Comment by chimeracoder | Hacker News Reader

Comment by chimeracoder | Hacker News Reader

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> I never noticed or accepted that I had mild A.D.D. until a few months ago and around that time, I started thinking about methods to work with it.

Not to be rude, but it's unclear whether the author has had an actual professional diagnosis. ADHD is one of the most commonly self-diagnosed conditions, and also one of the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions.

It doesn't help that ADHD is much more difficult to diagnose in individuals (particularly adults) who perform well in other metrics (IQ, etc.), as they oftentimes have simply developed compensatory mechanisms - these same mechanisms which have enabled them to have success also make a diagnosis much more difficult, even for professionals.

> It’s nice. I can let the A.D.D. run wild when I’m thinking about a problem or how to solve it but when I sit down to solve the problem, I force myself into that zone and try my hardest not to let anything in while I check mini-task after mini-task off on my list.

'Hyperfocus' is common in individuals with ADHD, but this doesn't sound quite right - hyperfocus isn't something that can be turned on and off easily. With ADHD, focusing on programming is a challenge as much as anything else is.

You don't have to be hyperactive, even though your mind might be - in that case I suppose it's just ADD, right?

I got the same feeling as you from reading the article, but as someone who has extreme trouble concentrating, I can definitely relate. I never had it diagnosed, but always suspected that I might have a similar problem, but my life worked out, so I didn't have to bring any attention to it.

When programming your brain is all over the place, slowly piecing together smaller parts of a greater whole. In my case it seems to work, but then again - I was never diagnosed with anything.

> You don't have to be hyperactive, even though your mind might be - in that case I suppose it's just ADD, right?

Not really. That's a common misunderstanding, but it's taking the name a little too literally. ADHD is actually the diagnosis (314), but one of the forms can be 'ADHD without hyperactivity'. However, 'hyperactivity' doesn't actually imply what most people thing it does, just from hearing the name, which is why the entire term is a bit of a misnomer.

> as someone who has extreme trouble concentrating, I can definitely relate.

ADHD is very, very different from simply 'having difficulty concentrating'. You can potentially have moderate or even severe ADHD without noticing any difficulties concentrating.

> In my case it seems to work, but then again - I was never diagnosed with anything.

I'd be really careful about generalizing your case to people with ADHD, then. To use a blunt comparison, it'd be as if someone claimed that watching funny movies made them feel happier and therefore it is a 'cure' for depression (a psychological condition much more complicated than mere 'unhappiness').

I wasn't trying to generalize, and I hope I didn't come off like that. For the record: I don't care if I suffer from it, but I have symptoms that makes it likely (words of a doctor, not mine), and I thought it appropriate to share my experiences - with a small disclaimer.

I've had problems in school; couldn't hang on to a job, and so on. Until I was sort of "forced" into learning how to program. It in turn forced me to focus, and it made all the difference.

Added note: Programming didn't make it easier to focus. But it seems to fit me, and my short attention span, plus it's just too darn interesting.

> Not to be rude, but it's unclear whether the author has had an actual professional diagnosis.

I had a professional diagnosis, and the diagnosis was just done via the same sort of questionnaire that you'd find on the Internet. (Though perhaps the tester was also observing my behavior, and the like.)

> the same sort of questionnaire that you'd find on the Internet.

Unfortunately the methods vary, and not all professionals care to (or even are trained to) conduct the more elaborate diagnoses. However, for differential diagnoses (ie, the most difficult to make - 'is this really ADHD, or just the way that Joe's depression/OCD/etc. happens to manifest?), there are some more elaborate diagnostic methods. I can't comment firsthand, but I know these tests can span multiple media (in-person interviews, written self-evaluations, third-party reports, IQ tests, fine motor skills tests, achievement tests, etc.). I had a friend who went through a battery of these tests before her final diagnosis.

Very few people actually bother, because it's very expensive (and often not covered by insurance). The only reason you would go through this is if you want to be really sure that you have ADHD, or if you're trying to identify whether cognitive treatment (ie, therapy) is appropriate or whether a hidden neurological condition, etc. is actually the problem.

However, even for a professional, it's almost impossible to make an accurate self-diagnosis (or even a diagnosis of one's own children, for example). It's just too easy to fall into the trap of confirmation bias - or worse, ignore signs that may be visible to others, even if obscured.

I do agree that it's unfortunate that not all professionals are properly equipped to make these diagnoses - this is especially the case for children - because it leads to an overdiagnosis among healthy children, while those with less obvious (but still debilitating) symptoms slip through the cracks without ever realizing they have a problem, since they are able to 'make do'.

> (Though perhaps the tester was also observing my behavior, and the like.)

I am almost certain that this was the case as well (at least to an extent)!

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