Stats for nerds
13recommend
27mentions
25people
2010–2026years
48% recommend44% neutral7% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Russel Barkley has some great books. I also like Ned Hallowel. They present a fairly sane, clear, practical perspective on what ADHD is and what living with it is like.
Stimulants do tend to work differently on people with ADHD than on the general population. It's mostly due to executive dysfunction which is largely exacerbated by poor regulation of dopamine/norepinephrine signaling. When you add stimulants, the signal to noise ratio improves and the dopamine baseline looks more typical. This is a great help in getting a brain to act on intentions.
In a typical person, these pathways are working well enough already. Add stimulants and the dopamine baseline is simply raised, more than it should be, which is problematic. What goes up must come down, and low dopamine feels bad. It's also a high risk place to be if you feel like the stimulant will fix it (and it will, temporarily). That's where addiction comes in.
Stimulants do effect everyone differently though. They don't help some people with ADHD. There's no single universal solution.
- Russel Barkley's ADHD book & YouTube channel is pretty good.
- I am 11 years sober now. I used to self medicate with alcohol and drugs. It worked but it also stunted me in ways that I am only now reckoning with. There are a ton of options out there for you to try these days. I'd recommend discussing with a medical professional and see what your options are. :)
Regardless, if you are struggling with ADHD, I would recommend going on youtube and looking at videos by a guy named Russell Barkley. He's got a bunch and wow did I feel seen after watching a few of them.
- I strongly disagree and think you should consider watching the following:
ADHD: Essential Ideas for Parents - Dr. Russell Barkley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSfCdBBqNXY
- Dr. Gabor Mate¹ should be taken with large grains of salt when it comes to ADHD and related conditions. There is a lack of published research or dedicated expertise on the matter; Dr. Russell Barkley, a leading ADHD expert and researcher², has a good video on the subject³.
¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabor_Mat%C3%A9
- Great video I came across that expresses similar ideas about it being executive function that's the challenge, not attention.
"This is how you treat ADHD based off science, Dr Russell Barkley part of 2012 Burnett Lecture" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tpB-B8BXk0
Edit: here's a newer one by the same speaker "ADHD as Motivation Deficit Disorder" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3RJU6838c
