"as is the inability to get excited about projects you simply don't want to do - "
Why is this ADHD and not just being human? This sounds so basic I have a hard time believing this is because of a condition.
Why is this ADHD and not just being human? This sounds so basic I have a hard time believing this is because of a condition.
Someone neurotypical can usually convince themselves to at least do it, and "will" themselves into it.
But you're somewhat right, and this is why getting a real diagnosis from a professional is so important: lots of people have some of these symptoms. What distinguishes the ADHD brain from the neurotypical brain is the duration and frequency of these symptoms, and an inability to adjust for them even with disciplined effort.
And it's not about medication, necessarily, though for 80% of people with ADHD, medication is extremely helpful; often, just learning about the syndrome and finding a therapist/coach to help build tools and stop blaming yourself for the things you cannot change is extremely helpful on its own too.
Hyperfocus gets them started, and they go REALLY far with the project, and then it wears out, and the project is neglected thereafter. Even if the person still adores the project and hopes to finish it. Without the hyperfocus, nothing gets done.
> the project is neglected thereafter. Even if the person still adores the project and hopes to finish it.
I am also curious why this is labeled ADHD. To me this seems to just be “the human condition”.
I guess from what I’ve read in this thread, using the term “ADHD” seems to allow people the ability to forgive themselves for the very human condition of procrastination and/or “not achieving perfect completion”.
For anyone reading this, you can also choose to forgive yourself for not being perfect without the professional diagnosis. At least I definitely do.
I recently got diagnosed and it may just be that I'm naturally very distractible and bad at paying attention. But if the diagnosis and meds make my life significantly better at minimal risk/cost then what's the harm?
Meanwhile, I was just trying to provide extra data, i.e. it’s possible and acceptable to forgive yourself for not being perfect without any diagnosis.
Hopefully it just provides any one who reads this, one extra strategy to help themselves.
I personally think that we've taken something completely normal and turned it into a "disorder" simply because it goes against the societal norm of sitting quietly at a desk for 8 hours a day.
It is a syndrome rooted in physical causes, but one we don't yet fully understand.
The research is very clear though: our brains are simply different.
If you have certain types of ADHD and you aren't excited about something, you just have a huge resistance to doing it and you likely won't do it. Many don't even do the work with a deadline.
On the flip side, when you're intensely interested, you often times are completely absorbed into it, at the expense of other human needs.
Also, when that hyperfocus runs out, that absorption is lost, possibly forever. Onto the next fleeting thing.
Because most people can work effectively on a project that they don't want to do by, for example, focusing on the positive benefits of doing the project or the negative consequences of not doing it. Someone with ADHD can go through the same reasoning and still not be able to pay attention and effectively work on the project.
Procrastinating is something everyone does.
Being completely unable to sit still for more than a few minutes is an experience neurotypicals don't share.
ADHD is really one of those disorders that's both under and over diagnosed