Video Game Is Built to Be Prescribed to Children With A.D.H.D.
well.blogs.nytimes.comFor one data point I know at least one person who sometimes use Counter Strike (offline w/bots) to mitigate some of the side effects of his/hers ADHD-PI, like extreme sleepyness during daytime (whenever something gets boring.) I guess this is a very individual thing though.
I do this. Games are highly stimulating and conducive to hyperfocus. Before I do, I tend to feel lethargic, low in mood due to a sense of never having the focus to see anything through or even be decent at something and a lot of 'bouncing' (thing microscopic chrome tabs, 5 PDFs, all surrounding multiple topics - usually, none hook me that day either). At that point, I usually say "screw it, I'll play a game". Complex strategy games do the trick - extremely stimulating with a fast feedback loop.
After diagnosis and a lot of research, this made more sense (and has improved/lessened with medication). From what I know, those with ADHD get into a rut of sorts from rapidly shifting attention and reach out to an intensely stimulating, where attention becomes fixed and extremely intense.
It used to help but did cause problems for me. One is the neglect of typical duties of maintaining my home. My partner used to despise it as I, along with everything else, blocked her out (weekend is the only time we really get to spend together). I also neglect basic functions/instincts, such as using the toilet or eating balanced meals.
With medication, I try to limit myself to activities that are both stimulating, not AS captivating and that will benefit me, via personal development. As a side note, I also use computer programming as a stimulating activity - interpreted languages with a REPL close the feedback loop and induce hyperfocus particularly. I did this from around ten and has led on to professional work, which is a good silver lining to an adolescence of undiagnosed ADHD.
Thanks for sharing! From what I have seen medication seems to work wonders on most of the cases with few if any side effects and a half life of about 16 h and little to no risk of addiction if used according to prescription (for standard R.-type at least I think).
It does help a lot. If you take more than prescribed, it can become addictive. Having this disorder, taking twice the dose by accident is a rite of passage (early morning, you forget you've already taken it). After that, it became clear why they are Class B substances.
That aside, the change in my life has been tremendous. My manager didn't believe ADHD was worth exploring and was worried I would typecast myself, thus effecting my work. The opposite has been true - the change in my work has been a complete transformation.
I have recently gone through some events that have turned my life upside, though outside of my control. It's been 8 weeks and I'm amazed that I am coping so well. A fraction of this stress and chaos in my life was enough to lead me into a psychotic break when I was younger.
I was diagnosed with ADHD in second grade.
Ditto with it being helpful(in some ways) for a career in this field.
Starcraft 2 and cardio do it for me; three miles in the morning and a 1v1 whenever I'm losing focus.
Having a standing desk has been hugely helpful as well.
I recognise the plight "in some ways". Professional work does not tend to keep pace with the constant need for ever more stimulating activities. I have no hope in hell of applying recent learning about discrete mathematics in my day job - there's only so many ways you can rub a CRUD app. Out of the Tarpit got me thinking though - I applied lessons from this and other learning in functional programming to a data migration project (from a manually maintained excel sheet to my own DB schema - they refuse to give me a dump of their current DB).
Although not for everybody, a ketogenic diet helps with focus and clarity, providing a constant and consistent stream of energy (no after lunch crash). This goes hand in hand with cardio - I actually did cardio on impulse.
> extreme sleepyness during daytime (whenever something gets boring.)
This is something I suffer from as well, and it tends to affect my productivity at work significantly. Maybe it's time to try out some games too (though I know I have problems with stopping procrastination).
Consider CS, offline agains bots then, matches are clearly defined, it doesn't get personal and you can choose between 10min deathmatch, best of 15 rounds which takes about 15-20 minutes and competitive (best of 30 rounds) which takes around an hour.
Edit: basically anything I guess as long as it fools the brain into thinking there is something important going on and it isn't to addictive.
It's an interesting idea. Apparently exercise is also extremely effective at ADHD treatment. There is a whole chart of different treatments that have been tested here: http://curetogether.com/blog/2011/02/22/what-patients-say-wo...
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20141126155350/http://curetogeth...
"Cure" for ADHD has already been found: just delay going to school until age of 7
https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/gift-time-school-starting-...
just delay going to school until age of 7
Delaying the start of formal school attendance (which my family achieves up to the age of fourteen or so by homeschooling) is very helpful indeed, but it is not a complete preventive measure for attention problems. I know lots of homeschooled children who have plenty of attention-regulation difficulties, and on the other hand I know children who have attended school since preschool age who do just fine in focusing their attention. (I am a teacher and regularly meet young people in my math classes who began school attendance early.)
In most of these matters, family history makes a big difference.[1] Sure enough, the children I know who have the most trouble regulating their attention have parents who have difficulties with the same issue, although perhaps not so severe by adult age. The suggestion of the press release you kindly shared that not going to school as soon as is typical recently is a good idea is an idea that is plausible to me, but it will not entirely prevent ADHD.
1. That's a reduction, not a cure.
2. The variable in that study is not only starting school at a later age, but also taking 1-grade-easier classes at every age. You might only need to do one of those.
That is easily contradicted by the existence of ADHD in Finland, where all children delay school until age 7.