this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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So is there a reasonable chance Erdos had ADHD?
It is without a doubt imo
Do ADHD meds enhance creativity too? I thought it was just focus.
They don't enhance creativity but when you take them, instead of sitting there thinking/stressing about how you are gonna do your creative endeavor, you just do it. It allows you to act on you creative urges and allows you to formulate them into full concepts rather than jumping from one idea to the next.
Imagine you want to write a paper, you have this idea you desperately need to write down, not just to share it with others but also to help yourself fully understand the idea you have but instead of writing this personally important paper you instead sit there and stress about the action of writing for so long that you lose energy and motivation despite never writing a single word. For so long that you lose sight of that original glorious idea and if you eventually write that paper it feels like an utter dissapointment. It took so much damn energy just to think about and when its finally done its shit. Its not even close to what you had in your head and now you don't even want to improve it bc the whole process was exhausting.
ADHD meds get reduce the severity of that original issue, that executive dysfunction. So no it won't make you more creative but it will stop you from stressing so much about the process that you forget the creative part.
Is this an exaggeration? I ask because I don't know if I might have the wrong medication or dosage. Perhaps with late diagnoses, you not only need to combat the underlying causes that ADHD medication helps with, but also thought patterns and defensive coping mechanisms that are challenging to get rid of, as they are a result of undiagnosed ADHD?
It was hyperbole, I will ammend that in my original comment.
Regardless this is absolutely true. I had the luxury of being diagnosed very young and being medicated when I became a teen but I still have problems with my ADHD all the time, even when medicated. It doesn't remove the executive dysfuntion entirely, it doesn't make you function like a neurotypical, but it does help. I often take my meds and still get fucking nothing done and still sit around thinking about everything I should be doing. It is certainly far less common when I take my meds and far easier to overcome though.
This advice is unsolicited and may not apply to you specifically but I am throwing it out there incase someone it does apply to happens to see it. I have personally found that managing my ADHD symptoms has revolved around a balancing act of sleep, diet, and meds. I have tried focalin, adderall, concerta, and vyvanse in a range of dosages. Some worked really well at helping me function but fucked my diet or sleep, some didn't help at all until the doses were high enough to be physically uncomfortable, and there has not been a single one where I had a healthy diet, sleep schedule, and work routine. While this is possible while medicated I was unable to accomplish it and these forms of self care live forever in flux dependent on my meds.
So I say this with plenty of experience and passion. YOUR SLEEP AND DIET ARE MORE IMPORTANT! Obviously focusing entirely on these aspects of self care is not possible for everyone as work is an integral part of our lives but take care of them within your means even if it requires not taking your meds some days or forcing food down a throat that is repulsed by it. Sleep meds even, if necessary.
I fully recommend trying out higher doses if your meds are not helping you enough. ADHD interferes with personal life as much as it does work life so upping your meds could drastically improve your quality of life if you are on too low of a dose rn. Just pay close attention to your sleep and eating patterns. Making good grades or getting that promotion isn't usually worth the sleepless nights in my experience.
Best of luck friend o7
You won't be able to use your creativity on a subject that requires focus to reach. Like trying to find a new juggling pattern.
Reading about the guy, I'm convinced he was autistic too. "Diagnosing" historical people is always a bit sus, but I believe this because I know so many autistic nerds in academia who are so much like Erdős. More than that though, I see the ableism in how his narrative is framed. Take for example the following passage from Wikipedia
That quote isn't one of the bad ones, but other stories about the same thing often frame him turning up at his colleagues' homes almost like charity, and they emphasised how he had basically never lived independently and struggled with many essential daily living tasks. Except the charitable vibes are diminished by how this is often framed like a trade — housing the genius man-child is an inconvenience and a stress, but ultimately worth it for the ability to bask in his genius and collaborate. It can reduce Erdős down to a 2D character, and adds a weirdly transactional vibe to what is better understood as a community, separated by geography but united by love of maths, supporting each other.
Maybe it's because I've known people like Erdős — weird people who you remember forever because if anyone deserves the label "genius", they do — but also, they're just people who have some things they struggle with, and plenty of stuff that they can do, but prefer not to. Hell, I even have one of them crashing on my floor right now, while he's between homes.