Do ADHD meds prevent boredom?

[PoppnNSailinMan]

All of my life, I’ve gone through periods of being intensely fascinated by a new topic or hobby to then suddenly losing interest. In college, I started off as a math major and then changed to political science. My initial interest in political science was in International Relations, but then I became interested in area studies.

In graduate school I was basically a historian, and even though I specialized in a specific geographical region, I was constantly moving in my study of that region from medieval history to modern history to ancient history, etc. The result is that I have a very broad knowledge of a lot of things, and of the broad trends in history, but once I start delving down into the very fine details, I start to get bored and lose interest. I constantly start books and then never finish them.

Outside of what I do for my profession, I’m constantly reading books about all sorts of different subjects, and I often think to myself that maybe I should have been an archaeologist instead, or an anthropologist, or a sociologist or a psychologist or perhaps I should have studied comparative religion or comparative literature.

I’ve always loved history, but I often think that perhaps when I was in college, I should have studied the history of this country instead of that one. I have books on French history, English history, Chinese history, Russian history, American history, and German history. I have books on modern French history and medieval French history; on modern Chinese history and ancient Chinese history, and on and on and on…

I’m sure that all of this has to do with my ADHD. What I was wondering is whether the ADHD meds should allow me to sustain interest longer in one subject or area of interest without getting bored? I just started taking Ritalin about a month ago. Or am I doomed for the rest of my life because of my ADHD to this pattern of constantly looking for new things and never gaining a real detailed or comprehensive knowledge of any of them?

[scrambled86]

I haven't started on meds yet but Ill be interested in the responses.

What you described is just how I am too!

[sarahsweets]

Meds control (or try to) the symptoms of adhd. I'm not sure (actually pretty sure) boredom is bot necessarily one of those symptoms. Many people take meds and expect a miracle but the fact is you will still have impairments. You will still struggle. Meds treat not cure adhd.

[FlutteryPixie]

For me, the answer is a definite "no".

I was "never" bored before I started on Ritalin. After, it happens quite frequently if I run out of things to do or while doing something particularily boring.

Basically, ON ritalin I'll do more stuff and have more fun, but if I'm stuck on a car ride, for instance, I'll get bored more easily because my mind doesn't just start swimming and I don't forget time and place like I do off Ritalin. I still daydream of course, but more structured, not just floating from idea to idea.

I go swimming twice a week, and I've noticed that if I'm on ritalin while swimming, I keep counting minutes and it gets...quite boring, refreshing, but boring. So I've started doing it in the morning before I take my ritalin, and when I swim without the meds, my mind just floats off into Neverland and all of a sudden I'm five minutes past when I should have stopped.

On the other hand, my muscles ache afterwards, whereas when I was on Ritalin while swimming, I didn't feel it "working" at all, I'd just be really beat by the time the pill stopped working hours later.

[scrambled86]

Originally Posted by sarahsweets

You will still struggle. Meds treat not cure adhd

Originally Posted by FlutteryPixie

For me, the answer is a definite "no".

I'm sure you've probably seen lots of posts like this before. And I've heard lots of sayings that meds are not a miracle cure.

But damn it's depressing to realise that this ADHD thing isn't going to go away

[ana futura]

Originally Posted by FlutteryPixie

I was "never" bored before I started on Ritalin. After, it happens quite frequently if I run out of things to do or while doing something particularily boring.

Basically, ON ritalin I'll do more stuff and have more fun, but if I'm stuck on a car ride, for instance, I'll get bored more easily because my mind doesn't just start swimming and I don't forget time and place like I do off Ritalin. I still daydream of course, but more structured, not just floating from idea to idea.

I'm the same way, it's one of the reasons I don't like taking meds. I'm content to just sit around doing nothing all day without meds, if I try to do that on meds I get agitated, I need to feel "productive". If my life were more demanding this would be a good thing, but at the moment I don't like that feeling.

I also find the same true for exercise- unmedicated I can ride my bike all day long, medicated I get tired of it sooner.

The meds do seem to prevent boredom with more complicated/ demanding tasks, like reading. But for mindless simple tasks, like washing the dishes, I'm actually more likely to be bored.

It's as if everything's inverted: Things like dull conversations, television shows, or dry academic articles become more interesting, but inactivity or repetitive activity becomes boring.

[silivrentoliel]

Originally Posted by scrambled86

I'm sure you've probably seen lots of posts like this before. And I've heard lots of sayings that meds are not a miracle cure.

But damn it's depressing to realise that this ADHD thing isn't going to go away

It's a disability, nothing will ever make it go away. Medication, proper medication, will help counteract the symptoms so we can function. It's not perfect, but it's a LOT better than a non-medicated life.

[Kasi]

I don't do bored, since I always find something new to interest me. However, I think you're talking about not being able to continually focus on a single subject, or field, after the initial burning interest is gone.

Yes. For me, they help. It's easier for me to tolerate doing things that I don't have an interest in, but need to do, or CONTINUE working on something that I originally found research for and voraciously burned through what I could find, but then the glow faded.

It's not easy, exactly, there's still a bit of work I need to do with my instinctual habits, but it's definitely better on the medication. I'm more tolerant of being around things I don't have that "NOW NOW NOW" focus on and am able to work more with it. Which I found is actually rather nice, because I sometimes rediscover an interest because of particular info I found after I would have originally abandoned it.

Hope that helps?

[PoppnNSailinMan]

Kasi:

I don't do bored, since I always find something new to interest me. However, I think you're talking about not being able to continually focus on a single subject, or field, after the initial burning interest is gone.

That's what I'm like, too, since I can usually find something to interest me, but I often lose interest or get bored with an old topic and move on to something new.

But if I could sustain my interest longer, especially when I hit a boring section of a book or some aspect that I find less interesting, I think that I would find new and interesting things that I probably miss because I can't stay engaged long enough to get to them. Hopefully the meds will help with that.

I also tend to lose track of time, so it will be interesting to see what effect the Ritalin has on that and whether being more aware of the passage of time, especially in situations when there's nothing to occupy me, will be a potential source of boredom as some others have experienced.

[franzshire]

I've made note of this: I am incapable of feeling boredom. I am on wellbutrin and adderall. I never feel this thing called boredom. I always am getting deep into something.

I also never watch TV. That may help.

[fracturedstory]

With Ritalin all information I read is interesting, except sports. That's really the only thing I can't read about.
In experience I can sustain focus for a very long time, as long as the medication lasts to be more specific.

So as long as you plan to do something the medication will help keep you interested.

[Geno]

Yes, I believe that the main way they help focus, at least in me, is by making boring things less boring, and making things that aren't necessarily boring from getting boring quick. (Hence why ADHD people tend to start but not finish things.)

[JOHNCG]

Originally Posted by PoppnNSailinMan

Kasi:

That's what I'm like, too, since I can usually find something to interest me, but I often lose interest or get bored with an old topic and move on to something new.

But if I could sustain my interest longer, especially when I hit a boring section of a book or some aspect that I find less interesting, I think that I would find new and interesting things that I probably miss because I can't stay engaged long enough to get to them. Hopefully the meds will help with that.

I also tend to lose track of time, so it will be interesting to see what effect the Ritalin has on that and whether being more aware of the passage of time, especially in situations when there's nothing to occupy me, will be a potential source of boredom as some others have experienced.

There is now growing evidence that ADHD is associated with temporal processing deficits. That is, a person who has ADHD is likely to find (according to the most recent neuropsychological theory) that their: perception of time; ability to estimate time intervals; the timing and timeliness of their behaviours; their capacity for time management/organization in general, etc; etc; should be impaired.

Stimulant medication should help (in theory) correct temporal processing problems??

Regards

John

[mctavish23]

For me personally, the answer is a (qualified) "No". Having said that, I also know

medication decreases inhibition, and improves focus and self-control. However,

"Do I still get bored ? "Yes," even when I'm having "fun."

u r welcome

[fracturedstory]

Sometimes when I take a dose and I find I'm unable to do what I wanted to do I wouldn't know what else to do then I'll feel bored. But I just need to start on something to really get absorbed into it.

I have to really be in the mood to write, and I have to prepare for it the night before. I have to be in the right state of mind or I won't be able to focus. Meds, no meds, and anything else I do to help me focus.