[bad_user]

Are you sure that "hyperfocus" is a symptom of ADHD?

I'm a developer, depending on how well rested I am I can go into that zone for 12 hours, sure, but I've always been like that since I was a child and if I want I can focus on subjects that don't bring me pleasure at all, it's all a matter of determination (edit: for me).

Observing children at my wife's kindergarten that allegedly have ADHD, it's quite the opposite of being able to hyperfocus. Such children can't focus for 5 minutes on a single thing. Like, if you ask them to draw something, or to play a game, or if you read them a story or whatever, there are children that once past the 5 or 10 minutes mark lose their focus completely and shift their attention to something else, being a constant struggle to win back their attention.

Or maybe these are in fact 2 different disorders? It does take motivation on my part to focus on things that I don't like. Plus I think doctors are too quick to prescribe medication to children, which is my only problem with an ADHD diagnostic - as focus is also a matter of training (i.e. the interest for hearing stories or drawing stuff doesn't develop overnight) and parents, from lack of time, prefer to succumb to giving their children drugs instead of reflecting on their interactions at home.

So you know, I've got a mixed feeling about this - on one hand I've seen children and even grown men that can't focus on anything at all, so I'm sure ADHD is real, on the other hand it's often misdiagnosed and those drugs may in fact do more harm than good in many cases.

[darkarmani]

> Are you sure that "hyperfocus" is a symptom of ADHD?

Yes. The name is a misnomer. It's a kind of executive function disorder. The ability to prioritize and focus at will on what is needed. Hyperfocus means that other things that might need to be a priority are being dropped. Hyperfocus is only good when it is on the right things.

> it's all a matter of determination.

That's good for you, but what about the people that can't no matter what level of determination? Determination isn't a solution to erectile disfunction so why is it a solution to adhd?

> on the other hand it's often misdiagnosed and those drugs may in fact do more harm than good in many cases.

Isn't that true in almost all treatments? In how many cases have medication caused more harm than good?

[bad_user]

So I wasn't saying that it's a matter of determination for people with real problems and wasn't in no way proposing it as a solution.

I was trying to suggest that there can't be a one size fits all - some people are fat because they practice impulsive eating at midnight and/or when upset and some people are fat because their metabolism is seriously malfunctioning (e.g. people with diabetes or a predisposition to diabetes). Can you agree that we've got at least these 2 categories? Can you see how these 2 categories require different types of treatment?

In regards to treatments sometimes doing more harm than good and my problem with an ADHD diagnosis from my experience in talking with people diagnosed as such is that the diagnosis itself is often without any hint to the root cause, being often about the symptoms. For example a magnesium deficit can lead to ADHD symptoms. If a person with a magnesium deficit takes drugs that don't treat this deficit, it's easy to see how the treatment can do harm.

[exelius]

Well, trying to diagnose ADHD in a 5 year old is witchcraft at best -- kids at that age just naturally have no attention span. It's not ADHD when you're 5, it's being a kid. I was diagnosed young, and let me tell you: the meds are no fun for the kid. You're amped up on pills all day then when you come home you're a zombie. It likely results in a lot of depression issues for kids who don't really understand what's going on.

When unmedicated, an adult with ADHD literally cannot focus on a subject that is uninteresting. You try, then OOH SHINY. You can try cutting out distractions, great! You get 5 minutes of work done then you have to pee. Then you notice a magazine on the table. Then 3 hours of this later, you remember that you originally had a task you were trying to complete.

It goes beyond simple procrastination: short term memory is a real issue in general, especially about doing things. It doesn't matter how hard you need to focus, you'll constantly be distracted, and when you get distracted, you forget what you were originally supposed to be doing. Likewise, you may then hyperfocus on something that is interesting to you and end up playing around with an Arduino for 4 hours without realizing it. You know how you have a nagging feeling you were supposed to do something? That's pretty much life for an adult with ADHD. A constant feeling that you're forgetting to do something. But you can't remember what it is.

It's hard to explain the difference between ADHD "hyperfocus" and just being "in the zone"; but I'd have to say it's the in-the-moment perception of how time passes. Most people when they're "in the zone" make a conscious decision to stay there: with ADHD it's almost an accidental thing where you enter a trance and only leave it when your task is done or when someone smacks you across the face.

[JohnBooty]

A typical ADHD complaint is that the "hyperfocus" happens but the problem is that you can't choose what you want to focus on.

  Or maybe these are in fact 2 different disorders?

Sure. Even with our woefully incomplete understanding of things, there have been recognized subtypes of ADHD for quite some time, as well as recognition that there are a great many things (situational depression, clinical depression, etc) that can affect one's focus.

And yes, diagnosing little kids with ADHD and giving them medication sounds horrifying to me.

[watwut]

Six years old when they start school are expected to focus for 10-15 minutes. Kindergartner loosing attention after 5-10 minutes sounds to be exactly where he is supposed to be.

[bad_user]

Yes, that's my opinion as well, but there is a lot of variation in the same age group. That number was pulled out of my ass btw, I only observed the differences while being there as a volunteer for various activities and from my wife's stories. And because of this variation, I think people are too eager to diagnose children with ADHD. And this is also a pity, since there may in fact be children with real problems that can't be separated well from children that are simply being children.