I have to know if all these memes really describe adhd. Aren’t these all just normal Human behaviours? I feel like most memes here describe me perfectly. Do I have ADHD?
I understand completely, and you're right to question it. The answer is that a lot of these behaviours are pretty normal, and it is very possible to identify with some of the memes even if you don't have ADHD. It's when they just keep resonating with you on a really fundamental level, across your entire lifetime, that you should maybe be suspicious. ADHD has a genetic component too, so it might help think about your parents' behaviours and if they also match.
My psych had me complete this self assessment quiz (ASRS v1.1) before my first appointment for evaluation. It might help you too: https://psychology-tools.com/...
That’s interesting - thanks for sharing. I got 6/6 for the first section and 9/12 for the first section. I have a follow up question too - is there any benefit to being diagnosed as an adult? Not sure if it’s actually worthwhile or makes a difference. Looking back I’ve had numerous people comment to me that I seem ADHD, but I just assumed that’s a (bad) joke.
Medication has opened up a whole new world to me, I wish I had known decades prior. It has also given me a better understanding of my body and the way it works, and very importantly: what I need to watch out for. It also made a bunch of old life experiences make sense for the first time.
ADHD is one of the few neuro conditions they have found reliable and useful medication for, with very few negatives, including my favourite: no withdrawals. I think it's worth exploring, even if you decide you're fine the way you are afterwards with no intervention.
Good luck, it is a trip!
Yea, I feel you. The combination of my first and last name will also point you to me 100% of the time - I'm pretty sure I'm the only person on earth with this name, even if it sounds implausible.
Well, you wanted to try something new and you did, and it probably helped you learn a bunch of stuff along the way. So even if it didn't turn out as good as you intended it to do, it's still a win in my books.
Good luck with your music! And your apps if you are going to make others in the future.
I recently moved my wiki notes to a different platform and wanted to build a Python app to read each article and add a list of keywords and categories describing it, so things would be easier to find on the new site. I ended up attempting to create a natural language model, but literally every unique word in each article kept becoming a keyword and category. After hours of toil and StackOverflow, I realized that I was essentially trying to recreate ChatGPT or at least an aspect of what it could do seamlessly. Instead of just pivoting to its API’s, which would have only cost a few cents, I spent a few more hours trying to use a wrapper around Bard that was broken because the service didn’t want people to build free automation atop it. I finally wrote a script that used ChatGPT/OpenaAI API’s to feed the articles and it worked almost perfectly. Had to run some parsing, but it got where it needed to be. TL;DR: I tried to write an AI in a day that is difficult for seasoned experts, failed pretty gloriously, realized I should use an existing AI, then wasted a few more hours trying to save a few cents, then did it correctly. I hyper-focus when coding, which can lead to these rabbit holes.
Add in a dash of autistic hyperfocus and you can in fact teach yourself enough to get the project done.
Doesn't mean you WILL get it done of course.
Once I learn enough to feel like whatever it is is achievable I lose all interest in actually doing it.. I have the same problem with finishing video games once I get to the point that Im skilled enough or have enough shit built or whatever that beating the game is inevitable I just move on to the next one.
narrative driven games work a LOT better for me for that reason. I've played through the entire halo master chief collection and titanfall 2 campaign without much issue. Never got very far in factorio on the other hand.
Yea same here, if there aren't a lot of things to get distracted with my chances of finishing it go way up. I completed both the Subnautica games, Jedi Fallen order, and 3 of the Arkham games. Skyrim on the other hand I've had since it came out and never beat the main quest.
Re the video games, yes absolutely I've done this. I don't think I've 100% finished a game, at least not in the last 20 years. Playing through the latest Zelda game I had to pick my moment when to go take on the final boss carefully, I know that once I beat a game I'm a lot less inclined to keep going on side quests and finding shrines/korok seeds/whatever collectibles that particular game has. So I wanted to do as much of that as I could before going after Ganondorf, but I also didn't want to wait too long because if I make myself do ALL the side quests and get ALL the collectibles I'll burn and not even bother finishing the game.
Enjoying games is so difficult because of this. I love open world games that let you do everything, but it's so hard focusing.
I want to finish all side quests first, but I'm forced to do parts of the main quest at some point to progress. Then I'm sad when it's already over just when I thought I'm ready to start.
And when I try to focus only on the main quest, I don't enjoy the game that much anymore after finishing because it feels unnecessary and boring.
I still somehow managed to play all 6 Assassin's Creed games up to Black Flag + Origins 100% through sheer willpower.
That’s how I learned JavaScrpt Python and C++. Now I’m programming my own embedded project on a RP2040 with touchscreen, IMU and addressable LEDs. On top of that I learned thanks to my drone hobby how to solder and assemble circuits and with my 3D printing hobby I can print custom parts to hold the electronics I assembled and programmed. Now I’m reading component data sheet before bed and playing puzzles with i2c communication tables. Fun!
My background is filmmaking, I’m a camera operator. I don’t work in IT or engineering. I started these hobbies for fun and they have started to blend into something a loser to a job (that I really enjoy)
This is the sort of person I want to be until mid way through, my crisis begins, as I understand that there are people way better than me at insert current task because I must completely be good at it or it isn't worth it, I just lose my will power at that point and get depressed, give up and repeat the cycle with something new.
Pick something with a supportive community that will help you.
Heh, reminds me of when I learned Linux. One day Windows 10 annoyed me so much that I swore never to use it as my main os again and started using Ubuntu. 2 days later I got so annoyed by it that I started to install Arch. I made lots of mistakes but had a working system which I ended up using for a year. Fun times. Nowadays I just use Fedora but I'm tempted to distro-hop again
If you have ADHD then hyper focus kicks in and you bet your ass you will be the best person for the job in no time. Add on that imposter syndrome that makes you work double hard and however many decades of self loathing and self hate you have to make you want to over achieve. I somehow went from music degrees to managing a $40 million budget, but it makes sense, sorta.
It's also a symptom of autism and mania.
Unfortunately, I think this is because pretty much every endeavour in life, if you have (severe) ADHD, feels like that. At that point it doesn't really make a difference.
I have severe ADHD and exsisting is a pain. (I'm not suicidal, it's just painful to do/achieve anything at all)
It's hard to be constantly in improvise-mode. Really, that's how it feels to me at least. As if everything consists of just trying to hold it together somehow.
That's how a lot of ADHD folks experience it. And it's really not that surprising when you learn what the ADHD does to your brain.
I hope your new diagnosis helps you. Learning more about how you think, what motivates you, and what holds you back can help a lot with choosing realistic and satisfying goals. If you keep at it, I think you'll figure out how to achieve something you can call success.
And for what it's worth, I don't think it's possible to be a failure, but I do understand the pain of defeat. Thinking more about it, defeat seems like the pain of wanting something, believing (correctly or otherwise) that it's impossible, and then continuing to hold onto that desire. It's the gap between what we believe to be possible and our expectations, not all that different from grief.
It's worked out for me more than once. I have a lot of abandoned projects too though.
Me taking the hardest math class at community college when I suck at math.. Yeah that wasn't great
Same. Was funny though, because now I know how be an even more pedantic prick using propositional calculus
I did the same! But it made me realise that I don't suck at math, I am just really bad at mental arithmetics and estimating.
Next thing you're going to tell me that I shouldn't have bought a tractor if I didn't understand the first thing about hydraulics. I'm getting there, 20 YouTube videos at a time... It's just on pause while I learn carpentry to build a structure to put the solar panels on. Obviously before I can even properly design that I need to learn how to wire the solar panels properly, but those are just winter projects. For now, I need to focus on maintaining the grape vines on the land I already cleared.
No, I'm not a farmer, why do you ask? I work in IT... No I don't own a home...
The fun part is accomplishing that but somehow forgetting all the stuff you learned down the line.
Lol this is me at my job. I got hired to do something I've never done before and I've built on it so much I got promoted and now I'm doing more things I never knew how to do. Sometimes it does work out ¯_(ツ)_/¯
The ADHD part is when you lose all interest and can't bring yourself to even think about it anymore. So watch out.
Fuck.
ETA: Feeling this hard right now. Protip: Always buy important gifts that have to be complete with a deadline. Always. I know you might be thinking "but something that I make for my spouse's birthday will be much more meaningful." Stop. Buy a gift. It will save a lot of strife.
Make things as a bonus though.
Whatever your partner would like that you feel like pouring yourself into, if you are so inclined. They will absolutely appreciate it. Just set yourself up for success and avoiding hurting their feelings by not relying on it as the present.
Think of such project-gifts as extra prizes to shower your loved ones in, if and when they are finished.
That's good too, if it fits the needs/wants of the given scenario. Just don't do the big project that you've never done before as the primary gift. I say this purely out of interest for others' happiness and ability to avoid my mistakes.
Jack of all trades, and master of none.
It may not be pretty, but I'll get the job done.
And i would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for my damned ADHD interfering!
me right now trying to create a regression to fit tire compound, size, pressure, and rim diameter to predict slip angles, temps, angular forces, and loads in Matlab. (I have no experience with multivariate regressions, Matlab, or physics)
Me too thanks.
I've tried to combat it as I get older by circling around. I'll focus on something for weeks or months or years, then put it down for a year or more as I cycle through four other things.
I should be ready to try blacksmithing again in about 5 years.
This is me right now.
My brother purchased a 3D printer and honestly, it's pretty neat. The problem is, I have never done any serious 3D design work (I barely did any 2D stuff in auto CAD when I was in school)...
So I'm limited to pre-made STL prints and honestly, most of what's out there, I'm not keen on. Not saying any of the available 3D printable files are bad by any stretch, they're just.... not exactly what I want. You know? I'd like to tweak or touch up some aspects of the model before I print it... not because I'm vain or I want to have my stuff be unique, but usually because there's a good reason why I want it that way.
There's also stuff I'd like to have that is a bit niche, and nobody has made it, but it should be relatively trivial for someone with 3D design experience to make, like covers for things that are not a typical geometry.... an example I have is that I have a battery pack for a handheld radio. It isn't dissimilar to the kind of battery packs that early cellphones used (think Nokia 5100 series of phones). All I want is a hard cover for the business side of the battery pack, so if my spare battery is tossed in with metal things, nothing bad happens. Sure, I could solve this with a bag of sorts, but I'd still have to get one that's just the right size for the pack, and that's not a trivial task. I also plan on having (or already have) several of these batteries, and they have a belt clip attached to the battery, so it would be nice to be able to clip them on my belt without worrying that a light rainfall might short out the exposed contacts on them. But the radio is kind of niche (happens to be a alinco DJ-MD5 variant), and #1 not many people have this radio, and B: those that do, aren't really the 3D printing crowd.
So now I'm on a quest to figure out 3D design so I can make a model of the battery connector on the radio, so I can make effectively a "dummy" radio side interface and keep it secure whether I put it in my bag or on my belt. Both for safety and convenience.
We have a 3D printer, filament, all the necessary stuff to do it, and as soon as I have the STL file, I can make as many as I want/need. If one breaks, no problem, a few dollars of filament and a few hours later, I have a fresh one.
I'm a complete noob with 3D printing and 3D design. So I have the ambitious and lofty goal of learning to do it, so I can make this part. I'm not sure it will work, or that I'll get it done, but it's something that I want and I don't think anyone else is going to do the design for me..... so I have to figure it out, as if 3D design is some trivial weekend task, and not a highly specialized industry of professional engineers....
I'm sure it will be fine. (Insert "this is fine" meme here)
I tend to ramble quite a bit. No harm, no foul.
Have a good day.
I'll second getting digital calipers to make things easy. I should really just buy a pair myself already, I've just been making do with a ruler.
FreeCad is another free option I don't see mentioend yet. It works but is frustrating to use because it's buggy and fights with you.
Generally, I think of 3D design like legos or scultping. You need to build pieces and "glue" them together. It's okay to have 2 objects taking up the same space too. If you can imagine 3D objects and how they fit together you'll find it a bit easier.
My brother happened to have some and I spent some time this morning doing my first attempt. After a few failed prints, I finally have a finished piece.
It doesn't fit, even kind of, but it exists. Something I entirely designed myself and brought into existence.
Good to hear! Next step is to look at why it didn't fit. Where do dimensions need tweaked? Is the printer calibrated correctly and printing at 1:1 scale? I'm not sure how to recalibrate if the printer is the problem, but you could scale the whole print up/down when you generate the print file.
To test the printer, make a simple cube that's something like 1" on each side. I'd use 25mm for metric. Then, check how large the final print is. You'll want to check each direction since there are different stepper motors controlling each axis of movement, so each one could be slightly different
I think my brother did this when we first got the printer, but simply put, I believe the mistake is mine. I eyeballed a few numbers and didn't account for some specific things.
I missed a few rounded corners and in one place I clearly measured from the wrong spot, I'm more than a couple millimeters out.
It's pretty close, and honestly, really good for a first try, if I do say so myself.
I kinda knew it wasn't going to work right before I hit print, but I couldn't, or rather, wouldn't, guess, not check everything just to find out what I bodged.
I'll get on it tomorrow, hopefully. Even when I get out to fit, I'm going to need to make adjustments to make it work in my application. For now, I just want one that fits over the battery.
I'm using onshape. I looked through a few options and I felt like tinkercad would be too simplistic for what I wanted to learn. I found some tutorials online for it, and I managed to complete my first print today. The measurements are off..... I had digital calipers and everything.
Oh well. Time to edit, I guess.
Tip: I find OpenSCAD to be more approachable than mouse-based 3D mechanical CAD because you only have to figure out how to mathematically describe the object (e.g. understanding what platonic solids you need to compose in order to build up the complex shape you want), rather than doing that and having to learn how to navigate around in 3D space and figure out all the tool interfaces.
My brain doesn't like geometric math at all. I used to be fine at it, but I work in IT/networking, and binary math has taken over most of my brain. Working with math stuff in a complex plane is not what I would say, is a fun time for my brain.
I'm currently learning onshape. It's going okay.
A genius isn't born a genius.
Who's that?
backs away from the book series I'm working out
Learning something new is a source of happiness, and there's no better way than hurling yourself into the deep end.
For me, it depends on how much time I have before starting. If the start is immediate, "I'll figure this out on the fly" then ride that "oh, shit I don't know what I'm doing" adrenaline fueled dopamine wave all the way to borderline success. If I have lots of time before starting I'll over analyze then try and fail to become an expert and give up before starting.
Oooh do hydroponics next.
Wait does comptia+ require algebra?
TLDR: want to program? Take an intro and an algorithms class first. I suggest you avoid video games or AI. Web or mobile apps are much more beginner/solo friendly.
As a professional software dev, I see this a lot in my field. Software is very approachable and frankly there is a lot you can just learn as you go along. But usually you still need a decent amount of fundamentals as well as domain knowledge to do that, especially if you want the code to be at all maintainable.
My biggest suggestion to anyone with programming aspirations is to take a step back and start with a basic course on the fundamentals (there's multiple MOOCs for this that are a good way to get that). Ideally then find a similar class or resource on algorithms and data structures, because those are just crucial for many projects, but more importantly they get you "thinking like a programmer". Having that analytical mindset is probably the best thing you can do to make winging it actually possible.
But even then, expectations need to be grounded. Eg, video games are by far the most common thing people want to create. But video games require a lot more math, can be performance critical, and perhaps most critically require you to have many other skills, too. It's one thing to be a good enough programmer, but you also need to make a lot of art.
Another is AI. You can totally learn to make AI stuff. There's so many frameworks, pre trained models, and easy to use cloud offerings for making custom models. The bigger concern with AI isn't simply writing code for it, but that modern AI is simply limited. The type of AI most people talk about is basically just prediction and categorization. It's only as good as the training data. Finding and cleaning data is very time consuming and often very boring. Some parts of this aren't very automatable and thus aren't truly programming tasks. So it's easy for an AI project to fail not because of any programming skills, but because of the limitations of modern AI.
My advice? Self contained web or mobile apps. Those are usually the most feasible for a single person and the most practical. Look at the various apps on your phone or that you see recommended online and consider if there's things you could do better or if you see niches that aren't covered. Or even just reinvent an app that already exists for fun. Not all projects have to actually be practical!
There's also technically the option of contributing to open source, but I think beginners will find that too difficult. A project you create yourself lets you know every line of code and keeps the project easy to understand. Big open source projects can be thousands of millions of lines of code where nobody understands it all and learning to read code is a skill that takes practice and experience.
Was going to say this. With a set of calipers and some trial and error, you can make functional things very well
It is effective for many.
Tbh, it depends on how severe is your ADHD. Glad things are working out for you though.
Okay but what if I'm generally good at everything and this tactic keeps working for me and I just accumulate obscure skills
thanks for using Leebra!
go to feed...
Why have you chosen to attack me so personally on this fine day? Give me some warning before you completely demolish me like that. Even just a countdown from 3 or something.
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