I personally have difficulty summarizing things with words (too much information in the brain, and I am a visual learner), but here it goes, my perception... 1. Takes one "ADHD... or something" to know one. Most doctors don't understand their patients (when in a hurry to make money and get you out) or can't because they don't have the condition. 2. Only people that are like you or have "something else" relate well to you. Occassionally a "normal person" with enough maturity can also do it, but I find it rare. They simply don't understand or appreciate the differences in perception or communication. 3. A common cause can manifest in many ways. After some basic ADHD neurology research and intuition, I came to realize my "configuration". Dopamine chemistry tends to result in mood disorders or emotional sensitivity (small emotion becomes overwhelming); (nor)epinephrine system seems to affect more the physical responses to things and direct processing of information. It is easy to lose focus or balance when this chemistry is "off". However, we see things in high-definition and feel more strongly when our environments are unhealthy... 4. Who is right and who is wrong? Society doesn't understand me, but I think most of "them" are unhealthy. Actually, we all have a different balance that is healthy, but you are partially correct that they lack the "insight" that is natural for you. I just try to gravitate towards what helps my balance, since "what they think" isn't as important as "how I feel". That said, moderating it with a bit of logic or framework can help prevent assumptions which I am prone to make. 5. We are highly intelligent in terms of collecting data and linking everything to everything else. We are non-linear thinkers because we experience "pockets" of deep consciousness. However, the standard deviation of our effectiveness on certain tasks is higher because we might have a great insight on some things and be completely off reality on others. We are more sensitive to failures and more anxious about the future. 6. I didn't even realize that medication could help until I found it randomly in the form of a headache medication (Fiorecet). I was having headaches from anxiety. However, this medicine has both a psycho-stimulant (plain old caffeine) and a mild sedative (butalbital). I am currently trying to get something longer acting to avoid sideeffects, but this does increase brain function dramatically. Why? Because we have spent our time essentially "training" all those fragmented functions of our brain into a cohesive whole. When you actually now take something that adds the chemical(s) that were missing, suddenly all these highly refined pieces come together as a whole (well, if you're lucky and find the right stuff). Well, the basic arguement is that if you control your medication discovery process and become more self-aware of what helps you might actually become more functional/intelligent/whatever by taking something. 7. Genetics is a strong factor of these conditions, but external experiences are what determine whether your natural gifts are nurtured or ignored. It's a bit sad that people focus on the negative rather than the positive. As long as you feel bad about it, or have the "poor me" attitude, you will be unable to gain the wisdom that is necesary to benefit from the uniqueness. We get intelligence quickly, but because our emotions are unstable our wisdom in certain areas may be lacking. Read: stubborness. 8. Inflated ego, definitely. Hard to admit that we have problems in some areas (social-phobia, anxiety, communications difficulties at least in real time) because we are so smart in other areas. My dad always said "you're too smart to have a disability" but the truth was that despite the intelligence every day at most jobs was hell because of what my brain couldn't process without full concentration (causing headaches, stress). I don't want to be limited to technical positions or support because it depresses me; we are meant to have jobs with diverse skill requirements or dynamic problems to solve. 9. I mean, damn. I started programming and working on automated trading systems and data mining programs when I was 12. Though I've never had a lot of money to invest, I learned many things from research about how trading isn't all technical and numbers but how personal psychology and market psychology are the primary movers at times. My whole motivation (besides curiosity) was to "make money in the stock market so I didn't have to go through [boring] college classes". 10. Well, now I have an MBA, but until I really treat the anxiety and "dis-integration" between parts of my brain, I can't find a job in the Bay Area. Why? Because it's all electronic resumes and filters, no one will ever see why I can do whatever I put my mind to, and my social anxiety prevents me from functioning at the "frequency" necessary to "impress" people in a social network. Corporate jobs are often not healthy for people like us; it does take more effort, but finding a good job match will change everything. Finding friends that are similar is also a good idea. Personally, my wife is what keeps me going when I'm falling apart. 11. Technology is partially responsible for society's growing complacency; but notice that anxious/hyperactive people always want to learn anyway and get bored easily. That's what should be happening but isn't to the rest of the population. Society is "dying" in a very abstract way and few people notice it directly. Are these "disorders" nature's way of creating innovators, change-makers, and leaders? We understand and control technology and other things in our lives because we are too anxious/ego/other to sit still and let something else lead our lives. We are not the sheep in society. 12. Nonlinear thinking. How much more do I know about the stock market because of unrelated fields and my compulsion to learn about them? Physics, psychology, finance, programming. Abstract patterns; how a noise, motion, visualization can lead to an inspiration. The ability to see truths that others cannot (even if they are only relative truths). Use these gifts to your advantage, even if no one else understands it. 13. When I am chemically and emotionally aligned (rare) all of the patterns of my existence that have been observed converge, resulting in the ability to "know" what people are feeling, what they are likely to do, and at times, what will happen in the future by projecting scenarios properly using all data (I normally project scenarios due to my anxiety, but they are not accurate). I cannot actually convey this state of mind using words. If the universe is sentient, then this is similar to being on its "frequency"; at the very least I have access to information that I "shouldn't", perhaps by inference. Find your balance. 14. Genius? Intelligence x Wisdom x Ability to Communicate/apply it. Focus on the limiting factor, chances are you have the intelligence. When did people stop trying to learn and grow? When they stopped trying to live. 15. My general trading wisdom (omg, for free??). Wisdom = you won't get it unless you've experienced certain things. Due to the psychological nature of trading, pure technical analysis ("by the numbers") is missing something fundamental. I guess I will cover this in another post (probably in the technical analysis section, just search me). 16. Did I miss anything? That whole rant is just my passing thoughts on the matter, a summary if you will. (Jeez, then what's the "whole thing" like? lol). I kind of felt like writing today when I saw this post. Links for stuff that you might enjoy (or inspire you): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath = self-image; the multifaceted nature of man http://physics.bmfusion.com/ = metaphysics, part of my vision, but there are other things I need to research to complete the model http://www.last.fm/music/Biometallic+Fusion = my alias; music that appeals to people who like patterns and not words
binary man, go to whole foods and grab a bottle of guggl/red yeast rice,its a product used for lowering cholesterol but the guggle slightly speeds up you metabolism and i've experienced no side affects,wards off depression,fluctuate between ginseng and this ,guggl is better but i don't like to take same thing all the time just for health beliefs
How are they a "disorder", when you can have all the symptoms and yet lead a vastly more successful life than "normal" people? IMO they are only a disorder when they are so extreme that they interfere with basic life functions. How come there is no "jobsworth disorder", or "excessive conformity disorder"?
Sorry could you repeat that? I lost concentration Seriously, are hyper activity, inability to concentrate and acting impulsively good traits for traders? No. Far too many are diagnosed with ADD as a catch all for general behavioural 'issues'.
ADD children don't fit into school system so it is therefore a classed as "disorder" As one person siad, if two million children have to be put on drugs to go to school that suggests that there is something wrong with the school system rather than the children. I was thrown out of school at 16. ADD as a trait exists in my opinion* but recognising that is a double edged sword as it is a BONANZA for the drug companies - A new illness with an a;lready approved drug to treat it.Ritalin is well established so it should be easy to get varients approved. I think there is something in the hunter vs farmer type as mentioned in another thread. Basically psychaitric/DSM type labels are an attempt to siloise a condition that overlaps with many others and if the skew is towards one way the are X and if the skew is another way they are Y. I can clearly apply two more labels to myself in addition to ADD. You are looking at the positives of ADD of which there are many, and not the negatives. e.g unless the hyperfocus is there not much gets done - I was seriously considering taking Provigil just so I could get some programming done and I am the type of person who (now) would rather suffer a headache than take an aspirin. It seems Ritalin is very helpful to some, but volountarily taking it is a long way from a childs parents being told if they don't agree to their child taking Ritalin the child can't come to school. Having a constant high velocity creative though stream can be a bit mcuh at times, esppecially when you realise what you though as creative genius might also be considered as a faulty valve. It does exist, I am tertiary/professional educated and eventually held down Management positions in I-Banks. The point is that I was swimming upstream and it took a lot from me to do this relative to others of same ability level. e.g my university colleagues could sit down and write an essay in a day and get a B - I would also do it in 8 hours and get an A+ but the 8 hours was spread across a whole week. I would describe my intelligence as way above what my degree might indicate but my ability to get things done effectively is way below that of most people of university level. When the hyperfocus is there we are hard to catch. I become hyperlucid in exam type conditions and left most exams early because there was nothing more to be done and scored in the upper quartile. If only I could find that place in my mind every day. As for Americans, the ones with the highest level dissatisfaction were the ones who left Europe for America - this preselcted a certain set of charactaristsics - those who were content with their lot stayed behind. *(I am crippled with it and recognised myself right away right down to obscure symptons such as itching at the front of the shin bones)
This really touches the heart of the issue. The classification of something being a disorder is based upon subjectivity. Usually a relative maladjustment to an imposed environment is enough to describe something as a disorder. The diagnosis is not based on a bodily condition, it's based on what a society considers to be its norm. Society is structured around a range of values and norms that it imposes upon its members in order to maintain a social order. It reacts in a certain way to people who fall outside the norm. The way society reacts to those people is determined by what's necessary to maintain itself. This dictates that an exceptional individual will always encounter resistance from the status quo. Perhaps it's a consolation to you that truely talented individuals will eventually find a way to impose their own values on society.
I am not sure that we all lead a "vastly more successful life" even if not categorising "successful" according to narrow society/sheep values. The less we are in a school/corporate and relationship situation the less we are troubled by it. A seal hunter living alone in the middle of nowhere with ADD is probably going to feel less affected by it and therefore less unsuccessful than someone working in a (non creative driven) corporation where the symptons have to be masked - corporations know what works and what doesn't for their structure, that is why they try and screen us out. If you don't make eye contact at an interview they don't not employ you because they think you are shifty or something like that, they just know people who don't make eye contact don't really fit in to the structure.