. nearly like an obsession. I have no concept of time, body, hunger, sleep dep, it all goes away and i just dont think "hyper-focus" explains the way i (can) get... I didnt say it happens all the time.

Without medication I tend to go into things 150% for the start, but tend to lose interest and move onto something else. Meds seem to help me stay on track and not veer off to something else.:)

Alright, the above seems to be caused by hyperfocus, impulsivity, and hyperactivity(easy boredom) combined.

I thought this would be linked to this behavior as well:
http://www.addforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=573487&postcount=16

But I think it might be caused by something else. Look at the following description:
http://www.addforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=624154&postcount=11

It would be consistent with my own description here:
And I can't hold any opinions of my own. When I debate with anyone, whatever they say gets into my head and those thoughts stay in my brain and take over my mind and I start believing them. So I get pushed around and influenced and persuaded extremely easily.

I asked one psychiatrist about this and he said yes, ADHD patients sometimes have an issue with being too open to different ideas, too easily change their convictions, and are too easily persuaded/influenced in what they believe (religion, politics, ethics, etc...).

Yes, so involved that if im not careful I'll shut other things out,... completely. nearly like an obsession. I have no concept of time, body, hunger, sleep dep, it all goes away and i just dont think "hyper-focus" explains the way i (can) get... I didnt say it happens all the time.

That's weird. Seems very similar to the hyperfocus that happens when one doesn't take the medication.

I dont get the hyperfocus people talk about without the meds.... usually im extremely scatterbrained. if im focusing on anything, its how scatterbrained I am without the meds.

Then that will lead to depression, will lead to apathy, and we just can't have that.

bear in mind, not everyone with ADD was dx'ed out of a DSM -IV.

I dont get the hyperfocus people talk about without the meds.... usually im extremely scatterbrained. if im focusing on anything, its how scatterbrained I am without the meds.

Ok, that's an abnormal reaction then. I think you need to try a different medication. You shouldn't be "extremely scatterbrained" with medication.

No no,... okay lets start over...

You are talking about Hyper focus without meds.
Im saying.... Ive never experienced hyper focus without meds... only scatterbrained thoughts...

and if ( without meds) im hyper focusing on ANYTHING, its the fact that I am scatterbrained.

amu_d,

Yes I am. I was diagnosed at age 22 in 1972=old

My diagnosis was Minimal Brain Damage.

Having just majored in Advanced Cheech & Chong I couldn't help but think:

"Man, maybe my parents were right about acid. Oh well, too late." lol

That was then etc

I don't practice on the net.

What I do try is to provide some perspective from the "Other side of the table."

The Forum has been one of my best sources of ongoing information.

The expertise in here is outstanding and I think I take away more than I bring.

tc&ty

Mctavish23

(Robert)