ADHD- Long overdue to deal with it
- Thread starter R.K.
- Start date
Nick87
Well-known member
Nick87
Well-known member
Very true, whether it be physical or mental health.
huntin24/7
Well-known member
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I’ve told my wife I feel like I’ve had undiagnosed adhd basically never being able to pay attention in class all through college and still hard to focus for any amount of time. Unless I’m stalking an animal. I can somehow laser focus for that. Lol
Hem
Well-known member
Naw..but at 63 closer to the end than the beginning. Reality.
Not rushing things, of course.
That’s the dopamine hit. It’s a highly engaging reward scenario. It’s thrilling. And guess what? That level of focus is what “normal” people get to experience on a daily basis, for things like doing the dishes.
Well, might be able to squeeze a bit more into those years than otherwise. Also might throw your back out trying to do more than you’re used to. I have no idea- I’m not your doctor.Naw..but at 63 closer to the end than the beginning. Reality.
Not rushing things, of course.
With that said- my family tends to live closer to 100 than 90, so I know what I’d be doing at 63.
Hem
Well-known member
Well, im walking walls and framing currently, so plenty of time.Well, might be able to squeeze a bit more into those years than otherwise. Also might throw your back out trying to do more than you’re used to. I have no idea- I’m not your doctor.
With that said- my family tends to live closer to 100 than 90, so I know what I’d be doing at 63.
But yeah, I joke about mortality.
Hem
Well-known member
Sounds like your are headed down a better path. Good on you man.
Man, what a read. Thanks for writing this out.
I was diagnosed 7-8 years ago and it's still a daily struggle. Feeling guilty about everything is the absolute worst. Like you said, if you do go hunting you beat yourself up because you didn't hike far enough. If you go out of your way to do something nice for someone, you feel like a fraud because you actually did it for your own satisfaction.
It's such a chaotic way for a brain to function.
It's a double edged sword that you can use it to your advantage too. When I get the dopamine flow with nicotine, caffeine, a card game going on my phone, music playing in the background, I can lock in and be incredibly productive at work. As soon as that flow stops though it's a crash like no other.
Having another disease with a dozen comorbidities makes the pharmaceutical side incredibly complicated. Sometimes I feel like we're on to something then it's back to the drawing board.
I am very happy you (and @rtraverdavis) found the sweet spot. That's got to feel like such an accomplishment.
Also- you have two more DCC books to read.
I was diagnosed 7-8 years ago and it's still a daily struggle. Feeling guilty about everything is the absolute worst. Like you said, if you do go hunting you beat yourself up because you didn't hike far enough. If you go out of your way to do something nice for someone, you feel like a fraud because you actually did it for your own satisfaction.
It's such a chaotic way for a brain to function.
It's a double edged sword that you can use it to your advantage too. When I get the dopamine flow with nicotine, caffeine, a card game going on my phone, music playing in the background, I can lock in and be incredibly productive at work. As soon as that flow stops though it's a crash like no other.
Having another disease with a dozen comorbidities makes the pharmaceutical side incredibly complicated. Sometimes I feel like we're on to something then it's back to the drawing board.
I am very happy you (and @rtraverdavis) found the sweet spot. That's got to feel like such an accomplishment.
Also- you have two more DCC books to read.
Nick87
Well-known member
Is that a direct adhd thing? Serious question.
Thanks for reading it. Sorry you’ve got the hand you’d been dealt, it can’t have been easy. I really hope you can find something to help that works with everything else.
All the little tricks we pull work well enough, until they don’t. Hopefully when they don’t work and your brain lets you down, you can keep the awareness of what the root cause is and not let it steal the enjoyment out of life.
And I miscounted- I read the full series, though #8. Guess I’ll just wait for 9.1 & 9.2 like everyone else.
rtraverdavis
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I can’t answer that, but it sure rang true for me. Like, spot on.
Honestly, I have no idea.
It might be unrelated, but it sounds like R.K. saw some success with muting it.
I can imagine getting a dopamine hit from washing dishes. This explains so much why I like stalking versus still hunting. So hard for me to sit in a stand for deer but if I can spot one and stalk it, I am all in.
I grew up an avid duck hunter and I would go out and get set up, shoot some ducks at first legal light and by sunrise I was paddling down the creek or river to explore because I couldn't stay focus sitting anymore.
More of a secondary symptom in my opinion. You’re stressed out about everything, especially the things that aren’t done, so you feel guilty doing anything you want to that isn’t the things you need to.
And on top of that, you pressure yourself into succeeding so that 1- this “self-indulgence” is worth skipping the other things, and 2- you don’t feel like a failure even more than you already do.
I don’t know if it’s officially recognized, but it held true for me and I’ve read a lot of similar stories.
I deal with it just about every hunt I go on. Very few times is it actually relaxing and as enjoyable as I imagine it would be.
That’s the thing- they don’t get “hits” of dopamine doing those things, it’s just always at that level, even for the most mundane of tasks. They can still get hits doing things, but the base level is just higher.
Nick87
Well-known member
That makes a lot more sense now. More so guilt about not getting things accomplished than just guilt about everything in general.
