[wordswords]

h4nnib4l, on 10 October 2012 - 08:05 PM, said:

I still think my old senior drill instructor could remove your need for ADHD pills.

I think it's weird that you've had a drill instructor. I certainly haven't had any ADHD pills..

[h4nnib4l]

I believe you chaps refer to them as drill sergeants, as does our army.

Wait. So the person who has accused some of us of espousing "half-baked opinions" is, in fact, also only sharing opinion (since this seems to be a topic with which you don't have intimate familiarity)...

[wordswords]

I think it's probably going to be a bit controversial amongst the Caffeine Lounge people, who by and large seem American and quite pro-military, but someone who not only had a drill sergeant, but who is *recommending* military discipline as a solution to a mental health diagnosis.. well. That is completely weird to me.

I have quite a lot of knowledge about mental health, and feel strongly on the matter. I have volunteered for mental health charities, and I regularly donate to one of them. I'm supposed to standing for election on the disability lobbying group at the BBC, where I work.

I have friends with ADD and ADHD diagnosed, one who is in the US actually, and I can see how much Ritalin has helped him. I more or less taught him programming actually, and the quality of his code after he was able to concentrate is a lot higher than when he was starting out and couldn't focus. He absolutely loves programming, he just couldn't take it all in. He was prescribed Ritalin as an adult.

My other friend has loads of problems, ADHD being one of them, and I think it would be very insulting to the efforts he goes through every day when he struggles with his disability, to suggest that if he was taught 'military discipline' then his problems would all go away.

This post has been edited by wordswords: 10 October 2012 - 01:34 PM

[modi123_1]

I do not think there is a complete dismissal of ADD or ADHD but the continual explanation that it *IS* over diagnosed and those inappropriately diagnosed would do better with some structure and discipline versus pill popping.

[WolfCoder]

Quote

..to suggest that if he was taught 'military discipline' then his problems would all go away.

[h4nnib4l]

I never had a drill sergeant. I thought I made that clear when I used the term drill instructor. And I don't know why you continue to refuse to acknowledge that I continue to recognize that there is a severe end of the scale (just like there is with everything else). Oh wait, I do, because it's easier to disagree with me if you pretend like I'm making a blanket statement.

And I think it's weird that you keep saying "had a drill instructor/sergeant" rather than "was in the military." So there.

Quote

I have quite a lot of knowledge about mental health, and feel strongly on the matter. I have volunteered for mental health charities, and I regularly donate to one of them. I'm supposed to standing for election on the disability lobbying group at the BBC, where I work.

I certainly didn't mean to downplay your expertise... feeling strongly on a topic is important.

This post has been edited by h4nnib4l: 10 October 2012 - 01:50 PM

[wordswords]

h4nnib4l, on 10 October 2012 - 08:43 PM, said:

I never had a drill sergeant. I thought I made that clear when I used the term drill instructor. And I don't know why you continue to refuse to acknowledge that I continue to recognize that there is a severe end of the scale (just like there is with everything else). Oh wait, I do, because it's easier to disagree with me if you pretend like I'm making a blanket statement.

And I think it's weird that you keep saying "had a drill instructor/sergeant" rather than "was in the military." So there.

I don't really know the military jargon here, so if you were in the military then I'm glad it worked for you.

I can agree with the argument that there is frequent misdiagnosis of ADD/ADHD in the US. As long as you understand that it is not a 'fake' condition that you can drill out of all kids, and that some people do need medication to help them, then we're all good.

[jon.kiparsky]

I think we've managed to agree that some (but not all) diagnoses of ADD reflect an actual underlying condition and some (but not all) reflect a desire to medicate for reasons other than medical ones.

And I think that's as close as we're going to get.

[creativecoding]

So... back on topic.

I find repetitive music to be great for programming. It sorta puts me in a trance or in "the zone". As soon as a song that I don't like comes on, I get yanked outta the zone and I just feel like I wasted a whole lotta potential because of that stupid song.

[Choscura]

Actually, that's a pretty good point... I play single songs on repeat, or sounds from nature (eg, running water in a river, water dropping in a cave, ocean waves) to have predictable noise that I can ignore that still drowns out everything else.

[Bort]

wordswords, on 10 October 2012 - 08:57 PM, said:

I think the healthcare system is a bit different in the US. Here in the UK, (although there are some exceptions), you wouldn't get a prescription from a doctor unless there was a really good reason, because we have a public health service. In fact it is more likely that a doctor would refuse to give you something like Ritalin, because it costs the NHS a lot to subsidise the prescription, completely aside from the risk of addiction and side effects. Doctors here often are told not to prescribe expensive drugs when there is a cheaper alternative, to save money.

I was once prescribed sleeping tablets on the NHS because I made a joke at the doctors about not sleeping because the cats kept me awake.

[marty617]

All big projects are just a bunch of little projects and half the time you wrote the code already if you could just find it. If not it'll be better the next time.

[bingy]

one word Hustler!