ADHD and poker

[ewile]

Rico Suave,
Did you see your nephew very close to the time that he started the meds? If so you'll probably see him aclimate to them over time, and his real personality will emerge. Of course , if his parents feel that he is overmedicated they can work with th MD to adjust the dosage.

[bigdmajor]

Didn't read the numerousa replys, but one of the people I play with regularly in a weekly live game has really bad ADHD. He's the maniac in the group and doesn't play well. However, he brings along "toys." Puddy, rubber bands, ect., anythging to fiddle with. It annoys the rest of us quite a bit, but he says it helps him.

[ZeeJustin]

Everything ewile said is pretty accurate, at least it is true in terms of me personally.

ADD is not a lack of attention span; it is a chemical imbalance that makes controlling one's attention span different. For example, I find that people with ADD are much better multi-taskers due to the high stimulus environment. People with ADD often struggle in low stimulus environments, like reading a book on an uninteresting topic.

[for teh win]

Was your nephew prescribed ritalin? It's an understandable reaction, about the changes in personality, I mean. But the thing with ritalin is the standard treatment dose is merely about a 20th of what you would need to get high, so ADHD patients don't really get "drugged" (as opposed to when giving sedatives). Secondly, non-ADHD don't normally react to such a small dose - at all. Only in people with ADHD you see a noticeable effect of the treatment. So it might well be that your nephew was indeed helped by the medications, mellow or not.

There are also alternatives to ritalin proper nowadays. E.g. Concerta is a slow release amphetamine, which often gives better treatment effects. An additional benefit is that because of the slow release it doesn't have a "street value", so depending on where you live, it's often less of a hassle to get it prescribed and it's less burdened by people's misconceptions.

One thing to remember, in a young person an ADHD diagnosis is always preliminary. The symtoms, if you like, can disappear by themselves with age. So with some luck a 7 y.o. taking ritalin might not have to do it still at age 22.

But yes, ADHD is a bit of an over-used diagnosis today. It's the latest psychiatric fad. It's all too easy to put the blame on the misfit between individuals and e.g. a standardized school system that doesn't suit everyone on some "abnormal state". 10 years ago other diagnoses were à la mode. In 10 years there will be something else.

Still, ADHD exists of course and the problems associated with it and playing poker is a worthy topic for discussion. You don't absolutely need ADHD to make mistakes at the poker table however. Trust me. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[sthief09]

I have ADHD. I used to take Adderall for it but now I don't take anything. I don't need to because I've learned, for the most part, to control the symptoms and minimize their negative effects on my life.

I feel that it causes me to become overaggressive at times, and prone to boredom tilt. I am very impulsive by nature, and often act before I think. In poker, this can be dangerous because many decisions require a lot of thought.

However, just like with life, it can be overcome with maturity and a bit of extra effort. I saw so many of my friends in high school with bullshit cases of ADD getting extra time for tests and getting special priviledges. I choose not to take the easy way out and it worked out well for me.

So I guess my advice is that, sure, it may cause you difficulties in poker, and in life in general, but it could be a hell of a lot worse. I'm healthy, I've made good friends throughout my life, and I've learned to just make it become an element of my personality, rather than letting the symptoms control me and the decisions I make.

Just feel fortunate that you're mentally able enough to play the game, put in a little extra time in disciplining yourself, and you'll be fine.

As for learning better from videos, I can relate. I have difficulty paying attention in classes and I'm a painfully slow reader. But my passion for the game has made me an avid reader. Also, reading the posts here aren't too bad because they are generally pretty short, and I generally don't even bother to read the long ones, because I won't get to the end without my mind wandering! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[tyfromm]

Heres an important point to remember:

uh, I forgot.

Oh yeah, Don't neglect to consider the fact that

What was this thread about again?