This is how you treat ADHD based off science, Dr Russell Barkley part of 2012 Burnett Lecture
Adhd Videos10 HN recommenders · recommended in 9 months, 2015–2025
lecture · general · evergreen · 2015–2025 on HN
A short excerpt from Dr Russell Barkley's 2012 Burnett Lecture on ADHD, focused on treatment. He argues ADHD is a disorder of executive function and self-regulation, and that environments should be designed to compensate.
HN people with ADHD or ADHD-affected relatives share it as an authoritative, practical talk that helped some seek diagnosis.
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12 comments from Hacker News
As a 33 year old who was just diagnosed with ADHD, a few minutes into reading this I knew exactly where it was going. For me, it was when I watched Dr. Russell Barkley's talk[1] and halfway through, it brought me to tears. No one before then had described exactly the way I felt on a daily basis. Since going through a full day of neuropsychological testing and being diagnosed with ADHD-I and starting medication, I feel like the me I think I am, naturally curious, optimistic, and actually following through with the things that interest me. Planning and grad school assignments just click so effortlessly now, and my stress is way down, as I am completing things in a timely manner and not fighting myself at every step of the way. If any of this resonates with you, please talk with a psychiatrist to see if this is something you're unknowingly (and unnecessarily) struggling with. Also,if you're like me and like listening to audio books at 2 or 3x speed, check out Speechify, it allows you to listen to any kind of text including rough scans of books/PDFs. It's been incredibly helpful for required readings in classes. edit: wrong video url [1] ▶ this video
Lists, logs, writing, post-its, Todo lists etcetcetc. I tend to forget stuff even while I'm doing it, so it helps a million if what I'm doing is written on a Post-It right in front of me. Also, to keep track of tasks, problems, todos etc, I have a huge text file that is bound to the ctrl-` keybinding (autohotkey script opens a file in sublime text). I think the most important thing is to externalize your mind into your environment, you might forget, but your table or text files won't. Also, make sure to watch Russel Barkley. This man is literally ADHD Jesus. ▶ this video
Medicate and try not to stop. Don’t avoid it, it’s life changing and the most effective intervention by far. None of the other stuff is nearly as effective. It is very likely turn their life around. As someone who was not medicated in his teenage years (Briefly in childhood and now all through adult hood. But was nissing all through school and it sucked). It’s a real life changer. Look up Russ Barkley on YouTube. He’s a very well known and respected ADHD researcher and clinician that has some very engaging and informative videos. Here’s a taster: ▶ this video
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" ▶ this video Edit: here's a newer one by the same speaker "ADHD as Motivation Deficit Disorder" link
Does this all feel familiar? ▶ this video I don’t know if it’s always this way, but I create emergencies and catastrophes because I otherwise have no motivation to do anything. My back has to be against the wall to get me to act. It’s been a lifelong issue, I’ve tried to kill myself several times because of it, and I learned it was ADHD in the last month. 100% of my issues are explained by this. I never would have guessed.
Knowing something or knowing how to use something is not the same as using it. This is a classic struggle between those without ADHD and those with it. People without ADHD think it's just a training issue. It's really not. This is an especially difficult dynamic between non-adhd parents and adhd kids. Ask me how I know. In other words, I know how to use Outlook, and it can help. I know how to use Post-it notes. And it helps a little, but if I don't have a chance to write out a post-it note and put it in a prominent place (with the other 250 prominent post-it notes in a prominent place) it's going to get lost and/or I'm going to forget. This isn't just a "you're just not organized" problem. One of the bigger challenges is categorizing things. As you can see just in this post, my brain started sprawling out to all the issues that confront someone with ADHD and the scope started to spread and I started talking about other things besides your post-it notes idea. This isn't a training issue. Largely, the issue is with impulse control and a dysfunctional intrinsic rewards system. Here's a video with some actual useful advice for ADHD people and their managers: ▶ this video
I have ADHD-I and I'm feeling almost exactly the same way, right up to a falling out with a company I had significant ownership in/was part of the founding team. How are your daily routines? Are you taking breaks and pursuing the things you actually enjoy doing? Have you thought much about the kind of experiences that have brought you the most joy/satisfaction in life (both at work and outside of work)? Maybe watch this video and see if it resonates with you. It's a talk by Dr. Russell Barkley on ADHD and it's what made me finally schedule a full analysis (after literally decades of putting it off). ▶ this video If you'd like to talk I'm here to listen.
> Some people argue that what we're today are calling ADHD should be referred to as emotional impulsiveness. The argument is that lack of emotional control causes all kinds of symptoms ... While that's certainly a major component, I believe sensory stimulation also plays a role. Certain video games for example tend to yield considerably higher dopamine rewards in part due to their elevated degree of stimuli relative to other, less stimulating activities. It's why I can play certain games to a world-class level, and then by the same token attempt to read technical literature but find myself re-reading the same sentence a dozen times over. On that front, I've found that if I really attempt to immerse myself in a topic in every way I can, while simultaneously convincing myself on the emotional front that learning whatever I'm attempting to learn will be fantastic-it tends to result in better attention. It's as if my mind has a minimum RPM requirement to operate, and the primary challenge is just achieving a minimum speed that gets the blades moving. > I highly recommend looking it up, you should be able to find some of his talks on YouTube. Just watched a (partial?) talk of his, thank you. It was quite informative.[0] He mentioned a steady stream of fast-metabolized glucose [to the frontal lobe] helping tremendously. That's in weird contrast to my experience, as I tend to avoid virtually all refined sugars. In fact, I also fast for 16 hours every day, finding that my mental clar
I thought you might appreciate this clip from a lecture by Dr. Russell Barkley which explains how to use the environment to compensate for ADHD (externalize everything - time, to-do's, motivation, rewards, feedback) and how to keep your willpower reserves high (frequent breaks, positive self-talk and positive mental pictures, meditation and exercise). ▶ this video
According to Russel Barkley (well known and central figure in the ADHD scientific community), you should definitely take short breaks every so many minutes. He recommends 3 mins for every 10 minutes of work, but that's for children. I think you'd want be interested in watching this video ▶ this video Definitely check out his other work as well, listening to his talks is like reading my own diary... except translated to scientific language
Praise? :/ Just diagnosed as an adult partially due to parents not "believing in it," refused testing then and I was blind to it until now. Currently friendless, jobless, broke, homeless and a bazillion unfinished projects not exactly the picture of praiseworthy. ADHD is a misnomer, it's an executive function disorder, but the name will never change because it's embedded in disability laws. Medicating for emotional regulation, continuity of thought, completing tasks and not coming-off as weird are lifesaving... don't avoid medication out of some antivaxx nonsense. Worth watching: - ADHD Child vs. Non-ADHD Child Interview link - How To Know If You Have ADHD link - This is how you treat ADHD based off science, Dr Russell Barkley part of 2012 Burnett Lecture ▶ this video - Dr Russell Barkley on ADHD Meds and how they all work differently from each other link - The Neuroanatomy of ADHD and thus how to treat ADHD - CADDAC - Dr Russel Barkley part 1c link
This 13 min video [1] also by Dr Russell Barkley is something of a summery, but the longer one is absolutely worth watching. 1: ▶ this video