Question for those with ADHD

[VoidCat]

I'm unmedicated for ADHD and have had close to zero treatment for it. I manage it well and never saw the point in getting treatment for it but like I used to read all the time. I love reading and I love books. But since reaching high school I haven't been able to focus on reading. Its not that i don't have the time it's legit that i cant even focus. If I get treatment for ADHD will I be able to focus on reading again? What are y'alls experiences with this?

 

[Daemon Sophic]

I was not diagnosed until about two years ago (when I was 52). I got some counseling for methods to keep things in order in my life, and I also started taking a daily pill for it. ***Be careful*** some of the pills gave me severely bad reactions and I had to go through three or four before I found one that was OK for me.
That said, I have been working as a professional for multiple decades; reading and writing reports all the time. I must have developed compensation methods as I grew up to some degree. The challenges of maintaining a professional work life, marriage, and raising adolescents and teenagers was too much though.
In the last 15 years I have listened to recorded books MUCH more often than read them, and I’ve never been able to read all the way through boring books (I’m a sci-if/fantasy fan). I think that modern life is more stressful and jam-packed than my youth before computers and cellphones. But I have read a couple of books since getting treatment, so perhaps, yes, it can help.

Good luck!

 

[pearl]

If I get treatment for ADHD will I be able to focus on reading again? What are y'alls experiences with this?

Yes. My grandson was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 7. Prior to that age its too difficult to differentiate from bad behavior. Think of your mind as a many puzzle pieces that do not fit together. The medication allows him to focus. That's why many college students buy it illegally to pass their final exams. What to us would be a stimulant, like coffee, to him has the opposite effect. He was on this medication until reaching 17. At that point the pediatrician was no longer allowed to prescribe this medication, which now had to be prescribed by a psychiatrist. He is now off the medication because he wanted to join the military and must be off the medication for 1 year. Its been rough. Sleeping is another problem for him. While in elementary school he took medication to focus, and after coming down off it, he needed another med to allow him to sleep. One drawback of the morning pill it killed his apatite requiring a doctor's visit every 3 months.
All through this there was the combination of issues with ADHD coupled with the normal issues puberty and teenage problems.
But, yes, the medication allows you to focus easier. I have no idea of your age, but if ADHD you were born with it.

 

[Aštra’el]

How about rather than just accepting this as an excuse for you being the way you are, you train yourself and discipline your mind- over many days and many moons- to become who you will to be? Learn to direct your focus and maintain that focus towards what matters to you.

Many abilities take practice. Many flaws can be remedied, with training and discipline.

 

[pearl]

Many abilities takes practice. Many flaws can be remedied, with training and discipline.

ADHD is an organic brain disfunction. Not a mental issue. But, yes, it is beneficial to acquire coping skills.

 

[Brickjectivity]

But since reaching high school I haven't been able to focus on reading.

That was when I began having problems, too. Up until then school was easy in spite of my attention problems.

 

[Orbit]

I have adult ADD (without the hyperactivity) and playing music in the background helps me focus while reading.

 

[VoidCat]

How about rather than just accepting this as an excuse for you being the way you are, you train yourself and discipline your mind- over many days and many moons- to become who you will to be? Learn to direct your focus and maintain that focus towards what matters to you.

Many abilities takes practice. Many flaws can be remedied, with training and discipline.

I can't say what I want in regards to that without the mods getting onto me. But that's very ableist thinking. To be expected seeing as it's coming from you.

 

[VoidCat]

I have adult ADD (without the hyperactivity) and playing music in the background helps me focus while reading.

ADD isnt ADHD without hyperactivity. It's just an older name for ADHD. The Dsm 5 does not use ADD anymore. The hyperactivity part in ADHD is a misnomer. So is the attention deficit part. It's more of an attention regulation issue. That's why a lot of folk with ADHD also get hyperfixated on stuff. Now it's called ADHD with 3 subtypes: impulsivity, inattentive, or combined. I have the combined type.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I do my best reading when I'm not in the couch or bed, but in another stimulating environment, like at a Cafe, in a bath or even better, on a treadmill or stationary bike. Having something that adds stimulation when I'm generally under stimulated helps keep me from looking for distraction. Music helps somewhat, too, but generally isn't enough.

Edit: I'm on Vyvanse btw, but I don't take it every day. I mostly take it for things like driving because on long trips I'll start watching birds fly over the car and stuff.

 

[Father Heathen]

I was prescribed Adderall as a teen. I hated the side effects so much that I stopped taking it. I found that a little caffeine helped me keep focus and interest.

 

[Father Heathen]

How about rather than just accepting this as an excuse for you being the way you are, you train yourself and discipline your mind- over many days and many moons- to become who you will to be? Learn to direct your focus and maintain that focus towards what matters to you.

Many abilities takes practice. Many flaws can be remedied, with training and discipline.

Paraplegics should just will themselves back onto their feet.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I'm unmedicated for ADHD and have had close to zero treatment for it. I manage it well and never saw the point in getting treatment for it but like I used to read all the time. I love reading and I love books. But since reaching high school I haven't been able to focus on reading. Its not that i don't have the time it's legit that i cant even focus. If I get treatment for ADHD will I be able to focus on reading again? What are y'alls experiences with this?

I manage a girl recently diagnosed with ADHD. She reads a lot for work (our jobs are pretty complex) but her ability to retain knowledge has been impacted, and she has to break the reading up into chunks.
Sorry, I'm not sure what medication she is on (only that she is on medication over the last 12 months after being undiagnosed).

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Using nicotine (a stimulant) helps me. I would think an actual medication should.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

How about rather than just accepting this as an excuse for you being the way you are, you train yourself and discipline your mind- over many days and many moons- to become who you will to be? Learn to direct your focus and maintain that focus towards what matters to you.

Many abilities take practice. Many flaws can be remedied, with training and discipline.

And that's why laymen shouldn't pretend they know and their uninformed opinions matter.
How about something actually recommended by science and medicine rather than something that is absolutely no better than an old wives tale?

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I was prescribed Adderall as a teen. I hated the side effects so much that I stopped taking it. I found that a little caffeine helped me keep focus and interest.

Coffee helps me somewhat too. It doesn't work like a normal stimulant since I could drink a pot and go to bed. But it does clear some brain fog and help focus.

 

[Secret Chief]

I'm unmedicated for ADHD and have had close to zero treatment for it. I manage it well and never saw the point in getting treatment for it but like I used to read all the time. I love reading and I love books. But since reaching high school I haven't been able to focus on reading. Its not that i don't have the time it's legit that i cant even focus. If I get treatment for ADHD will I be able to focus on reading again? What are y'alls experiences with this?

I've recently started working with such pupils in a school. Please feel free to put any wisdom my way.

 

[Aštra’el]

I can't say what I want in regards to that without the mods getting onto me. But that's very ableist thinking. To be expected seeing as it's coming from you.

I inspire people to strengthen their body, and strengthen their mind. I inspire people to be more than they are, rather then settling for less. I inspire people to rise up off the ground and fight, rather than lay there, defeated.

Call it what you will.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I've recently started working with such pupils in a school. Please feel free to put any wisdom my way.

Imo the biggest aid is not thinking of them or treating them as lazy. Laziness is an intent issue, where ADHD is a dopamine issue that makes it hard to initiate tasks, regulate focus.

Sometimes all it takes to get an ADHD person engaged is letting them keep physically busy. Fidgets, sketchbooks, being able to stand and walk at regular intervals to get the neurotransmitter juices flowing.

Other times learning style adjustments (i.e. visual over auditory, kinetic aids over instruction) can make all the difference. I never used flashcards, but making them helped me more than reading from a list. That sort of thing.

 

[Secret Chief]

Imo the biggest aid is not thinking of them or treating them as lazy. Laziness is an intent issue, where ADHD is a dopamine issue that makes it hard to initiate tasks, regulate focus.

Sometimes all it takes to get an ADHD person engaged is letting them keep physically busy. Fidgets, sketchbooks, being able to stand and walk at regular intervals to get the neurotransmitter juices flowing.

Other times learning style adjustments (i.e. visual over auditory, kinetic aids over instruction) can make all the difference. I never used flashcards, but making them helped me mote than reading from a list. That sort of thing.

Thanks.