I was under the impression that hyperfocusing was when someone with adhd was really interested in something, so they become intensely focused for long amounts of time. Is this an accurate description of hyperfocus?

I ask because I had posted that since taking adderall I have become extremely obsessive with certain tasks that I do. It seems it takes me 30 minutes to do certain things that would normally take me 10 minutes because I am so fixated on doing it perfectly.

The example I used before is when I am typing or writing to someone. I fixate on what I am writing and edit things a million times until it is worded perfectly to me. I have suddenly become very intense about my grammar and writing. It was said that I could have OCD. Hyperfocus and OCD are sounding like the same thing to me so I am not getting how to tell them apart. Is the difference between the two just that with hyperfocusing, you are interested in what you're doing therefore you can't stop doing it for a long time.....where as OCD you feel determined to do something until it sits well with you?

The two are also distinguished by why one doesn't stop whatever they are doing and deem it to be "done." With OCD, one is compelled by the consequence of experiencing what can be extreme anxiety to do things in a certain way. When one hyperfocuses, nothing can distract his/her focus from whatever s/he is doing. If you have ever read Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi), you can think of hyperfocusing like flow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)).

My ADD meds can make me hyperfocus, whereas before meds, I couldn't focus on anything to save my life. To me, it feels like becoming so absorbed in a task that I don't even notice the passage of time. I don't feel anxious about it, and I don't feel compelled to complete the task. It's just like, suddenly I'll look at the clock and be like "Holy shi.t, did I really just spend 3 hours reading Wikipedia articles?" For some reason, I was just captivated by whatever I was reading that I didn't realize how much time I was wasting. That's my experience of hyperfocus.

OCD or OCD behavior is something you do repeatedly and/or ritually in order to perform routine functions. Your meds shouldn't create OCD behavior but your ADHD may. I have several OCD behavior rituals I have developed over the years before meds. Actually they are what have allowed me to function over the years before being diagnosed.

I take my meds (low dose Focalin) in order to focus, organize my day, and finish projects rather than working on a lot of things and finishing nothing. Hyperfocusing I see as getting into a project and being so focused that I'm almost unable to swithc to work on something else until that project is complete. My OCD behavior is not that at all, it's never complete but it makes me feel better.

My ADD meds can make me hyperfocus, whereas before meds, I couldn't focus on anything to save my life. To me, it feels like becoming so absorbed in a task that I don't even notice the passage of time. I don't feel anxious about it, and I don't feel compelled to complete the task. It's just like, suddenly I'll look at the clock and be like "Holy shi.t, did I really just spend 3 hours reading Wikipedia articles?" For some reason, I was just captivated by whatever I was reading that I didn't realize how much time I was wasting. That's my experience of hyperfocus.


LOL Ok yes I think this is what I am experiencing. The amount of time I spend on certain things can be unreal and the time does fly by without me even realizing it. It's not like I am having so much fun doing something that the time speeds by, I just get so caught up in details and things that I don't even realize I am doing it.

OCD or OCD behavior is something you do repeatedly and/or ritually in order to perform routine functions. Your meds shouldn't create OCD behavior but your ADHD may. I have several OCD behavior rituals I have developed over the years before meds. Actually they are what have allowed me to function over the years before being diagnosed.

I take my meds (low dose Focalin) in order to focus, organize my day, and finish projects rather than working on a lot of things and finishing nothing. Hyperfocusing I see as getting into a project and being so focused that I'm almost unable to swithc to work on something else until that project is complete. My OCD behavior is not that at all, it's never complete but it makes me feel better.

I do believe I have some type of an obsessive problem, but I think what I am speaking about here may be hyperfocusing.

Regarding my obsessive tenancies, I don't perform rituals or anything like that. I do have odd behaviors where I do certain things constantly. Things like looking in a mirror or anything with a reflection to see if I have something stuck on my face/in my teeth. This pretty much is non stop with me. If there are no reflective objects around I will ask whoever I am with to tell me if there is something on my face or in my teeth. I wash my hands all the time, I never ever take off my socks other than when I am showering because the thought having dirty feet makes me feel gross. No fear of germs I just hate the feeling of my hands not being perfectly clean an smooth.

Everyone notices that I do these things and they joke about it a lot. I don't even realize I am doing it because it is just normal to me. I don't have an anxiety attack if I don't do these things nor do I feel like something bad will happen...but I definitely do these things enough for it to be considered obsessive.

I do believe I have some type of an obsessive problem, but I think what I am speaking about here may be hyperfocusing.

Regarding my obsessive tenancies, I don't perform rituals or anything like that. I do have odd behaviors where I do certain things constantly. Things like looking in a mirror or anything with a reflection to see if I have something on my face/stuck in my teeth. If there are no reflective objects around I will ask whoever I am with to tell me if there is something on my face or in my teeth. I wash my hands all the time, I never ever take off my socks other than when I am showering because the thought having dirty feet makes me feel gross. Those are just a few examples.

Everyone notices that I do these things and they joke about it a lot. I don't even realize I am doing it because it is just normal to me. I don't have an anxiety attack if I don't do these things nor do I feel like something bad will happen...but I definitely do these things enough for it to be considered obsessive.

Those are good ones, and not horrible when discussing hygiene, at least you are clean! I look in mirrors too and keep one at my desk at work but I am searching for boogies, people never tell you when they are there! I also line everything up on my coffee tables and desk at work so they are perpendicular and facing west. My ritual things are based around keeping myself from losing things, I checke to make sure keys, purse, phone, and glasses are in their designated spot every half hour. I also check my bank account three times a day to make sure there's nothing there that's not mine. OCD behavior is fun, and it seems to entertain the people around me.

Those are good ones, and not horrible when discussing hygiene, at least you are clean! I look in mirrors too and keep one at my desk at work but I am searching for boogies, people never tell you when they are there! I also line everything up on my coffee tables and desk at work so they are perpendicular and facing west. My ritual things are based around keeping myself from losing things, I checke to make sure keys, purse, phone, and glasses are in their designated spot every half hour. I also check my bank account three times a day to make sure there's nothing there that's not mine. OCD behavior is fun, and it seems to entertain the people around me.

lol Yes I can tell it entertains those around me. My friends call me "Monk" because the guy in that show has OCD. My first doctor told me that if I have no irrational fear behind my behaviors, then it isn't OCD. I was a bit confused by that because to me it is evident my behavior isn't normal. So I am not sure if I would qualify as having OCD...my friends say otherwise :D

Your meds shouldn't create OCD behavior but your ADHD may.

I was under the impression (I apologize if I'm wrong) that stimulants can cause such behaviors (OCD/Bi-Polar/psychosis) to suddenly emerge. In some cases the behavior continued b/c it was an underlying issue that had not yet emerged, but in other cases the behavior disappeared after they stopped the medication.

I'm not sure where I read about this ( I want to say it was on a prescribing sheet :confused: ) and if I'm wrong I have no idea why this is so stuck in my head.

I was under the impression (I apologize if I'm wrong) that stimulants can cause such behaviors (OCD/Bi-Polar/psychosis) to suddenly emerge. In some cases the behavior continued b/c it was an underlying issue that had not yet emerged, but in other cases the behavior disappeared after they stopped the medication.

I'm not sure where I read about this ( I want to say it was on a prescribing sheet :confused: ) and if I'm wrong I have no idea why this is so stuck in my head.

I second that, specially the psychosis

I was under the impression (I apologize if I'm wrong) that stimulants can cause such behaviors (OCD/Bi-Polar/psychosis) to suddenly emerge. In some cases the behavior continued b/c it was an underlying issue that had not yet emerged, but in other cases the behavior disappeared after they stopped the medication.

I'm not sure where I read about this ( I want to say it was on a prescribing sheet :confused: ) and if I'm wrong I have no idea why this is so stuck in my head.


I have honestly read many things about the effects of Adderall that contradict one another. Some have said it cannot cause you to have OCD, it only aggravates it. Others say it caused them to have OCD when they never were that way before. The thing is Adderall is known to cause depression, anxiety, and even anorexia in some people. All of those things are disorders. If it can cause those disorder why wouldn't it be able to cause OCD?

There is a difference between obsessive behaviors and OCD. Most people have a few things they are obsessive about, but that doesn't mean they have a full-fledged disorder. For example, one of my roommates in college had a file cabinet in her room. Her filing system was very organized and specific, and she always filed her important papers according to her system. She was definitely obsessive about that stupid file cabinet. But the rest of her room was a complete mess, she wasn't afraid of germs, she didn't have any rituals, she wasn't anxious about keeping everything in order, and she wasn't afraid that something bad would happen if she didn't perform certain tasks. She did not have OCD.

So stimulants can cause some obsessive behaviors, but no medication can cause an actual disorder. Like, if a medication has drowsiness as a side effect, that doesn't mean it gives you narcolepsy. It just makes you a little tired. See the difference?

OCD is not just a few obsessive behaviors. It goes way beyond that.

Adderall is known to cause depression, anxiety, and even anorexia in some people. All of those things are disorders. If it can cause those disorder why wouldn't it be able to cause OCD?

Adderall can make you feel depressed or anxious, because stims can mess with your mood, but it can't cause depressive disorders or anxiety disorders. Those emotions are temporary, whereas the disorders are chronic and won't go away when you stop taking a certain medication. So on Adderall you might feel depressed or anxious sometimes, but you're not experiencing a depressive disorder or a generalized anxiety disorder.

And Adderall can't cause anorexia nervosa, which is a psychological problem that comes from many nasty emotions and is accompanied by self-loathing and other negative thoughts. What Adderall does cause is a decreased physical appetite for food. But anorexia nervosa is not a loss of physical appetite; it's about taking negative experiences and emotions and translating them into feeling fat and hating your body. I've never known anyone to start taking Adderall and suddenly decide that they're fat and disgusting and must starve themselves to lose weight. Anorexia nervosa is a disorder because of those disordered thoughts. Adderall doesn't cause those thoughts; it just suppresses your appetite.

We really need to be aware of the distinction between disorders and behaviors.

I have honestly read many things about the effects of Adderall that contradict one another. Some have said it cannot cause you to have OCD, it only aggravates it. Others say it caused them to have OCD when they never were that way before. The thing is Adderall is known to cause depression, anxiety, and even anorexia in some people. All of those things are disorders. If it can cause those disorder why wouldn't it be able to cause OCD?

ADHD is primarily caused by dopamine levels while anxiety and depression are thought to be primarily caused by serotonin. ADHD can be treated with psychostimulants which increase dopamine levels. Anxiety and depression can be treated with SSRIs which increase serotonin levels. Both the serotonin and dopamine systems are very intertwined. Basically, increasing one can decrease the one. For example, increasing dopamine levels simultaneously increases the enzyme responsible for catalyzing it's oxidation. Monoamine oxidase is one of these ezymes. So while dopamine is increased, MAO is increased. But MAO also catalyzes the oxidation of serotonin. So if you take a stimulant like Ritalin or Adderall, it will increase dopamine levels, but also decrease serotonin levels. SOOO, stimulants can "cause" depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsiveness, etc... BUT they cannot cause the disorder. So to answer your question, it can not cause you to have OCD, just cause you to have more obsessive compulsive tendencies. Although in society, the term "OCD" is often mis-used.

P.S. sorry if I made a mistake, I'm typing this while watching Family Guy. Ha.