Quote:
Originally Posted by gnat
I have attended seminars on ADD/ADHD and one thing they recommended was to listen to music (with no lyrics) while you're reading to help you stay focused. Some people can handle lyrics, but others get too caught up in them. Myself I have never been diagnosed, but I am certain I have ADD. I listen to music at work and it provides enough of a distraction to help me stay focused. If I'm having an unusually difficult time I will switch to something with no lyrics. It really helps me a lot. If my MP3 player died (I bring a back up and back up head phones) I might as well call in worthless.
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I've tried this actually. I'm a bit of a classic rock aficionado so I knew I couldn't listen to rock because of the lyrics. I switched to classical, which I really hadn't listened to much. At first it worked, then I started hearing the patterns in the music and imagining the intent of the composer.
Then I made the mistake of watching a musical history class, which gave me new things to listen to but pretty much ruined it as a way of concentrating, if it ever was.
If I'm doing an assignment, the music does help keep me on task, but with reading, my mind gravitates toward whatever is on. Just as a point of reference, if I'm reading a novel, I stop noticing the words at some point and it becomes like a movie in my head. So reading something technical without amphetamine, I get the same effect, only the images in my head have nothing to do with my reading. Adderall helped, and also kept me awake, but the l-amphetamine made me jittery. d-amphetamine alone didn't help keep me awake as much, but didn't make me jittery.
My old p-doc is two hours south, so I'd need to find a new one, though I suppose I could start with him for a month to reestablish history while I search for one. I'd rather not go back to him, though. He didn't like to discuss anything going on. He'd talk to me for a few minutes and write scripts for amphetamines or antidepressants. When I mentioned something about this, he gave me the name a psychologist he works with. I did actually go to a p-doc before him who was also a board certified neuro. I thought it would be a good combination, and he did talk about things going on; but he came to the conclusion my 8/10 pain was psychosomatic (I've sense been dx'd with Stiff Person Syndrome).
The reason I wanted to keep it with either my internist (who won't prescribe, though he did say to come back if my sleep doc didn't do anything and he'd think about it or give me a referal) or my sleep doc (have an appt after Christmas), is I need to report any psychiatric visits to my employer. They know about my psychiatric history so I doubt they'd reopen my background investigation or come to any different conclusion if they did, but I'd rather avoid the potential hassle.