How to deal with overwhelming ADHD?

[Recursoinominado]

I have this problem that i had to deal all my life and that brought me to the self-help world 4~5 years ago but i just feel i haven't improved as much as i need. Basically "i have" crippling ADHD, i know it isn't helpful to brand myself as it can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy but let's say i have all its symptoms. At first, i dealt with it as an organic problem so i tackled it from all directions, cleaned my diet to the max(mostly vegan raw foods), used all sorts of supplements, nootropics, started meditating, forced me to read a lot in order to develop focus. In fact it all helped me a lot with anxiety in general, depression but my ability to focus for a sustained amount of time is just SHIT, my brain is simply all over the place al the time.

Recently i started to think this can be an emotional problem, a belief, trauma or something like that. I tried to analyze from all angles, what could be the origin of it but it's hard to pinpoint exactly what. Let's say i have a really messed up family, my mother and father have lots of success barriers and traumas(they also "have crippling ADHD") and i have roughly abused all my life. I have deep abandonment issues, fear of "not being enough", generally i have a poor self-esteem, i usually assume that i can't be successful at anything, i am not competent or even able to be competent, especially due to my history of not being able to follow through with a task that demands cognitive sustained effort for a period of time (like studying, reading, watching some video etc), i get INSANELY anxious when i sit to study(anything, could be a self-help book, for instance), my brain is all over the place, looking or my next bullshit excuse to drop that task, it's a constant battle, every single moment of the task which makes it extremely frustrating and makes everything worse. I also noticed that i have a low tolerance for failure and rejection and constantly unconsciously sabotage myself.

I want to say that i am currently taking action at dealing with all my shit and slowly but surely making progress with my past traumas, emotional and energetic blockage, limiting beliefs etc. I started to see the benefits of visualization and hypnosis (which is a visualization with PNL) and have been doing it every day but this "ADHD" seems to be a DEEP problem that i couldn't even touch until today even though it has been my main goal for all those years and without solving this, i have no hope of succeeding at anything, it really can be the difference between a blissful or a hellish life. 

I would love to hear some opinions on it, i am sure you guys can offer unique and valuable perspectives with practical suggestions. 

Edited November 24, 2018 by Recursoinominado

[Salvijus]

Could the problem be that you're just not interested in the subject?

For example, I have a terrible focus on things I don't care about. I spent 12years in school going to history classes and I didn't learn a single date. I just couldn't hear what teacher says because I had zero interest in the subject. But I used to sit focused and concentrated intensly on math questions for long periods of time without any fail.

Not being able to focus when studying, that sounds like you're not interested in the subject.

Edited November 24, 2018 by Salvijus

[Hellspeed]

Direct sexuality into Muladhara to ground yourself using the channeling of the Breath. 

[Joseph Maynor]

You need to be extra organized then.  I’m gonna be writing an essay at some point about how to be insanely organized, which is the way I am.  Yo, it’s a paradox, on the one hand you gotta be insanely organized, and on the other hand you gotta be loose and fluid.  Striking the balance where you work both ends of that paradox isn’t easy, but that’s the task.  You need to get to the point where you know exactly what you should be doing at any given moment of time.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[Recursoinominado]

14 hours ago, Salvijus said:

Could the problem be that you're just not interested in the subject?

For example, I have a terrible focus on things I don't care about. I spent 12years in school going to history classes and I didn't learn a single date. I just couldn't hear what teacher says because I had zero interest in the subject. But I used to sit focused and concentrated intensly on math questions for long periods of time without any fail.

Not being able to focus when studying, that sounds like you're not interested in the subject.

It definitely play a part on it, that's why I know it is a "mental" problem and not an organic one. That's how I was able to learn so much about self-development in all those years, I kind of saw every information as my salvation from my hell and dive deep into it. The problem is that I can't be dependent on a massive interest to focus, as we know that our brain tends to trick us into distraction of subjects that challenges our current beliefs, often we easily dismiss information that could change our lives if applied correctly. 

14 hours ago, Hellspeed said:

Direct sexuality into Muladhara to ground yourself using the channeling of the Breath. 

Can you elaborate on this? 

13 hours ago, Joseph Maynor said:

You need to be extra organized then.  I’m gonna be writing an essay at some point about how to be insanely organized, which is the way I am.  Yo, it’s a paradox, on the one hand you gotta be insanely organized, and on the other hand you gotta be loose and fluid.  Striking the balance where you work both ends of that paradox isn’t easy, but that’s the task.  You need to get to the point where you know exactly what you should be doing at any given moment of time.

You are right, discipline and organization, being a strategic motherfucker as @Leo Gura would put it is the way. The problem is that every moment of it I feel like hell, anxious as fuck, super distracted etc, it is extremely hard to be present on the task when I feel like shit every moment of it, like reliving past traumas during the task, I almost can hear everyone that put me down and abused me when I wasn't perfect which creates a huge fear of not being enough that perpetuates itself when i eventually fail on the task. Or maybe everyone feels like this when facing challenging subjects, trying to develop new habits and I am just being a little bitch. 

[pixelwave]

What I would recommend in your case is to specifically read self help books about ADHD, it will help you see things more clearly and help you realise you are not the only one out there. I have ADHD myself and it's very hard for me to focus aswel. But what does help is reading a lot about the topic. Maybe joining some ADHD forums.

 

Our brain works different on a lot of different ways than neurotypicals that's why it might be interesting for you.

A book I would recommend is:

ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life by Judith Kolberg & Kathleen Nadeau

It actually tackles a lot of problems. 

 

The other thing what I would recommend is to try and use a notebook. To follow and measure your progress, to put all your thoughts and information in. The one I use is Microsoft OneNote it is completly free and easy to use. Check out leo's video about commonplace book

 

[Charlotte]

@lmfao if you haven't already seen the thread.

[creede]

Did your ADHD get worse after changing to the raw vegan diet? Have you ever looked into or tried a ketogenic diet or very low carb?

[Mu_]

Hey man, let me ask you a few things and perhaps I can really help you. 

1. Do you hold down a job or bounce from one to the other because of being a poor worker or fail all your subjects in school?

2.  Are there things you do focus on with not a lot of problem, like self you mentioned self help isn't a issue to say focused on.  Can you watch movies, television, games for a long period of time with no issue?

If so, then you may just not really want to be doing the other things that make you distracted.  I'm the same way.  When I understood this about myself and no longer saw it as a disability, and that I just wasn't interested, I was that much closer to stop blaming myself.  It took time, because even though I then understood I just wasn't interested, I still wanted to feel like something was wrong with me still, and that I should be able to focus just because I wanted to, or that I wasn't interested in enough things, and that I was only interested in self help/spirituality/games/food/movies/martial arts.  But once I got past that and just realized, "Oh this is just my interest spectrum", I became more at ease, less pressuring of myself, less blaming, less feeling like there was something wrong with me.

Let me know if any of that resonates with you, maybe I can share some more.

[Leo Gura]

Kriya yoga

Also you might want to consider EEG brain training / neurofeedback therapy. It can be very effective for ADHD. Find a local provider.

Search Yelp for something like this near you: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sierra-eeg-neurofeedback-therapy-grass-valley

Binaural beats can also be helpful to jump start your meditation.

[Recursoinominado]

First of all, thank you all for posting your suggestions, especially @pixelwave for revive this topic, i only saw it now.

Recently i took a bite of the bullet as Leo always says and went deeper on my detoxification path, i am eating mostly fruits, juices, herbs and doing some fasting when i can. As result, my health greatly improved, my mind is way sharper and focused, almost no brain fog (which i had for years, especially after every meal, no matter how "healthy" it seems to be) and it is improving each day. I noticed that a fruitarian diet accelerated my "spiritual progress" many folds, especially when coupled with hatha yoga, seems to me that my body is always doing a spiritual, emotional and physical detox since it is all connected. I am shocked (in a positive way) with my progress in little time and only can imagine what kinds of benefits i will reap if i continue with this lifestyle throughout years. I also had a realization that i need to go back to concentration based meditation to cultivate my focus/concentration.

On 03/02/2019 at 10:04 PM, Leo Gura said:

Kriya yoga

Also you might want to consider EEG brain training / neurofeedback therapy. It can be very effective for ADHD. Find a local provider.

Search Yelp for something like this near you: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sierra-eeg-neurofeedback-therapy-grass-valley

Binaural beats can also be helpful to jump start your meditation.

Man, thank you for your post, i tried kriya yoga before (with the book in your book list) but i found it stirred up too much energy and emotions in my body at the time making me really anxious, angry, impatient etc. My kundalini is already awakened so, at the time, i was having lots of trouble with if (especially hard to ground myself) so i gave up. Recently i started practicing hatha yoga and i am simply LOVING IT, seriously, turned out i really needed to include my body into this equation and hatha yoga did it perfectly. But when you recommended i felt an intuition that it is time to try it again, i saw the mega-thread and bought the other book recommended in there by SantanaGamana i am excited to apply it

 

About neurofeedback: i have never looked into it and i found it promising! With a little research, i found a place in my city (i live in Brazil) and i plan to invest in it in the future (i don't have money for it yet), it seems to have great potential, especially on the long run. Thank you, again, for your suggestions, both have so much potential, i am excited to try them

[Mezanti]

exercise is vital: 

from my experience cleaning up my diet ( eating low carb, healthy fats) and cutting out all fast food, has increased my focus

 

[Recursoinominado]

@Mezanti You are absolutely right! Luckily, i am very active (gym and hatha yoga)  The effects of the exercises on my brain are clear, this is my one constant since i reached rock bottom ten years ago which started my self-development journey.