I too believed that my procrastination problem was ADHD. Almost everything I read about ADHD symptoms agreed on to my behaviour. This went on for like 8 years and one day I decided to visit a Psychiatrist.
He said it could be general anxiety and prescribed me medicines. I came back home and googled the medicine to find out that it is an anti-depressant, SSRI if you want to know.
Then I said to myself, "crap ADHD is due to the lack of Dopamine and not Serotonin, this is not going to workout". But I chose to take it according to the prescription, hoping that after the tablets are over I can go back to the second session and get my psychiatrist prescribe me ADHD medications.
After two weeks, I could feel the change. Suddenly there was motivation to work, my mind was not constantly fantasizing about the "perfect" work that will interest me. I could see interesting tasks to do in my current job (I am a web developer). I could sense business needs rather than writing the perfect code. I was productive. Challenges did not scare me. I could understand things in meetings without confusion, or obsessing over details. I stopped using pomodoro.
My obsession to constantly check Reddit, HN, Twitter, Youtube was rapidly dying out. Going to sleep did finally feel like going to rest, rather than one more "task" to struggle.
Most surprisingly, I did not give up on physical tasks. Usually I would give up the last rep when I am lifting, but under the medication I did reps to failure and that was the first time I did not give up something which is difficult.
I was still checking Reddit, HN out of habit, but I could stop when I want to. Even my relationship with my wife improved. This was indeed magical. Things I struggled to do or couldn't do became easier and I could do it naturally.
All of this, though lasted only for a few months, as I discontinued the medication for various reasons: people close to me were questioning like, "for how long are you going to depend on it", slowly I developed some tolerance for it, and some minor reversible-side-effects. Now I regret not forming habits when I had the chance with the medication.
The point being, the symptoms of OCD, anxiety disorder, ADHD and ADD all overlap, and don't assume yourself anything. Talk to a psychiatrist, because they know better. Hope this information helps someone or at the least gives them hope.
I'm identifying myself a lot with your story. I think I might have ADHD and my psychiatrist is thinking of prescribing me SSRI. Do you end up taking ADHD medication or was the SSRI enough for you to fell the change?
He said it could be general anxiety and prescribed me medicines. I came back home and googled the medicine to find out that it is an anti-depressant, SSRI if you want to know.
Then I said to myself, "crap ADHD is due to the lack of Dopamine and not Serotonin, this is not going to workout". But I chose to take it according to the prescription, hoping that after the tablets are over I can go back to the second session and get my psychiatrist prescribe me ADHD medications.
After two weeks, I could feel the change. Suddenly there was motivation to work, my mind was not constantly fantasizing about the "perfect" work that will interest me. I could see interesting tasks to do in my current job (I am a web developer). I could sense business needs rather than writing the perfect code. I was productive. Challenges did not scare me. I could understand things in meetings without confusion, or obsessing over details. I stopped using pomodoro.
My obsession to constantly check Reddit, HN, Twitter, Youtube was rapidly dying out. Going to sleep did finally feel like going to rest, rather than one more "task" to struggle.
Most surprisingly, I did not give up on physical tasks. Usually I would give up the last rep when I am lifting, but under the medication I did reps to failure and that was the first time I did not give up something which is difficult.
I was still checking Reddit, HN out of habit, but I could stop when I want to. Even my relationship with my wife improved. This was indeed magical. Things I struggled to do or couldn't do became easier and I could do it naturally.
All of this, though lasted only for a few months, as I discontinued the medication for various reasons: people close to me were questioning like, "for how long are you going to depend on it", slowly I developed some tolerance for it, and some minor reversible-side-effects. Now I regret not forming habits when I had the chance with the medication.
The point being, the symptoms of OCD, anxiety disorder, ADHD and ADD all overlap, and don't assume yourself anything. Talk to a psychiatrist, because they know better. Hope this information helps someone or at the least gives them hope.