I get into these loops or cycles where I go on sprees of repetitive addictive behavior. I have been diagnosed as OCD, and I fit the profile of ADHD-PI, so we'll say I am both.

I am taking Adderall now, and it is changing my life in many ways. But yesterday I went on another "spree" where I stayed in and looked at online personal ads/personal websites for probably like 8 hours straight. I NEVER follow through and actually meet any of the people I message, and it is a huge waste of time, but for some reason I keep doing it. I just zone out and go into this default mode.

I know I need to do this "in moderation" since i don't meet people, and I need to sort of find internet-based ways of meeting people. BUt i turn into this troll, and I'm only 22, so I feel liek I'm too young to be an internet troll. When I watch porn, it is usually for a constrianed amount of time, and I will stop as soon as I finish masturbating. But with this, there is not physical end and I literally just keep going until I am too tired.

Do you think I need to try new strategies (perhaps even new meds) to bettter internally regulate this behavior? Or do you think it I need new strategies for externally regulating. I am living alone for the first time, so I now have the "freedom" to do this. But I rreally need my privacy, and I am more productive living alone. SO it is a complex, intricate, and delicate myriad of factors. The adderall helps me do open ended or dynamic tasks, like homework, reading, researching, etc. I can't really say if it influences my loops in repetitive behaviors, since it preceded the adderall, but I'm sure some would say the adderall causes you to more vigilantly get stuck in these loops.

It's hard because I need my privacy, but I also need structure. In high school, I had no privacy or wiggle room, and I totally was stiffled in many ways and became depressed and started to rely on escape mechanisms even more. But now I have the room to explore my interests, however, I also do not have the 9-5 structure to do things, exercise, eat at a certain time, etc. I am hoping that in general, I am not "still" in a set of circumstances where I still need to rely on these escape mechanisms. I am hoping it is sort of "residual" or a "vestige" of earlier times, but that my reward circuits can be gradually modified over time, and I can learn to not be stimulated or rewarded by such narrow activities.

Like, I love and encourage myself to get lost in the internet researcher different things I am curious about and educating myself, but I hate when I get stuck in these loops and start obsessing or fixating on really narrow things (I do this with personal ads but also with other narrow escape niches; I havea hobby that is pretty narrow and sort of anti-social, but it is not sexual; so I am just saying mine extends beyond just being sexually aroused). It is silly because it is so repetitive, and I am not really dynamically challenging or stimulating my brain, but rather just repeating something over and over. I wouldn't even say that I am just thoroughly appreciating the naunce. The ironic thing about the personal ads is that the longer i look at them and waste my time being a creepy troll, the lower my stock gets! i shoudl just be out exercising or doing something more constructive, then I would have more romantic options anyway!

Help me!

I do similar stuff only its every day of my life. I spend massive amounts of time in irc chat channels and trolling around forums.

Eay To Get Distracted

It's discipline, and hard to stop. I've either set a timer or turn off the wireless connection. I used to be a professional software developer and could EASILY sit at my computer for 12 hours or more while working on a problem. This was before the internet. I was like a rat in a skinner box. There is something captivating about the action of pushing buttons and receiving some sort of gratification. (Hmm, sounds like the rat in the skinner box pushing buttons and getting stimulus in the brain).

I found the SSRI shelpful, as was going to an OCD support group.

The OCD groups may set you up to do some 'response blocking' or exposures. Try to set some restriction on either the length of time you do this, or waiting a few minutes before doing the OCD. This would mean setting a timer to restrict your time on the internet (Maybe to an hour at first, then reduce). OR to set a timer to set when you have an urge. Start the timer at 1 minute, then work up to an hour. The group asks that you allow yourself to experience your emotional feeling while you delay or curtain the action.


My OCD group also encourages things like saying "I'm wasting time on the internet" over and over while you are wasting time on the internet. (I was always obsessively EARLY, I was told to intentionally arrive a bit late to social events and say "I'm going to be late" over and over as I was driving).

The key to all these exposures is to find the behavior that is the least threatening and start working on that first.

For each behavior you want to change, you find a way to reduce or increase it in tiny increments.
Another strategy I found useful was to ask myself "What would a person without OCD do?" when I found myself cycling.

Other than that, I think the key to the OCD behaviors (for some of us) is that you have to first recognize you have a problem, then set out to find a way to chip away at it. Some of the behaviors are habits and may even be addictions; it's no easier to stop some than it is to quit smoking or any other dangerous addictive habit.

One step at a time.

The internet is the best and worst thing to ever happen to us adders. I find myself using it to procrastinate quite often cause im overwhelmed with starting stuff especially if i don't like to do it.

I keep trying to find the end of the internet! ;)

WOW I DO THE SAME THING. i get lost for hours on the internet over stupid porn/ wikipedia obsessions, and never get started on my work. its been getting progressivly worse and worse. i know i have a problem but cant seem to function very well if i am not using it. i am getting more side effects recently like bright red face and i feel i cant function as good as i used to in social settings. i used to take it when i served tables but in the past six months or so i realized i have a much better shift if i dont take it. i get all akward and cant talk right on it. my job is talking to tables so this was a big hit to my wallet. i still cant seem to not take it when i study. i would like to work toward not using it at all. its just hard i feel im in control but recently im not so sure. its nice to find a place like this where people are having similar problems. i just heared a story of a girl having a adderoll induced hart attack going into a coma and now has a pacemaker. scared me pretty bad. and decided to look into it. but thanks for the tip about small steps. also i feel like its taken away my self control like i need instant gratification and i convince my self to put off 'real' work and do something that makes me feel good. i need to cut back and this place helped show me that. now i just need to kind out where to start.

The internet is horrid for me, who else gets seriously angry and full of rage when it's slow/cuts off for abit?

Currently in firefox i've got 17 tab's open for websites in completely different categories.

I do the same thing and had some success with timers. I'm experimenting with something a bit more drastic:

I just installed two pieces of software on my macbook will see how this helps with too much surfing.

Macbreakz - suggests breaks after a certain amount of time and suggests breaks if you are typing too hard/fast or clicking too fast. You can configure the settings. I'm trying it right now with a setting of 40 minutes work = 4 minute break.

Leechblock (a firefox addon) that lets you set the amount of time per day/hour you spend on certain web sites. I have set it to allow me 10 minutes per hour on social networking sites during the workday, but unlimited after work. 1 hour per day on news sites, etc.

I can't tell you how much I relate to your post. Especially the HELP ME part. I don't know what to do...I spend hours and hours and hours, wasting time, avoiding reality. I think taking the stimulants for me without any of the other meds I've been prescribed kicks my OCD into high gear. My hope is to get off the stimulants, because meds have been a huge disappointment. I have to conquer this behavior on my own, or at least with support of friends, which I don't have. We should start a group or something where we all call each other at various times during the day to remind ourselves to put it away, and try to go out in the world and have a life! I'm pretty desperate about the whole situation. I'm going to try all the suggestions that have been given here. But the bottom line for me, is that stimulants changed who I am, and maybe I can focus better and think sharper and all that, but nothing is worth what it's done to my life....cut me off from the rest of humankind.