Scattered Minds
ADHD urgency explains my tuning out. Finally science on why I vanish mid-task.
psychologyPeople with ADD are hypersensitive. That is not a fault or a weakness of theirs, it is how they were born. It is their inborn temperament. That, primarily, is what is hereditary about ADD. Genetic inheritance by itself cannot account for the presence of ADD features in people, but heredity can make it far more likely that these features will emerge in a given individual, depending on circumstances. It is sensitivity, not a disorder, that is transmitted through heredity. In most cases, ADD is caused by the impact of the environment on particularly sensitive infants.
AQ's take: Hypersensitive since Karachi kid days. Born this way, no excuses.
Aug 24, 2025It may be said that no two children have exactly the same parents, in that the parenting they each receive may vary in highly significant ways.
AQ's take: Parents shaped my wiring differently. Explains sibling differences.
Aug 20, 2025ADD is not a problem of knowing what to do; it is a problem of doing what you know. — RUSSELL A. BARKLEY, PH.D., “Improved Delayed Responding”
AQ's take: Exactly. Know the plan, ignore it anyway. ADHD rebellion.
Aug 16, 2025A sense of urgency typifies attention deficit disorder, a desperation to have immediately whatever it is that one may desire at the moment, be it an object, an activity or a relationship.
AQ's take: That's my impulse shopping black hole. ADHD urgency wrecked my bank account.
Aug 15, 2025The hallmark of ADD is an automatic, unwilled “tuning-out,” a frustrating nonpresence of mind. A person suddenly finds that he has heard nothing of what he has been listening to, saw nothing of what he was looking at, remembers nothing of what he was trying to concentrate on.
AQ's take: Spot on. I zone out mid-meeting, then panic-scramble notes later.
Aug 15, 2025Completely lacking in the ADD mind is a template for order, a mental model of how order comes about.
AQ's take: No wonder my desk's chaos central. Missing that order blueprint hurts.
Aug 15, 2025What can be immobilizingly difficult is to arouse the brain’s motivational apparatus in the absence of personal interest.
AQ's take: Hits home. Can't start boring tasks without bribes or deadlines.
Aug 15, 2025The second nearly ubiquitous characteristic of ADD is impulsiveness of word or deed, with poorly controlled emotional reactivity.
AQ's take: My mouth runs ahead of brain in arguments. Emotional reactor mode.
Aug 15, 2025The restlessness coexists with long periods of procrastination. The threat of failure or the promise of reward has to be immediate for the motivation apparatus to be turned on.
AQ's take: Procrastination king here. Only deadlines light my ass on fire.
Aug 15, 2025On the other hand, when there is something one wants, neither patience nor procrastination exist. One has to do it, get it, have it, experience it, immediately.
AQ's take: True. Hyperfocus hits when I care, patience vanishes otherwise.
Aug 15, 2025The common theme on all days, good or bad, is a gnawing sense of having missed out on something important in life.
AQ's take: Daily regret vibe. Always chasing what I missed.
Aug 15, 2025