Originally Posted by Mars
If your doctor thinks you should take ritalin, then maybe you should. You are mistaken that high energy sports are like a natural ritalin. They are nothing of the kind.
The hypervigilance of some AD/HD sufferers does allow for extreme concentration in some situations, but everything else you are saying about the tunnel vision of "normal" people is outside of any study I know about.
It is true that many AD/HD folks are attracted to high risk sports. They sometimes think that the AD/HD makes them better at them. On the contrary, they are more accident prone, have worse judgement, and are...well, impulsive. Having a diagnosis of AD/HD will immediately get you disqualified from flying fighter jets in the Navy or Air Force. If the disorder helped in some way in fast, dangerous activities, you would think they would seek out such people.
I'm not trying to be a downer here, or to put down AD/HD people. The problem is that some folks talk up the so-called benefits of AD/HD and then use that as an excuse to not take thier meds. The meds that may make a real positive contribution to their lives.
In my research, I have gathered data on the psychological, cognitive, emotional, and life course of over 250 adult AD/HD sufferers. The average score for the AD/HD group on these hundreds of variables I have measured are never STRONGER than the "normal" population, but many are WEAKER. That is the sad reality. The strengths these people show are in spite of the AD/HD, not because of it...
I don't take meds because I drink coffee instead (Mountain Dew makes my joints ache after about 3 days of straight use-not sure why). I am also not a high level ADD sufferer, more of a middle end. I was dislexic as a child but grew out of that, just as you can grow out of to some point ADD. My hyperness helped me (crazy as this sounds) when I contacted Epstein Bar virus, it enable me to work even though the virus indicator was over 700 while the doctor was screaming for me to go on disability when it hit 500 (I did eventually go on temp disability).
When I use to race cars most people I knew had ADD and the same was true in cycling and the same was true for a friend of mine that raced motorcycles; while and these people may have accidents doing such sports but that was more the nature of the sport...except in the case of Kevin Harvick! But you go back to the old school of NASCAR racing days and there was a lot of bumping and grinding going on that Kevin seems to enjoy now. When I raced cars and bikes I had extreme (hypervigilance) concentration going on which is what most other drivers and racers had; I guess maybe that's why I never had a serious crash in an auto and never in a bike race-or maybe it was just dumb luck. Even from the time I started driving at age 14 (15 1/2 legally) I've only had 3 car accidents (1 major, 2 minor) whereas my wife who does not suffer from ADD has had over 12 (all minor) and we're both now over 50. I've never flown a jet fighter but knew several who did but this conversation never came up and I don't think any had ADD; but they did like the adrenlin rush similar to what ADD suffers like.
But I'm not going to take ritalin because my career is not hindered by the ADD; I even have 3 college degrees so ADD did not effect me in that area either...except all the degrees are in different disciplines because I wanted to learn something different but I don't have masters in anything! I do get bored thus do not have a job where I'm doing the same thing over and over, instead it's something new all the time happening which keeps me interested.
Now I said too much about me so I have to stop.