I don’t want to get into an arguement about overdiagnosing, underdiagnosing, meds, no meds, etc. So everyone play nice, y’hear?
If a person (an adult person in this case) can focus their attention on seemingly rote yet pleasureable-for-them activities (ex: compiling statistics for role-playing games) but seemingly cannot focus on activities that are similarly rote yet are nonpleasureable-for-them (ex: finishing computer science project) would this be consistent with ADD? Or just a lack of discipline/study skills on their part? My understanding, and flawed it may be, is that ADD is a general inability to focus attention on tasks.
As I understand it, ADD is a condition of the brain in which a particular set of stimuli fails to provide the necessary levels of reward to the pleasure centers of the brain, thus the person cannot hold onto the amount of attention necessary to function.
The accepted course of action is currently prescribed stimulants targeting the very under-developed brain areas needed to raise the brain’s stimuli processing ability up to par. That and behavior modification.
Yes, it’s possible for a person with ADD to concentrate on pleasurable tasks. It’s harder than it is for someone without the disorder, but if the incentive to “stay on task” is high enough, it can be done. It’s just that for many everyday tasks the incentive just isn’t there. A slight distraction and away they go.
For example, a child may play for hours with Lego blocks, building very elaborate constructions but not be able to focus for half an hour during “silent reading” at school. The one task is self-rewarding, the other is drudgery – both are affected by distractions, but it’s easier to ignore the distractions if you’re absorbed in the task.
This is not inconsistent with a general inability to be attentive. A person with ADD has to work harder to stay focused on any task.
It is, of course, also consistent with laziness or lack of self-control to only want to do fun things. That’s one of the stigmas associated with ADD.
As an ADDult, I highly recommend that anyone that suspects they have ADD to consult with a psychiatrist that specializes in diagnosing and treating ADD. Someone that has been in psychiatry for a very long time because ADD can be misdiagnosed.
Silo and I are both ADD. He and I have very similar symptoms but deal with things very differently.
ADD can and often (not all the time) has other problems like self medication with drugs or alcohol (usually in untreated people) can hyper focus on tasks that are of great interest but can get very frustrated even while trying to focus on that task. There are some broad symptoms but again, ADD must be diagnosed by a trained professional.
How does that help you tell the difference between them and normal children who, IMHO, are also very good at sitting in front of TVs, computers, video games and gameboys?
When I was fourteen or fifteen, my mom thought that I might have ADD, so she took me to a psychiatrist to have that theory checked out. The shrink said that I was just depressed (as many fourteen year old girls are) and sent me away. (Funny that she didn’t try to fix that problem.)I didn’t like her anyways so it didn’t bother me that I wouldn’t have to go back. Anyways, I am now almost 20 and am not depressed at all, but still have the same problems with attetion span and the like. I think she was wrong. But to answer the OP I think that it is very possible that the person metioned has ADD. They sound similar to myself only I wouldn’t be able to compile statistics for anything, math makes me antsy. I have problems with concentrating on getting through tests and often find myself forgeting what the question was before I finish reading it, but if I am reading a good book, I can sit for hours. Maybe I am just crazy though. Okay, now I am babbling.
Agree. It is MHO that ADD is not a “disease” in the strictest sense, but simply the result of too much TV & video games + too little discipline at home.
techchick, thanks for your post… don’t worry, I’m not trying to self-diagnose… this was just part of a discussion I’ve been having with some friends. What you said about getting frustrated even with desirable tasks follows my (current) understanding. I don’t now, its confusing. Thanks for all of y’all’s input!
You must not have ever experienced the particular joys of raising an ADD child, wondering why he didn’t respond to the same techniques that worked on your other children.
You also must not be aware of the large and growing body of medical research into the differences in dopamine production by the hypothalamus, and the effect of stimulants on correcting the imbalance.
In answer to the OP, as I feel obliged to put in every ADD post, please check Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder. The diagnostic procedure is messy, to be sure, but it’s getting better all the time. Many adults with the neurochemical disorder were never adequately diagnosed as children, through the fault of no one, but it’s never too late to start.
Sorry, no jokes here (although I do appreciate them), but as a parent, I’m too worn out with this stuff.
Crafterman, didn’t you read the OP?? I’m simply looking for information on the current thinking (by medical & psychiatric professionals) about ADD and the ability to focus on pleasant vs. unpleasant tasks. Everyone, please refrain from sharing your Humble Opinions in this GQ topic. thanks.
Frankly, your HO isn’t worth the electrons that carry it, unless you’ve done some research to back it up that you aren’t sharing. Studies of ADHD kids have shown that while they enjoy playing computer and video games, they tend to perform worse on them than other kids, for reasons that are adequately explained by the dopamine-deficiency hypothesis concerning the chemical basis of ADHD. Such games superficially reward impulsive behavior and offer an activity in which it has only imaginary negative consequences, but success (high scores) requires one to resist the impulse to go run around at random and blast away at everything that moves, and to think (albeit quickly) about the appropriate reaction to events. ADHD kids are no better at that in video games than they are in life. To quote from an excellent article by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker, reviewing several then-recent books deploring the use of Ritalin:
As Gladwell explains, the dopamine-deficiency hypothesis is based on the observation that persons who have lower-than-normal levels of that particular neurotransmitter have a much more difficult time resisting impulses than those with normal levels. In addition to being readily distracted, they perform much worse than others on tests in which impulse inhibition is measured. What ADHD persons have trouble with is not paying attention per se (indeed, they may become utterly absorbed in activities that provide them with plenty of impulses to continue, like TV, games, and other activities that they enjoy), but resisting impulses to do something else. This is particularly problematic in tasks that are difficult or frustrating – tasks that generated nearly constant impulses to give up, or in environments where there are lots of distractions.
From what I understand, ADD children are often characterized as extremely sleepy children. Their lack of attention is actually a result of the true problem: self-stimulation. They must constantly stimulate themselves mentally (by fidgeting, acting-out, disturbing others, or calling undue attention to themselves) to remain awake. The moment that they feel, even subconsciously, themselves slipping into a sleep state, they self-stimulate, which often means discontinuing their current activity (often seen as a low attention span). That’s why drugs lit Ritalin work. Ritalin is actually a stimulant; not made to create more hyperactivity, but to stop the sleepiness therefore reducing the need for self-stimulation.
From what I understand, ADD children are often characterized as extremely sleepy children. Their lack of attention is actually a result of the true problem: self-stimulation. They must constantly stimulate themselves mentally (by fidgeting, acting-out, disturbing others, or calling undue attention to themselves) to remain awake. The moment that they feel, even subconsciously, themselves slipping into a sleep state, they self-stimulate, which often means discontinuing their current activity (often seen as a low attention span). That’s why drugs lit Ritalin work. Ritalin is actually a stimulant; not made to create more hyperactivity, but to stop the sleepiness therefore reducing the need for self-stimulation.
It is classified as a disorder, but too much TV etc. does not cause it. Sometimes the only stimulating activity that the child finds intrinsically engaging is TV, game boy etc. This is a result of the disorder, not due to too little discipline in the home. This is the reason ADD students are often classified as ‘problem children.’ Teachers reason that the students are acting out due to rudeness or a lack of respect; ‘maybe they watch TV or have weak parents.’ This is not the case with true ADD patients. Training is needed to dispel this misconception and to give educators the tools necessary to successfully teach and manage these students.
Sorry if I got on my soapbox there, its just that I have seen so many students fail due to the inability of parents and educators to deal with their condition.
Sleepyness might be a good way to describe it. As one of those “young adults” with ADD/ADHD, I keep finding myself really falling asleep, and still somewhat paying attention.
As for paying attention to “pleasureable” things. It’s true. One of the marks is being able to pay attention to something they truely find interesting. I remember when I was little, around 8, intently watching the man who was repairing our garage door. Now, it’s pencil and paper RPG’s and books for me.
I did watch a lot of TV, but I don’t remember most of it.
This reminds me. I have to go find a place that will publish my poem about life with ADHD.
Nope. The sleepiness aspect is usually only in children with ADHD, in other words, children that have the hyperactive feature. My father, my son, and probably my grandfather(now desceased) on my fathers side all have ADD, but not ADHD. I never took ritalin, I take wellbutrin(aside from being a anti-depressant, it works for adult add as well). My doctor, who specializes in treatment of ADD, believes (along with a lot of others that I have read about), that it is not good to prescribe ritalin for adunlts.
My Son, if he doesn’t take ritalin, can’t pay attention in school(or anything else) well. He doesnt get sleepy very easily, and doesnt fidget or display any of the hyper stuff though(neither do I). I have a book at home that describes why Ritalin works and how it effects the brain of a person with ADD/ADHD differantly. I will try to find it when I get home.
I do have a friend with ADHD, who deffinately has the hyperactivity, even as an adult. If he sits down for very long, he often goes to sleep.
Back to the op it is a common trait for someone with ADD/ADHD to hyperfocus on things that interest them. As a teen, I could sit at my computer writing programs for 12 hours strait, without any desire to get up and do anything else(when it was new and fascinateing to me). I probably couldnt do that now. This is one of the reasons that People with add excel at certain tasks. As a computer tech/admin, I worked out great. Lots of quickly obtainable goals, and instant gratification. In other words, every day I had a series of new problems, each one I could solve quickly, and didn’t have time to get bored with them. Since I obsessed with solving the problem, I found I could find solutions for things other people gave up on.
A lot of people with add find that sales is a good career for them. Same kind of thing. Each customer is a new challenge, and new conquest.
Some of the books I have read put forth the theory that ADD is not really so much a disorder, as it is a personality type. The type of person who has ADD in the past would be a hunter, or explorer type person. Its just that now this type of person is just not a good fit for much of our society. Our schools are certainly not structured for it.
At least, now I take comfort in the fact that it more widely recognized now than it was when I was a kid. My father(a shrink), tried to explain it to my principles and teachers when I was a kid. He showed them where I did great on all the placement tests and such, but just needed a little more attention in certain areas. The principle told him that the school just doesnt have the resources to properly teach a kid like me. **Now[\b] they are required by law to provide the proper enviroment to insure that my child will have the education that I never could get. I barely graduated highschool, even though I scored in the top two percent on every placement test they gave me. I got put into and kicked out of the advanced classes on five differant occasions.
Oh, and one more thing. My child hardly ever watches tv, and only sometimes plays video games. Before he was on Ritalin(we wanted to be damn sure he had it before medicateing him…I was hopeing hed take after his mother), he couldnt function at school. Now, he is on the honor roll every semester, and his lowest grade on his final report card this year was an 89, the rest were in the high 90’s.
They have identified what parts of the brain are differant, what chemicals are lacking and all of the phsyical causes for ADD.
The easiest to see proof of this is Ritalin. Ritalin is speed. You give it to a child who does not have ADD, and they will bounce off the walls. You give it to a child who has ADD or ADHD and they will calm down. All the discipline in the world will do nothing but give you a depressed child with ADD
** WE ARE FIGHTING IGNORANCE HERE, NOT SPREADING IT!**