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poke smot!
floccinocci floofinator
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 5,248
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Attention disorders
#4035877 - 04/09/05 11:22 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Wow kitty girl, you're quite annoying when I'm trying to type.
But what I'm really trying to bring to attention is my latest concern. If anyone knows my history, I've been through a lot of diagnoses and have taken a lot of different meds.
One thing I've never considered is that I have an attention disorder. But as I investigate more, I'm finding that I have a lot of the symptoms.
But please realize that I'm extremely hesitant to jump to taking medications. I've been clean 6 months from all pills, drugs, etc, except for starting smoking pot about a month ago.
I've noticed that even during my completely clean times, I have trouble collecting my thoughts and concentrating on one topic. At work, this isn't too much an issue as I'm enthusiastic about computers, so fixing them is second nature for me.
Still, I have a lot of things that inspire me. I have a lot of projects planned out, a lot of things I need to do, but for some reason it's difficult.
As an example, I have this programming project going on for a killer program that takes care of all types of bad software for the computer. This is a mission-critical tool that will aid me a lot in my work and possibly make me a pretty penny or two, or a thousand.
Sometimes I can sit down and work on writing this shit, but other times I can't collect my thoughts. I'm either completely on the wrong channel, or heading in the right direction but distracted by all the ideas I have.
Usually I have so many ideas going through my head that it's difficult to settle down and concentrate on one thing. Plus, I have a lot of other random shit (laundry, cleaning up, bills, etc) that I have trouble keeping track of. I did my laundry last Tuesday (after waiting two weeks of course), yet I didn't make my bed until today. I'm just so scatter-brained sometimes.
When the stress starts to build, like recently at work (a promotion and more responsibilities), I get more scatter-brained. Last week I let a PC go out with no screws in the power supply and a broken power switch. I also was having trouble multitasking, since I usually work on four computers at once.
Let me get to the point and sum this bitch up. I've never investigated whether I can benefit from anything for attention disorders. At this point in my life, I have all the mood disorders taken care of. I'm fairly stable and usually in a good mood. But lI need to figure out what I should do about this. I've had so much trouble picking a school and getting off to college. I just turned 22 today, yet I'm still doing the same thing on the school front... trying to choose.
Lately this shit has got me restless at times. When I'm having free time I tend to get "bored" because I can't pick a single task to do. Ok, so I've figured out I might have an attention problem.
The first thing I'm going to try is stopping smoking pot, and starting to take supplements designed for attention problems. Omega 3 fatty acids, 5-htp, vitamin b6, L-glutamate, shit like that. Am I going in the right direction?
More importantly, does anyone find that they experience the same problems? If so, have you sought treatment and what worked for you?
Thanks everyone, and my apologies if I typed too much there.
Edited by poke smot! (09/07/20 01:58 PM)
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BloodNOil
Captain Zeep
Registered: 10/08/03
Posts: 1,020
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Re: Attention disorders [Re: poke smot!]
#4036663 - 04/10/05 09:19 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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I have the same deal. I've taken adderall in the past and I don't think I'm past the negative effects yet. It's been two or three years since I took it regularly.
One thing that's given me hope is mental exercise, although I haven't forced myself to do it yet. Try some stereotypical taoist/buddhist/zen trick like concentrating on a pebble for an hour or two.
-------------------- It's like a koala bear crapped a rainbow in my brain!
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Tankhead
stranger. WhoMe??
Registered: 07/06/03
Posts: 28
Last seen: 17 years, 1 month
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Re: Attention disorders [Re: BloodNOil]
#4037963 - 04/10/05 05:22 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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too many thoughts are called, flight of ideas and is a symptom of the manic phase of bi polar disorder, do a google search for much info......
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poke smot!
floccinocci floofinator
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 5,248
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Re: Attention disorders *DELETED* [Re: Tankhead]
#4040079 - 04/11/05 06:33 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Post deleted by poke smot!Reason for deletion: x
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EarthAngel
Tripper
Registered: 01/23/05
Posts: 67
Loc: New Zealand
Last seen: 16 years, 5 months
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Re: Attention disorders [Re: poke smot!]
#4042753 - 04/11/05 08:04 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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The supplementaion you are planning on, fish oils , 5htp etc, would be an excellent start, but see if you can add in sum gotu kola aswell.
I could suggest a combination of flower remedies from what you have stated but thats not reealy enough to diagnose you on, so mayeb if you can find a practioner in your area that does Bach Flower Remedies, off the top of my head White Chestnut would be the main one. Otherwise go to www.bodytalksystem.com and find a practioner in your area, as i feel that could deffinately help you. Good luck
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moog
Stranger
Registered: 02/15/05
Posts: 1,296
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Re: Attention disorders [Re: poke smot!]
#4042967 - 04/11/05 08:58 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Short attention span is usually caused by two things:
1) Something on the mind that's keeping you from concentrating. An issue that is more important to you than your current task will compete for your attention and cause unneeded stress if it's not taken care of. You mentioned putting off doing laundry and other simple chores. This is probably causing you stress and can affect your concentration, even just a little bit. Take care of this stuff as soon as it arises and then it won't bother you later on.
2) Increased rate of stimuli. Anyone who works with computers for hours a day will get this. You're constantly switching from one thing to another as fast as you can click a mouse and type some keys. This increases your brain's need to interpret stimuli faster and faster. In a fast paced environment like a computer job (trust me I've been there) your concentration can be completely ruined, especially when you're constantly switching between 3 or 4 tasks.
It only takes about a week (in my experience) to increase your attention span to a reasonable level. Try this: for a week, keep the PC turned off (even at work whenever possible), keep the TV turned off, and keep any other modern gadgets turned off that are gooing to keep your attention going from one thing to the next within seconds (like cell phones and video games). Instead, go outside and sit in nature, go for a walk (and walk sloooow), don't smoke, don't drink, avoid any unneeded drugs. The first couple days you'll probably go crazy, but don't give in and turn on the PC. After a few days of tuning in with the world outside your attention span will increase significantly and your mind will slow down.
Here's something else you can try that will definitely help: meditate for about 20 minutes a day, trying to keep a specific image in your mind's eye. I like to picture the flame of a candle, it works well. Sit in an attentive but relaxed pose, and close your eyes. Picture the image in your mind and nothing else. Try to see how long you can keep it in your mind's eye. If you find your mind drifting, just picture the object again, and keep trying. The point is to, eventually, keep the image in your mind for the entire 20 minutes. This will help your focus, which is a bit different from the attention span.
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poke smot!
floccinocci floofinator
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 5,248
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Re: Attention disorders *DELETED* [Re: poke smot!]
#4043100 - 04/11/05 09:35 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Post deleted by poke smot!Reason for deletion: x
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0xYg3n
topdawg
Registered: 04/29/04
Posts: 18,881
Last seen: 15 years, 9 days
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Re: Attention disorders [Re: poke smot!]
#4045619 - 04/12/05 12:14 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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um, caffeine.
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EarthAngel
Tripper
Registered: 01/23/05
Posts: 67
Loc: New Zealand
Last seen: 16 years, 5 months
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Re: Attention disorders [Re: 0xYg3n]
#4048072 - 04/12/05 10:22 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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No!! No stimulants!! thats gona make it worse!! cut out all stimulants!!
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BloodNOil
Captain Zeep
Registered: 10/08/03
Posts: 1,020
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Re: Attention disorders [Re: EarthAngel]
#4048152 - 04/12/05 10:54 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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ALL stimulants? Well... there's my problem...
I'll try that tomorrow. Hope it works out, i've got a huge calc test the next day and I don't know how well i'll be able to cram.
-------------------- It's like a koala bear crapped a rainbow in my brain!
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