[hirvi74]

> (who were previously masking and "blending in" while secretly suffering)

Do you mind helping me understand this more? How can one mask ADHD symptoms? I have ADHD, and I cannot conceptualize what masking would even look like. Or perhaps, in better terms, what is the difference between masking ADHD and adhering to social expectations and norms?

What would not masking the condition look like? Is masking a bad? If one can mask their condition then is their condition generally less severe than those that cannot mask their condition?

I am just trying to understand because I feel like masking is the new pop-psychology term that keeps popping up, and I find it hard to discern what the nuance surrounding it.

[sph]

Maybe they meant self-medicating? I used to be a heavy smoker, quit 4 years ago, and in hindsight quitting made me aware I had debilitating ADHD and I couldn't function.

I recently made the connection between quitting nicotine and my life spiraling down, that I reintroduced nicotine patches and I have found that they are better, cheaper and longer lasting than any amphetamine I was prescribed.

[arresin]

I can relate to this fully. I used to be a heavy smoker also (and also ADHD).

I think overall the health effects are less negative with low dose amphetamine (VERY low dose vs what abuse looks like).

[sph]

> I think overall the health effects are less negative

Possible but in my case amphetamines last 4 hours (lisdex lasts 6), and make me very hungry, horny and exhausted by 7pm. Also, they feel like I am the cart and the meds are the horse, i.e. they pull me around to do stuff even when I just want to relax a little.

Nicotine on the other hand gives me motivation, focus is still a bit iffy and not as pointed as with AMPH, but OTC patches last 24 hours, are cheap and don't make me tired at all (I remove the patch 3 hours before bed). Also I can drink coffee again without feeling like my heart's exploding, which is a major plus.

It's been 2 weeks of this nicotine experiment, and I feel more like myself than a very driven machine attached to an 8 hour battery. I'm using 7.5mg patches (15mg nicorette cut in half)

My med dosage was relatively low btw, I'm pretty sensitive to amphetamines. Nicotine by itself seems to be as dangerous as caffeine.

In any case, there is a lot of research correlating between nicotine inhalation (even from second hand smoke) while in utero or in youth and ADHD. My pet, non-scientific theory is that for some, their ADHD is simply "chronic nicotine withdrawal". The fact that there are a lot more diagnoses these days might be because smoking is not in vogue any more, everybody wants to quit (rightly so), but our smoking parents permanently ruined our growing brain in childhood, as so did the past 5 generations.

[arresin]

I personally noticed a steep drop off in efficacy once I built up tolerance each of the handful of times I’ve tried and then given up using nicotine as a medicine. It’s low reward and high risk (full blown addiction).

Interesting about your parents smoking. Mine did also, chain smoked with me in the car basically hot boxing and all their friends did too.

[sph]

How did you use nicotine? The addiction/tolerance potential is proportional to how quickly it gets in your brain. Smoked/inhaled nicotine takes 7 seconds, a patch takes about 4 hours to reach peak blood concentration.

Also I do not recommend tobacco, which is much more than nicotine.

[arresin]

> The addiction/tolerance potential is proportional to how quickly it gets in your brain.

Very good point. And that goes for amphetamine also (snorted vs ingested).

I used nicotine lozenges as they were big on longecity forum at one point and I had experience with them from quitting tobacco.

So a lot faster than the patch. You can feel it like seconds after resting it inside your lip.

[AbstractH24]

Curious how you define low dose

[pas]

for example picking jobs (and choosing partners) that give/impose structure is a form of masking. overcompensating is another.

adhering to norms, okay but to which ones? how do you know when the norms are shifting? are you pushing for change, rocking the boat with a the trailblazers or are you cooling heads and pitching for the status quo? and of course this is where the neurodiversity dilemma is very visible, because is "pushing for change" in your personality or it's the "neuropathology"? sure, a bit of both, but if someone is bad at managing changes, seeing transformative projects to completion, then ... maybe they would fare much better if they could stay put on their butts instead of joining the youngsters (to escape the otherwise incomprehensibly harsh boredom).

> What would not masking the condition look like?

ideally, accepting that someone is simply a 1000-fold more sensitive to "boredom", getting accommodations for it, while still doing the same "boring old job" as others (instead of running away with the proverbial circus)

> If one can mask their condition then is their condition generally less severe than those that cannot mask their condition?

well. in some sense yes, of course. but maybe because they are better at keeping their mouth shut and pushing through adversity, they are in a more precarious situation in life, they simply don't have the luxury to not be okay.

still they might be suffering a lot more than others. (and as a result might have higher allostatic load, worse health outcomes, etc. -- https://karger.com/pps/article/90/1/11/294736/Allostatic-Loa... )

for example is being rich and having the possibility to not work for months (or job hop for many years), go to fancy therapy centers and evaluations, better than being forced to work low-paying service jobs for decades?

is masking good? since it's a very broad concept (maybe if we want to somehow encapsulate it we might call it a collection of tools) the various forms have different good and bad consequences.

being kept accountable usually helps for some ADHD people. but if one's ADHD mostly manifests as various nasty emotional regulation problems, then it just condemns one to a life of depression and anxiety (impostor syndrome, low self-esteem, etc.) and here masking is just "suppressing problems" which is hopefully obviously bad.

also simply having some kind of diagnosis, knowing one's limits, weaknesses and occasional strengths helps dealing with life.

...

also I recommend watching Russell Barkley's videos on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJHvFzO6jC4 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g6caraZCtw