ADHD and electronic music

The Lounge General Discussion
#309

Sure! I took it in good faith and my response was not necessarily targeted, my frustration is more with the general attitude.

I absolutely empathize with this, and oddly enough my disinterest and depression was somewhat diagnosed as “CFS” at some point in between ignoring my ADD as a child and fighting for an adult diagnosis.

I don’t broadly distrust doctors and “big pharm” but conditionally and in some areas absolutely.

(Super reductive take warning) Idiopathic, catch-all conditions like CFS, where persons who have the diagnosis are tested with an assortment of concoctions and a p-hacked “response” is observed… obviously I do not support that.

At least the stimulus / response in this case is far better understood.

I’m glad it worked for you, but “eat healthy, don’t spend too much time on pornography and don’t check social media” is not a panacea.

If “lifestyle choices” and avoiding depression feedback loops were all it took, ADD would be very easily managed with minimal struggle!

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#310

Great! That’s what I thought but just wanted to make it clear! :slight_smile:

edit: I tried so many other things too, not just the ones i mentioned but these were the ones that I think helped me the most. Moving into a small house in the middle of a forest and away from the city made a huge and pretty immediate impact that was easy to notice.

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#311

I can relate to this sentiment and I’m so glad you found alternatives that worked for you, but as a parent of an Autistic 14 year old who is currently medicated and absent from school while we wait months on waiting lists for other interventions, I’m grateful that it’s even an option. Believe me, medication was absolutely the last resort.

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#312

I totally agree that it’s great that there are options and medications for these problems.
As long as it’s not the first thing that is being offered by the doctors.
I really hope that a working solution for your child will be found!!

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#313

Considering the fact that I’m in debt over $1000 for a Digitakt after a divorce, I’d have to agree that ADHD impulsivity plays a huge factor in my creative thought process lol.

I like that you have such a rational view of ADHD.

I take a stimulant (among other meds for the ADHD comorbidity) for my ADHD. It boosts my brain’s logical center which outshines my creative center when the meds are active.
It helps me learn complex techniques but adds a shade of anxiety that stifles creativity until the med wears off.
Also, it’s hard for me to mess around with music when I’m even slightly depressed.

Your (kids) mileage may vary though.

If they have any interest in creativity, please foster it. I truly wish my mother took our ADHD seriously and listened to my creative interests as a kid.

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#314

Thank you! I really appreciate the kind words. I remain optimistic but the glacial pace of support is frustrating to say the least. A one-size-fits-all, main stream education system and under-resourced health service here in the UK have conspired against us but we’ll persevere.

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#315

That sounds really rough. I wish I had something helpful or wise to say but unfortunately I don’t. :frowning:

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#316

Yeah, apologies for the continued privatization drum being beaten and any other consequences used to distract from that.

Health insurance in the US doesn’t pay for mental health care, or medical/physical care beyond the direct medication, so I don’t want to “worse” or “better” either even if should be trouble-free and tax-paid-for-free in all lands.

In a sense I love that idea, or at least the option.

In practice, pandemic has shown me that chosen/enforced isolation (even with natural beauty about) does not help me with my mental state, distractibility, and executive function, it tends to mke them worse…

Again, more lament on my end at what hasn’t worked and not intended as a push-back or diminishing of anyone’s success!

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#317

Im with you brother. My son has Aspergers and was discharged at 17 years of age from health services. We were abandoned. No help but medication from a gp. It was a nightmare. School were useless. Mental health services crisis team non existent. If you want to talk more pm me🙂

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#318

Fun story.

I was at an open evening/talk thing at my 4 year old’s primary school last night. The new headmaster (he’s been in post a month) did this really good presentation about child centred approaches and inclusive learning environments. It was pretty good, even I liked it. Then he handed over to the class teacher, who spent the next 10 minutes moaning at everyone about how annoying it is that not all the kids can put their own coats on or tie their own shoes.

One step forward, two steps back…

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#319

Sounds like a wrong un. My son had to wear velcro shoes as he hasnt got the motor coordination to tie shoe laces.

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#320

It’s a completely different thing if you do it by your own decision and are able to meet friends and family when ever you want. What kind of chosen experiences do you have about it and how did it affect you?

I know this is very kinda lame but I must admit that when the pandemic started I felt this weird sense of relief as now I wasn’t the only person I knew who’s life is on pause for undetermined time.

Noticing the changing seasons more than the changing adds on the sides of busses and shop windows and thousands of similar things created a better life for me.
I know that sounded cheesy but things like that really affect us, some more than others.

I know you mean well so I wont take your words the wrong way. Hopefully its the same the other way around. :slight_smile:

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#321

Don’t believe everything you think. Thoughts can be wrong.

I understand you might have ADHD features and identity yourself not as „faulty“. I also understand that you seem to be functional, don’t suffer from anxiety, depression, procrastination, failure in spite of talent, underachievement, addiction, risky behavior etc. Lucky you. It’s a spectrum.

And certainly this type of civilization is not what one could call a species appropriate environment.

But! It is the only environment for most of us. And medication helps so much if it is a normal genetic ADHD/ASD/ODD.

Please stop discouraging people from searching/using proper help just because you personally do fine (medication in ADHD: effects size and improvement of quality of life is the largest in all psychiatric conditions, side effects are few, benefits are huge regarding addiction, accidents, education, relationships etc.) By doing so (denying the disorder-character in general and discouraging to consider medical help) you harm others. And - if you’re ADHD - you’re doing harm to your own kin/tribe/people by saying it should be the last on the menu. It should not.

I recommend reading ADHD 2.0 by Hellowell. It covers this topic, too.

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#322

You’d be surprised of how many of those things you just listed you are wrong about.

I’m not discouraging anyone about anything. All I said is that one should see the other options first and if they offer no help, then go with the medication.

By stating that psychology is hardly a science I meant it doesn’t follow the scientific method as the subject matter is in state of changes. No two experiment is replicable.

#323

Generic reflective behavior.

You own yourself and from my POV can do to yourself whatever you want. I know what I’m talking about.

I said what I thought was necessary. Don’t want to get drawn into a petty fight or squabble.

#324

So there is no way for me to tell you that by assuming these things about me without ever meeting me or knowing anything about my life or past experiences other than what I’ve shared here, you might be mistaken. Not without being accused of "generic reflective behavior. Get real.

When you are talking about my life and health issues, you absolutely don’t know what you’re talking about.

#325

I mean, in the interest of needing to stay safe, to not attend or orchestrate too large of gatherings, and the need to isolate from friend-hangs in between immunocompromised in-law visits.

I’m already somewhat isolated living in a suburban area over an unaffordable city, friendly with my neighbors which is nice but I’m too old to bond with the young’uns and too weird to bond with the olds :wink:

Trips to a friend’s cottage are lovely, of course and are a great recharge. But I don’t think what ails my attentions would be resolved by only living remotely.

IDK, I don’t think it’s a terrible idea, but would come with other tradeoffs and it’s already more difficult to herd kittens into the same physical space!

Their argument may be more an implied riff on the saying

if you’ve met one non-neurotypical person… you’ve met one non-neurotypical person.

and not wanting persons to speak overbroadly on culprits, cure-alls, and causality.

Not so much them stating that what worked for you didn’t and doesn’t work for you, but that others who have found less success are failures at somehow more obvious alternatives to medication or medicine period over some spectrum of laughably simple to extremely difficult for many lifestyle changes.

And with regards to non-NT a sort of “what do Doctors know, anyway?” tends to be a common refrain against the advice of better Doctors and less helpful to improving the state of medical care.

Rejecting the possibility of more humane care to how you function outright limits society’s interest in treating others better, encourages less concern with improving the medical system, and introduces the possibility of quackery.

Again to clarify- not saying that’s what you’re doing here, but why making a more naturalistic approach to objectively difficult problems the default option can be taken poorly.

People have certainly suffered as much by laypersons diminishing their experience under the guise of “helping” as any uncaring medical doctor.

Self-help peddling is different from “peddling drugs” but when one provides an effect and the other does not, telling others to they need to pre-emptively reject valid options for treatment is going to go over poorly when they’re already having a hard enough time navigating society.

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#326

I don’t know how you unlike. It was an accident

I just don’t understand this. If ADHD has been clinically established, medication is the most proven to be successful treatment. It’s first line defence. Why are you so anti it being the first thing to try?

It’s not a cure, and it needs other things to be successful. But it’s all about inability to self regulate, and the medication improves self regulation, and the chances that sleep, eating well, meditation, exercise etc might be better regulated.

Last resort mentality doesn’t make sense.

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#327

There is an epidemic of children being medicated for being “too restless” in school for example. They are children and school is boring so it pretty natural behavior.

Also something like 1/5 of young adults are on some kind of psych meds in the western world. Probably more by now.

It’s a huge business and the doctors incentive is to prescribe medication to make lots of money. By this I don’t mean there aren’t good and caring doctors but I’ve met many rotten ones.

Given those three things I don’t find all that revolutionary to suggest that maybe the living, working and studying environment and structure and the possible modifications of those would be a good thing to check before you put anything artificial into your system.

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#328

Being against the entire field of psychology/psychiatry and coming up with moral panic over the diagnosis and best possible (still murky) understanding of non-neurotypicality is really not offering any nuance to connect with.

The problem is that “just do this thing and you’ll be cured of your problems” is not really acknowledging the conditions of existence for so many persons, as well as also ignoring any strengths of how our brains work.

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