I feel like the ADHD community is embracing a whole raft of symptoms that I thought were more bipolar ii related because this sure sounds a lot like me during one of my hypomanic phases. i’m not sure where the nuanced distinctions are… maybe it comes down to whether you also spend thousands of dollars on gear to support said project and/or just decide sleep is optional while you’re tackling it? or crash into a depressive phase triggered by frustration when you inevitably fail and abandon it? IDK
ADHD, by itself, does not have manic episodes. There’s a lot of supporting documentation to that effect.
Mania is often caused by having too much dopamine. ADHDers don’t have enough dopamine ever, unless with medication, or with hyperfocus.
So the similarity you’re seeing is only in that people with ADHD will negotiate, move things around, eat only ramen for a month in order to buy things related to the new hyperfocus. Pursuing the hyperfocus gives us dopamine, so we will do lots to justify getting that, since we don’t have any. People with bipolar can have manic episodes which can be caused by an abundance of dopamine, which leads them to doing things they shouldn’t, because they can’t control themselves.
I can’t speak for others, but all of the blockhead decisions I’ve ever made while hyperfocusing and buying too many supplies, I’ve absolutely known I shouldn’t, and why I shouldn’t, but I’m trying to get my fix so I’m going to buy that lockpicking kit, thankyouverymuch, and if I have to eat ramen for a week to do it, I will!
(Pro tip I got from someone else online. If the hyperfocus gets you bad, spend lots and lots of extra time shopping for, researching, and making damn sure the thing you want to buy is the perfect one for your hyperfocus. I’ve been able to buy myself a couple of weeks this way, which allowed me to save up. I treat hyperfocus like unexpected car maintenance problems nowadays.)
Well the hyperfocus does as it wills… but sometimes you can get a hyperfocus in something you can improve on! Most of us do that, actually. In all my life, and I’m almost 40, I’ve only had one hyperfocus that I absolutely can’t do. I still try every so often.
And having a lot of projects going at once is about the only way we can focus. I only ever did well in school in classes where my teachers let me either read a book or play with aying cards while they taught. Many of us can only multitask.
Wow thank you. I always thought ADHD was about people having problems focusing by not being able to do so, and other problems like sitting still, that I don’t really feel I have.
Now, I can focus, incredibly well, I guess it’s called hyperfocus :-) Now it has a name, thanks!
Also being called out because I doodle during meetings (among other things) and the idea that some people just can’t not do several things at the same time, well that hit home 100%.
I think I need to think about this a bit, it feels like I finally found out what’s up with me, any advice greatly appreciated.
Nah this is pretty average for ADHD too. Maybe not sinking a fuckload of money (I guess it depends on the person) but hyperfixations are a thing. Get really focused on one thing because it gives you dopamine so you sink more and more time into it until no more dopamine. Suddenly it becomes a chore to do like everything else, you feel betrayed, and end up in a feeling of malaise trying to find your next hit of dopamine.
I’ve never pursued any formal diagnosis and just have the observations of my own mind to go on, but I have a lot of common ADHD symptoms and I do sometimes have the kinds of manic phases you’re describing but not to a debilitating severity. It’s just this state of high energy, usually for me involves creative output, and yeah other previously important goals wind up feeling secondary.
Happy to sacrifice sleep, etc., but I don’t usually make damaging decisions, I’m able to keep my broader priorities in mind at least. Better today than I used to be at that but it never really caused me big problems.
But it feels a lot like a mild version of the comic - my last one was a big, kind of involved Halloween build. Wooden construction that included lights, a fog machine, and a 3’x3’ sheet of plexiglass with a big printed decal. I’ve never designed/built a Halloween decoration in my life, or much that’s very similar. Other times it’s a software project, or something musical. Kinda thing that pulls me outta bed in the middle of the night for no real reason, just (almost annoyingly) stoked. Until it passes.
No idea what that says about ADHD and the broader “symptom creep” you’re describing (imo, accurately).
I feel like the ADHD community is embracing a whole raft of symptoms that I thought were more bipolar ii related because this sure sounds a lot like me during one of my hypomanic phases. i’m not sure where the nuanced distinctions are… maybe it comes down to whether you also spend thousands of dollars on gear to support said project and/or just decide sleep is optional while you’re tackling it? or crash into a depressive phase triggered by frustration when you inevitably fail and abandon it? IDK
Hey I’m someone who can answer this.
ADHD, by itself, does not have manic episodes. There’s a lot of supporting documentation to that effect.
Mania is often caused by having too much dopamine. ADHDers don’t have enough dopamine ever, unless with medication, or with hyperfocus.
So the similarity you’re seeing is only in that people with ADHD will negotiate, move things around, eat only ramen for a month in order to buy things related to the new hyperfocus. Pursuing the hyperfocus gives us dopamine, so we will do lots to justify getting that, since we don’t have any. People with bipolar can have manic episodes which can be caused by an abundance of dopamine, which leads them to doing things they shouldn’t, because they can’t control themselves.
I can’t speak for others, but all of the blockhead decisions I’ve ever made while hyperfocusing and buying too many supplies, I’ve absolutely known I shouldn’t, and why I shouldn’t, but I’m trying to get my fix so I’m going to buy that lockpicking kit, thankyouverymuch, and if I have to eat ramen for a week to do it, I will!
(Pro tip I got from someone else online. If the hyperfocus gets you bad, spend lots and lots of extra time shopping for, researching, and making damn sure the thing you want to buy is the perfect one for your hyperfocus. I’ve been able to buy myself a couple of weeks this way, which allowed me to save up. I treat hyperfocus like unexpected car maintenance problems nowadays.)
What about if I have like 6 projects running all the time that I actually improve on? Even finishing them sometimes.
I’m trying to figure myself out, and your post hit kinda hard 😅
Well the hyperfocus does as it wills… but sometimes you can get a hyperfocus in something you can improve on! Most of us do that, actually. In all my life, and I’m almost 40, I’ve only had one hyperfocus that I absolutely can’t do. I still try every so often.
And having a lot of projects going at once is about the only way we can focus. I only ever did well in school in classes where my teachers let me either read a book or play with aying cards while they taught. Many of us can only multitask.
Wow thank you. I always thought ADHD was about people having problems focusing by not being able to do so, and other problems like sitting still, that I don’t really feel I have.
Now, I can focus, incredibly well, I guess it’s called hyperfocus :-) Now it has a name, thanks!
Also being called out because I doodle during meetings (among other things) and the idea that some people just can’t not do several things at the same time, well that hit home 100%.
I think I need to think about this a bit, it feels like I finally found out what’s up with me, any advice greatly appreciated.
If it helps, when I was a kid, the conventional wisdom was “girls don’t get ADHD.” Which is why I didn’t get diagnosed until I was about 36.
Nowadays, we know better. And we can use that knowledge to do better! Which is why I’m finally in college.
There are many parallels between various mental illnesses.
And also normal state of human being.
Nah this is pretty average for ADHD too. Maybe not sinking a fuckload of money (I guess it depends on the person) but hyperfixations are a thing. Get really focused on one thing because it gives you dopamine so you sink more and more time into it until no more dopamine. Suddenly it becomes a chore to do like everything else, you feel betrayed, and end up in a feeling of malaise trying to find your next hit of dopamine.
I’ve never pursued any formal diagnosis and just have the observations of my own mind to go on, but I have a lot of common ADHD symptoms and I do sometimes have the kinds of manic phases you’re describing but not to a debilitating severity. It’s just this state of high energy, usually for me involves creative output, and yeah other previously important goals wind up feeling secondary.
Happy to sacrifice sleep, etc., but I don’t usually make damaging decisions, I’m able to keep my broader priorities in mind at least. Better today than I used to be at that but it never really caused me big problems.
But it feels a lot like a mild version of the comic - my last one was a big, kind of involved Halloween build. Wooden construction that included lights, a fog machine, and a 3’x3’ sheet of plexiglass with a big printed decal. I’ve never designed/built a Halloween decoration in my life, or much that’s very similar. Other times it’s a software project, or something musical. Kinda thing that pulls me outta bed in the middle of the night for no real reason, just (almost annoyingly) stoked. Until it passes.
No idea what that says about ADHD and the broader “symptom creep” you’re describing (imo, accurately).