So there's a very good chance I have ADD

[Blue Protoman]

You guys must remember, I know my own body, life, thoughts, habits, and situation better than you all do.

 

[WizardStan]

But part of being insane is that you don't actually know your own body, life, thoughts, habits, or situation, and especially aren't aware that you don't know. Maybe you're just crazied into thinking you have ADD? How can anyone ever trust anything they think they know about themselves?!? Hypochondria is a disease too, you know. Maybe you should get checked for that at the same time.


(I'm totally teasing now for humorous effect, please take no offense, and good luck)

 

[Blue Protoman]

Thanks.

 

[moxie]

Indeed. A lot of people who presume to know a lot from a little information here


My thoughts later, but first a quick aside: RLS. Restless Legs Syndrome has nothing to do with jumping your leg up and down. It is like this: Imagine a maggot crawling under your skin. Crawl, crawl, crawl. Tickle, tickle, tickling all along the way. Or squirming, or what you might call it. Now imagine hundreds of them, crawling up and down under the skin of your calves, every time you sit or lie down. That is the feeling of RLS. Although it is not quite explained yet, it has connections to circulatory disorders (low blood circulation) and low-grade nerve damage, and usually develops at older age. It becomes a big problem for the affected individual, since it basically prevents you from sleeping or resting at all when in full swing. Go consult your closest geriatric medicine professor if you need more authoritative information, but really, to take the name, make a random assumption of what it means, and then denounce it as humbug because of that assumption, is...not really recommended.


Now, to may main track: ADHD, right? First, what does it mean that a syndrome or disorder "exists"? Is it just "someone being lazy" or "someone not concentrating enough"? "It used to be that kids who were lazy were told off, now they get medication", eh? No. It is possible to see differences in brain structure and neuron firing patterns in those that have disorders in the light autistic spectrum (ADD, ADHD, Aspbergers). Does that mean that the disorders "exists", or are they just "natural variations"? There exists quite good, really, instruments to tell whether an individual is "just lazy" or if they really fall within the definitions of these diagnoses, so it is not random. But does that make it something to be treated, or just something that people ought to handle if they put themselves to it?


Change of track: I am myopic. I have rather severe difficulties focussing (visually) on anything farther away than a few decimeters (a foot or so for the metric-challenged). Is that a syndrome or disease that should be treated? It is observable that my lens does not focus the light on the plane of my retina. Then again, that is true for a lot of people who gets no specific help. Granted, they might only be a little bit off, and I'm quite a bit off, but hell, I ought to be able to deal with that like any other, right? It used to be that the kids who were to stupid to read properly from the blackboard when asked got a spanking and a stay in the corner, and nowadays you want to treat them with these new-fangled "eyeglasses" thing? Big opticians are laughing all the way to the bank.


Change again: I have a friend who is gluten intolerant. Now, what kind of disease is that? It used to be that kids who couldn't keep their food down or shat their pants got ridiculed and called names, and now we're supposed to treat them with special food instead? Everyone has a stomach cramp every now and then - deal with it! Or they just went the natural way and died off young, and so we didn't have to bother.


What is "natural" here (aside: The word "Natural" should be banned from all serious argumentation. Any argument that relies on something being "natural" is inherently flawed at least three ways)? Certainly, eyeglasses and specially prepared no-gluten food is far from "natural", as is medication and behavioural therapy. As is anaesthetic at childbirth, hearing aids, pacemakers and wheelchairs. Is it part of the natural variations that some people see well and some see less good, some to the point of being unable to read or recognize faces? Sure is. Does that mean that we should not try to help those who cannot see very well to something that might help them lead a useful life? Of course not, and particularly not when the solution - a pair of glasses - is such a small investment for a new life.


So: Is there a natural variation in our ability to focus and concentrate, our ability to deal with social situations, our organizational ability? Sure is. Is there a variation large enough that it causes some individuals great difficulty in leading a normal life in our society? Yes, so it seems. Now, this does not differ at all from the cases of myopia or gluten intolerance. People used to have to "live with it", but that was because they had no choice. Now they have. Some people have those conditions in a milder degree, which is easy to live with. That does not change the fact that for those who are worse off, it is a life-destroying handicap. In the end, the question is not whether this "used to be something you had to live with" or "is a natural variation anyway" but rather: if we have the ability, through technology or medication or therapy, to transform a condition from life-wrecking (when it is so) to "under control" - Should we?


This of course goes both ways. Lefthandedness used to be seen as a bad habit that should be treated or beaten out of the kids as a bad habit. Homosexuality used to be a devilish perversion, then a mental disease, then...Nowadays in civilized countries, neither lefthandedness or homosexuality is a problem. Society changed and accepted a wider variety of people. Is it possible that society could be changed in a ways that would nullify the problems that face those that today is grouped in the autism-light behaviour corner? Not very likely. Our society demands that we are organized, focused and sociable, and it might be argued that that is actually the basis of organized civil society as a whole, in a far more fundamental way than handedness or sexual preferences are. We have no concept of a society which does not demand these traits in its members.


This, of course, does not say anything about whether Blue Protoman is ADD/ADHD, or whether he should take medication, or anything. I just have great difficulty both with the "ADHD is no real disorder" thingie (it is quite close to this one: "What do you mean, depression? You're depressed? Well, I was a bit down yesterday, and tell you what? I cheered up and got on with it!") and the ever so popular "All vaguely unknown diseases are a conspiracy from the pharmaceutical industry". I have a bit of a hobby horse over that way. Can you tell?

 

[SOLGarion]

Meh, all this is a lie, he made it all up. He is actually a 47 year old accountant from Odessa, Texas. He did it all to get more posts. HE IS TRYING TO WIN THE GAME!!!!


+1 post for me

 

[Blue Protoman]

Meh, all this is a lie, he made it all up. He is actually a 47 year old accountant from Odessa, Texas. He did it all to get more posts. HE IS TRYING TO WIN THE GAME!!!!


+1 post for me

No, I'm 35, I live in Wyoming, and I'm an electrician.

 

[SOLGarion]

No, I'm 35, I live in Wyoming, and I'm an electrician.

Another lie, Wyoming is a myth. They tell you about it in school, but has anybody been there? NO! Wyoming doesn't exist.

 

[Blue Protoman]

Got me again. I live on the Pitcairn Islands!

 

[maplesugarlover]

but Wyoming does exist. I went there to see Yellowstone national park : )

 

[bzar]

^ No, you were abducted by local greys and implanted with that memory.

 

[Mygames19]

I read through those symptoms and checked them off. I've dealt with them all of my life, and they sure as hell piss off my wife from time to time. I've never been medicated for them, and would never want to be. I can't bear the thought of suppressing my uniqueness through drugs.

I don't know what meds you're thinking of, but mine don't really suppress my "uniqueness" (of course, I'm assuming that your talking about you're creative side), they merely help me stay more focused. I you mean "uniqueness", as in how you behave....yes, that changes a little. But I still have most of these symptoms.

I'm certainly not chalking it all up on bad parenting and poor excuses, the "symptoms" are certainly real. But they are a side effect of dealing with our absurdly rapid transition from bashing rocks together, to sitting at desks pushing pencils. There's nothing wrong with you, you're a member of a species which has spent only a handful of centuries doing the meaningless, trivial bullshit we occupy our daily lives with in this day and age. It's a small wonder so many of us exhibit these symptoms to varying degrees of intensity. More importantly, the trivial bullshit has really intensified over the last century, and more so over the last few decades.

So basically, ADD was never a problem before because life wasn't as trivial before? Hmmm... Makes sense to me.

Don't you just love it when you walk up the stairs... get to the top... and forget why the hell you walked up the stairs in the first place. *sigh*

I don't have stairs, but yes, when walking down our hallway I often forget where I'm going. Stairs are much worse though, if you ask me. D:

...Now, to may main track: ADHD, right? First, what does it mean that a syndrome or disorder "exists"? Is it just "someone being lazy" or "someone not concentrating enough"? "It used to be that kids who were lazy were told off, now they get medication", eh? No. It is possible to see differences in brain structure and neuron firing patterns in those that have disorders in the light autistic spectrum (ADD, ADHD, Aspbergers). Does that mean that the disorders "exists", or are they just "natural variations"? There exists quite good, really, instruments to tell whether an individual is "just lazy" or if they really fall within the definitions of these diagnoses, so it is not random. But does that make it something to be treated, or just something that people ought to handle if they put themselves to it?

I read about this when I went looking for symptoms. I never took an extensive test (probably because of finances), but I don't feel like I needed one, the symptoms matched already and I know I'm not doing those things on purpose.

This of course goes both ways. Lefthandedness used to be seen as a bad habit that should be treated or beaten out of the kids as a bad habit. Homosexuality used to be a devilish perversion, then a mental disease, then...Nowadays in civilized countries, neither lefthandedness or homosexuality is a problem. Society changed and accepted a wider variety of people. Is it possible that society could be changed in a ways that would nullify the problems that face those that today is grouped in the autism-light behaviour corner? Not very likely. Our society demands that we are organized, focused and sociable, and it might be argued that that is actually the basis of organized civil society as a whole, in a far more fundamental way than handedness or sexual preferences are. We have no concept of a society which does not demand these traits in its members.

I'm left handed.


Anyway, what I'm getting out of this is that society is saying I'm not "normal" and need to be treated for it.


I'm starting to understand some of what others are saying - ADHD being a way for doctors to make more money - but I don't think that's the case. I think it's society as a whole that sees this as a flaw that needs to be dealt with. Isn't that the same as saying I'm a lesser being because of it?


In the U.S, the term "Separate, but equal" rights for blacks and whites was overturned. Why? Because, even though the physical nature of it might be "equal", mentally the nature is that the black girl has to walk to a school 21 blocks away even though theirs a white school 4 blocks away. Couldn't you say the same thing here? Although physically I get the exact same life, mentally I don't because I have to take a pill every morning to be "normal", while others don't, meaning there's something wrong with me as a person. I think this is the point some of you were trying to convey, than? Because I can understand what you're saying. At least, I think. :S


Blue Protoman: Sorry man. I was hoping by listing my symptoms, you could connect with them and maybe better determine your own diagnosis.


B-ZaR: Gray? I thought they were more of a purplish color.

 

[Jourdy288]

This thread lead me to this article:


http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000533.html


Which leads me to realize something frightening. I already know that I'm a lyme sufferer, I've had all the symptoms. I didn't realize it's probably the reason why learning C++ is so difficult for me to wrap my head around, or why I'm always forgetting. Never thought I'd say this, but thank you Blue Protoman, you've led me to something quite useful.

Don't you just love it when you walk up the stairs... get to the top... and forget why the hell you walked up the stairs in the first place. *sigh*

Or you've opened a new tab and you're not sure why... Or you've gone to nab something from the refrigerator or you're wondering why you're standing in a doorway...


Crap, I need to get this fixed


For some reason, the Lyme tests aren't working on me. I know that false negatives are common, but...


EDIT: And yeah, I'm pretty sure it's lyme, I live in CT, I suffer lots of joint pain, and so many other things.

 

[Anihil8ion2199]

I have SUBTRACT...

 

[Blue Protoman]

I'm not suffering, please don't think I am. (Not from the ADD, at least.) I appreciate your guys' concern, though.

 

[Hitnrun]

I have ADHD and use ritalin for years without any problems. But I was diagnosed when adult.


All I can say is: there are MUCH WORST things to have than ADHD. It is one of the few disorders that actually have good sides, like programming the Pandora until 3am 7 days straight


And I could't read more than 2 lines off this huge amount of posts, sorry, this is an impossible task for me!

 

[gadgetoid]

I'm left handed... but I got distracted from it and do everything with my right hand now. Yes. Even that.


Oh and I can't write with either hand anymore... darn computers really shit on those old-timey skills.


Many conditions are a sign of modern times, once upon a time they'd crop up, you'd die from them, and they would be permanently erased from the gene pool through the wonderful process of natural selection (a process in which a large number of people don't believe, but I do). Now there's really less onus on the human species to be the pinnacle of physical perfection in order to survive. So whilst our medical technologies allow us to live longer, we're a species fast becoming rife with disease and deformity, obesity and stupidity. Fortunately science will probably cure all those ailments... we've just got the unfortunate problem of having to deal with them in this nasty transitional period between banging rocks together and singularity.


I didn't bother reading up about RLS, so my rantings about jumping-up-and-down legs based on someone else's idea of it which, in turn, was based on a comic strip... well, let's just say they were more out of boredom than a deep scientific study. Ho ho!


Most of the shit that causes problems in gluten-allergic individuals wasn't eaten until the last 7-8 thousand years. Most gluten containing foods are highly unnatural. Humans didn't eat grain until we learned to turn it into flour, for example.


Ultimately a lot of the conditions we have these days are a combination of the death of human evolution, a lifestyle which is changing faster than we can physically and mentally adapt to it as species and a truly, spectacularly terrible diet. Coupled with the inability of modern medicine or genetic sciences to treat these problems effectively.


You speak in terms of the last 50-60 years, which is erroneous. Many conditions have surely developed slowly over the last thousand years, they also went through a phase when people either just died or suffered, and now they've entered the radar of modern medicine with little to no attention being paid to how and why they might have developed. It's a dangerous and terrible fallacy to assume that these things aren't new, simply because we couldn't have detected them even 20 years ago.


Did anyone else spend more time drawing on the back of their GCSE papers than answering the questions? I failed English twice (it might have been thrice). I did well in Science, though, without even trying. We're all blessed with a lack of focus and a juicy helping of intelligence.


Which is probably evidence by the fact my post is just a bunch of tangentially related sentences in no direct response to any other post here... fuck!

 

[mvickers03]

I wish my mum gave me Amphetamines, I have to buy my own!

 

[Blue Protoman]

On Monday I went to the doctor. Today I begin my official Adderal dosage of 10mg, twice a day. Let's see how it turns out!

 

[Nintendo]

You post more than I do.

 

[Blue Protoman]

I know.