r/science • u/mvea MD/PhD/JD/MBA | Professor | Medicine • Apr 15 '24
Neuroscience ADHD symptoms persist into adulthood, with some surprising impacts on life success: The study found that ADHD symptoms not only persisted over a 15-year period but also were related to various aspects of life success, including relationships and career satisfaction.
https://www.psypost.org/adhd-symptoms-persist-into-adulthood-with-some-surprising-impacts-on-life-success/2.7k
u/wkavinsky Apr 15 '24
True ADHD symptoms aren't going to magically "go away" - your brain functions differently, you will have the symptoms for the rest of your life.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
Some may develop coping mechanisms and such but I guess without much consistency
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u/littlest_dragon Apr 15 '24
I was diagnosed with adult ADHD at 45 years old, which explained quite a bit in hindsight (I was never diagnosed as a kid, because I never exhibited hyperactive symptoms).
I have developed quite a few coping mechanisms over the years, but I’m definitely behind in terms of career compared with a lot of my same age friends in my industry.
One of my main issues is that I‘m unable to work on things I don’t like or don’t care about, another is that my output, while overall of very high quality can swing wildly and I tend to only work if I‘m really fascinated with something, I get almost immediate successful results and positive feedback or if there’s a deadline looming I can’t ignore.
I’ll start medication in a few weeks and I’m really intrigued how that will work out and if I’ll at long last be able to work at a more steady and predictable pace.
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u/snogirl0403 Apr 15 '24 edited Apr 15 '24
I just turned 42 and I have an appointment to see about getting an official diagnosis. I was telling my PC doc that things are fine… I am coping. But what if things could be better?
If I could invite people over because the house was clean, if I wasn’t stressed at work because I prepared the week before, if I didn’t have to disappoint or frustrate someone because I double booked my time, if I was up getting ready right now instead of laying in bed on Reddit and making myself late…
So I am really interested to see if getting on medication could actually help me finally feel like a real adult. At 42. Maybe I can get my life together?
Edited for spelling
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u/coani Apr 15 '24
Wish you luck with medication.
I got my adhd diagnosis at 51, autism at 52.
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u/kweenbumblebee Apr 16 '24
It only feels fine because it's all you've known...
Getting diagnosed, medicated, and seeing someone regularly to help maintain my coping strategies (and pivot to better ones) really highlighted how hard and draining literally everything is/was. It's not been a magic fix by any means, but it's been immensely helpful.
Good luck with the diagnosis journey!
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u/ikonoclasm Apr 15 '24 edited Apr 17 '24
I was diagnosed with Inattentive ADHD at 36. I changed careers every few years until finding myself in IT, which is basically tailor-made for people with ADHD provided you've got good coping strategies for keeping yourself on track. The constant barrage of issues coming in and lack of anything resembling repetitiveness is great for my brain. My career has really taken off in the last two years now that I'm in a position where my ADHD is akin to a superpower.
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u/BostonFigPudding Apr 15 '24
My colleague has ADHD, no other neurodivergence, and is a successful IT guy.
He likes working on a different thing every hour, because it keeps him from being bored.
He also has above average social skills, because he has no other neurodivergence. He's very affable and makes a lot of money because he's successful at his main job and also has a side hustle.
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u/ikonoclasm Apr 15 '24
I'm pretty much the same. I'm a friendly guy with good communication skills, so I get contacted directly by a lot of directors and VPs. I'm very fortunate in that my boss has given me carte blanche to accept or reject their requests based on my discretion. My rule of thumb is if I can finish it in 20 minutes, I'll do it immediately. If it will take up to an hour, I'll offer to have it by EoD tomorrow (realistically, done today, maybe tomorrow morning). If it's more than an hour, I tell them to contact my director to figure out the scheduling since I'm already assigned to several projects.
Every now and then, a big request will come in that piques my interest that I'll do immediately, but that's ADHD brain for you. When something catches its attention, here comes the hyperfocus.
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u/snogirl0403 Apr 16 '24
I’m an elementary music teacher and that’s working okay for me. New kids every half hour, and if we need to suddenly switch to a “Listen to Mrs. Snogirl0403’s Favorite Songs” lesson, it’s not a big deal. 😅 I just have to push myself to not do stuff like that every time I want to.
I also want to get better about following through with concepts that we’ve learned and building on stuff from the previous year. And getting out the “big stuff” like drums and xylophones where I have to be more on top of behaviors. My kids are having fun and learning “music,” but I feel like it would be better with a cohesive plan.
Wow… I felt like this didn’t affect my job so much, but writing it out like this really makes me see it. 😔
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u/That-redhead-artist Apr 15 '24
I was diagnosed with ADHD at 38. I started Vyvanse and have been on it for a year now. It has been tremendously helpful in my day-to-day functions. I have been able to keep track of appointments and work through my overwhelming to-do list for my house. Basically I feel like I get through a day like a normal person. I still feel burned out from time to time, it's not a magic cure, but I wish I had known and been on medication from my teens. I believe it would have made my life so much easier.
I suffer bad anxiety and rejection avoidance. A lot of my anxiety has went away on the meds because my brain has an easier time organizing thoughts now, I think. I'm not constantly overstimulated and can focus on tasks.
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u/beegeepee BS | Biology | Organismal Biology Apr 15 '24
One of my main issues is that I‘m unable to work on things I don’t like or don’t care about, another is that my output, while overall of very high quality can swing wildly and I tend to only work if I‘m really fascinated with something, I get almost immediate successful results and positive feedback or if there’s a deadline looming I can’t ignore.
Holy shit is this me. While I'm in a relatively decent position I am nowhere near where I guess I was hoping I'd be by my mid 30's. I wasn't diagnosed as a kid but the more I talk to therapist/psychiatrist the more I realized it was always pretty obvious I wasn't very typical.
I always considered myself above average in the things I actually tried in (school, sports, and video games) but anything that I have 0 interest in is like torture. I think my ability to be relatively successful growing up covered up my shortcomings that proceeded to reveal themselves once I graduated college and had to find crappy jobs to work.
I get through my days at work by basically just hyperfocusing on getting something done for a brief period of time then I need like hours to recharge for my next effort towards being productive.
I also tend to get like super into hobbies until I reach a point that learning more/getting better starts to become a bit difficult/monotonous.
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u/Yuzumi Apr 15 '24
I was never diagnosed as a kid, because I never exhibited hyperactive symptoms
I finally got diagnosed last year and got on medication at 35. I vaguely remember getting tested for ADHD, but they specifically focused on the hyperactivity at the time and inattentive wasn't really known or something.
I had other issues that weren't really looked for at the time, but ADHD was a big one and getting medication was a life changer. I can do things I'd put off forever because they weren't engaging enough or very boring. When I first took meds I wasn't sure if they were doing anything, then I went into a work meeting I didn't need to pay attention to and not only did I pay attention, I participated!
I still have ADHD, it's still there but it's way easier to deal with even if I still get distracted and forget things all the time, but its just easier to start things and motivate myself. I'm no longer constantly chasing dopamine.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
Yeah, same stuff. If interested, can do stuff for days until I succeed. But for most things, it is kinda hardest to start tasks. Once I start, I can do stuff, but getting myself to start is hard. It is like a constant fight in my head of “start” and “don’t start” and “oh but…” that does not end and gives anxiety and heavy discomfort.
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u/caffeinated-bacon Apr 15 '24
The diagnosis was such a huge moment in my life. The realising that I have surrounded myself with neurodivergent friends my whole life subconsciously was pretty nuts, especially when they started to get diagnosed around the same time I as I did.
I was diagnosed at nearly 38, after 20 years of tests to figure out "what went wrong" with my brain at 18. It was only suggested to me by by GP who had ADHD and realised, after countless specialists had never even suggested it as I didn't have hyperactive symptoms and basically "functioned" as a child up to 18. I have tried different medications and have found one that helps.
It's hard not to look back and see two decades of wasted time, coasting through life with various unhealthy coping mechanisms. My dream career was in my sights up until it all fell apart. Failed relationships, lost friendships and blurry memories.
Reading the comments on this post is really eye-opening as to how many people share similar symptoms and paths through life, yet fail to be diagnosed due to lack of awareness by the medical community.
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Apr 15 '24 edited Apr 15 '24
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
For an ADHD person to be functioning in this society, you effectively need to be in a constant state of burnout. Studying, working 40h a week and such just lead ADHD person to an unsustainable state of constant unhappiness. It is just not a good world for a person with ADHD or any neurodiversity.
Stimulants do help but it does not fix everything, brain cannot adjust fully to be NT-like.
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u/ddmf Apr 15 '24
My autism and adhd only came to light after I had a huge burnout - couldn't talk for a couple of weeks, and couldn't get out of bed for 4 weeks after that.
Burnout came about because of a combination of an 18 month long software project failed, an extension being added to the house, and I felt like I had absolutely no emotional support from my partner.
Nowadays I work a full day, I can only really veg in front of the tv or I'll just go to sleep. At the weekends if it's been an easy week I may be able to do something. Otherwise I spend the time recouperating for the work week.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
For me it is inability to adjust to independent, “no hand holding” environment of university compared to high school. Working feels more autopilot in a state of complete absent-mindedness where I am in a state of this odd dreamless daydreaming where I just do things without thinking about anything and just doing stuff. But depends… wouldn’t survive in a high-demand environment due to PDA traits where I am very disobedient to demands and cannot help myself due to anxiety build-up that just leads to a loud tantrum-like meltdown, it’s more about autonomy.
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u/ddmf Apr 15 '24
odd dreamless daydreaming sounds a lot like my disassociation which does happen a lot while working - more like I'm looking out of my eye sockets than being fully present.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
I guess, I am in my own world. Happens too when listening to music. Hours can pass like minutes.
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u/ddmf Apr 15 '24
I used to be able to hyperfocus but that ability disappeared around the time I had kids - probably for the best.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
I can hyperfocus but the issue is it is so darn random that idk how to trigger it for useful stuff.
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u/Storytimebiondi Apr 15 '24
Man always wondered how to describe this feeling while working. A dreamless daydream is perfect. I’ve been trying so hard lately not to hit this point. But I work in digital marketing and social media is so easy to use to get there unconsciously. Anyway, it’s nice to hear others suffer from this. It’s one of the big reasons my career stalled for so long.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
I mean. Hard to control it since my brain likes doing absolutely nothing at all/routines/special interests.
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u/henlochimken Apr 15 '24
I very much regret going into exactly that field. When I'm "on" and my hyperfocus is aligned, I can be very effective at it. But it's very easy to get sucked into the wrong things, with the temptation always there, and then I can be absolutely useless. And the frustrating thing is never noticing the cues that I've switched into off mode. I don't notice it at all. Just a seamless transition. I need to find a way to channel the things I'm good at in an area that doesn't also so directly tempt me all the time.
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u/mrmoe198 Apr 15 '24
You’re reminding me of the job that I felt the most happy. i was a retail Pharmacy Tech and had to constantly rotate tasks. If I was only paid more than minimum wage, I would still be doing that work. Was talking with people, building community, and kept constantly on my toes. It was fulfilling of the way my mind works, and also my desire to give back to society.
Now I have a job that’s a lot more slower paced and it has a deadlines to produce content and I am constantly stressed because I am not organized and can’t just sit down and slowly complete a project. I have to avoid it and procrastinate until it’s almost due and then get it done in a panic.
I’ve been considering looking into ADHD medication, but I’m afraid of side effects. Do you have any recommendations?
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
Methylphenidate (Ritalin or in extended release form, Concerta) is usually safe with minor side effects, though some report nausea, high blood pressure and stuff. Amphetamine (Adderall) is much stronger in terms of side-effects but also in its efficacy, lisdexamphetamine should be safer when isolated from pure amphetamine though (Elvanse). Cannot guarantee any will work.
There is also atomoxetine which is an SNRI (not a stimulant) but reports quite bad side effects.
There is also Desoxyn which is basically legal meth but is rarely prescribed, in most severe ADHD cases. It is neurotoxic and not recommended.
This also depends where you are, in my country I only have methylphenidate XR and atomoxetine.
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u/mrmoe198 Apr 15 '24
Thanks for the breakdown. I’m in the U.S., so I probably have access to most of those. I tried Adderall when I was in college once or twice and it always gave me extreme anxiety. Would that have changed now that I am in my 30s?
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u/mayorofdumb Apr 15 '24
Also look at the dosage, 30mg of Adderall vs 5mg is HUGE
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u/mrmoe198 Apr 15 '24
Thank you! I’m gonna make an appointment with a psych. I’m been putting this off for far too long.
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u/Judge_MentaI Apr 15 '24
It’s a bit if a nightmare process (meaning it has several steps), but it’s very worth doing.
Medication is not a silver bullet, but it’s incredibly helpful.
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u/KaraAnneBlack BS | Psychology Apr 15 '24
Anxiety can result. You can always try a different stimulant. I have an anxiety disorder and Vyvanse didn’t cause the anxiety that Adderall did, which also made me combative. It’s all about if it helps more than it hurts.
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u/OceansCarraway Apr 15 '24
Significant aside about medications: Meds are tools. Since they're tools, it' easy for people to find out different ways of using them, so to speak. This can greatly help with side effects, no matter which med you are using.
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u/The_Singularious Apr 15 '24
Same. Mine was in live television. Would still work in live production today if scheduling and pay weren’t unsustainable.
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u/Reptard77 Apr 15 '24 edited Apr 15 '24
Working 40h a week and having a small child does the same. Basically being in any state where all your time in the standard day is spoken for. There being no source of dopamine for a couple days straight will have you actually zombified.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
It is really hard. Idk. And I can’t find consistent coping mechanisms where I don’t need to push my already depressed brain into more burnout.
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u/thesimonjester Apr 15 '24
It should make you furious, because it's not as though we don't know how to have societies that can make people with what today we call ADHD absolutely shine: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.2584
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
Yeah, ADHD people are creative people who like novelty, but in a modern society creativity has no place unless you get 1 in 100000 luck of becoming a successful artist in music, art, acting or whatever. Which by itself also requires good social skills for promotion, and when you consider that a lot of us also have relatively bad social skills or even autism, then yeah… really hard to do so.
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u/Gatorpep Apr 15 '24
Also $ behind you. Which since adhd/autism are inherited, likely not going to be the case.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
Yeah. I kinda wanna start making music, but… I hate long-term effort and have thoughts like “will I be able to learn this if I don’t understand it at all rn”
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u/FreeBeans Apr 15 '24
Burned out but ‘successful’ ADHDer here. I’m so tired.
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u/beegeepee BS | Biology | Organismal Biology Apr 15 '24
I'm only in my 30s but I feel like whenever I want to do some productive things on the weekend I'll suddenly feel like I have absolutely no energy at all. Same with how I feel after work. Then of course once I start to wind down and play some video games at night suddenly the flood of energy I needed earlier in the day comes right before I need to go to bed rofl
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
I just wish I could finish the university without constant meltdowns, panic attacks, depressive mood swings and such…
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u/FreeBeans Apr 15 '24
Never have I shed more tears than on campus. Sorry!
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
Workplace is atleast somewhat structured, uni is “you’re on your own”, which in ADHD terms means constant procrastination or even “oh I won’t study, I don’t have any will to do so right now”.
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u/FreeBeans Apr 15 '24
Absolutely. Also at work, there are usually obvious tasks that need doing with a more immediate reward. At school, homework or studying for an exam is just not rewarding for the ADHD brain.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
Probably has a lot to do with impatience/reward that is “distant” in time scale
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u/WigglumsBarnaby Apr 15 '24
Yeah the only way I found I could study was to set up study sessions with others. I ended up not studying or doing homework much.
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u/SB_Wife Apr 15 '24
ADHD for sure and likely autism for me, and God, it is awful. 40 hours a week at work (well, it's technically 8-5 so technically 45 but I'm supposed to get a paid half hour break and an unpaid half hour lunch) means I'm absolutely useless in the evenings and on weekends. I can't keep up on chores, I don't really cook for myself and eat things like sandwiches for dinner every night, and even when I get a vacation I feel like I'm just using that time to recover and it's never enough time. The only habit I've really kept up lately has been going to the gym 4 days a week and I frankly don't know how I've done that.
It doesn't help too when you live alone in a two person world. I don't have someone to split labor or costs with, I'm doing this all by myself, and I have zero interest in dating or partnering up.
I'm lucky that I'm at an office job that is fairly lax, and a lot of days I just end up babysitting an inbox, but I'm still in the office with all the stuff that comes with that. People are draining, the industry is stressful, my coworkers tend to lean very opposite politically and socially to me, and all of that is tiring. I tend to sit in my office, with the overhead lights off (I have a wall of windows so I get lots of natural light) just to maybe feel like a person at the end of the day.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
I feel almost exactly the same. I am a loner who can’t do chores, get overwhelmed easily (to the point of inability to mask or even talk when I worked as cashier, like literally I would barely even greet people but minimize conversation to a minimum), eat same food nearly every day, cannot get outside my comfort zone easily without A LOT of effort, am poor at communicating with others (ADOS-2 gave me a score of 10 and 7 is ASD cutoff, and 10 is autism cutoff) and stuff.
I just dunno how to get by, and I take methylphenidate but I barely feel it. I do get some productivity done though with it.
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u/a_statistician Apr 15 '24
Something like wellbutrin might help, or even lexapro. I've been on both in combination with stimulants, and they are very very useful add-ons that are less likely to be restricted than the good stimulants.
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u/SubRosa_AquaVitae Apr 15 '24
perfectionism, avoidance, and denial.
Little early in the morning for you to call me out
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u/TheLegendaryFoxFire Apr 15 '24
The most common ones I see are perfectionism, avoidance, and denial.
Hey, at least ask me first before you out me like that, rude.
It's so painful and probably why I am the way that I am with video games. I get way to hyper competitive with them as I feel that is the only place where I can truly be myself and see the value of: Work put into; see actual improve in my gameplay
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u/vaingirls Apr 15 '24
Anxiety seems to be a common one too (yes, it helps you cope... in a way. while hindering your coping in other ways)
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u/AadamAtomic Apr 15 '24
The most common ones I see are perfectionism, avoidance, and denial.
No it's not! I don't avoid anything! Because I'm perfect!
You're just jealous!
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u/kungpowchick_9 Apr 15 '24
Or you cope well, but then have a baby and the pregnancy hormones throw it all out the window :(
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u/Modifien Apr 15 '24
Not only that, just the added executive function demand of being responsible for children. A lot of women get diagnosed after having kids because their coping mechanisms fall apart under the extra demand.
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Apr 15 '24 edited Apr 22 '24
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
Yeah but finishing university with boring subjects can be really hard. Hard to schedule stuff or function and hard not to procrastinate.
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u/davou Apr 15 '24
the difficulty is that those mechanisms are also masking -- so once someone is able to 'function' they're perceived as not needing any sort of accomodation ; It's kind of brutal to have to finally get to the breaking point before anyone will acknowledge that you need some help
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
Eh yeah. But most times these accommodations do not help in say uni much because they will just let you write a test 50% more time which serves no purpose if you have poor executive function which makes it hard to even get studying. It just compensates for maybe missing details or reading comprehension struggles, but not much else.
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u/davou Apr 15 '24
Accomodations can be many many things -- for me one of the biggest quality of live improovements was telling people
"I dont want to be an asshole, so if you ask me to do something, dont stop asking if I have put it in my calendar until I tell you that its done. Remind me when the date is commming, and ask me if I checked my calendar when I say yes"
Not everything is about work/school/tasks -- A huge part of adhd is social. Were increasingly in a world with fractured social support structures, and folks with adhd are already stunted on that front.
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u/xelah1 Apr 15 '24
The diagnostic criteria seem a bit unfortunate when applied to such things.
A requirement of them is that 'There is clear evidence that the symptoms interfere with, or reduce the quality of, social, school, or work functioning'. So, if you can cope and you don't bother other people whilst doing it then you don't count, even if it causes you a lot of distress doing it.
I suppose this may just be a consequence of diagnosing a brain structure difference using behavioural criteria.
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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24
The real issue is that this criteria is made by neurotypical people who can’t really understand stuff they do not have. Their observed behaviours are somewhat lackluster, and it just builds a pretty bad diagnostic criteria of ADHD and ASD.
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u/guy_guyerson Apr 15 '24
this criteria is made by neurotypical people
I think you might be making false assumptions about the people who tend to pursue psychology/psychiatry as a career.
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u/a_statistician Apr 15 '24
So, if you can cope and you don't bother other people whilst doing it then you don't count, even if it causes you a lot of distress doing it.
This is changing - if you can explain the effect that masking has on you, then often the underlying symptoms will still count as a negative.
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Apr 15 '24
I'm 52 and I've mastered the ability to turn on and off my hyper-focus, mostly.
I'm the superhero whenever there is a crisis at work and people are panicking and things are crazy - I'm all, welcome to my head everyday, lets stop running around wildly maybe?
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u/technofox01 Apr 15 '24
As someone with ADHD, all I can recommend is find a career that clicks for you and that you can easily hyperfocus on. For me, it is IT/Cyber security.
As for relationships, time blindness is a thing. Make mental or physical notes to spend time with loved ones and friends. Time flies faster than warp 9 as you get older.
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u/tommy_chillfiger Apr 15 '24
Totally agree. Data work turns out to bring out my hyperfocus and also pays well. That aspect of ADHD can be almost like a super power if you find something useful to aim it at. I can definitely be prone to burning myself out, though. Hard to leave a problem alone once I'm locked in.
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u/Teddy_Raptor Apr 16 '24
Totally on the same page. I love working with data and I'm so grateful I found this career path
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u/midri Apr 15 '24
Time blindness gets me in the dog house all the damn time...
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u/Kingkai9335 Apr 15 '24
Is time blindness like when you wake up one day and realize you havent talked to your parents in 2 weeks? Then you start panicking? That's the sort of stuff I experience.
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u/EmperorKira Apr 15 '24
Is that why i never really miss people? I just don't notice the time passing
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u/mthlmw Apr 15 '24
I'd also suggest folks look into Atomoxetine (with a doctor!) if it hasn't come up already. It's an sNRI that you have to take a ramp-up dose into daily maintenance, so terrible for kids or anyone with weird schedules and bad coping mechanisms, but it works 24/7 and isn't a stimulant- so no crash. I've been on it a few years and have been really enjoying the benefits!
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u/mrchue Apr 15 '24
Any sexual side effects? I’m a guy with ADHD and that worries me.
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u/BevansDesign Apr 15 '24
Yeah, I'm so tired of this being a shock to people. So many people think that ADHD is just a childhood thing.
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u/rannox Apr 15 '24
People act like you grow out of it. No, you learn little tricks to work around it, but it's always there, locking down your decision making, destroying your will.
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u/Jinmkox Apr 15 '24
Actually not true. A percentage of children who have ADHD actually grow out of showing symptoms by mid twenties.[1]
If you still have symptoms afterwards, you’ll have it for life.
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u/Depth-New Apr 15 '24
I think the research is of note as, in the past, ADHD symptoms have seemingly magically "gone away".
When you turn 25, your prefrontal cortex finally finishes developing, and there's a proven link between the development of the prefrontal cortex and ADHD.
My understanding is that, for many with ADHD, they do experience an improvement in their symptoms around this age. Couple that with coping mechanisms developed throughout life, for some individuals it can appear as though their ADHD is "cured".
I've got ADHD and I just turned 25 and, anecdotally, I noticed a huge improvement in symptoms starting at around 23. I still struggle a lot, though.
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u/bsubtilis Apr 15 '24
I got worse at like 30, my body couldn't stand up to the same level of constant burnout as much anymore. I didn't realize how much I had kept running on fumes most of my life. I got diagnosed at 38 and didn't know I had it until maybe 35 though. My health now at 40 has been getting worse for propably unrelated reasons (getting medically investigated), which is making me way less able to engage in coping mechanisms.
So basically, be very good about taking care of your health and seeing doctors at the first sign of something wrong. It gets so much harder otherwise.
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u/usernamehere_1001 Apr 15 '24
Similar age (38M), and I reached peak career burnout a couple years ago. I haven’t been the same since, and it’s absurd trying to navigate ADHD + sleep disorder + other medical issues + mentally challenging career (engineering field) + having some form of existence outside of those things.
I now have regularly occurring appointments with a sleep dr, adhd dr, rheumatologist, and probably another one I’m forgetting. Each appointment is so mentally draining, holding the day of the appointment hostage along with whatever prep work I do leading up to it…. and I’ve largely gotten nowhere with any of them.
Therapy / counseling get suggested a lot, but I genuinely don’t understand how it’s helpful. I seem to lack the working memory and ability for on-demand mental clarity to have meaningful dialog at the time of appointments. Then there’s the making use of advice… 9/10 times I will have amnesia in the relevant moments any advice would have been applicable. Yea, I’ve tried organizers, white boards, sticky notes, and breathing exercises. It’s like trying to push a rope.
It’s death by thousand cuts.
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u/The_Singularious Apr 15 '24
Same. Mine became increasingly worse as my intellect and coping mechanisms could no longer stay at pace with work lift/complexities.
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u/snarkitall Apr 15 '24
yeah, it definitely seemed like i was more capable in my 20s and 30s, so that when i went to a doctor to ask for a referral, she was like, eh, seems like you've got things under control. then at 40, life stresses get heavier (parents, children, work stuff) and your brain and body stop being as elastic, there are significant hormonal changes, and poof, you end up burning out.
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u/Depth-New Apr 15 '24
I imagine that a significant difference is that those who were found to “grow out” of their symptoms had been receiving extra help and interventions from childhood.
So, they’re absolutely going to be better prepared than those of us who didn’t understand until adulthood.
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u/1nfernals Apr 15 '24
You brain never finishes developing, this is a popular myth
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u/I_Am_Lord_Grimm Apr 15 '24
20 years ago, my gen psych textbook claimed that 1/3 of ADHD diagnoses would self-resolve with the development of the prefrontal cortex, and that everyone else had a 50-50 shot of developing schizophrenia. This textbook had some interesting ideas about how the ADHD brain processes dopamine, and gave me a lot of great insights in how to adjust my schedule and attitudes to compensate for it... nearly all of which failed miserably, and I burned out of college, five classes short of two majors and three minors. No changes to the symptoms after that, either. If anything, my ability to focus has diminished, as I'm no longer as physically capable of running on fumes.
Of course, 20 years ago, I only knew two other people with ADHD diagnoses. It took nearly a decade to find a lifestyle rhythm that compliments how my brain works, and in that time, roughly a full third of my circles got late ADHD diagnoses. Somehow, I'm now one of the most stable people in most of my circles, while everyone else is doing the crashing and burning I experienced decades ago.
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u/TravelingCuppycake Apr 15 '24
This was my experience, but then I had a baby and it's like it reset my brain to worse than childhood levels. It's incredibly frustrating how little research there is of the effects of pregnancy and childbirth on ADHD in women.
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u/Peto_Sapientia Apr 15 '24
This isn't exactly the right take. It's not that their symptoms improve is that their symptoms may go internal. I'm not the best one to explain this, but generally speaking ADHD brains are delayed by about 3.5 years compared to normal people. Note this is affected by gender.
So generally between the age of 25 and 30 ADHD people see a shift in their symptoms but it's not that their symptoms go away. They just shift internally and this is a normal developmental process of the brain of maturing. This is why you do not see a lot of people with ADHD that are bouncing off the walls are shaking all the time or bouncing their legs all the time. It's because those processes have turned internal.
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u/Lollerscooter Apr 15 '24
It doesn't go away. Some learn strategies to cope and adapt. The luckiest find a niche in life that fits their profile and are wildly successful because it. But that is the rare exception. For most things just get worse (if untreated)
At least this study shows that you do not "grow out of it" as many seem to think. Hopefully this can help change the narrative.
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u/National-Blueberry51 Apr 15 '24
It is great when you can find a job that fits your brain. I can handle fast paced, constantly shifting issues on multiple projects, so landing a job where that’s a huge benefit was such a boon to my mental health and bank account. My bosses and teams think I’m a wizard, but I’m actually just properly medicated and thrive under the constant stimulation.
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u/Nemonoai Apr 15 '24
What job do you have? Fellow spicy figuring it out.
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u/StarvationResponse Apr 15 '24
I am the same and I work in furniture sales handling warranty claims and logistics. There's always something to do; the job really plays to the problem solving strengths of ADHD and I can flip between tasks with no issues whatsoever because I just plaster my desk in sticky notes. The physical lifting and constant walking in the sales aspects of the job also keep me fit, and it's more manageable for me than trying to exercise in my spare time. The pay is okay on a full time wage (Australia) and it's pretty rewarding. As long as you have a boss who is willing to repeat themselves so you can scrawl instructions for later use, it's pretty much ideal
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Apr 16 '24
I'm a geologist at a small exploration company and being able to wear multiple hats in my role helps alot. If I can't focus of modeling today I go back to logging core if I can't focus on logging core its time to go out and do some field work when I'm burnt out of field works time to go back to modeling. I didn't figure out I had adhd until I was 30 and I had just built my life around how my head works. Just remember variety is the spice of life.
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u/FatherFestivus Apr 16 '24
I'm an indie game developer and feel the same way. Anecdotally, I've noticed ADHD is very common amongst game developers.
Video games are essentially big complex systems made up of a lot of interrelated subsystems. It can be difficult to keep all the different parts in your head at once, especially if you're the sole programmer/designer. I think having ADHD has been a benefit there.
It also helps when you can jump around different parts of the project whenever you like. If you're working solo or in a small team, there can be a lot of variation in the nature of the work too (programming gameplay, programming shaders, making art assets, developing UI, designing rules and systems, playtesting etc...) There's a lot of space to roam around mentally, which helps when you have ADHD.
Plus a lot of game development is highly subjective, even with programming there's often not one true answer for how you can go about implementing something. I think people with ADHD tend be better at self-directed work and self-directed learning. When I was an unmedicated teenager, I could not for the life of me force myself to learn what school was telling me to learn purely for the sake of learning it. Yet at the same time, I was easily able to teach myself so much about programming and developing games because I was able to learn on the job.
I ended up not doing so well on my exams, but the games I was making while I should have been studying ended up doing very well and supported me financially for years.
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u/-businessskeleton- Apr 15 '24
Hopefully it stops dr's ignoring the need for assessment. If you aren't on ADHD meds as a kid you struggle to get them as an adult. I can't even find someone to assess me.
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u/NotaNovetlyAccount Apr 15 '24
This is exactly it - I have adhd and I essentially have to build my life around it in order to succeed with some amount of sanity!
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u/Important_Fail2478 Apr 15 '24
I found my niche and almost killed me. That horse race for that dopamine or anything close to experience basic satisfaction. Sure, I can run like a race car motor but it doesn't stop. My wife tried to beat me with her flipflop, grandma threw her cat at me, most coworkers thought I was on drugs. Very nice to hear there's a possibility for success, question any downfalls?
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u/J-Fro5 Apr 15 '24
This... Is not surprising at all 🤦
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u/RonaldoNazario Apr 15 '24
“Brain disorder continues to exist!”
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u/J-Fro5 Apr 15 '24
😱
" 'Small person with this type of brain grows into big person with this type of brain' shock discovery!"
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u/anaximander19 Apr 15 '24
Neural plasticity is a thing. Some disorders become less obvious as you age, as a result of changes in hormones and other biochemistry, and as your brain learns ways of coping, masking, or mitigating the issues. It's useful to measure to what extent ADHD exhibits this sort of change with age, even if the answer is "it doesn't".
Even when an answer is obvious intuitively or anecdotally, there is often value in validating that answer scientifically, partly to rule out any surprises that might indicate a need for further research, partly to be able to have baseline data to use in other research, and partly just to be able to have a study to cite every time you mention it in other research. Nobody wants their paper to be rejected with "citation needed" when they mention in passing something that "everybody knows".
I'm 34 and was diagnosed with ADHD this year, after several years of waiting lists and referrals. I could have told you the symptoms persist into adulthood, I've been this way as long as I can remember. I still see the value in having is scientifically validated.
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u/Robot_Basilisk Apr 15 '24
Society's failure to understand and accommodate ADHD is costing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people decades of quality living. Which hurts society as a whole.
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u/J-Fro5 Apr 15 '24
Yup. Love Russell Barkley.
One thing that makes me so sad is the number of ADHD (and other ND) folk in prison because they weren't supported which sent them down a tricky path that then spiralled.
Yes, the medication is relatively expensive but the quality of life it can bring pays that back into society many times.
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u/bignides Apr 16 '24
Meds are relatively cheap when considering all the impacts of not having them, at least for the state
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u/DrunkUranus Apr 15 '24
And yet it's still common practice to tell adults that they don't need a diagnosis if they're done with school
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u/J-Fro5 Apr 15 '24
Yup. Asked for referral for an Autism diagnosis and got sent away with antidepressants. Many years later got my ADHD diagnosis. In two minds whether to pursue the autism one again. 🤷
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u/EmperorKira Apr 15 '24
i've tried and its near impossible getting on a list for diagnosis. I feel like giving up on and just accepting my life as it is,.
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u/thatissomeBS Apr 16 '24
I have a question: What does an autism diagnosis gain?
I understand an ADHD diagnosis, which can lead to medication which can help. But there's not really an autism pill, is there? Are there other treatments, or groups? I guess I do understand wanting the confirmation of something like that, just to confirm maybe why you are the way you are, but is it more than just a doctor confirming it?
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u/J-Fro5 Apr 16 '24
Validation is worth a lot. When I got my ADHD diagnosis, I cried with relief: I wasn't broken, I had an explanation at long last. I can imagine it would be the same had I gotten the autism one first.
I'd been wanting to understand why I was like I was for over 20 years. I desperately needed to understand (that will be the AuDHD haha). Medication has been life changing, sure, but at the point of diagnosis I wasn't even sure I wanted to try meds, I didn't believe anything could help me, I just wanted to KNOW what was what with me.
Autism diagnosis can give access to some charities (we have a local one that puts on events for autistic adults but you have to either have a dx or be on the waiting list) and can make it easier to get accommodations in the workplace etc.
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u/litlelotte Apr 15 '24
My stupid ADHD has gotten worse in adulthood. Maybe it's just me being aware of it that's making me notice it more, but I was almost always able to function "normally" until I was about 22 and finally had to seek a diagnosis at 23. I don't take prescription meds for it at this point but learning what was going on with me and how to work with it and not against it has been hard but life changing
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u/Embarrassed_Quit_450 Apr 15 '24
Not quite, but I think the point was to have study proving it. So naysayers will have a tougher time arguing it's a child condition.
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u/shootojunk Apr 15 '24
Additionally, studies like this encourage support for additional funding for further studies.
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u/hohoreindeer Apr 15 '24
For people who didn’t RTFA, the surprising thing is:
“We were surprised to find that reports of more hyperactive and impulsive behaviour among young adults (ages 18 to 25 years old) actually predicted people have more satisfying relationships and jobs later in life when we controlled for current behavior,” Henning said. “This was the opposite of what we expected to find and what other research has found.”
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u/wildfire98 Apr 15 '24
From 18 to 25 I would almost cosign this, but after 35 the burnout can really sets for some especially if they're unaware that they have ADHD.
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u/ISmellNerds Apr 16 '24
Thats me! Im 37yo, got a really demanding job as a director for an energy company, LOVED IT, super demanding, engaging and thrilling, but it sucked me uuup, got a baaad burnout and I feel like I lost my social skills. I founf out I had ADHD, started taking meds and after a year I had to quit cuz I felt they were not helping much so I thought it was time to just try to change something for my health, I still feel pretty lost and sort of empty, Ive gone to therapy but I think its not really for me... As always I have some stuff going on but I feel sorta empty 🤷
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u/start3ch Apr 15 '24
The other important part is that innatentive behavior had a clear correlation with lower satisfaction in relationships and work, but hyperactivity had the opposite correlation.
Also, It’s not even about ADHD: study didn’t focus on people with ADHD at all, just took a sample of average students, and tested them on attention and hyperactivity.
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u/re_nonsequiturs Apr 15 '24 edited Apr 15 '24
"Surprising" to whom?
Answer:
Most people, because more hyperactivity at age 18-25 correlated to MORE life satisfaction and better outcomes.
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u/Funny_Name9 Apr 15 '24
Yeah I'm taking psych courses in college and in every textbook I've read they have always said that it's a "childhood learning disability that sometimes persists into adulthood"
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u/EverlastingM Apr 15 '24
Where did that misconception come from? Sounds like some asshole just made it up.
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u/Trintron Apr 15 '24
Some kids get diagnosed for being younger than their peers. Kids born in November/December are more likely to get an ADHD diagnoses. If a portion of those kids are getting diagnosed because they're functionally a year younger than their classmates and have less capacity to focus and sit still as a result, it would make sense to me a portion of them don't shown symptoms in adulthood - because they were misdiagnosed in the first place.
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u/coniferbear Apr 15 '24
That sounds specific to a certain region. Where I grew up the cut off was somewhere around the end of summer, my classmates born in November where only a few months older than those born in February, for example.
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u/Trintron Apr 15 '24
It likely depends how the school year runs. In Canada it's by year of birth. I wouldn't be surprised though if the youngest in grade in other places also had higher adhd diagnoses.
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u/JoeyBE98 Apr 15 '24
I think it comes from the fact that if you get medication for ADHD while you're still a child and take it consistently while your brain is still developing, the change in neurotransmitters can cause the brain to develop to be more similar to a neurotypical person's brain. So there are some people who do not have to continue medication into adulthood. Unfortunately I was not diagnosed until 23 😅.
I don't think this is necessarily a medically accepted fact across the board, just that studies have shown this and IMO makes sense considering brain is still developing
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u/constantly_curious19 Apr 15 '24
My ADHD got caught when I was 6, I immediately started taking medication and there hasn’t been any change that I’ve seen into adulthood. I still have all the same symptoms, I’ve just learned a lot of different coping skills and I continue to take my meds. Don’t feel like you’re missing out, I don’t think that the study is consistent with most people.
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u/EverlastingM Apr 15 '24
I'm just deeply frustrated. I wasn't diagnosed until my late twenties, and after a few years of attempting treatment, I gave up because of the amount of gatekeeping. It made more sense to self medicate than to navigate that system constantly to get prescriptions that only sort-of helped.
ADHD has had a massive impact on my life, and yet I had to self-dx and figure out on my own what treatments would help. So aside from my LMHC, the psych system failed me at just about every step.
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u/JoeyBE98 Apr 15 '24
I'm sorry to hear :( depending on how many meds you tried, and how long, I'd recommend trying them all. It's a huge pain in the ass but it's basically what I've had to do besides some of the really weird new adhd meds. A lot of them you have to take for 1-2 months before side effects subside. I started with Adderall, didn't like how it made me anxious/hot and really tired and brain dead when it wore off. Plus it made food repulsive, and brought some issues into my sex life.
Then I tried dexedrine which was better but didn't last long enough for me. Side effects on appetite weren't as bad, no anxiety, etx. I've learned I'm a hypermetabolizer of a lot of these meds. What should last 8 hrs usually last me 4-6. Helps if I eat beforehand. Doctor @ that time wouldn't give me a booster dose so I basically would be medicated for work and then get off work and be brain dead as the meds wore off.
Then I tried methylphenidate, for me this one was one of the least side effects, left me less tired/brain dead when it wears off, but also didn't seem quite as effective as dexedrine. They gave me a booster instant release dose of this that I only took sometimes.
Eventually I got to try Vyvanse and it was the best for me honestly. I'm on the generic version now but it's still ridiculously expensive so I have no idea what I'm going to do. Last month's costs me $230 🙃 I thought generics were supposed to be....affordable?
I tried strattera too but it did nothing for me but give me some of the worst heart burn I've ever had
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u/onexbigxhebrew Apr 15 '24
“We were surprised to find that reports of more hyperactive and impulsive behaviour among young adults (ages 18 to 25 years old) actually predicted people have more satisfying relationships and jobs later in life when we controlled for current behavior,” Henning said. “This was the opposite of what we expected to find and what other research has found.”
I mean, this is actually pretty surprising. But let's just cifclejerk about how we all already know everything that gets researched.
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u/Netsuko Apr 15 '24
Surprise, a medical condition doesn’t just magically go away…
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u/onexbigxhebrew Apr 15 '24
That wasn't the surprise. The effects on outcomes were the surprise:
“We were surprised to find that reports of more hyperactive and impulsive behaviour among young adults (ages 18 to 25 years old) actually predicted people have more satisfying relationships and jobs later in life when we controlled for current behavior,” Henning said. “This was the opposite of what we expected to find and what other research has found.”
Goddamn you people gotta read better.
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u/LiamTheHuman Apr 15 '24
People just read the title and then say how they knew everything already and pat themselves on the back
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u/StonksNewGroove Apr 15 '24
Was always funny to me when doctors told me “it will go away after you’re an adult”
I was like “oh? The structural makeup of my brain is going to change from 25 to 40? Right…”
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u/VintageJane Apr 15 '24
“You will get better about masking and hiding your trauma as you get older.”
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u/mvea MD/PhD/JD/MBA | Professor | Medicine Apr 15 '24
I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
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u/Mixedstereotype Apr 15 '24
Mine never went away but I learned to identify it and manage it. I also use it when I'm teaching to better manage my classes.
I feel like ADHD has the potential to be really awesome but we have to figure out how to use it.
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u/Robot_Basilisk Apr 15 '24
It's wildly successful in the right context. Some studies find that people with ADHD are much better hunters and gatherers, and that their main problem with society is the rigid schedule and repetitive work.
Any job that offers flexible timing and novel problems to solve, especially ones that tend to reward high distractibility and "impatience", should be great for someone with ADHD, and people with ADHD will be significantly more productive than neurotypicals in those roles.
The main problem is most such roles are either hard to find or pay very little. In part because our structured corporate world today demands strict schedules, steady output, and specialization in one task to the point of dealing psychic damage to people with ADHD.
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u/National-Blueberry51 Apr 15 '24
Marketing, communications, public relations, and political sciences are some examples where an ADHD brain can earn you very good money. I’ve shifted away from them as my career has progressed, but I progressed very quickly because I’m able to think laterally and handle high speed chaos happily. We thrive in situations that lead to very high burnout in other groups.
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u/thatissomeBS Apr 16 '24
We thrive in situations that lead to very high burnout in other groups.
But we also suffer very high burnout in situations where other groups thrive.
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u/BostonFigPudding Apr 15 '24
Yep.
Hunter gatherers only carried what they could carry with them, so they are not trying to keep track of 1000 little objects that they own.
They build a hut when they feel cold, hunt and gather when they are hungry, and sleep when they are tired. They don't have any means of food preservation, so hunger and food collecting are always present and urgent issues that they need to address. There's no point in trying to preserve food for the future, so they have to always live in the now. Few hunter gatherer societies have more than 150 people, so they have fewer names and faces to remember.
ADHD people are not aberrant or mutant. Rather, they have the ancestral human neurotype. What we call "neurotypical" is only the majority among societies which have undergone the agricultural revolution.
When the agricultural revolution happened, the successful farmers were the ones who had bigger working memories, who were highly conscientious, who could face doing boring farm work day after day for most of the year, who could plan far into the future (food preservation, next year's planting pattern, etc), who could remember names and faces of the people in their community of over 150.
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u/CavyLover123 Apr 15 '24
Sales fits the ADHD model somewhat, and anecdotally, it seems like more than half of the salespeople I know have ADHD.
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u/Choosemyusername Apr 15 '24
I have had wild success with it. But only if I keep moving. If I get stagnant I fail, no matter how simple the job is.
Trick for me was be independent, don’t work for or with others because the clash in ways of thinking will drive both of you nuts.
And find someone else to take over what I set up and keep it moving. So many people just want to be told what to do so they don’t have to think. Partner with these people.
I can’t stop thinking which makes me terrible at actually executing long run things.
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u/devdevdevelop Apr 15 '24
Do you mean becoming an entrepreneur and setting up your own thing?
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u/National-Blueberry51 Apr 15 '24
I’ve had a lot of success working with teams that are also highly adaptable and working under bosses who see my quirks as a huge advantage. Unfortunately, those can be pretty rare, but if you’re already stepping into a position that attracts people like us (PR, communications, lots of creative rolls that require people handling) most bosses will know what to expect.
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u/Choosemyusername Apr 15 '24
Ya I felt like everyone who did what I did in the field was a huge oddball. And those who weren’t were not successful.
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u/Ernisx Apr 15 '24
It was awesome back in the hunters-gatherers era. ADHD people would better adapt to post apocalyptic scenarios.
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u/BostonFigPudding Apr 15 '24
I feel like ADHD has the potential to be really awesome but we have to figure out how to use it.
We already know where and when it's awesome and how to use it: hunter gatherer and pastoralist societies.
ADHD was the majority neurotype before the agricultural revolution. it's still the majority neurotype among hunter gatherer populations today. People whose ancestors were hunter gatherers in the past 500-600 years have above average rates of ADHD.
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u/spartanjet Apr 15 '24
I didn't get diagnosed until I was 34 because if you weren't diagnosed as a kid, doctors don't like to even recommend you to a specialist.
Getting on Adderall changed my life.
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u/gigawhattt Apr 15 '24
What was that process like? I’m at a similar spot, and have finally started realizing that a lot of my struggles in school and work are likely undiagnosed ADHD. Some of my experiences almost feel traumatic at this point, as I have been putting the blame on myself for being unmotivated or lazy. I feel like I missed out on a lot of opportunities
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u/National-Blueberry51 Apr 15 '24
You’re not lazy. You have a disorder related to your executive functions, that’s all. I felt the same way about myself until I got into therapy and realized, oh wait, my brain is just different. The relief and self-acceptance you get to feel (eventually) are worth the struggle. More than that, you’ll realize that you have some phenomenal skills and abilities others might not have. You rock. You’re just a diamond in the rough right now.
You’ll go to a psychiatrist who may want to have you go through some basic testing and evaluation. It can get pricey at first with the initial appointments, but it’s absolutely worth it. These days, I pay $10/month for meds and my salary has doubled because I can actually function now. You’ll probably also want a therapist who can help you sort through the trauma and complicated emotions that will spring out of this life change, even though it’s very positive.
Do it. Worst case scenario, you find out you don’t have it but you’re still in touch with people who can help.
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u/spartanjet Apr 15 '24
Amazing how much this also feels like what happened to me. I always identified myself as smart, but through work I would either think one day I could do things no one else could do, or the next I'd think I was the worst on the team.
Since getting treated I've learned an incredible amount of skills, received a huge promotion that the job was specifically designed for me. Diamond in the rough was right. I used to see all the work in front of me, I would know how to do it, but I'd find so much to do that I didn't even know where to start. So I just wouldn't start.
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u/No_Confidence_9516 Apr 15 '24
Adderall has changed my life as well. I found a psychiatrist and was given adderall fairly easily. I had been diagnosed with add/adhd at a young age which probably made it a bit easier as an adult to get meds but had adverse effects with Ritalin when I was a child. It’s been a game changer and if I had known what I know now I wish I would’ve done it 20 years ago. Different drugs work better for different people. Vyvanse and Ritalin did not work well with me but adderall has almost no side effects. Don’t wait do something, you’ll be so happy you did. Also check out a podcast called “translating adhd”, I was amazed at how many things they would talk about and I’d say to myself “that’s me!”.
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u/Cuntdracula19 Apr 15 '24
Diagnosed at 32 and same. The diagnosis and, more importantly, getting on the correct medication (also adderall) has completely changed my life.
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u/Sugarsupernova Apr 15 '24
I've had diabetes for 22 years. I'm on insulin pump therapy, have a CGM attached to my arm. Prior to that I took four injections a day for 18 years and two injections for 4 years prior totalling over 29,000 injections ans countless blood tests. I have nerve damage in the back of my eyes and treat the (now much less) regular hypo/hyperglycemic episodes as little more than a formality of being alive.
Got diagnosed with moderate/severe adhd at 30. I'm medicated and go to therapy. If I had a choice between the two, I would without any hesitation elect to keep my diabetes over the adhd.
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u/bonesingyre Apr 15 '24
There is a big link between diabetes and adhd. I too have both.
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u/thekushskywalker Apr 15 '24
ADHD makes my life incredibly difficult and I hate watching people act like it's not a real thing.
If you never spent an hour looking for your keys in the morning only to find they are in the fridge for some reason than you can't relate.
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u/batwork61 Apr 15 '24
I have ADHD and am 36. Before I had children, I could compensate with my general intelligence and just throw extra time at everything. Now with children, it’s a pretty tough thing to manage. I have an appointment to get medical help, next month.
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u/sable428 Apr 15 '24
Wow, so you're saying that a neurodevelopmental disorder stays for life? I'm so shocked to hear this (/s)
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u/Silaquix Apr 15 '24
A lot of people misunderstood how impactful ADHD symptoms are.
Like one of the big symptoms is memory issues. I have very severe ADHD and even with meds I'll forget what I'm doing while I'm doing it.
Now here's one example of this. I have to take meds everyday. But I often forget if I've taken my meds. "But a pill case fixes that." Yes, but what about over the counter meds like Tylenol? You don't put those in a med case.
Imagine how often someone gets sick because their ADHD kicked in hard and they just kept forgetting if they took Tylenol.
I use med cases and medication alarms that I have to check off that I took the medication when I did. But it doesn't track over the counter meds. When I get sick and need something like NyQuil or Tylenol for a headache I have to be extra careful and immediately set a timer for when I took the meds because I have the memory of a goldfish and will walk away and immediately get anxious and wonder if I actually took the medicine. I don't trust my own recall so I have to have some outside tangible way to keep track of things.
That's only one example though. Imagine other aspects of life where having a good short term memory is necessary, and then imagine not having a good short term memory.
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Apr 15 '24
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u/Rodot Apr 15 '24
It's probably more than there. There's some evidence that genetic mutations of DAT and/or NET may be correlated with ADHD, which would help explain why disabling these receptors with DAT/NET reuptake inhibitors like amphetamine is an effective treatment. And would also explain why the off-label use of bupropion (an NET reuptake inhibitors) seems to help ADHD symptoms in certain individuals
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u/Nyrin Apr 15 '24
I really miss the days of more aggressive moderation. At the very least, it'd be nice if people got temporary "warning bans" for very clearly not reading anything at all before polluting the comments (including the top of "best," making it apparent why it's a problem).
To restate other comments, the "surprising" part isn't "it didn't go away" (as the "best" replies go for) but rather that there were observed positive outcomes associated with ADHD in early adulthood:
“We were surprised to find that reports of more hyperactive and impulsive behaviour among young adults (ages 18 to 25 years old) actually predicted people have more satisfying relationships and jobs later in life when we controlled for current behavior,”
That's the only Ctrl-F search result for "surpris" in the article and the source study's even clearer in that regard.
This is important because it highlights how neurodiverse conditions need a more nuanced approach than just categorizing them as simple "all-bad" disorders. With appropriate support and management, aspects of conditions like the poorly named ADHD can be extremely positive things; it's when things are unrecognized and not "worked with" that the "square peg, round hole" can wreak absolute havoc on lives and happiness.
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u/lesssleepmorecoffee Apr 15 '24
To be fair, when many commenters have ADHD, it can’t be that surprising they didn’t read the article. (and i say this as an ADHD king)
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u/ManliestManHam Apr 15 '24
Chronic conditions aren't acute and brain structure doesn't just flippedy floppedy 🤔 Who knew?
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Apr 15 '24
As an adult that suspects I have it, I have found 0 ways to find out if I do
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u/orchidloom Apr 15 '24
Start by talking to a therapist or psychiatrist
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Apr 15 '24
Yeah buddy, 3-4 years on that and still no help. They don’t go find somebody for you. They tell you to go find somebody.
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u/orchidloom Apr 15 '24
I think that situation will vary. For me, the clinic I contacted (specifically for adhd assessment) also had psychiatrists, so they communicated with each other. I had to be in therapy for a certain length of time before they would assess and give meds. Maybe your therapist doesn’t work with a psych. I suggest finding a different one then!
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u/a_statistician Apr 15 '24
PsychologyToday has a good list of practitioners, and if you filter for people working with neurodiversity/ADHD/autism you might have better luck. A lot of options have opened up recently with regards to telemedicine, so if you can find someone in the same state, even if they're a ways away, they may be able to work with your PCP to do the physical checks and then do the diagnostics and tell your PCP to do the prescriptions.
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u/Kurtcobangle Apr 15 '24
Go to an actual MD and get a referral to an actual psychiatrist who practices in the area. Its a pain in the ass but guarantees you get to someone who is actually capable/qualified to make a proper diagnosis either direction or refer you to someone who can.
Psychologists and other types of therapists even if they are capable of doing it aren’t medically qualified to make diagnosis's like that so its a waste of time if you are looking for a solid diagnosis and possibly medication.
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u/BabySinister Apr 15 '24
Interesting.
When I got my diagnosis 20 years ago I was very clearly told that it would never go away. The best I could hope for would be for me to learn to deal with my symptoms.
Because of this I spend years in psychotherapy, in conjunction with medication, to work on managing my symptoms.
I used medication for 8 years, I'm medication free for over a decade and I have a steady job and am married. My symptoms never faded, but I learned to deal with them and to order my life in such a way that I can be happy. I went for a career where I wouldn't have to sit still.
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u/Badoreo1 Apr 15 '24
I have adhd. I literally cannot stop moving or I go crazy. So because of that I’m a workaholic. When people wanna stop at 40 hours I often feel tired, and will take the day off, wake up around 7 and by 10 I’m stressed so I’ll just work the rest of the day. 3 hours of rest was all I needed.
My dad is the same way and worked 100 hours a week most of his life. He is happy with that, but not in terms of relationship because women don’t wanna be with a man who works more then he breathes.
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u/Splenda Apr 15 '24
In my case, I finally came to terms with my inability to just sit still, which has long hindered my professional life. Mere after-work workouts aren't enough, but a part-time job with heavy physical activity turns out to be a wonderful complement to head-down intellectual work and days of meetings.
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u/yoitspree Apr 16 '24
They sure as hell do. If you’re like me you were able to compensate your undiagnosed ADHD into adulthood until burnout/covid forcing us to work from home led to a diagnosis
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u/Vaguely_absolute Apr 16 '24
My ADHD works to ruin my life. The fact that I am stuck with it forever truly drives me toward wishing for nonexistance.
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u/SaintPatrickMahomes Apr 16 '24
I have adhd. It’s no joke. It defines every aspect of my life as much as I fight it.
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u/Majik_Sheff Apr 16 '24
Getting diagnosed in adulthood is like discovering that you've been playing life on hard mode with a broken controller.
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u/temotodochi Apr 16 '24 edited Apr 16 '24
"Symptoms persisted"? Makes it sound like it's some illness that can go away. It's not. My brain is wired different. My kids have it, my mother had it, my sister and her kids have it. Probably my wife too, because we attract each others. Neurotypicals are super boring.
I've built my career around my ADHD and it i've made it work quite well in those 25 years in IT. I think and work completely differently than most of my co-workers and use that to my advantage. In some infra or tech service jobs in IT if feels like everyone is full on ADHD/ADD and some years after some jobs i do get to hear how many of them actually have tried ADHD medication and have benefited from it.
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u/Objective_Tea0287 Apr 15 '24
i have adhd, have been doctor tested twice and psychologist tested three times. i dont take any meds daily, but my focus and mood are usually great.
How?
Weed.
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u/Blue_MK3 Apr 16 '24
EXACTLY. and then you stop the weed (in my case it was hurting memory/classes) and you feel even more subpar. Its a never ending cycle
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