ADD / Split from OSs

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Originally Posted by gore

Dice, I didn't change that part, it's been there since I first posted this years ago,

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Ah.. Didn't notice it before :drink:

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I really do wish I could learn C sometimes. It's frustrating as crap when it take me 45 minutes to read ONE page in a teach yourself C book because I have a major problem comprehending what is on the page. I can read it 50 times and not remember it, yet I look at a Linux doc ONCE and can almost tell you exactly what it said. I'm not sure if it's me being lazy AND the ADD, or just the ADD but I have tried for 7 years now to learn coding, and not HTML or something but an actual language. I still can't.

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< is being tested for (adult) ADD as we speak..

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If I could, and I really want to, the main reason is to work on UNIX based stuff.

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The trick is to hyperfocus, easily done for someone with ADD ;)

What exactly is hyperfocus because i am sure i have a variant of add :P

If it's what I think he means, it's basically using your learning disability as an advantage. I do this while driving in heavy traffic and used it when I used to street race and was doing in excess of 120 MPH, which, normally, a speed that high can be dangerous to drive at, but having ADD and a short attention span, I used it to an advantage as my mind wonders QUICKLY so I can look for other cars on the road, think about what I'm going to do at the next turn, and the cars next to me trying to win, all at once. This is of course because, well, I can't concentrate on ONE thing very well, so I concentrate on 50 things instead which keeps me from losing focus.

The fact that if you hit another car or a wall at 120 MPH kind of helps you focus too lol.

My brain can sometimes work like a computer:

I can't do division

I have ADD therefore I single task, but split them up into chunks like "Check speed, check left window to see how close other car is, check right side, watch road, check for other drivers, repeat" sort of like a processor does in a multi tasking OS like UNIX. You aren't actually running a Media Player and a Web Browser at the same time, the OS is telling the processor to give this app a few micro seconds of CPU then go back to the browser and give it some, then back to the MP3 player, and then load Vi and so on.

It makes more sense in my head but that's a pretty good example. You just split up the things you need to watch for into packets and process each one a little at a time, which means my attention span being short doesn't come into the picture at all because I'm switching my attention from the road to the car next to me to the speedometer and back and forth multiple times.

I've only lost twice and it was to my best friend who had a bigger engine. I think I maxed at 130 MPH on a 4 lane freeway with other cars to watch for and, even though I admit it was stupid, I used to do "tricks" and "stunts" like a BMX bike does; I'd get right next to a semi and then SLOWLY move in, adjust speed, and then the passenger in the car could touch their truck without me swerving, while going around a sharp turn....And VERY quickly speeding up and continuing on because trucks that size with 18 wheels generally have a 7 inch swerve path.

Next time you're on a freeway and you see a semi going around a corner sharp turn, watch them and the lines on the road. You'll note there is about 7 inches or so that they move in between when doing that because of the size of their trucks. They'll go around the turn, and generally kind of go to the left of the lines by about 4 inches, and then to the right of the line by 3 or so inches, and if you time it just right, and know EXACTLY how to time the pedals and breaks (which are the trickiest part) you can get literally right next to one and touch it without losing control.

I haven't ever gone sky diving, and neither had my friends in the car, but I can almost guarantee that the rush from doing that was similar.

Don't do that though, seriously. The rush might be huge, but if the trucker hasn't slept, or isn't very good at driving, you're seriously putting lives at risk. I can tell which truckers are really good at what they do and have had proper training by watching them from a mile back or so as I'm coming up behind them, and it takes time to learn the smallest of movements can make your car totally spin off the road.

I also used to do controlled slides INTO those little medians on the freeway where cops sit and watch how fast people are going. I only pulled that off once, at 90 MPH, and I won't be doing it again.

And the weird part was, it wasn't because I wanted to impress, it was because I realized we were on the wrong freeway and needed to get onto the one going the other way. I was to pissed about having to turn around and how much gas I wasted to think about it and just looked behind me real quick to make sure no one was behind me for a few miles, or at all, slammed on the breaks and cut the wheel jsut right, and we drifted sideways through the median and onto the other freeway going the other direction, which had a friend's jaw in his lap when I did it since not very many people do that. I looked behind me first to make sure no one was behind me at all, and then looked at the other side of the freeway and saw no cars were coming for about a mile, so I drifted sideways onto the other freeway through the median at about 90 MPH and once we had gotten to the other side we were doing about 60 MPH. Don't try that either, you need a LOT of room, and at least 4 lanes to slide right.... lol. Not to mention if you aren't good at sliding in a car you'll probably hit someone and die.

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Originally Posted by Cider

What exactly is hyperfocus because i am sure i have a variant of add :P

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfocus

It basically means you forget anything and everything surrounding you even exists.. Happens to me every time i sit behind a computer to figure something out :D


(We may need to split this off into an ADD specific thread, seems there's a lot of interest :eek: )

Just merging some posts :)

"From a medical viewpoint, hyperfocus is thought to result from abnormally low levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is particularly active in the brain's frontal lobes. This dopamine deficiency makes it hard to "shift gears" to take up boring-but-necessary tasks."

I guess that's why Hydrocodone helps me concentrate... I HAVE been saying it for years now lol.

SOrry i poseted in the older post, delete it.

I also have trouble with this like gore said. studying for my network + exam is a nightmare. Yes i understand it but I just get really bored really quickly and lose concentration.

Any suggestions. Im willing to try anything :P

Can someone reply im so interested :P

For me it helps to set my mind to doing it. Cut off any and all distractions (turn off the tv/radio/whatever). And start doing it. Once you're going don't stop..

Alright, deleted your other post as requested, and concentration is weird for me as I said.

Even though some tricks seem to work for me there's a reason why i wanted to get tested ;)

I'm quite good at what I do but I need to be constantly reminded of the things that need to be done. I totally suck at prioritizing the more important stuff. ToDo lists are great but not if you forget to look at them. Same goes for agendas (appointments). And don't even get me started on documenting things (i don't).

I'm not to keen on having to take some chemicals for the rest of my life to function properly but I do need a bit of guidance. Some steering, a little nudge in the right direction. The therapy I'm going for is a combination of drugs and therapy. The drugs is only needed to get into a routine, to make the therapy "stick". Once the routine is there they'll stop the drugs.

ADD drugs are Amphetamines, might not want to "just stop" or the withdrawals will remind you of why you don't want to go to hell when you die. Generally if you want to stop, the Dr will slowly ween you off. If you just stop taking those like I did, it can have effects on you you won't like.

Yeah.. I know all about the drugs.. :halo:
Coke has a rather strange effect.. Only really tried it a couple of times..
Felt much too good with it so I kept it as far away from me as possible. :D

The main drugs in treatment over here is Ritaline. "Normal" people use it as a party drug :rolleyes:
People with ADD or ADHD tend to mellow down a bit. Ritaline also helps in concentrating/focusing on things.

Hi

I was on ritaline when i was younger, very bad for you.

I will google hyperfocus tomorrow at work but does anyone have a guide on this besides wiki :P

thanks.

nice to know im not alone!

Heh, I have tourrett's and OCD added on top so my concentrating on one thing is even harder. They tried me on Ritalin and my Mom freaked because apparently it made me super violent. It's funny how they hand that crap out to kids like candy these days (Yes, gore said something bad about handing out scripts whoooo) lol...

I don't think many Doctors were telling parents back then that Ritalin and Dexedrene which I was also put on afterwards and VERY quickly taken off, were Amphetamines and highly likely to cause dependence.

I think that's one of the few things Tom cruise has ever said that wasn't crazy gibberish.

The problem with those is that they are basically legal speed and people DO react badly to it sometimes. There ARE much safer drugs that not only work better but have less side effects. But good luck getting anyone but a researcher to think that's valid. I know in some countries they DO use Opiates, which I whole heartedly agree with, as the dependency potential is no worse than Ritalin, and the side effects are a LOT smaller.

The only cool thing about "speed" I ever liked was the ATR song. The guitars and bass in it work well together lol.

I also have adult ADD. Well, I've always had ADD but it was easier to deal with in certain stages of my life. Sometimes it's a blessing. Sometimes it's a bane. It all just depends on what I'm doing. I think I get along with technology so well because of my ADD, but that is only my personal opinion.

For example, in my previous job I had my own office. It was easy for me to "zone out" and focuses on tasks like normal people. I could get so much done and work on a dozen projects all at once. I can "multitask" and I can think like a computer. I can visualize what is going on in the computer and on the network. I can visualize the packet flow and etc.

In my new job, it's nearly impossible to do that. I don't have my own office and people are constantly around me interrupting me. I'll often go find an empty office or go home and work. Only one of my bosses understand this. I think the other one has ADD too but doesn't realize it.

When I was in high school, I had the same problems. I took Ritalin. It helped me to act "normal". When I was in college, there was little to distract me and I could easily focus because I was genuinely interested in what I was learning. On occasion I need some help from drugs but I would prefer not to use them.

When I was not using prescription drugs, I would self medicate. I wouldn't use street drugs but instead use large amounts of caffeine. I was always downing coffee, espresso, high test soft drinks, etc.

After college, my work responsibilities grew very quickly. I needed help again to stay on task. I've been taking Adderall XR for almost 2 years now without a break. I'm on the highest dosage available as far as I know. (30mg extended release) I notice a huge difference if I take it or if I don't. If I take it every day like I'm supposed to, there are no speedy effects and I'm good. If I take a couple of days off, then when I start taking it again, it's very speedy.

I was just in Jamaica for my wedding over the past 9 days. I didn't take my meds when I was there. I was on my honeymoon and drinking a lot. There was little I needed to focus on. I took my meds before I left for the airport to try to get back into the swing of things. Man, I felt like zooming around the airport and I was stuck in lines all day. I couldn't stand still. It normally only takes me 2 days to get back to normal.

I've read several books about ADD and the one that really hit home for me was called Driven to Distraction.

Driven to Distraction
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Touchstone (March 2, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684801280
ISBN-13: 978-0684801285

Your local public or college library should have a whole section on ADD or ADHD.

Though, let me warn you. If you do have adult ADD, good luck reading the whole thing. One thing that I always notice is I have a TON of books. I love to start a new book. I just can never seem to finish a book. Because of this, most of the books that I read are technical or text books so I don't have to read from front to back. I just read what I need to know to implement or maintain a product and keep the book for reference. Most of the books that I've purchased outside of text books will never be completed. I just can't stay interested in it long enough.

When I study, I have to go do it OFFLINE somewhere. If I try to read online or something of that nature, the next thing I know I have two dozen tabs open in Firefox and the last tab had absolutely NOTHING to do with the first tab. One subject leads me to another. Each one seems to grab my attention for a short time and then I switch again. For this reason, I've been using a lot of paper books combined with CBT type training videos.

In my opinion, it's all about learning what works for YOU. What works for me probably won't work for you. I've read quite a few various ways to deal with ADD. Only a couple of them will work for me. I'm normally a pretty laid back kind of guy. If you see me getting frustrated at work or school, it's most likely because the ADD won't let me concentrate properly or there are too many people around breaking my concentration. It can take me some time to get into the zone. Once I'm in the zone, leave me alone. If you break that concentration, it can take me 20 min. or more to get back into the zone.

It's actually been causing quite a bit of problems for me with my present supervisor. The one I think has ADD. He always likes to just stop by my desk and talk about absolutely nothing related to what I'm doing. Most of the time it isn't even work related. If it keeps up like this for too much longer, I'm going to have to look for something else. I've already explained to him my concentration problems and how his interruptions cause lower productivity. I've also expressed my desire to move to somewhere a little more quiet. I don't think he could care less.

What amazes me the most is that you have taken the extended release one for two years and can just stop for 9 days without any problems. Then again it may be from the fact that it is XR so you can have a few days off here and there. Stopping those cold turkey can be REALLY bad. I don't think 30 MGs is the "highest" because with some meds, you'll be given an XR version of it which is Extended Release, and then a breakthrough drug of the same type to start right away while the XR one is taking effect, and before the next dose is released into the blood stream you would take another one because generally you need one before it get's released again.

This is why OxyContin is dangerous to dummies. If you break the time release on a 10 MG version, no big deal, but if you break it on the bigger doses, you could die. Which is why there is no longer a 160 MG version available in the US. 160 MGs of Oxycodone is probably enough to have most"abusers" laid out as it is, but three doses at that strength all at once, and you can see why people who crush them annoy the hell out of me. Something that stupid and everyone else has to pay for it.

If I had my own country..... Ugh, I'd remove the warning labels off everything and let the problem work itself out.

I think my concentration problems may help explain why I got into Magic: The Gathering so much back in early 1994 or 1995; You have to watch what the people you're playing are doing and think what you're going to do too, and also watch what they're doing and respond to it. It's great for ADD, you're watching them, you, and anyoen else who's playing.

Yesterday I was in a tournament and won a booster, and ended up pulling out a card that was JUST released about a week ago and is already worth about 5 dollars. Considering it was just released that's pretty good.

My doc never said anything to me about stopping "cold turkey". My original intention was only to take it during the week. He told me to try it both ways and use what worked best for me. So, I take it depending on how I think my day is going to go. I always take it during the week. I rarely take it on the weekend.

Well, I'm not sure if 30mg is the highest. He said it is the highest dose they make and that insurance would cover. If I needed more (which I don't), then I could pay out of pocket for 5mg or 10mg suppliments. I've taken 2 30mg in one day before and they had the same exact effect. The only time it gets "speedy" is if I go for long periods without it. Otherwise, it just smoothes me out so I can function normally.

Ahhhh now it makes sense; He said the highest dose and insurance in the same sentence. Some insurance companies won't pay for certain things and oddly enough, they may cover one medication, but it depends on dose.

the supplements may have been what he used as break through drugs as I was talking about, but it seems more like it was the largest one the insurance would pay for.

I'm no expert on amphetamines, but I do think that one comes in a larger dose.

and the reason taking two feels the same is because they're time released, so they're releasing differently. Or at least that sounds probable. I wouldn't take two though.

And Doctors rarely tell people about stopping a medication like that. See, some meds, they don't worry about because the drug has a smaller recreational value. Now all ADD meds generally DO have a use in recreational stuff, but Doctors prescribe it anyway without much fuss because ADD is very common. When I was in high school, I worked at Mcdonald's, and the amount of Ritalin and other script meth I saw was amazing. Half the place was snorting it before work. I didn't because I couldn't stand to think of taking it again, but they loved it.

It was pretty bad at times... Literally, food wasn't the only thing on the menu. I saw people in the drive threw buying prescriptions for Adderal all the time. Someone who worked there would be working and they would come up to the drive threw when asked by a customer, they'd sell their bottle, and go back to work.

I also watched that same dork get ripped off when he fell for the "we wanna count it before paying" excuse and they drove off. It was actually pretty funny.

The burger King here got busted for selling pot in the drive threw. The paper actually had in there how if you went to the drive threw at Burger King and asked for a Shamrock Shake (The green mint McDonald's Shake they sell around Saint Patrick's Day) and when you pulled up they gave you a dime bag.

I also used to watch one of the people I worked with at Wendy's selling pot out the drive threw. This guy would grab a HUGE bag of food, take it to the window, and give it to a guy in a cab, and he handed him a bag.

The manager caught him once but he didn't get in trouble.... He shared instead.

I don't know of many places where people buy food that you can't get something extra with the right code words. Kind of weird.

Holy **** - cant believe im not alone.

Im not on any meds at this moment but I think I must go see a GP. In my office I am constantly interrupted, I cant work or study for work related products.

I use to use amphetamines which actually helped me study as I stayed up all night but that eventually took its journey on me.

Yea Amphetamines do have some medical uses that can be very helpful to a lot of people, but there are also risks. I haven't done any of the ones that are illegal or anything because that just isn't me, but I do recall Ritalin. I know it was weird, I know it made me feel weird, and I was too young to remember if it helped or not.

I supposedly had ADD and not ADHD which apparently makes a huge difference in how it works. I wish some people would like sit down, take a control group of people with ADD, and start testing other medications though. I've been talking about Opiates for years and I've taken A LOT of **** from people here for doing so. But it's a LITTLE bit hard to agree with someone about them being at all bad when you go your whole life thinking you can't do anything because you can't think straight on a normal basis and every day, and then you injure yourself pretty bad and end up finding out that with one medication, you can all of a sudden not only READ, but COMPREHEND what you're reading.

When you've gone your whole life not being able to read at all because you can't keep your concentration for more than a page, and it takes like an hour to do that, and you still don't know quite what it said, and then one day you stumble upon something that in the same hour lets you read 40 pages and even remember what it all said and recall the information later on, I doubt anyone here in the same situation would even think twice about hopping on my boat and sailing the freedom flag for Opiates.

Now think about it; Why would I lie? What reason would I have for saying it helped so much if it really didn't? I got kicked out fo high school, didn't care, had no job, didn't care, started taking something for a VERY injured knee, and all of a sudden I'm in college on the honor roll, working, and caring what happens again.

If that is "wrong" or "bad" then I guess I'm horrible because it's REALLY hard to argue with results.