Comment by bluecalm | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bluecalm | Hacker News Reader

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Hi, I can relate to your situation, I feel like you are describing my life. My experience is this: all the psychological/organizing tips won't help. Problems is somewhere else. It's not about being lazy, not about being afraid of failure, needing latest organizing spreadsheet or anything like that. It's about brain chemistry and people around just don't get it as they try to understand your behavior assuming their state of mind. Books like "The Now Habit" address different problem entirely. I think I've read like hundred of "organizing", "anti procrastiation" etc. books. I see them as worthless when it comes to problems you describe. What they give you is very short lived kick and then a lot of frustration. What helped me is diet, supplements and drugs. I haven't tried adderall but I tried modafinil. It is life changer for me along with very low-carb diet which keeps my energy high during the day. I realize it's very anecdotical but I tried everything under the sun and after ~15 years (I am 30) of misery I finally feel better these days after implementing above mentioned changes. I feel like I lost the best years of my life trying to follow advice of people who just don't get it. Doctors who will do everything to avoid prescribing druga (it's not US). Authors who put well sounding boilerplate advice into the newest self-help book and people around who just assumed laziness. Now I have organized desk first time in 15 years, I keep my apartment clean first time since I live alone (~8 years or even longer counting living with roommates). I paid all the bills on time first time in a decade (it even happened before that they cut my electricity off because i just forgot/didn't want to do it despite having a lot of money available). I have my clothes arranged and shelves organized. I didn't do ANYTHING like described in NOW habit. I didn't implement ANY strategy to do this. I've just changed my diet and noticed I don't need to sleep during the day anymore and don't crash in the evening. I took the tablets and suddently I felt like just dealing with all the mess in my life so I did it.

Honestly I think this is the most spot-on answer. While I can try to adopt these new habits, they will only work in situations where I try them. What about with relationships? I got adderrall to deal with school, but I've since nicknamed it my "being social" drug, because the effects are so far reaching beyond just schoolwork or motivating myself. It turned my life around, and I've since been convinced my issue is chemical and beyond my control. It magically fixed everything, even things I wasn't expecting. I will investigate this further.

I can relate to all of this as well. Like the above person, I find myself lacking motivation to complete the most basic of tasks. I'm often motivated more by fear of embarrassment or failure, which causes things to pile up and lead to stress in my life. A while back I was on Lexapro for my social anxiety and that seemed to help. But I haven't had health insurance for the last few years and therefore haven't been to a doctor.

With that said, in your experience, what is the best type of doctor for visit for this kind of thing?

My experience with doctors is very negative. Maybe it's because we are (Poland) somewhat behind 1st world. Most doctors assumed everything is ok because I was doing well when it comes to money (I was lucky to find a profession I was very good at despite disorganized lifestyle and putting not so many hours into it) and treated me like someone who makes stuff up. I tried psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists. I even suspected something might be wrong with hormones so did all the tests/check-ups. No doctor even suggested I might try diet change/drugs/supplements for my problems. From what I read it's different in US and other countries where it's easier to find a doctor who try to help you. It was hopeless undertaking here and I wasted too many years trying (most doctors here don't even believe something like adult ADHD/ADD exists let alont other "made up" problems which according to many "comes from bad upgringing and lack of discipline").

How much modafinil do you take? Where do you get it from?

100mg in the morning although some of my friends take 200mg. 100mg is enough for me to keep me awake/motivated/focused to about 4-5pm; rest of the day is ok as well and I usually sleep very well after that (interestingly I need less hours of sleep having taken modafinil in the morning). Depending on country you can get it from various sources in some (UK for example) you can just order it from India 100% legally. In US it's more of a problem but people still get it. Try reddit/r/nootropics for a start (and recommended places to get it). I also like /r/ADHD for community/support. Please consider what I wrote as personal very subjective testimonal and in no way an advice, let alone medical. If you decide to take any drugs please at least read about possible negative effects/precautions you should take.

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