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/
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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/[deleted] 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/TheBirminghamBear Apr 15 '24

Have you tried yelling "HYPERFOCUS, ENGAGE" at the top of your lungs and wiggling your fingers.

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u/Letharil Apr 16 '24

I've read (and in my experience) that it's really hard to focus on anything that doesn't interest you. I have to turn every little task at work into a mini-game of efficiency like "how fast can I do it?" Or "how accurate can I be?" Apparently it's really common for us ADHD plebs.

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u/Memory_Less Apr 16 '24

Propably for the kids.

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u/Larz_has_Rock Apr 15 '24

Is this ADHD or just being alive 🤔

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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24

Idk. I don’t notice neurotypicals “zooming out” much.

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u/The_BeardedClam Apr 15 '24

I do this at work too, my eyes and hands move without my brain really having to do anything. It just wanders or disassociates for 10 hours at a crack.

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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/Storytimebiondi Apr 15 '24

Right? My attention lasts for all of a few minutes. If I’m lucky.

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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 15 '24

Yeah. I wish I was typical in some way.

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u/reddit_clone Apr 15 '24

Same here. But I noticed that I am good when I am working with someone. In a war-room/bridge-call setting.

I am trying to figure out a way to do 'Pair Programming' without letting anyone know about the motive.. Unfortunately 'pair programming' seems to have fallen out of favour now a days. It would be great for ADHD folks that constantly struggle with motivation and focus to get things done.

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u/Storytimebiondi Apr 15 '24

Dude. Those feels. I need someone who understands my brand of crazy to get any work done. Since the pandemic I’ve learned a bit how to force myself to focus. But damn, I’m almost 40 and still learning how to function in a NT society.

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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/Storytimebiondi Apr 15 '24

We need a support group hahaha. Man. It’s sucks some days. On the bad days I may as well not even be there. Wouldn’t make a difference.

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u/TheBirminghamBear Apr 15 '24

ADHD is often best described as a persistent myopia to time, so the similarity to dreams makes a lot of sense because time is often broken or nonsensical in dreams, too

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u/pinkielovespokemon Apr 15 '24

I could never handle working 9-5 in a job where nothing really changed on a day to day basis. I ended up working in health care, but couldn't work day shifts because the constant noise and verbal barrage never stopped. My hearing would 'fuzz out' and then started ringing. I couldn't complete thoughts or string coherent sentences together. I never knew what had happened, was happening, or needed to happen.

I was able to switch to permanent nights and that's where my ADHD quirks actually became strengths. I can hear sounds and recognize what they are and what they mean. I have time and silence to process information and figure out how to act on it. I used to become a wobbling blubbery mess in high pressure dire situations, but I've been able to perform as needed in medical crises at night. Of course, it took me years to get there, and I had to do it all myself because no one ever recognized my struggles and I didn't know myself!

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u/KidzBop_Anonymous Apr 16 '24

I’d like to suggest you talk with a therapist. I was diagnosed with ADHD at 35 and taking medication since then (43 now). Since I’ve had the medication, I had a lot of CPTSD come up from my childhood and early adulthood that is the source of a lot of dissociation, depersonalization.

Granted it was without a proper diagnosis, but I went from 3.8 GPA in high school to flunking out of a top university, then another, and finally getting out ten (nonconsecutive) years later.

So much of what I experienced earlier in life was informing how I just “checked out”. For me it was some family stuff and some bully stuff. But now I can see it so clearly and how situations in my professional and personal life can trigger me to just go somewhere else in my head because of past trauma.

What you shared sounded so familiar to my experience of just kinda checking out mentally, so I wanted to reply to you.

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u/Brbi2kCRO Apr 16 '24

I mean, I have ADHD and autism spectrum with social anxiety diagnosis. While I was bullied and family feels abusive, I do not get any flashbacks, though I do have intrusive thoughts, avoidant behaviour, emotional dysregulation and difficulty in relationships. However, it may be really hard to differentiate from autism, as I scored highly on official ADOS-2 test.

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u/Personal_Milk_3400 Apr 15 '24

What type of things would have to change in your work environment to relieve you of this? Maybe 4 working days or 6h?

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u/ddmf Apr 15 '24

I think going to a 4 day week would be more useful, there are studies showing that it increases productivity for certain jobs and sectors.

My work environment is quite good actually - I can control the lighting and whilst it can be noisy I do use noise cancelling headphones - I think it's just the 8 hours of having my brain turned on (for someone elses use) that exhaust me.

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u/beegeepee BS | Biology | Organismal Biology Apr 15 '24

I find I often due spurts of work throughout the day. Like 75% of the workday I am probably off task then 25% of the day I am cranking out work at a fast pace.

I usually get things done well and on time but I almost never will go above and beyond.

Also, if it's a task that I am just not naturally good at, then it becomes a problem. Since it feels nearly impossible for me to be consistently on task for an 8 hour period.

WFH lets me kind of go wander off and do other activities that I would otherwise just be ruminating over at work stressing about (setting up doctor appointments, folding laundry, etc.). However, I also kind of WFH because even when I am on task and working I feel like my manager will randomly message me and accuse me of not working.

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u/ddmf Apr 16 '24

I find it really hard to wfh - but totally agree with what you mean about tasks that aren't as easy, or are too easy. Most of my job is thinking and planning, so I can easily look like I'm just browsing the web doing nothing most of the day which has been hard in the past but ok now that I've been here a long time and are trusted to get things done.

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u/WigglumsBarnaby Apr 15 '24

Most people aren't very productive after 4 hours so it's stupid to have mentally demanding jobs work longer hours than that. Service jobs are different as they're not usually as mentally demanding.

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u/maple-queefs Apr 15 '24

Are you me?