Popular posts

Jorge Romero

Jun 2, 2022

The 5-minute rule, and similar "just start" advice, does not work for me. It only makes me feel worse.

Because if i'm set to do something for 5 minutes, I know i will do it for those 5 minutes only. And then get distracted. At least in my case, my ADHD makes it so that my mind HAS to go somewhere else. The problem is keeping that impulse in check, which takes a lot of (mental) effort, so I'm very prone to burn out.

In my case, I know it is neurological/genetic in root cause, as behavioural interventions have almost no effect (i'm a psychologist so I know). But for other people they may be more effective.

As anything related to the mind, there is a mix of biological and environmental factors. I'm often sad that ADHD is often both overdiagnosed AND underdiagnosed. Because it is often misunderstood.

Finally, there is Attention Deficit Trait. Which is, as far as I understand, mostly environmental. And neurotypical people can often exhibit ADD symptoms due to this.

Dr. Edward Hallowell (an ADHD expert) wrote a really interesting book called "Driven to distraction at work" in which he talks about how ADT can arise in modern work environments.

Hopefully that adds a bit to the conversation, and anyone that reads your blog and suspects ADHD can get proper treatment. :D

Thank you for sharing Abbey Perini

Also thank you Miki Szeles!

For the record. I have to say. I really don't like tags. I'm very reluctant to calling myself "ADHD people". There are some deep philosophical reasons for my choice though. Mostly rooted on the history of mental illness, which I studied in school.

But I think everyone should cope with their situation as they see fit, and having a name for it often helps making sense of the mess that is our brains XD

Hey Jorge,

I tried to use words like "may" and "can" help, because as you know, things that will work for you will change and what may work for one person with ADHD will not work for another.

This is the 4th or 5th notification I've gotten from you about ADT, so I will address it. I don't think it belongs in this conversation for a few reasons.

I haven't been able to find corroborating research beyond Dr. Hallowell's paper. If you have research papers with studies of people with ADT, I'd love to see them. It seems to be a symptom of living in our current environment with technology and sounds a lot like burn out, which is a broader discussion.
From my research, it looks like ADT comes and goes, only mirrors a few symptoms of ADHD, and as you have said, there is a solution. This means it is significantly different from ADHD which is chronic and does not have a simple solution.
As you said in another comment, ADHD can be hard for people to grasp. I've already gotten plenty of comments like "taking an ice bath every morning will cure your ADHD." Adding in another acronym that is not a diagnosis will muddy the waters.
There has been enough pain in the comments I've received from stigma and feeling alone that I am happy to center ADHD only in my writing in this series.

I don't disagree, but there are some people who prefer <diagnosis> people and some people who prefer people with <diagnosis>. I know it's a debate in the Autistic community especially. I tried to mix it up as much as possible. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need these labels and could move away from diagnosis styles like the DSM, but right now it really helps us relate to each other.

My research was in mental health stigma as it affects seeking help, so I'm always going to discuss where I'm at in my mental health journey, as imperfect as it may be.

ADT, labels, the DSM, the sad state of the U.S. mental healthcare system, the wrongs mental health professionals have committed and are committing, the lack of training mental health professionals get on ADHD, the social model of disability vs the medical model of disability, how difficult it is to get a proper diagnosis, lack of research on psychiatric medication being prescribed to patients long term, and many other aspects of mental health in the U.S. would all make great topics for blog posts.

Abbey Perini

I only commented on two of your posts about it. So i'm not sure why you got so many notifications. It certainly was not my intention to spam. Nor I demand an address. I don't care. It was just a suggestion.

ADT is a trait precisely because there is no diagnostic criteria. That's what Hallowell proposes. A distinction. In order to clear confusion. You say it yourself

It seems to be a symptom of living in our current environment with technology and sounds a lot like burn out, which is a broader discussion.

That is exactly what he proposes in his book (which was published after the article), as I understand it. ADT, as he puts it, is not ADHD, but can be confused with it. (And he says explicitly, that that is the reason he coined the term).

And the reason I brought that up is because of the stigma. "everyone is a bit ADHD sometimes" is a common thing to hear. You also seem to agree about ADHD being hard to grasp.

Thus, I don't get why avoiding making a distinction explicit would not be something good to help people understand ADHD better. Letting people know that "No, not everyone is a bit ADHD some times."

I can see that confusion happening in the comments of your post!

I guess, what I tried to say is that I could respond with "Nope, ice water will not cure your ADHD, but it may help you if you show ADT"

If anything, I have to say that I was really happy to read your posts. Really. I know that it can feel lonely.

And it has to be said, I wasn't trying to put what you said into question. Sorry if it seemed like that :(

To be completely honest, I don't think Hashnode is a very good place for discussions. As most people seem to both want and expect "great post!" comments. I saw some comments in your other posts along the lines of "wow thanks I'm also adhd sometimes, great post!"

So there's that, I guess.

Search Hashnode