Help find really good ADD/ADHD thread

February 22, 2005 10:47 AM

Hiya folks! (Say it all together now, okay?: "Hi, Shane." Thanks, that made me feel good.) I've taken an interest in ADD/ADHD lately and I seem to remember a really good AskMe thread that I can't find now. It looks as if it was deleted. More inside.
posted by Shane to Etiquette/Policy at 10:47 AM (38 comments total)

Uh, Shane, you forgot to add the More Inside. Shane! Shane! Pay attention, now...
posted by soyjoy at 10:47 AM on February 22, 2005

Sorry, I couldn't resist.



Um... I was just joking, right? Shane? Are you there?
posted by soyjoy at 10:50 AM on February 22, 2005

This:

I have an appointment next weekend with my primary care physician for a consultation regarding ADD/ADHD. I suspect I have it, I suspect it's a huge contributor to my anxiety and depression, and I am wondering if anyone has had success minimizing the effects of it without medication. I intend to request a referral to a cognitive behavioral therapist, and possibly to a nutritionist to see if there are dietary changes I can make, but what have you done to help with your adult ADD/ADHD? Thanks in advance.
posted on Feb 11, 2005

...looks like the good thread I remember, but it says "Nothing to see here, move along... You've stumbled upon a non-existent post, or one that was deleted for various reasons." (Normally I don't mind that slightly smarmy but funny little ditty, but at the mo' it really bugs me.)

Why was the thread deleted?

The only other thread I can find is this, which has only ten responses (including two by the post's author.)

Are my Google skills sucking? I've tried Googling AskMe by the obvious queries as well as more exotic ones like "Hallowell" (a popular writer on the ADD/ADHD subject) and even common medication names.

Thanks!

Damn you, soyjoy, drat! I am foiled by your quick-comment-edness!
posted by Shane at 10:51 AM on February 22, 2005

Shane, was it this one? The question mentions nothing about ADD/ADHD, but many of the responses focus on that.
posted by Otis at 11:02 AM on February 22, 2005

AHH! Probably so, Otis, thank you. "I feel like my brain has stopped working and I'd like to get it fixed. A whole hell of a lot more inside" made no mention of ADD till the inside, of course.
posted by Shane at 11:04 AM on February 22, 2005

For those puzzling over where the text of the cited [and deleted] February 11th question came from, the text is from the list of questions submitted by Anonymous.
posted by WestCoaster at 11:06 AM on February 22, 2005

Wow, it's really interesting (and creepy) to see all the questions Anonymous has submitted, but which mathowie didn't approve.
posted by kenko at 11:10 AM on February 22, 2005

So what if I now have an urge to reply to a non-approved anonymous post?
posted by raedyn at 11:19 AM on February 22, 2005

whoa. the bouncer thread was deleted from that day too? that sucks. I have some suggestions for that guy.
posted by fishfucker at 11:20 AM on February 22, 2005

oh. didn't get approved. nevermind.
posted by fishfucker at 11:20 AM on February 22, 2005

Wow, howcome matt dosn't post the question from the poor, fat, conservative virgin?
posted by delmoi at 11:21 AM on February 22, 2005

Wow, some of those are terrifying.
posted by gleuschk at 11:22 AM on February 22, 2005

I contributed to this thread and I know there was at least one more by a guy who had a partner finishing up her thesis in something science-y but couldn't stay on-task enough to get it together and was looking for tips. Anyone remember that?
posted by jessamyn at 11:30 AM on February 22, 2005

Hi, Shane!

(Darn, missed the chorus)
posted by clever sheep at 11:38 AM on February 22, 2005

They're not deleted, they were never live in the first place.

I accidentally overwrote the code I had to keep unposted ask mefi questions from going live on the history page for that account. So the question you referred to was never posted on the site. I just fixed the code so they're hidden again.

As to why it wasn't posted, or any of the other anon questions posted, there are several reasons. For the ADD question, I felt we had already had several recently and it was pretty much a rehash of the same information in the archives. Also, some of the medication threads tend to spiral out of control.

A good lot of the unposted questions are either too long and wordy (some are a dozen paragraphs long), or I couldn't figure out why the question had to be anonymous by any stretch of the imagination. I'm still working on porting the new anon question asker page to the new template, so that should alleviate the post length problems.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:48 AM on February 22, 2005

Wow, it's really interesting (and creepy) to see all the questions Anonymous has submitted, but which mathowie didn't approve.


Is that what those are? I was searching through the list to find an AnonyMe that I had originally posted (and which I was now prepared to own up to because, a) the original reaction was nowhere near as bad as I'd feard and b) it was relevent to a non-anonymous question I wanted to ask) and kept running across questions I thought were interesting but hadn't read before, and clicking on them and finding them deleted. I couldn't figure out where all these threads were disappearing to.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:51 AM on February 22, 2005

Man, we could've saved Hunter.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:57 AM on February 22, 2005

How to make suicide less painful for those left behind? Did your friend or relative do something that made it easier (or harder) for you? I appreciate any advice you can give. If you can't help trying to dissuade me, at least try to keep it short and nondisruptive.
posted on Feb 11, 2005

Jesus H.

*Heart sinks down into shoes*
posted by Shane at 12:02 PM on February 22, 2005

Um ... that question never went live? Or had an e-mail sent to the post-er with the number of a sucide hotline? Can of worms, yes, but ... Jesus H. Jesus H.
posted by Shane at 12:04 PM on February 22, 2005

Yes, I contacted a few of the poster's friends to help them out and tracked down local help for the person, but that had to be the hardest anon posting to take so far.

On top of that, the person was angry with me for breaking the anonymity and trying to get them help, which is why I am talking to a lawyer right now about drafting up some terms of service and privacy policies for the site that explicitly state in a life and death situation, all bets are off (and that taking advice here doesn't mean you can sue the person giving it or me for hosting it).

These are the wonders I get to enjoy behind the scenes.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:06 PM on February 22, 2005

Yes, I contacted a few of the poster's friends to help them out and tracked down local help for the person, but that had to be the hardest anon posting to take so far.

Thanks, Matt. Thanks for doing the right thing and breaking anonymity. Big big kudos.
posted by Shane at 12:09 PM on February 22, 2005

Christ, as if Matt didn't have enough agita what with all the pointless call-outs and niggling feature requests. That's really intense.
posted by soyjoy at 12:26 PM on February 22, 2005

I just fixed the code so they're hidden again.

Darn. I'm sure that was interesting reading. Anyone have a screenshot?

Thanks, Matt, for handing that and so many other things on a daily basis.
posted by me3dia at 12:40 PM on February 22, 2005

"drafting up some terms of service and privacy policies"

Now that is a positive step forward.
posted by mischief at 12:41 PM on February 22, 2005

yikes. moral can of worms. someone i know was having an abortion when someone at the hospital informed their parents. i'm guessing abortion wouldn't be considered a life / death situation (because calling parents was a bad move in that case)? getting a clear policy sounds like a very good idea. glad i'm not in your shoes.
posted by andrew cooke at 12:44 PM on February 22, 2005

How ponderously intense, and fraught with moral pitfalls. Only and ethicist could devise a more fiendish quandary. I thanks you and commend you, Matt.
posted by Freen at 12:44 PM on February 22, 2005

Yes, I contacted a few of the poster's friends to help them out and tracked down local help for the person, but that had to be the hardest anon posting to take so far.

More kudos.
posted by caddis at 12:54 PM on February 22, 2005

Wow, Matt, that's just... I'm so sorry that you have to deal with those things, and so grateful that it is someone with your grace and wisdom who does.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:06 PM on February 22, 2005

Speaking from experience, matt, you did the right thing on that one, as I'm sure you know.
posted by dash_slot- at 1:14 PM on February 22, 2005

That thread is now properly tagged for your ADD viewing pleasure.

Also, shane, if you want some follow up, feel free to email me. (in profile)
posted by bondcliff at 1:58 PM on February 22, 2005

Well done, Matt. Christ, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that kind of thing.
posted by languagehat at 2:39 PM on February 22, 2005

Shane, this was the short thread about ADD that I was thinking of.
posted by jessamyn at 2:48 PM on February 22, 2005

Thanks, jessamyn--I hadn't caught that one.

Thanks, bondcliff.

Thanks, Grape Ape. I know you're always somewhere out there, watching out for all of us, especially when we cross an intersection without looking both ways first, always ready to teach us the proper way (with the assistance of your pal Magilla Gorilla.)

I don't know what I'd do without any of you *sniff*
posted by Shane at 4:00 PM on February 22, 2005

Jesus Matt. That's rough.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:00 PM on February 22, 2005

Hugs Shane.

Matt, I don't see what else you could have done in a situation like that. I hope the poster was able to receive the help you arranged and is ok.
posted by Tarrama at 5:07 PM on February 22, 2005

Bondcliff, I dropped you an email as well -- hope that's okay.
posted by sugarfish at 9:27 PM on February 22, 2005

"...and fraught with moral pitfalls. Only an ethicist could devise a more fiendish quandary."

I don't really see that. Assuming it's possible, which it may not be, to significantly reduce the pain caused to loved ones by a suicide, I'm of the opinion that there's maybe a larger responsibility there than there is to the life of the potential suicide. Of course, preventing the suicide makes the whole question moot.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:52 AM on February 23, 2005

Matt, thanks for your hard work. Really. I haven't been always the most supportive personally (when the site was closed--didn't like it but it's not my baby), but I appreciate it.


[Apologies in advance, sitemates]

So who was it? posted by item

Fuck off, item.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 9:35 PM on February 24, 2005