ADD and zoning out

[intotheblack]

I’m really struggling with zoning out and not listening.  I can be listening to someone and be really trying to focus on what they are saying, but I start thinking about completely different things.  I won’t have heard a thing they said.  Then they will get annoyed because I stopped paying attention or they have to repeat something.  
If it’s something I’m interested in though I have no problem and can fully engage in the conversation. 
How can I get better at listening to people talk? 

[Ima Freeman]

ADD/ADHD is a neurochemical problem. I would suggest you to look into environmental toxins and nutrition.

Toxins can lead to attention deficit, so limiting exposure and detoxification could be the key to your problem.

Try eating a diet rich in protein to give you the building blocks for a healthy neurotransmitter balance.
Another thing that might help is a elimination diet. Cut out common food allergens like gluten, soy, corn and dairy as well as sugar for some months and reintroduce them one by one to see your reaction.

Or maybe you are deficient in some vitamins/minerals. Taking a blood test for common vitamins/minerals/hormones can give you a clue which supplements could be helpful. This requires some reasearch though.

[intotheblack]

@Ima Freeman  thanks ? 

I figured that my ADD symptoms are coping mechanisms developed in childhood for survival, the brain doesn’t fully develop when certain psychological needs aren’t met, particularly between the age of 0-3. 

I think these toxins could also be playing a part then, could you elaborate on what environmental toxins I should be wary of..  Are you talking mainly about heavy metals or something else ?  I use mostly natural products, eat plant based diet, don’t buy canned food, filter my water, avoid processed and sugary foods.   

 

 

[integral]

@intotheblack Do a hair mineral analysis test. Good starting place, will reveal heavy metals or deficiencies. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by integral

[integral]

INFP also tend to do this alot because they dont care about what the person is saying. Its hard to listen when you dont care or find your own thoughts more interesting. lol Wouldn't call this ADD. Its just extroverted intuition (Ne). 

INFP, ENFP all think they have ADD. When really their operating exactly as designed. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by integral

[intotheblack]

@integral how accurate is this hair testing, have you done it? 

I don’t know what my personality type is, I did the test a while ago but I don’t remember. But yeah I was thinking at what point is this just because I’m bored of the conversation? Lol 

I mean, that’s not the only symptom, I basically have all the symptoms except for hyperactivity - which isn’t as common in girls as it is in boys.  Although I am always fidgeting. 

I started testing for adhd, but then at the time I decided that I didn’t need a diagnosis or a label and that knowing it wouldn’t change anything and i didn’t want to be medicated, so I didn’t complete the final test. 
 

[intotheblack]

21 minutes ago, integral said:

INFP, ENFP all think they have ADD. When really their operating exactly as designed. 

Interesting.  I’ll try doing the test again.  But how do we know that those types don’t have ADD if they have the same symptoms? 

[integral]

1 hour ago, intotheblack said:

@integral how accurate is this hair testing, have you done it? 

I don’t know what my personality type is, I did the test a while ago but I don’t remember. But yeah I was thinking at what point is this just because I’m bored of the conversation? Lol 

I mean, that’s not the only symptom, I basically have all the symptoms except for hyperactivity - which isn’t as common in girls as it is in boys.  Although I am always fidgeting. 

I started testing for adhd, but then at the time I decided that I didn’t need a diagnosis or a label and that knowing it wouldn’t change anything and i didn’t want to be medicated, so I didn’t complete the final test. 
 

1 hour ago, intotheblack said:

Interesting.  I’ll try doing the test again.  But how do we know that those types don’t have ADD if they have the same symptoms? 

Testing is accurate enough for what it needs to do, reveal issues. Mercury, lead, every mineral ends up in the hair, because hair is a detox system of the body. Hair is a waist product lol, odd to think of it that way, but thats the bodies perspective in part. 

The ADD label is over simplification or i should say it doesn't see enough of the big picture. It comes from the stale psychology domain that hasn't seen a new idea in 100 years.

• carelessness and lack of attention to detail.
• continually starting new tasks before finishing old ones.
• poor organisational skills.
• inability to focus or prioritise.
• continually losing or misplacing things.
• forgetfulness.
• restlessness and edginess.
• difficulty keeping quiet, and speaking out of turns

haha googled ADD symptoms and laughed because its basically describing my mother and sister, who are INFP and ENFP. Their journey in life involved overcoming these issues because society demands these skills. Its bad luck, some personalitys are not adapted to this "modern" world. If we think about it, our survival needs have changed quite abit but our biology has been lagging behind, mostly unchanged. So some types are labeled ADD, because they dont have the natural skills to meet societies standards. 

Its ok, this is a gift, because you will be forced to grow.

People that really have ADD nearly always have underling issues with gut or toxicity that never get treated. But you could have the personality and the bodily issues. lol

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by integral

[mandyjw]

Meditation, running, anything that improves or practices focus. Focus comes naturally when we're interested but what happens when you train your focus and start watching your thoughts is something very strange, everything becomes deeply fascinating. Or at least progressively more and more will.  Also by intentionally learning about things you aren't normally interested in, you can achieve a similar effect, for example most of us have experienced how once you learn a new vocabulary word, your awareness of it increases, and you start seeing it and appreciating it more, then later using it yourself. You have to sort of train this perspective with people, become interested in them, by first dropping the thoughts about them and just giving them pure aware attention. Dropping thoughts in favor of a chosen focus "point", learning, awareness and interest in a subject are all really the same thing, the same focus, and are all ways to "open your mind" and they have same effect. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by mandyjw

[mandyjw]

Also funny, there is no focus without distraction, but really, there is no distraction, only focus because when you notice distraction, you're focused on it. 

[Leo Gura]

@intotheblack Diet, diet, diet!

What do you eat?

Start by seriously cleaning that up.

Your nutrition has a HUGE impact on your cognitive function, poor concentration, and sleepiness.

[StarStruck]

Do meditation everyday for an hour for 30 days straight and see if that improves your concentration. Don't be too quick with putting labels on yourself like ADD.

[intotheblack]

10 hours ago, integral said:

haha googled ADD symptoms and laughed because its basically describing my mother and sister, who are INFP and ENFP. Their journey in life involved overcoming these issues because society demands these skills. Its bad luck, some personalitys are not adapted to this "modern" world. If we think about it, our survival needs have changed quite abit but our biology has been lagging behind, mostly unchanged. So some types are labeled ADD, because they dont have the natural skills to meet societies standards. 

I did the personality test, hahaha and guess what... I got INFP ‘mediator’ ? 

It sounds a lot like me for sure, it also sounds like my Libra traits.  

I used this website https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types

the results also grouped me with the ENFP ‘campaigner’ 

There’s so much stuff to read on this.  What else do you know about this type? Lol. 

 

[intotheblack]

10 hours ago, mandyjw said:

Meditation, running, anything that improves or practices focus. Focus comes naturally when we're interested but what happens when you train your focus and start watching your thoughts is something very strange, everything becomes deeply fascinating. Or at least progressively more and more will.  Also by intentionally learning about things you aren't normally interested in, you can achieve a similar effect, for example most of us have experienced how once you learn a new vocabulary word, your awareness of it increases, and you start seeing it and appreciating it more, then later using it yourself. You have to sort of train this perspective with people, become interested in them, by first dropping the thoughts about them and just giving them pure aware attention. Dropping thoughts in favor of a chosen focus "point", learning, awareness and interest in a subject are all really the same thing, the same focus, and are all ways to "open your mind" and they have same effect. 

10 hours ago, mandyjw said:

Also funny, there is no focus without distraction, but really, there is no distraction, only focus because when you notice distraction, you're focused on it.

Hehe, yes, I realise I’m not listening, then I start thinking about the fact I’m not listening, then I end up focused on that and being in a daydream 

[Striving for more]

I don't like Myer's brigs because I am generally not sure what the answers to most of the questions are. 

It's pretty hard to get the questions right & I'm sure in 6 months I'd take the quiz & be a different type.

The only obvious one is extroversion & Intuition.

I was certain I was an ENFP but according to the quiz I'm an ESFP - T > Entertainer. 

I just think even these myers brigs labels are problematic & lead to a victim mindset like "I will never be good at focusing because I'm INFP" 

Even Extroversion is not that simple, I could easily be an ISFP OR INFP Next time. Given that my extroversion score was only 60%, it could easily flip to 60% introversion.

 

I also believe most of these traits can be changed heavily, & a model is ultimately just a model, it will always be limited. 

Edited April 10, 2021 by Striving for more

[integral]

3 hours ago, intotheblack said:

I did the personality test, hahaha and guess what... I got INFP ‘mediator’ ? 

It sounds a lot like me for sure, it also sounds like my Libra traits.  

I used this website https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types

the results also grouped me with the ENFP ‘campaigner’ 

There’s so much stuff to read on this.  What else do you know about this type? Lol. 

 

lol just got to dig in and watch a bunch of videos. If i had to give an INFP advice it is to learn to make good financial decisions early in life, read books and learn from other peoples mistakes. It is there biggest weakness. Learn how your making purchasing decisions and how that backfires. INFP have the hardest time playing the financial game and often find themselves in wage slavery and burnt out. Good luck! They also tend to think "naaa i know what im doing, i have a good feeling about this purchase". NO, just NO, this is the wrong way to do it. 

https://i.insider.com/54e64da56bb3f74c75b6c78c

INFP is one of the lowest earners. There is a very good reason that introspection and self discovery will reveal. Compare your thinking process to the ENTJ (Highest earner), to get an idea of how to be effective. 

3 hours ago, intotheblack said:

Hehe, yes, I realise I’m not listening, then I start thinking about the fact I’m not listening, then I end up focused on that and being in a daydream 

Yes hah, i used to do this all the time, its normal. It develops naturally with time after people enter the work force, because your more motivated to. But what ive observed with my family is it still takes them a lot of energy and its draining. 

But dont discount nutrition, toxins or exercise... 

2 hours ago, Striving for more said:

I also believe most of these traits can be changed heavily, & a model is ultimately just a model, it will always be limited. 

 The test is not MBTI, its 2 different subjects. The only way to really type oneself is to learn the model in depth. 

Dont be so quick to discount something before understanding it. It takes years of practice to build up the a internal model of a subject. The key word = practice. This takes work. Reading a book on guitar is not the same as practicing and playing guitar.  Reading MBTI is not the same as practicing and playing MBTI. 

Edited April 10, 2021 by integral

[Ima Freeman]

@intotheblack Could be the reason. In my opinion cognitive disfunctions, like ADD, are due to bad brain health. And this could have many reasons. Eating irritants for the gut, having gut disbyosis, excessive screen time, hormonal disbalance, etc etc

Yes, I talk primarily about metals, especially mercury. Do you have amalgam fillings? Did your mother have some at time of pregnancy?
Did you get vaccinated with thimerosal containing vaccines?


@integral Hair tests can be informative, but mercury levels in the hair do not necessarily correlate to body burden. According to Andrew Cutler, well known in the detox world, you have to identify specific mineral patterns in the hair mineral analysis to diagnose mercury toxicity.
The best method in my opinion is to do a couple trial rounds of the Cutler Detoxification Protocoll to see if you have problems due to mercury.

 

[captainamerica]

@intotheblack It is important to know your exact challenge in the case of ADD and zoning out.

It could be that one is recovering from depression, or lack of proper diet, vitamin deficiencies, maladaptive daydreaming, OCD etc. 

One practical solution that you can implement right now:

1. Get a mindfulness band such as this.
2. Every time it vibrates just do a simple mindfulness exercise of becoming present of your body, sensations in feet, sounds, breath, surroundings, etc. There are elaborate protocols by Shinzen Young and Goenka if you want to master mindfulness but the simple ones should be enough. 
3. In the beginning set the band to vibrate just 10 times a day then after a couple of weeks you can move to 15, then 20, and so on...
4. Do this exercise for 8 weeks and record changes in your life on a journal or a sheet of paper from time to time.

Such a powerful practice is almost impossible for beginners without the aid of the mindfulness band so it will greatly help you.

Do you have maladaptive daydreaming? That seems way more probable than ADD. If you can find this out then overcoming it will be much more easier.

Edited April 11, 2021 by captainamerica

[Michael569]

On 09/04/2021 at 11:05 PM, integral said:

Do a hair mineral analysis test.

unreliable, unregulated and a waste of money, most evidence on this testing finds very little accuracy and specificity

@intotheblack diet & lifestyle will be of primal importance as it has already been suggested. Systemic toxicity is nothing to discard either but I'd start by fixing your diet first. What you eat has tremendous impact on your cognitive profile. Also your gut health impacts your brain more than you know 

 

[Jake Johnson]

On 4/9/2021 at 4:32 PM, intotheblack said:

I’m really struggling with zoning out and not listening.  I can be listening to someone and be really trying to focus on what they are saying, but I start thinking about completely different things.  I won’t have heard a thing they said.  Then they will get annoyed because I stopped paying attention or they have to repeat something.  
If it’s something I’m interested in though I have no problem and can fully engage in the conversation. 
How can I get better at listening to people talk? 

I have experienced this myself. I pleaded with my parents till they finally gave in and let me do home school through self study which seems to be the only way I can focus enough to learn anything. Put me in a classroom where I have to sit passively like a bump on a log while someone else gets to do the active process of the subject and I am off in a daydream inside of two minutes. Not that I am totally focused on my books 100% of the time but far more than a classroom lecture and if my mind does wander the written page is still there unlike the spoken word. I find self study to be far more effective. You may have ADD. Ask your doctor to refer you to a specialist who can give you a diagnosis and prescription. I am not sure what maladaptive daydreaming is but maybe we both have it; what you described sounds very much like myself:

"Hehe, yes, I realise I’m not listening, then I start thinking about the fact I’m not listening, then I end up focused on that and being in a daydream."

Yep, just like me.

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Jake Johnson
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