this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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ADHD

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

That wouldn't surprise me. I have always been a night owl and maybe slightly non-24. I can get up early, but a single late night will destroy my schedule as my body reverts to that and takes days or weeks to recover.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I appreciate you keeping content flowing in this community! That said, this study is from 2012, so the conclusions may be somewhat out of date.

I realize that I was complaining without offering anything useful. Here is a more recent article that addresses a similar topic:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11656626/?hl=en-US

[–] Reverendender 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This is pretty long. I’m definitely gonna come back to it very soon though

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No I won't. I'll mean to. But I won't.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'll add it to my mountain of saved links to never be seen again.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

As someone with adhd reading this at 4 in the morning because he can't go back to sleep, i find this information personally assaulting

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Plural of anecdote isn’t anecdata, but I have both ADHD & impaired sleep.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Plural of anecdote isn’t anecdata

I love this. Thank you.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You shouldn't love this. It is a statement informed by a misunderstanding of epistemology and the philosophy of science.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Can you explain what you mean? Because I think we’re reading a very different meaning into it.

I read it as clever wordplay to acknowledge that one’s anecdote is not the same as data (by putting “data” in place of “dote” in ‘anecdote’ due to the similar sound). Considering that “argument from anecdote” is literally considered a type of fallacy, highlighting that one’s own experience is not scientifically rigorous enough to be considered data seems to be in alignment with general thinking on the matter.

Then again I’ve just learned that in 2020 the OED actually published “anecdata” literally as a facetious/disparaging plural of “anecdote,” so perhaps that’s why you take issue with the quote?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Can you explain what's wrong with it?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

Same. Chronic insomnia since I was 20. Diagnosed ADHD in my late 40s.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Anecdotes are sources of data. The compilation of multiple anecdotes can lead to hypotheses, which are then tested. If you get enough anecdotes, they can become a compelling form of data. The validity of the data is then dependent on the suitability of the anecdote in relation to the subject matter and the opportunities for triangulation. People who make statements like this do not understand how data works.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Is this correlation and causation tho?

Like, a lot of people with ADHD take stimulant medication.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Why is it so hard to get into peoples heads that one of the most common symptoms of ADHD is abnormal reaction to stimulants?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

I remember when I used to pull all-nighters, I came to think of caffeine as a trap. If I was on 18+hrs of no sleep, 1 energy drink and I'd be passe out in 10 minutes.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The thing that convinced me my ADHD diagnosis was correct was taking my prescription stimulant and then taking a nap. See also coffee: I've found no correlation between my last cup of the day and when I get to sleep. I'm also incapable of drinking enough coffee to make me jittery, not even when my office had an all-you-can-drink Keurig stand.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I achieved jittery once somewhere between the second and third full coffee cup (the medium size paper to go cups from a coffee shop, not glassware cups) of straight espresso 😅

Edit: for the record, DO NOT RECOMMEND!! I could hear my heartbeat loudly for like an hour, and uncomfortably fast for a couple hours after that. The worst part was an absolutely boring day at work with nothing to do.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

A common misnomer about adhd brains is that they're wired, but really they're actually super tired brains, trying desperately to wake themselves up by flooding adrenalin and cortisol in place of desperately and dangerously low dopamine, (which is actually the petrol that gets you around, not just a carrot at the end of the ride). So when a super tired brain that's overly flooded with adrenalin, gets enough stimulus to produce enough dopamine, it let's go of the adrenaline, mops it all up and can finally rest. Think of those nights you tried to stay awake with teenage friends and caffeinated yourself silly and everyone got all loud and weird. That, but all the time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

"What do you mean you just were awake for 22 hours and haven't had Ballz, Red Bull or a fucking coffee?"

Because my brain is already running a marathon lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Lol, I just left another comment saying how when I pulled all-nighters back in school, energy drinks in particular were a trap that would knock me the fuck out if I'd had no sleep.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, but I can sleep on stimulant medication. That's what's so weird with the ADHD brain and stimulants. It turns off my spiderweb brain.

But the reality of it is I can't seem to choose when I sleep. I've been doin ok lately tho

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

That moment the meds are kicking in and the wave of calm arrives and takes over for a moment. The beautiful silence of just being. So called stimulants make me zen like a meditating monk at optimal dosage.

Sometimes I take a small dosage to fall asleep when I feel my brain is spinning in pointless circulating understimulated overdrive, it's not only keeping me balanced during the day, but also sometimes helps me fall asleep at night.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

I’m on a non-stimulant though, and I’ve been having sleep problems since before I was diagnosed and started medication.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I read a study that says people with sleep disorders are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and vise versa. Not just insomnia either. Narcolepsy, Insomnia, Restless Leg Syndrome, Sleep Apnea…all of em.

Suggests they are tied together. My doctor says one can cause the other so it comes down to the chicken or the egg when diagnosing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

That tracks with the increase of ADHD symptoms I've noticed as my insomnia has gotten worse

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Friendly PSA to try raising the head of your bed if you have any kind of sleep issues. Literally just stick a couch cushion or some old clothes under the head of the mattress to raise it a little. It costs nothing to try

If you have mild sleep apnea or acid reflux this can work wonders for you

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Just found out last year (at 38) that I likely have undiagnosed narcolepsy. Explains a lot.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

I am in this picture and I do not like it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Are we sure we're not conflating cause with effect here?