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Discussion Forum > Related Discussion on Hacker News

Some people over there could benefit from the knowledge over here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6145261
August 2, 2013 at 13:22 | Unregistered CommenterChristopher
If he really is earning $130k as a 21y/o then why not seek paid professional help?
August 4, 2013 at 13:04 | Registered Commentersmileypete
Hi Smilypete

From reading his post, it sounds to me as though his problem may be genetic. His father also had the problem. If you're lucky or unlucky enough to have a brain that is classified within the ADHD/right brain (cheap labels) coninuum, even taking ADHD meds don't work for up to 25% on the ADHD/right brain population. Then there's people like me who can't take them because of other medical issues. Even before my brain damage, busting through the high resistance wall has been always a Herculean feat since I was a child. I simply learned that that's what I've got to do to keep starting. I won't even discuss how much harder it is with brain damage on top of my natural ADHD/right brain functioning. Of course, there are many benefits. That's for another post.

Even if they get prescribed ADHD meds, it takes time for them to be regulated to be effective. Also, certain medical issues make taking the meds possible dangerous. Even if they do get their meds fine-tuned, they still must learn the skills. If they spent a lifetime avoiding resistant work until urgency removed their options, they must learn how to put up with making that effort. Meds don't magically remove all the difficulty.

Because I had this since I was young, I just resigned myself to approaching resistant work via workarounds and chugging 2 cups of coffee 10 minutes before I begin my work. (It's not healthy either but 2 cups of joe is usually safer than the dose you might need. I'm a VERY HARD CASE. The guy in the post seems like he's a hard case also.

My father tried to push coffee on me since I was a child. I always refused it because I didn't like the tasts. In my thirties, a workmate taught me about coffee giving a jolt to revive you if you're tired. Working two 17 hour shifts in a row made me tired. The coffee trick was like a miracle to me! LOL! By accident I also discovered that coffee helped me to approach boring work without being tired. (If your brain is hardwired to reject boredom and make you painfully restless, then your brain might shutdown and make you very, very tired. It can even make you instantly fall asleep from it. Don't ask me how I know this.....LOL! I fell asleep standing up while dealing a $500 minimum-$5,000 bet table! I was lucky they didn't fire me. My brain is in the extreme ADHD-PI category.

IOW, THERE'S NO GETTING AROUND THE HUGE EFFORT YOU MUST MAKE TO BUST THROUGH HIGH RESISTANCE TASKS if you're born with that sort of brain. There is no magical insight. There is no magical procedures. There are some workarounds that LESSEN the burden of forcing yourself to start and restart highly resistance work, but even then, it will be painfully effortful. You learn to cope with it. It never gets easier. Your mind simply reconciles itself to "That's how it is. There's no escaping it." Many ADHD/right brain folks purposely wait for the last minute to create a false crisis. This removes options if you don't want to face the consequences of not doing it. This "feels" easier only because you don't have to use your own determination and willpower to approach high resistance work on your own strength of ignoring less awful choices. LOL!

I hope I'm wrong. I hope this guy doesn't have to face a lifetime of always needing maximum willpower and determination to accomplish high resistance work. I've been having to do that since I first started school and having private lessons for learning other things. All skill building requires some amount of putting up with mind numbing boredom. I had no choice but put myself through that torture! LOL! It was the only way to learn certain things to gain mastery. With brain damage, it's far worse but fortunately I'm not in the workforce any longer. Nobody is going to hire somebody who's taking heavy narcotics and can't reliably process oral instructions. I'm useless in that context.

ADHD/right brain may have more challenges in those contexts but it's also great in other contexts. I hope this guy discovers ways to take advantage of it's benefits rather than only focusing on it's burdens.
August 4, 2013 at 16:53 | Unregistered CommenterLearning as I go
p.s.
He's obviously using some of his assets. Besides being only 21 and earning a nice salary, he also has several programmers subordinate to him. Maybe his brain has always served him well in most areas of living so he refuses to accept that the same brain also presents challenges that he has to deal with. I think he'll go as far as he wishes if he can learn how to accept and deal with the challenges of having this genetic trait.
August 4, 2013 at 16:58 | Unregistered CommenterLearning as I go
I Procradtinate too much as well. Thanks for the link.
August 5, 2013 at 0:44 | Registered CommenterAlan Baljeu