Yeah definitely consider other means. I wouldn’t deny anyone a drink here or there but there are definitely healthier ways to calm down, for sure.
But while I quit for other reasons, the reason I drank was to self medicate. So for us one has to think about what our true intentions are with it: is it just a little nip or something…else.
That was what was on my mind when I started this thread, but it’s evolved into something else (and really interesting!). But yeah, basically, everything you say describes my own attraction to electronic music, which began when I was a teenager and predates other musical interests (guitar) and still dominates.
I enjoy pulling one of my guitars out and strumming a bit, but I usually put it down after 10 or 15 minutes (unless I’m trying to teach myself some tricky song, in which case I hyperfocus). But electronic music, without fail, pulls me in for hours. And yes, the repetitive beats/patterns are a big draw for me as well. I find house and trance most soothing of all…
Lol not at all! Stubborn Self-Saboteurs unite!
Someone recommended this book awhile back and I think it might be good for even those who aren’t but identify with ADHD
Of course I haven’t read it because…I dont wanna. 
Whilst I get that you’re joking haha, and whilst this isn’t really my jam, for example one of my favorite bands used to be Mars Volta. It just helps focus on just the one thing by it’s overruling nature. (It might be a taste thing though, don’t know how this is for others)
While it was meant as a joke, I legit love that band and listen to loads of harsh noise, grindcore and death metal and in general music that’s super intensive. I totally get what you were saying, only time I listen to soothing music is while reading or sometimes folk or country if I’m at my cabin, sitting alone on the porch and drinking beer.
Love it.
And I 100% recognized that it was not only a joke but also probably something you actually like (otherwise: how would you know it, and why would you nót use this opportunity to share it:) And it legit is a really good example of the abstract idea of music that I was describing.
I never said much about my relationship with electronic music, so I’ll add that.
While I attribute my initial attraction to electronic music to science fiction movies (and others) that feature synth music I pretty much discovered the Chemical Brothers, the Crystal Method and Sasha and Digweed on my own at the record store. I immediately felt a connection with those beats and began to discover more on my own through the internet before I went to my first rave years later.
Later I got into DnB, Aphex Twin and the like. I always said that this kind of music somehow felt like fighting fire with fire. Maybe I’m understanding what that means to me a little more now. Though I’ve moved away from listening or making that kind of music and I prefer your 120-130bpm house and techno type stuff. The repetition coupled with the drop this synth add this percussion part drop that bass add this vocal all while that 4/4 kick keeps time, absolutely in love with it.
These days DnB, Jungle, IDM etc, while i love it, makes my brain feel like it is moving in too many directions at once and can even make me physically uncomfortable. Last time I went to a DnB show I had to get hammered to be able to put up with it even though, logically, I knew I liked the music.
50 posts in 3 hours … need I say more ?
(I think I’m ADHD too … this thread springing to life may prompt me (again) to seek a proper diagnosis)
While it’s not my taste, Mars Volta is totally ADHD music.
If I can open the discussion up, I’ve recently learned there’s quite some overlaps between people on the autism spectrum and ADHD. Not in everything but in parts of the diagnosis.
So to come back to OPs question, curious how people on the autism spectrum relate to these questions of making/enjoying (electronic) music - for example hyperfocus or hiding in (a blanket of heavy) music. As I recently learned there’s quite some people here that are on the autism spectrum.
Did not find a quick graphic presentation. There is a pretty usable concept of overlap between ADHD, ASD (autism spectrum disorder), ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). The idea is that you can have more or less symptoms from each part (imagine three overlapping circles).
For those of you who can read German: This is a really really great book about that topic:
I made this Autism and electronic music? thread about autism and electronic music a while ago in which I make more or less the same reasoning. Maybe interesting for others in this neurodivergent thread too. 
I’m autistic and have adhd.
It’s early days, research wise, but there are plenty of people who would happily include ADHD on the Autism spectrum.
I’m not qualified to have an opinion on that, but there’s definitely a lot of overlap. I think the key is to work out which of the characteristics of your neurology are likely to require some sort of adjustment to get by in the world. I think this is more important than labelling something as ADHD or Autism or ODD, as each come with their own set of stigmas and assumptions attached. For example, a young boy might be diagnosed with ADHD due to difficulties concentrating in class, but he might be struggling to concentrate due to social anxiety and communication issues related to being autistic.
And then of course you can have both, even if you’re a girl (which some doctors still don’t believe).
Most people with these characteristics I met were happy to finally know that there is a name for it (or two, or three). Didn’t feel “wrong” or “ill” anymore. We are a minority mostly forced to live in a majority-established environment that would count as not species-appropriate keeping and care with systematic neurotype-based disadvantages. Anyone second founding the electronic music chapter of the neurodiversity movement? Minority rights and protection? 
Oh don’t get me wrong, having an identification is a massive weight off a lot of people’s shoulders. I just worry that health services are often too quick to judge people’s behaviour and mis-identify, sometimes causing greater problems. I’m all for people having an identification, but a correct one, and one that identifies and attempts to make the necessary and reasonable adjustments for the individual’s unique characteristics.
Glad to see a thread appear about this, it’s become a particularly pressing issue in my life lately.
My uncle has ADHD and over the past year or so I’ve suspected that I have it as well, or possibly some form of OCD, or both. On more than one occasion I’ve heard stories of my grandfather’s habit of semi-regularly forcing my grandmother to remove every single piece of furniture from the house and clean even the most minute regions of the interior. Not unreasonable to imagine he had OCD as well.
Lately the stress I’ve experienced from both my job and the circumstances of COVID have mounted and pushed me into increasingly obsessive/compulsive behavior as well as a degree of difficulty starting/stopping tasks that is forcing me to consider quitting my job altogether. Not too long ago I fell into an episode of pointlessly measuring and arranging things in my workspace that went until about four of five in the morning on a work night.
Meanwhile, it has dawned on me that music has been an outlet for these kinds of patterns for most of the time I’ve been making it. Normally this has been more or less healthy and has allowed me to make very detail-oriented stuff that I’m very proud of, but the process of my most recent release was riddled with repetitive and compulsive checking/changing behavior that took an unusual toll on my body and my brain. Simultaneously, my music practice in general has been increasingly plagued with a kind of toxic perfectionism that prevents me from finishing or even starting most things; if I can’t make it flawless then my brain doesn’t even want to bother.
I’ve started seeing a therapist recently and am interested in seeking out some kind of diagnostic test, as it could potentially be helpful to have a usable or at least validating clinical perspective, but I also know from having already having experienced a burnout due work last fall and likely being on the verge of another one, addressing the root stressors that exacerbate these things is just as if not more important. I’m very fearful that this could impact my ability to make a steady living, but maybe even more fearful that it will make my relationship with music so fraught with obsessive-compulsive/attention management struggles that I just don’t get pleasure from it anymore.
Downer reply I know but I guess it’s just important to know that you’re not alone and there are ways to explore and work through it, the right therapist being one of the most important.
I’ve read about a lot of people classifying ADHD under the umbrella of ASD, and have been told similar things by doctors. There’s so much overlap. I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, and I recently took a few autism questionnaires which all pointed towards a high likelihood of me being autistic to some degree, although I’m not sure I actually am. My partner has ADHD too, and she also displays some mild OCD characteristics. I’m certain all these things are in some way related.
Similar and overlapping traits, sometimes a result of very different causes that require different adjustments/treatments.
I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child in the 80s. I was given Ritalin and pretended to take it, but instead threw it away as I thought that I didn’t need any pills to be normal. I was told that I’m smart but lazy. I discovered computers and taught myself 3d animation. Today I am self-employed and have won awards for my work in film, and advertising.
My mom is a psychiatrist, and she specializes in children. She and my dad had a tough time with me underperforming in school. I was more interested in learning how to program and make PC games with friends. My school did not really provide the environment for learning those kinds of things at that time in South-Africa.
I am very happy to have found a career that keeps me interested, as the VFX world moves very fast, and involves many new hi-tech innovations.
I hope that people who experience and express behavior that is deemed different, or sub-optimal find comfort or consolation in times of distress or sadness, and I believe that our differences are what makes us stronger as teams.
Not sure what I want to say really, I think our minds are plastic and we can learn and unlearn behavior through persistent exercise. We should be patient with each other, or rather, I yearn for more patience and acceptance from my environment, so I try to give it as much as I can.
As far as music is concerned, it is the best.
Stay cool people!
