1. Welcome to NoFap! We have disabled new forum accounts from being registered for the time being. In the meantime, you can join our weekly accountability groups.
    Dismiss Notice

ADD/ADHD and addiction

Discussion in 'Porn Addiction' started by Invictvs, Jan 3, 2020.

  1. Invictvs

    Invictvs Fapstronaut

    78
    122
    33
    I was diagnosed and medicated as a kid. I know that it's become something of a joke in society, because so many kids are diagnosed with it. But I legitimately feel like I still display some of the symptoms (hyperfocusing being the prime one).

    I was wondering how many people here were diagnosed or have self-diagnosed ADHD. There is some medical literature linking it to an increased propensity for developing addictions.
     
  2. Yep / ADHD .

    My brain loves dopamine , fuckin loves it .

    You just have to learn from your behaviours and pattern of behaviour, and make wise decisions
     
    Optimum Fortitude likes this.
  3. It's funny how everyone in America has ADHD these days.

    Did you know that very few people have it in Europe? In my 28 years spent in Europe I've met only one guy who was prescribed with an equivalent of Adderal here.

    Something is seriously wrong with the treatment of pain (opioids) and distraction (amphetamines) in the US.

    By the way, I read a recent thread about guys talking about how they were prescribed ADHD treatment while the rootcause of their symptoms was compulsive porn use and masturbation.

    Sometimes, you just have to look at your unhealthy habits to cure your problems.
     
    CodeTalker and Arnuld like this.
  4. Invictvs

    Invictvs Fapstronaut

    78
    122
    33

    I couldn't agree more. I do think I display genuine symptoms of it. In my case that often means paying no attention to things I find useless to whatever my current thought process is. I do tend to hyper focus a lot too. What I mean by that is I'll be doing something I'm interested in and not realize three hours have past. It could be a small repetitive task....like learning a few measures of music on one of my instruments from a complex passage. If I'm interested I can literally practice the same thing a hundred times in one day.....I draw too. I can work on a picture for hours and not even realize that my fiance had been in the same room as me several times...or that she had said something.

    I use it to my advantage and I've learned how to cope with no meds. I think they waaaaay overprescribed meds for it. Honestly I dont think it's a condition that ever really needed them, and I think its heavily influenced by early childhood development and isn't something you're simply born with. I showed symptoms early in life...when I was around seven or eight...but I was also in a severely abusive situation in my home. It probably had more to do with THAT rather than a mental disorder.
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2020
  5. I think everyone has attentiom deficits to some extent. But people shouldn't takr drugs unless it really has an impact on their lives. I too am often lost in thoughts or losing attention when people talk to me or during meetings. But I think it's because I'm an overthinker AND the conversations or situations are boring so my brain thinks about something more "important" to think about (in fact it's mainly ruminative thoughts and chatter).

    Have you ever tried mindfullness meditation? It can really help living in the present more and realizing more quickly when ww are distracted.
     
  6. I'm from Europe , i was prescribed medication around age 12, but yes they are much more conservative with medications here.its actually quite difficult to get diagnosed and be treated for it here.

    I have seen specialists as an adult who did not believe I met the criteria for ADHD anymore .

    From what I hear anyone with any level of impulsivity , difficulty directing there focus in the US is on some form of controlled substance .
     
    Optimum Fortitude likes this.
  7. Number of modern studies linked attention problems lack of autonomy of modern kids.
    Kids attention is constantly controlled and managed by outside factors and that causes them to develop a habit of changing attention.
    Basically if you force someone to pay attention to something they do not find interesting, that persons attention will constantly drift and overtime that turns in to a habit of "drifting attention"
    In cultures where kids spend allot more time playing on their own and education system is less rigid attention span of kids is significantly better.

    Improving attention span is very simple, you have to train your brain to stay focused for long time. The it will learn to keep focus.
    Reading or meditation are great ways to do that, but main goal is to pick one task and focus on it - and keep focusing on it without letting your attention drift. That will gradually fix the problem.
     
  8. Psalm27:1my light

    Psalm27:1my light Fapstronaut

    4,195
    7,774
    143
    Ironically my husband was just diagnosed last year. We opted to try biofeedback treatments rather than medication and our insurance denied it. They will willingly pay for him to be on medication for the rest of his life rather than a scientificly proven method for 20 weeks because the upfront cost is far greater. He’s halfway through his treatments and there have been huge improvements.
     
    Optimum Fortitude likes this.
  9. Theory22

    Theory22 Fapstronaut

    13
    5
    3
    Please explain, I take Adderall because it seems I'm in a total fog with zero motivation or energy to do ANYTHING without the medicine. So doing a 90 day reboot should help with the need for Adderall? How
     
    Optimum Fortitude likes this.
  10. Being in a total fog with zero motivation to do anything sounds exactly like side effects of porn addiction.

    Adderal is amphetamines, so of course it's going to alleviate things like brain fog and boost one's motivation. So it would make sense if you feel that the Adderall cures your problem and that therefore you must indeed have ADHD (even if in reality it could just be porn addiction!)

    That said, maybe you truly have an attention deficit disorder. But if you really had one, I think you would have other symptoms such as having racing, incontrolable thoughts that prevent you from focusing on anything. I went to law school and it always striked me how lots of people were on Adderal: how did they get into law school if they had serious attention deficit disorders?

    So man I don't know if your problems are caused by your porn addiction. BUT, it would be a truly beautiful experience if you do a 90-120 day reboot and notice that you're back to normal and don't need to take Adderall anymore! It would prove the point.
     
    Theory22 and Psalm27:1my light like this.
  11. Theory22

    Theory22 Fapstronaut

    13
    5
    3
    Yes I am doing the 90 day no P M or O I am tired of wasting valuable time and I want to get off ALL stimulants, I didn't realize how bad P was until I found this site.
     
  12. Theory22

    Theory22 Fapstronaut

    13
    5
    3
    Honestly I'd like to just eliminate P & M forever
     
  13. Well man I look forward to hearing from you. With some luck you will kill 2 birds with 1 stone and get rid of PMO AND Adderall.
     
    Theory22 likes this.
  14. Attention and motivation are characteristics like endurance.
    In order to run long distance, you need to maintain motivation and develop endurance.
    In order to run short distances rapidly you need to develop explosive power and short burst of motivation.

    Our mental capacity is not much different than physical, as we do activities that need long periods of focus, motivation and endurance, we develop the ability to stay focused for a long time.
    As we do activities that need short term focus and allot of attention switching, we develop fluid attention and the ability to rapidly switch and refocus on tasks.

    Each of these traits has advantages and disadvantages. But our current environment favors rapid attention switching ability. This means we develop rapid intense focus for short period and then it falls and we "take a break" while we look for another target of attention.

    Research has shown that switching attention has a cost, and it takes time and effort to change focus from a task and to bring it back. If we continuously switch attention we develop optimizations that help us reduce this cost. It seems we preemptively disengage from the task at very short intervals in anticipation of change in focus target.

    For example reading email or Facebook, forces you to constantly switch focus between completely different targets, related memories and modes of actions.

    It then makes sense that people growing up in computerized society develop highly fluid focus. Ability to focus is connected in significant ways to motivation, motivation is what establishes focus.

    So lesson here is that if you want to be better at staying focused and motivated, you have to do just that, do activities that keep your attention in one place, and you ability to stay motivated and focused will increase.
     

  15. ADD is no joke. You know you have it when you’ve tried the perfect diet, exercised, meditated, etc. and still feel super unfocused. You can lessen it but it won’t ever completely ‘go away’
     
  16. Nucleus

    Nucleus Fapstronaut

    234
    314
    63
    I have ADHD. It seems pretty clear to me that there is a connection between this and addiction. (Extreme impulsiveness)

    My biggest revelation came one month ago when I saw the documentary “game changers” and I decided to give veganism a try. As if by magic my ADHD symptoms were drastically reduced. I’d say after around the two week mark. My urges to act out also went down. Also I’m able to concentrate and I’ve been reading voraciously and also meditation and writing (including here).

    I’ve mentioned this is a few other posts and I don’t want to be repetitive or to ram veganism down anyone’s throat. But I am confident in saying that it has played a major role in the reduction of my dammed severe ADHD and the accompanying sex addiction.
     

  17. ADD is a problem with maintaining dopamine levels overtime to keep focus.
    Dopamine gives euphoria only when increased very rapidly and that sensation will go away fairly quickly even of dopamine levels stay the same.
    Sustained high levels of dopamine will not produce pleasure, they will create hyper-focus and obsessive behaviors.

    Diet without meat is bad for someone with ADD, mainly because it is more difficult for the body to produce various components needed to maintain dopamine levels - something meat provides in abundance.
    You can test this yourself, if you have ADD, and feel lack of focus. Eat a good quality stake and see how you feel.
     
  18. Nucleus

    Nucleus Fapstronaut

    234
    314
    63
    ...yet my symptoms of ADHD and sex addiction have reduced considerably since going full vegan a month ago. Not my imagination either. It’s an absolutely solid improvement.
     
  19. I have been full vegan for over a year in the past, I know where you are coming from, everyone enjoys benefits from switching to vegan diet, but keep an open mind, do not get locked in to "this is the best diet".
    Going full vegan is great way to recover from poor nutrition and general toxicity, only better way is to do long fasts 2-4 weeks. But it is not a long term approach for maintaining good health, especially considering questionable quality of greens we have access to.

    Quality of food is far more important than any other factor. When people go vegan they naturally avoid processed food, which is the main cause of health problems.
     
  20. Nucleus

    Nucleus Fapstronaut

    234
    314
    63
    I like the idea of fasting. Intermittent for starters. Maybe a fruit fast later. A full fast... hmmm. Well I don’t rule it out.


    As for quality of food, yeah I’m making a great effort to get best quality and nothing at all processed.
     

Share This Page