I can't really listen to music while I'm working because I concentrate more on the music - however music is great when I'm doing "boring" tasks like gardening, or cleaning.
If I'm working, I'll happily watch world cooking videos - before I was diagnosed with inattentive adhd I'd say that it was to keep the inner child happy and out of the way so the adult brain could do the work.
Instrumental music is for when my brain needs to focus, something with no lyrics and preferably a clear beat. Synthwave works wonders as do movie/game soundtracks.
Podcasts/Audiobooks and maybe music with lyrics is when my brain needs to be tuned away and my body is doing the work, like cleaning, chores etc.
I only skimmed this but it has several things that make me suspicious. Mainly that they did not require a diagnosis for ADHD but instead separated participants based on a questionnaire regarding symptoms. Additionally their participant pool somehow contained more than 20% of neurodevelopmental disorders and other mental health disorders which seems very high.
The ASRS-5, while it only has six questions, is actually a very respectable test for ADHD, often used even in clinical research. It's thoroughly tested against more comprehensive tests and the data checks out so far. It's even seeing clinical use as an early screening before going through the full diagnosis, which in adults is very involved, since diagnosis requires a determination that ADHD was present in childhood.
Source: my dad is a clinical psychologist specialising in diagnosis and treatment of ADHD . I kept seeing this pop up in papers so I asked him about it.
ASRS-5 almost ruined my life. I would highly recommend anyone reading this to get a thorough evaluation for ADHD diagnosis before trying medication; or just use audio :)
If someone prescribed you stimulants based solely on ASRS-5, that's malpractice(at least in most the west, I obviously can't speak for every country), and I'm sorry that happened to you. You could have a strong malpractice case if "almost ruined my life" can be well documented. In that case I suggest talking to a lawyer. If what you mean is you did the self-screening and picked ip some adderall on the black market then, then I guess you're outta luck.
And I'm not sure why this is downvoted. Your advice is good. Get properly diagnosed by a professional. Amphetamine or any other adhd medication is not something you wanna take every day unless you have adhd. And even then, only if it's severe enough to seriously worsen your quality of life.
My ADHD is extremely severe. Without meds I tend to end up smoking large amounts of hash and turning my apartment into a garbage dump as I gain weight and my muscles atrophy from inactivity. I've been back on meds for about 6 months now; my place is spotless, I smoke one spliff every 4 weeks(mostly to learn moderation), I'm losing weight, doing cardio every morning, quit smoking cigarettes, and just recently started coding a bit again. For me it's a total lifesaver.
ADHD or not, I would suggest avoiding strong stimulants (ADHD medication) and working on coping mechanisms in conjunction with natural supplements first.
Around half the original pool were excluded, mostly as they quit the questionnaire partway through. It seems believable that process would result in a larger part of the pool having ADHD. It'd also help explain the disparity in musical training.
I think that methodology isn't all that bad, because if they relied on existing diagnosis you get all the variety that is within that data. E.g. people who have been misdiagnosed, people who haven't been diagnosed because they are too functional, etc. While not ideal, it is a legitimate way of running this IMO.
When I was in school, many decades ago, I was constantly told that I should turn off the music while studying. I always ignored that advice, and to this day while I'm working (I'm a software engineer) I almost always have music playing. I'll pick instrumental music if I'm having trouble focusing; but I usually prefer upbeat music with lyrics.
I've never been diagnosed with ADHD, etc.; when I was young, being "autistic" meant being almost or nearly non-functional. But I've had my suspicions.
I'm surprised to see how many people still put music on for focused work like studying. It does not work for me at all. I'm a lifelong musician and I get way too keyed-in to the background music if I'm reading, writing, listening, or supposed to be concentrating on text.
It's most difficult when I have to read or write. When I do either, the auditory part of my mind with my "inner voice" is occupied, and I cannot multi-task. A long time ago I stopped kidding myself about my ability to multi-task.
I have music on constantly around the house when doing other tasks, but always pause playback when reading or writing.
I'm the same, for the most part. I worked at a small dev shop with two coworkers. One liked to put on classical music, and the other would often play whatever the hell kind of music Pat Metheny is, and while the richness of those particular genres appeared to _stimulate_ their ability to code heads-down, it rendered me pretty much useless. My attention would glom onto the scales and arpeggios of Vivaldi's Four Seasons or onto the weird proggy time signatures of the other stuff.
However, I have had much success with black metal bands that shriek (or whatever) in a foreign language. The fullness of the sound - blast beats, distorted guitars - just really does it for me for some reason. And I don't get distracted by the vocals because I don't understand e.g. Finnish (and with bands like Horna, it's probably better that way). It makes finding that flow state much easier, and I suspect it may be working as a fidget spinner does: a certain base level of constant but predictable sensory input soothes whatever it is in my brain that gets me antsy when engaging in an activity that requires a lot of energy expenditure without proportional immediate feedback. But as soon as you up the complexity of the music past a certain point, it swings all the way the other way and makes willful concentration pretty much impossible.
Yep. It's ADHD and its weirdness with the rewards system, for sure.
There are more and more quality papers in my opinion.
That said, we are now collectively aware of more and more poor quality papers thanks to the speed of the internet and the ease with which anyone can search for subject and throw up a paper without regard for quality.
It's worth noting that the source here is a dubious "research publisher" paper mill described as:
They’re quasi-predatory.
Maybe not as bad as MDPI, but engaging in many of the same practices: inflation of special issues, startlingly fast review times, and from other commenters it seems they’re also ignoring reviewers so they can publish more articles and bring in the APCs.
Like MDPI, you can find good articles in Frontiers papers - one of my go to’s for interrupted time series is in a Frontiers journal - but as time goes on and knowledge of their shadiness spreads, you’ll be better served not having your name associated with them.
"The results also reveal a difference in the proportion of individuals preferring stimulating music between the groups: ADHD-screened individuals report significantly more frequent listening to stimulating music, regardless of the activity type (more or less cognitive). Other aspects of music listening are common to both groups."
> The results indicate that certain listening habits differ significantly between the neurotypical and ADHD-screened groups. The ADHD-screened group reports significantly more background music listening during less cognitive activities and while studying, compared to the neurotypical group.
I don't think it's an interesting conclusion, so maybe the GP is looking for something more substantial.
I dont know what other conclusion to a study like this one could possibly want. Either ADHD affects if you like listening to music when doing other tasks or it doesn't.
I can't really listen to music while I'm working because I concentrate more on the music - however music is great when I'm doing "boring" tasks like gardening, or cleaning.
If I'm working, I'll happily watch world cooking videos - before I was diagnosed with inattentive adhd I'd say that it was to keep the inner child happy and out of the way so the adult brain could do the work.
Instrumental music is for when my brain needs to focus, something with no lyrics and preferably a clear beat. Synthwave works wonders as do movie/game soundtracks.
Podcasts/Audiobooks and maybe music with lyrics is when my brain needs to be tuned away and my body is doing the work, like cleaning, chores etc.
I only skimmed this but it has several things that make me suspicious. Mainly that they did not require a diagnosis for ADHD but instead separated participants based on a questionnaire regarding symptoms. Additionally their participant pool somehow contained more than 20% of neurodevelopmental disorders and other mental health disorders which seems very high.
The ASRS-5, while it only has six questions, is actually a very respectable test for ADHD, often used even in clinical research. It's thoroughly tested against more comprehensive tests and the data checks out so far. It's even seeing clinical use as an early screening before going through the full diagnosis, which in adults is very involved, since diagnosis requires a determination that ADHD was present in childhood.
Source: my dad is a clinical psychologist specialising in diagnosis and treatment of ADHD . I kept seeing this pop up in papers so I asked him about it.
ASRS-5 almost ruined my life. I would highly recommend anyone reading this to get a thorough evaluation for ADHD diagnosis before trying medication; or just use audio :)
If someone prescribed you stimulants based solely on ASRS-5, that's malpractice(at least in most the west, I obviously can't speak for every country), and I'm sorry that happened to you. You could have a strong malpractice case if "almost ruined my life" can be well documented. In that case I suggest talking to a lawyer. If what you mean is you did the self-screening and picked ip some adderall on the black market then, then I guess you're outta luck.
And I'm not sure why this is downvoted. Your advice is good. Get properly diagnosed by a professional. Amphetamine or any other adhd medication is not something you wanna take every day unless you have adhd. And even then, only if it's severe enough to seriously worsen your quality of life.
My ADHD is extremely severe. Without meds I tend to end up smoking large amounts of hash and turning my apartment into a garbage dump as I gain weight and my muscles atrophy from inactivity. I've been back on meds for about 6 months now; my place is spotless, I smoke one spliff every 4 weeks(mostly to learn moderation), I'm losing weight, doing cardio every morning, quit smoking cigarettes, and just recently started coding a bit again. For me it's a total lifesaver.
"or just use audio" - can you elaborate?
ADHD or not, I would suggest avoiding strong stimulants (ADHD medication) and working on coping mechanisms in conjunction with natural supplements first.
Ha! I always suspected. Now the test reveals I am well past the normal score of 14 :) and well past caring much
Around half the original pool were excluded, mostly as they quit the questionnaire partway through. It seems believable that process would result in a larger part of the pool having ADHD. It'd also help explain the disparity in musical training.
Isn't stopping partway in a questionnaire a good indicator by itself?
Im not sure, but if they are including subclinical cases, that doesn't seem crazy on the face of it, to me.
That is mentioned in the Strength and Limitations section.
I think that methodology isn't all that bad, because if they relied on existing diagnosis you get all the variety that is within that data. E.g. people who have been misdiagnosed, people who haven't been diagnosed because they are too functional, etc. While not ideal, it is a legitimate way of running this IMO.
That's how ADHD is diagnosed. There's not a blood test or anything, you just answer the questionnaire.
When I was in school, many decades ago, I was constantly told that I should turn off the music while studying. I always ignored that advice, and to this day while I'm working (I'm a software engineer) I almost always have music playing. I'll pick instrumental music if I'm having trouble focusing; but I usually prefer upbeat music with lyrics.
I've never been diagnosed with ADHD, etc.; when I was young, being "autistic" meant being almost or nearly non-functional. But I've had my suspicions.
I just realised that usually when in focus, I listen to background music that I create in my head
I'm surprised to see how many people still put music on for focused work like studying. It does not work for me at all. I'm a lifelong musician and I get way too keyed-in to the background music if I'm reading, writing, listening, or supposed to be concentrating on text.
It's most difficult when I have to read or write. When I do either, the auditory part of my mind with my "inner voice" is occupied, and I cannot multi-task. A long time ago I stopped kidding myself about my ability to multi-task.
I have music on constantly around the house when doing other tasks, but always pause playback when reading or writing.
I'm the same, for the most part. I worked at a small dev shop with two coworkers. One liked to put on classical music, and the other would often play whatever the hell kind of music Pat Metheny is, and while the richness of those particular genres appeared to _stimulate_ their ability to code heads-down, it rendered me pretty much useless. My attention would glom onto the scales and arpeggios of Vivaldi's Four Seasons or onto the weird proggy time signatures of the other stuff.
However, I have had much success with black metal bands that shriek (or whatever) in a foreign language. The fullness of the sound - blast beats, distorted guitars - just really does it for me for some reason. And I don't get distracted by the vocals because I don't understand e.g. Finnish (and with bands like Horna, it's probably better that way). It makes finding that flow state much easier, and I suspect it may be working as a fidget spinner does: a certain base level of constant but predictable sensory input soothes whatever it is in my brain that gets me antsy when engaging in an activity that requires a lot of energy expenditure without proportional immediate feedback. But as soon as you up the complexity of the music past a certain point, it swings all the way the other way and makes willful concentration pretty much impossible.
Yep. It's ADHD and its weirdness with the rewards system, for sure.
I feel like I have better focus and mood when I have SomaFM's Drone Zone on in the background
What is the result of this “study”? Teens often listen to music!! ADHD is just a buzzword to fish attention.
How comes that academics nowadays produce more and more such crappy papers?
There are more and more quality papers in my opinion.
That said, we are now collectively aware of more and more poor quality papers thanks to the speed of the internet and the ease with which anyone can search for subject and throw up a paper without regard for quality.
It's worth noting that the source here is a dubious "research publisher" paper mill described as:
here in r/AskAcademia : https://old.reddit.com/r/AskAcademia/comments/179bnvv/how_ar...Literally the first paragraph:
"The results also reveal a difference in the proportion of individuals preferring stimulating music between the groups: ADHD-screened individuals report significantly more frequent listening to stimulating music, regardless of the activity type (more or less cognitive). Other aspects of music listening are common to both groups."
And the bit before it:
> The results indicate that certain listening habits differ significantly between the neurotypical and ADHD-screened groups. The ADHD-screened group reports significantly more background music listening during less cognitive activities and while studying, compared to the neurotypical group.
I don't think it's an interesting conclusion, so maybe the GP is looking for something more substantial.
I dont know what other conclusion to a study like this one could possibly want. Either ADHD affects if you like listening to music when doing other tasks or it doesn't.
> ADHD is just a buzzword to fish attention.
And you’re just now telling me this? I’ve been struggling with it for 40 years - and the last thing I want is attention, especially in that way.