I cant read boring stuff

[skel1977]

Things that dont interest me I have a hard time reading them. This applies to college. I get so bored reading a paragraph that I skip lines and rush sentences hardly absorbing anything.

So Im suppose to read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTEC about vtech engines and the differences for an auto class and I cant get through it. It would take a normal person 5 minutes to read this but everytime I tree to read it Ill skip lines, paragraphs and get nothing out of it. I have to read something in my history class about...err i dont even remmeber but I know its boring to me and ill probably never get around to reading it or writing my paper about it. INstead ill probably do as I always do and rent a national geographic about it

Its funny but you give me a book about poker, beer, an article about organized crime and Ill read the whole thing, every word of it. Anyone else have this problem or overcome this? I really try hard to read these things but I fall asleep before I can finish.

[UnleashTheHound]

yep...

As for overcoming it... Well, it's easier with the medication. Apart from that I can read boring things in small doses if it has immediately need-to-know information.

[Craig]

I saw a simple but very clever technique posted here not too long ago on how someone (sorry, forgot their name- hope someone can credit the right person) would read quickly over the whole text, highlighting every word as they go. Then would re-read, underlining the important stuff. Then goes over it a third time, just reading the important stuff. At least that's how I remebered his technique, hopefully I didn't botch it up too badly.

We're not idiots, far from it. We simply need to work with our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. Easier said than done, I know, but still true.

Good luck,

Craig

[skel1977]

Originally Posted by Craig

I saw a simple but very clever technique posted here not too long ago on how someone (sorry, forgot their name- hope someone can credit the right person) would read quickly over the whole text, highlighting every word as they go. Then would re-read, underlining the important stuff. Then goes over it a third time, just reading the important stuff. At least that's how I remebered his technique, hopefully I didn't botch it up too badly.

We're not idiots, far from it. We simply need to work with our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. Easier said than done, I know, but still true.

Good luck,

Craig

Thats ironic. Im reading a book about ADD. It was passed on to me from God knows where but the whole book is highlighted and underlined I wonder if he was using the same technique to read the book. Anyhow Ill give it a shot. Thanks

[Marmalade_man]

I have trouble with lots of things like that. Also until I started Ritalin, I had trouble with
tasks I didn't like to do ... washing dishes, cutting lhe lawn etc.

The meds are fantastic.

[skel1977]

I dont take any meds though. I was disagnosed at about age 10 and have never been to a doctor except school shots and stuff.

[barbyma]

Skel,

What you are describing has plagued me for years. I've gotten through 5 years of grad school by "skimming" and "skipping".

What finally sent me to a doc was that I could no longer force myself to read. The harder I tried, the worse it got. I spent hours squinting at the material, reading the same words over and over without forming meaning from them. If I could stay awake, that is. When I was able to stay awake, I got severe headaches.

By my second day on Adderall I was reading again without trouble. I still hate to read stuff that bores me, but I can!

Good luck.

[Scattered]

I think the highlighting thing helped me as much as anything and then skimming back over the high lighted areas -- it keeps your brain having to focus on it more. Boring material puts ADHD brains to sleep. It's like a dimmer switch in my mind! On the other hand interesting stuff has just the opposite reaction -- sure wish someone would explain the neuropsychology of that!


Scattered

[barbyma]

Originally Posted by Scattered

Boring material puts ADHD brains to sleep. It's like a dimmer switch in my mind! On the other hand interesting stuff has just the opposite reaction -- sure wish someone would explain the neuropsychology of that!

My theory: it's not that you can't pay attention to what you're not interested in, it's that your not interested in what you can't pay attention to.

I think that only certain pathways are impaired, so only certain material gets "selected" for "shut off". I find that particular material puts me to sleep whether I'm reading it or listening to it and it's not limited to stuff I find boring. I think everyone's impairments are in different areas. Mine seems to be attention literature (strangely enough, that's what I study) among other things. My son's seems to be mathematics -- something he's actually great at -- and writing.

Weird stuff.

[wheresmykeys]

I know why it happens!!! I will explain

Its all about brain waves. The non-ADDer has brain waves that are on a schedule, whereas typically in an ADDer, they are more random.

Alpha waves are the speedy, short waves we have when we are awake and alert, and Theta waves are the long, slow ones that kick in when we are falling alseep and less alert.

Non-Adders Alpha and Theta waves work more or less on a time schedule. In the day time, they have Alpha waves and when the body knows its nearing bed time, the Theta waves begin to kick in. In Adders our brain waves are based more on stimulation than a time schedule. If we are excited, moving around, interested or whatever, our brain waves are Alpha waves. If we sit down to read a boring book, we aren't active or stimulated, so Theta waves kick in and your energy level and attention drops.

This explains why you can be passing out and then someone can suggest something u find interesting and feel as awake as if you just slept for 3 days.

I have a very big issue with this. I don't just start to fall asleep reading a boring book, it happens to me while watching movies, sitting in class..it doesn't matter what. If im not moving, Im not alert. The same works reversely though, if I keep moving I dont ever tire out.

I hpoe that explains the biology behind it for you

[barbyma]

Originally Posted by wheresmykeys

I know why it happens!!! I will explain

Its all about brain waves. The non-ADDer has brain waves that are on a schedule, whereas typically in an ADDer, they are more random.

Wheresmykeys,

Can you tell us where this idea came from?

[INaBOX]

I'm not sure if this has been suggested or not but I find reading out loud helps me absorb what I'm reading. Also, I paraphrase by writing sub-notes so it sinks in. You can write as much or as little. It helped me through college.

[Gil R]

I am the same way. I always have trouble reading things that ihave no interest in.I often skip paragraphs or even pages. It gets very frustrating.
I not on meds, but they might help me concentrate.

[Scattered]

Barbyma and Wheresmykeys, thanks for the explanations. The Alpha wave/ Theta wave kind of matches my experience (BYW Barb, I think that comes from biofeedback stuff -- I had a friend several years back whose son was being taught to raise his Theta waves with biofeedback so he wouldn't have to stimulate himself in less appropriate ways (IE: getting in trouble in class). It was working -- at least while he was doing the biofeedback exercises. I don't think mine is random, if it's a topic I'm interested it, I'm very bright, alert and on top of things. If it's not, even if it's important to me, I'm lethargic, sleepy, and kind of spacey. Thomas Brown uses an interesting allegory to explain it given to him by a client in his book The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults. He related it to a man's sexual performance. Some girls were intrinsically interesting to the client and definately got him up for the experience and others didn't -- and it's not the kind of choice of what you want to find interesting, but what you at a very basic level do find interesting that determines how you respond.

Scattered

[barbyma]

OK, I still have no idea what you're talking about with the "schedule" stuff -- I'll do a search on circadian rhythms later & see if I can figure out if there's a correlation, but....

I searched Psychinfo & Pubmed; there's little on EEG that isn't about biofeedback, but I found a very interesting article. I don't plan to read the whole thing; I think the abstract covers it. Thought you guys might be interested.

Biophysical modeling of tonic cortical electrical activity in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Rowe DL, Robinson PA, Lazzaro IL, Powles RC, Gordon E, Williams LM.

Brain Dynamics Centre & Dept. of Psychological Medicine, Westmead Hospital & University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. drowe@physics.usyd.edu.au

Psychophysiological theories characterize Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in terms of cortical hypoarousal and a lack of inhibition of irrelevant sensory input, drawing on evidence of abnormal electroencephalographic (EEG) delta-theta activity. To investigate the mechanisms underlying this disorder a biophysical model of the cortex was used to fit and replicate the EEGs from 54 ADHD adolescents and their control subjects. The EEG abnormalities in ADHD were accounted for by the model's neurophysiological parameters as follows: (i) dendritic response times were increased, (ii) intrathalamic activity involving the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) was increased, consistent with enhanced delta-theta activity, and (iii) intracortical activity was increased, consistent with slow wave (<1 Hz) abnormalities. The longer dendritic response time is consistent with the increase in the activity of inhibitory cells types, particularly in the TRN, and therefore reduced arousal. The increase in intracortical activity may also reflect an increase in background activity or cortical noise within neocortical circuits. In terms of neurochemistry, these findings may be accounted for by disturbances in the cholinergic and/or noradrenergic systems. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study to use a detailed biophysical model of the brain to elucidate the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying tonic abnormalities in ADHD.

The other studies I've seen have all been on slowing of the prefrontal cortex, but not this detailed and none really demonstrated the increase in inhibitory action. For those not familiar, inhibitory cells tell the receiving cells to NOT fire rather than to fire.