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Comment by dj_mc_merlin | Hacker News Reader

This very much describes me to a T and I've come to realize I just have ADHD and (excuse the narcissism) above average mental capacity in some subjects. Haven't gotten diagnosed yet, but both my SO and my best friend have it, and the parallels are staggering and explain a lot about my behaviour. I've developed a shit ton of personal techniques to gain some focus even when it seems impossible and engage in humility to counteract my cynicism. It's only going half well, but a hell of a lot better than in university.

Other people in this position, what did you do?

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I keep seeing people say "I have X but I haven't gotten diagnosed yet". Pet peeve: you _think_ you have ADHD but you can't state that you have ADHD without a diagnosis. If you have a piece of bone sticking out of your leg, it's fair to self-diagnose with a broken leg. Mental conditions are much harder to lock down definitively, especially because ADHD, autism, and bipolar all share similar symptoms. My own personal anecdata is that the people I've known who suspected they had ADHD more often than not did but they (myself included) still needed a diagnosis before stating it as a matter of fact

OK, I can say I don't have it if that helps. My point is that I share a lot of the problems that two important people in my life do, and seemingly the same way they think about stuff that other people find very weird, I also do. And it's been this way for a very long time. They are diagnosed professionally with ADHD. So, I think there's a high likelihood, but I don't know, obviously. I was asking for others experiences in handling said situations.

edit: I'm also not interested in getting a diagnosis since I don't want it to be on any file in general. Call it paranoia, I don't want some medical file marking me as having a disorder or being mentally ill.

> Call it paranoia, I don't want some medical file marking me as having a disorder or being mentally ill

Not paranoia at all, I had a bored psychiatrist showing a wildly unprofessional amount of skin diagnose me with Bipolar type II after a single 15 minute interview, and now I have serious issues getting life insurance. Even with several other psychiatrists giving opposing diagnoses.

Much better to suspect (and apparently trigger some people's disdain) than let someone write something down in permanent ink.

> Other people in this position, what did you do?

Got medicated, and reduced the amount of billable hours to a minimum that lets me make rent, and gives me a ton of unstructured fun time to pursue today's source of dopamine. Today it's one library, tomorrow it's hacking on a project, next week, who knows?

In other words, make it so programming is a way to express your creativity, rather than simply your day job.

Thanks for the comment. I've been trying to program creatively again like I used to, but it's hard with a stable job (even though I have quite a lot of freedom in work hours and output by employment standards).

> Got medicated

Used to be addicted to amphetamines so I think I'll pass on this one. It's effective, definitely, but I don't think I can have a sizeable amount of them at disposal or bad things happen.

Amphetamines have saved my sanity if not my life, so I treat them with utmost respect. And I don't find any urge to take more than my daily dose anyway... I crave my single cup of coffee more than any ADHD medication.

The alternative to get a ton of dopamine is plenty of exercise, clean diet, protein, good sleep and a generous amount of caffeine. I mean, that's good advice for pretty much everybody.

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