GAS: Doctor's ADHD video segment rings true

jellodog

jellodog

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Video: ADD/ADHD | What Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

So I was watching this video of a doctor helping to explain to "normal" people what ADHD is like for those suffering from the issue.

It's only a 50 second section, then the doctor moves on to another example. He's talking about intense purchasing activity.

Timestamped link starts at 13:39 :



I am not diagnosed with the disorder, but boy did this short section seem VERY familiar concerning my intense research and GAS behaviour.

🤔

Do others here have suspicions that some of their GAS behaviours may be related to an ADHD brain, whether diagnosed or not?
 
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I need to watch this in its entirety. I’ve never been diagnosed but all the symptoms are there, quite prominently and they seem to be getting worse as time goes on. Some days getting myself to do anything starts with 2 hours of talking down to myself and essentially beating myself into submission.

My dad has been diagnosed with it and it’s part of his hoarding issue. He lives on a meager fixed income but if he gets the bug to buy something there’s absolutely no stopping it, even if he’s down to his last $20. He’s on a low dose of ritalin but apparently he can never get the script filled. He’s going to give me a couple of his synths, namely his older Kurzweil stuff (a K2000 synth and a K2600 rack unit) but my MIDI keyboard is USB only, so yesterday he calls me telling me he can get this other old 90’s synth AND a MIDI keyboard for such and such price, basically shoehorning in a reason for him to get this JV-880 synth that’ll collect dust like the rest of them.

Despite telling him not to buy it for about 30 mins, I guarantee he’ll call me later this week telling me it showed up.

The unfortunate thing is that being diagnosed seemed to give him a free pass because when you call him on it, “I’m certified, I have a problem, I can’t help it”, there’s not even a tiny bit of effort to NOT do it. It’s rather frustrating while I also fear myself going down that same path.
 
DrewJD82 said:
My dad has been diagnosed with it and it’s part of his hoarding issue.
Click to expand...

Doctor in the video mentions that it's often hereditary and there are usually signs in parents, even if undiagnosed. Definitely worth a watch.

DrewJD82 said:
Some days getting myself to do anything starts with 2 hours of talking down to myself and essentially beating myself into submission.
Click to expand...

I'm a terrible procrastinator and I have a bunch of techniques that I try and use to get myself into the concentation zone, or "the flow" at work as a software developer. Obviously this sort of work requires intense and prolonged concentration, so this is a serious issue for me.

Still, I'm aware of it and so I take steps to mitigate:

For example, I have certain goto albums that don't involve distracting vocals that work almost every time, just so long as I manage to make myself put on the music before I get distracted and forget my own advice! :rofl

Then there are other silly goals or punishments that I set, e.g. "I won't allow myself to take a toilet break until I have this section of the work complete!". Hah! That can become both painful and VERY motivating to um... get shit done, so to speak 😅
 
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DrewJD82 said:
The unfortunate thing is that being diagnosed seemed to give him a free pass because when you call him on it, “I’m certified, I have a problem, I can’t help it”, there’s not even a tiny bit of effort to NOT do it.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Interesting. I think that if I was diagnosed, I'd use that knowledge as a reason to be even more vigilent concerning my behaviours.

My reasoning would be, "I have a condition, so I need to manage that".
 
GAS is real, its an Affliction if you ask me Fortunately my GAS is somewhat curbed Ill GAS for something I want or need but it won't be on a "Ill get it no matter what" Other priorities take precedence, and on the other hand its something I enjoy and I dont go to Movies, Restaurants or bars
so why not spoil myself
 
Hi fellow ADHD. Yes, I have been diagnosed when I was a teenager.

Believe me it's pretty amazing how I kept doing this hobby. It didnt dissapear like many of the other hobbies. And as you might have noticed on this forum, I have a very hard time letting go of the rabit hole. But, believe me... I have it pretty good under control (GAS).
 
Stone said:
GAS is real, its an Affliction if you ask me Fortunately my GAS is somewhat curbed Ill GAS for something I want or need but it won't be on a "Ill get it no matter what" Other priorities take precedence, and on the other hand its something I enjoy and I dont go to Movies, Restaurants or bars
so why not spoil myself
Click to expand...

Well, speaking as someone that has owned all the FAS devices: I can at least tell you that the FM9 you already own is the sweet spot 🙂
 
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Interested Saturday Night Live GIF by HULU
 
jellodog said:
I've often wondered if playing the guitar is slightly more resistant to being mentally distracted because it's a physical act and sensation?
Click to expand...

I am a expert on this subject ;-)

Not slightly. I can get into hyper focus mode.. play for hours. But hyper focus also has it's negative effects. See the 10.000 questions I NEED to ask in the Helix thread. Fully knowing..i might be really annoying to some.

I can look at one of my hobbies 20 years ago. Mountain-biking. That seemed like a good hobby for me. I could not speak about ANYTHING else with family and friends. Read an watched evetythging about it. Downhill mountainbike matches.. etc.. I NEEDED the most expensive mountainbike I could possibly afford because..well. I NEEDED IT!! .. And yesterday. Not tomorrow.. or over a month. .. Around 4-5 months later the hobby was over.

With guitar.. I NEED a better guitar than what I have now. I have a Player Stratocaster.. But that custom shop.. its a NEED!! ..
And I NEED that Deluxe Reverb... or any tube amp.. to avoid all the tweaking in the Helix.

I NEED to tweak that amp in Helix to the utmost perfection and I NEED to understand everything about amps, etc .. so I get sucked in immensily.

Thankfully I am a lot older now, and a bit wiser.. I know the need is not really a need.. but I am pretty sure getting that custom is more a matter of time for I get one.
 
mercifulfuzziness said:
I NEED to tweak that amp in Helix to the utmost perfection and I NEED to understand everything about amps, etc .. so I get sucked in immensily.
Click to expand...

Oh man, tell me about it! That's also why @the swede had to stop using his HX Stomp IIRC.

mercifulfuzziness said:
Some days getting myself to do anything starts with 2 hours of talking down to myself and essentially beating myself into submission.
Click to expand...

I can do that too - when I can get into Hyper Focus, I can work for hours without food or break. It's hard to get there though.
 
jellodog said:
Oh man, tell me about it! That's also why @the swede had to stop using his HX Stomp IIRC.

I can do that too - when I can get into Hyper Focus, I can work for hours without food or break. It's hard to get there though.
Click to expand...

Yep, when my wife and I are on holiday in our own country, I take the guitar with me. Sometimes it feels like 20 minutes.. but it has been all evening. Yes, flow state.. etc. But with ADHD this gets really extreme.

I now am forcing myself with Helix to get it down to one amp and that's it. It's either that..or tweaking infinitely.
 
This also leads to chasing things that really don't matter at this point.

So I am learning 'Cant stop' from RHCP, focusing on the intro. But also playing some John Mayer. So my beautiful ADHD mind now believes that I should really dial in that Marshall.. just to practice that song.. hop onto youtube... End up watching tons of videos about Marshall amps... etc etc

It can be really rough to just keep holding back (pushing that break pedal) :) On the other hand, I can really enjoy my frustrating in those rabit holes too ha
 
JiveTurkey said:
The Helix stuff tricks you because it's dead simple to use. Which allows you to hyper focus on the sounds. Which for me are never anywhere near as simple to get right :nails
Click to expand...

Not sure if it's an ADHD thing, I mean.. ADHD is so nuanced on the spectrum, but to tell me "just tweak to YOU like it" is really frustrating.. while I really understand what they mean with it and how kind it is to say.

a 73 hz low cut on a cab.. with a mic placement.. can lead to really sickening rabit holes... WITHOUT any real knowledge about it!
 
From listening to the video and reading some of the posts here, I hear some things that sound a bit familiar. I don't think I have ADHD but some of these things resonate with me. I have had a number of hobbies though my life. When I have started something new I go all in. I don't usually start with beginning gear. I feel the need to have good quality stuff. This has been consistent though my life. It actually seems to run in my family. My youngest brother is just like me in this respect, maybe worse. The middle brother does it but at a lesser degree. As I have gotten older, I am getting away from that a bit. Although in all fairness, I haven't started any new hobbies in a long time so maybe it is still there. If I buy anything for any of my current hobbies, it has to still be good stuff. I have been able to talk myself out of buying some things in the last decade though. I try to think about things I already have that are just as good but not exactly the same. If I can hold myself back for a few days the "need" subsides and eventually turns into a curiosity then fades away.
 
DrewJD82 said:
I need to watch this in its entirety. I’ve never been diagnosed but all the symptoms are there, quite prominently and they seem to be getting worse as time goes on. Some days getting myself to do anything starts with 2 hours of talking down to myself and essentially beating myself into submission.

My dad has been diagnosed with it and it’s part of his hoarding issue. He lives on a meager fixed income but if he gets the bug to buy something there’s absolutely no stopping it, even if he’s down to his last $20. He’s on a low dose of ritalin but apparently he can never get the script filled. He’s going to give me a couple of his synths, namely his older Kurzweil stuff (a K2000 synth and a K2600 rack unit) but my MIDI keyboard is USB only, so yesterday he calls me telling me he can get this other old 90’s synth AND a MIDI keyboard for such and such price, basically shoehorning in a reason for him to get this JV-880 synth that’ll collect dust like the rest of them.

Despite telling him not to buy it for about 30 mins, I guarantee he’ll call me later this week telling me it showed up.

The unfortunate thing is that being diagnosed seemed to give him a free pass because when you call him on it, “I’m certified, I have a problem, I can’t help it”, there’s not even a tiny bit of effort to NOT do it. It’s rather frustrating while I also fear myself going down that same path.
Click to expand...

ADHD is a disability. You would not tell a paralized person "yeah we get it, but today.. you should just really try to walk".

However, there are way to manage it, because i've seen it for myself. I no longer take medication but the only way to finish university was with medication. Meditation, eating healthy foods, exercise.. all really help. And the difference with a disability like being paralyzed, is that with ADHD it seems you have good times and bad times and anything in between.

At the moment I am handling it well. My struggle now is about fighting the urge to become a habitual Helix tweaker. Well, lets just say thats a lot better than the marihuana addiction I had early 20s.
 
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