[mijoharas]

> ADHD brains are physically incapable of doing these things without assistance on a neurological/biochemical level.

I realise the point that you're making is that ADHD is a biological condition, and it's likely you're using your wording for emphasis, but I think "physically incapable" is a bit strong.

Both my sister and I have ADHD, I don't take methylphenidate (ritalin) while she does. I'm still capable of being on time and working on things I find boring (though the latter is definitely a real struggle, so I try and make sure I work on interesting things which helps my productivity to no end). My sister, however, says that she really wouldn't be able to cope in a work environment without the meds.

One thing I'd like to point out, that is utterly unrelated to anything you're saying, is that people with ADHD can be hugely productive on things that they find interesting.

[dgellow]

> One thing I'd like to point out, that is utterly unrelated to anything you're saying, is that people with ADHD can be hugely productive on things that they find interesting.

Just sharing some personal thoughts: my main issue is not to be productive, but the lack of control over what I can be productive at. It's the most frustrating feeling ever. You get a new cool idea and can spend 2 weeks being the most productive person ever working on it. But you know it doesn't matter and you don't really care. You can see yourself being obsessed about it but also that you did not decide to find this specific thing motivating/interesting. Then you struggle for months to do very basic stuff you actually want to be productive at.

[mijoharas]

I definitely relate to that as well. One thing to note is that that particular aspect is one that I think the meds can help a fair bit with I think.

Obviously I don't know whether you're already on them or not, but if not, maybe try them?

(Obvious caveats of me having no idea about your own situation apply).

[dgellow]

Thanks, that’s good to know.

I’m in a large city in Germany where access to medication is very strict, so we will see.

I’m in the process of being diagnosed formally since a while now. Since the pandemics psychiatrists are overbooked which results in 6+ months between appointments, so everything is very, very slow :)

[krono]

Yes, obviously there is some nuance that I left out.

There's a severity spectrum (without meds I'm guaranteed to be late and/or distracted by the most random things), and the ability to concentrate is very hard to predict or control - not something that can be relied on for most.

[ericraio]

I agree with you on this. For me personally, I find that my ADHD fuels my obsession where I am extremely persistent and every new “shiny object” is related to the interesting topic I am working on. Like new nodes to add on a mind map.