Is it possible to make art if you have ADHD? I always want to draw/paint but I can only begin to sketch before I get bored and want to stop. Should I just make abstract art that only takes a few minutes to make
what makes you bored
there is no such thing as adhd, its just one of those social special snowflake memes
99% of the population has "adhd" and would rather find something with instant gratification, e.g videogames/tv/shitposting
its the 1% who decide to focus on a skill for long term gratification and they produce some memorable things..
ADHD is not real.
>>2318569
git gud at fast gestures
ADHD is literally just an excuse for your laziness and lack of talent.
>>2318570
I just feel like I can't sustain interest in things for very long. You know that feeling you get when you really want to start a project, and then do it and it feels good, well it leaves me in about 30 minutes and then I just find myself having that feeling for other things like getting food or looking something up on wikipedia.
>>2318575
>>2318584
I've been diagnosed by specialists as having it, I'm not just special snowflaking. If you think ADHD was made up by the jewish kabal to sell drugs, there's nothing I can do to change your mind, so please substitute "ADHD" with "inability to sustain motivation" to refrain from being triggered.
Whatever the reason, I really want to "decide" to focus on a skill, but can't. I've tried and retried hundreds of times with almost every hobby I can think of, and I can't enjoy anything for long periods. And no, I don't enjoy shitposting that much either. I feel restless constantly, it's like I constantly have that strong feeling to "go start that thing" but there's nothing in my mind that I actually want to do, I just know that I hardly ever want to be doing whatever it is I'm doing. If anyone has had this problem and overcome it to learn a skill I'd like to know how.
>>2318596
I smoke weed, that helps a bit. I can't really suggest the typical amphetamines cause those just zombify me. Other than that, don't let any distractions be available. Turn the computer off, shut your phone off, etc.
I don't think I'm lazy, I hate sitting around. I know what lazy people are like, and I'm not like them. They have no qualms with just sitting around in their underwear all day and not doing anything, or having their parents take care of them, and I just find it all disgusting. I feel restless and uncomfortable every day and it really bothers me that there's nothing I like. I do my best not to be "lazy," I have a part time job and an internship while going to school, I take extra classes, I don't do drugs, I always try to spend my free time constructively but it just feels like nothing is stimulating. I start books, start drawings, my house is full of artifacts from various hobbies I've tried to get into but nothing sticks. I go through jobs fast because I always want something different but I never spend any time not working because people who don't work disgust me. If there's some aspect of my life that I'm being "lazy" about I would like to know what it is that allows normal people to find one thing entertaining for longer than a few days.
>>2318596
You think drawing is fun? It isnt. At least it usnt if you want (crave) to git gud. It can be fun if you are casual, but thats about it.
>>2318608
If it's not fun, then why do people do it? I understand the concept of having to do things that aren't fun or interesting, like going to work or taking a shower, but why do something completely pointless if it isn't enjoyable
>>2318569
i lost interest once, then my dad slapped me on the back of the head and i got my attention back.
but on a serouis note my teacher has dyslexia and taught herself to read and right after years of effort and became a rather fantastic mathematician at confreneces and stuff, just get used to it and overcome
>>2318596
>I just feel like I can't sustain interest in things for very long
Is that what ADHD is?
I have serious attention problems and it's not from lack of interest. I have to struggle just to read books because my head won't process the words on it. I have to read a paragraph a good ten times sometimes, just to absorb it. I'm interested in what I'm reading, I'm enjoying it greatly, but my mind just blanks out at random and I have to take extra effort to do some things other people don't need any effort for at all. I always felt ADHD would be something like that, because a general lack of interest is a totally different problem than being unable to keep focus.
If focus is your problem, with some difficulty, you can power through it, so long as you're interested. That's what I have to do. I have to fight being spacey and zoned out. If lack of interest is your problem, you cannot power through it. You have to first develop interest. With no interest you aren't going to see reason to doing anything. Or am I just drawing a line between two words that people use the same way?
>>2318606
are you depressed?
>>2318613
Because they want to git gud, so they can create what they want without being limited by their lack of skill. But since you lack the skill at tje beginning, your stuff wont look like the way youd like, so youll have to do some boring grinding and thats where most of the people give up and kinda burn out, since being unable to do what you want is frustrating.
>>2318631
I can power through focusing on things just fine if I have to do them. All my schoolwork gets done and I get pretty good grades. I find that forcing myself to focus on things isn't too bad once i'm almost out of time. The fear of not finishing a project or piece of work if I only have a few hours left is enough to make me do it.
My problem is really that I don't find anything fun or meaningful for an extended amount of time, so I don't really have any hobbies or skills besides what's been required of me for school and work. ADHD isn't an inability to read or be productive, it just makes anything requiring more than an hour of effort to quickly become tedious and unenjoyable. I mean, imagine if you had to sit at a desk and arrange grains of rice to all be aligned in one direction, and had to do it for hours. The intense feeling you would get of not wanting to do it anymore is how people with ADHD feel in response to activities that normal people tend not to find painfully tedious, like reading a book or drawing a picture. It also means that doing the same thing over and over again for a couple of days is less enjoyable than it is to most people, because the interest is depleted and does not return.
It's not related to frustration caused by lacking skill; in fact I am very competitive and have never really been discouraged by making mistakes or being bad at things.
>>2318691
The scientific explanation is that the brain releases certain chemicals in response to new stimuli that make you feel interested, and as the chemicals are slowly absorbed the feeling of novelty wears off. That's why things are fun when you first start, and get boring if you do them for too long. New things are more interesting than things you did yesterday. For some reason, some people's brains are deficient in producing those chemicals, and as a result they feel like normal things take way too long or are just completely uninteresting. We call the condition ADHD but we don't know what causes it.
>>2318718
It's certainly overdiagnosed. It's an easy explanation for why little johnny doesn't give a shit about school. Obviously it's bullshit that we look for medical explanations for kids being stupid or not caring about boring stuff. But for people who have it, it severely affects every area of life and it sucks. I am 21 and was just diagnosed with it after years of being restless and scatterbrained and wondering what was wrong with me
>>2318748
I see. Thanks for explaining it all. But what I said before doesn't change. Lack of interest must be targeted before you can find reason to do anything. /ic/ can help with a lot of things, but /ic cannot give you a reason to draw. If you're seeing a doctor about this, I would assume they have a treatment plan for you to deal with this, yes? Target the problem. Cure the problem. Then do your things without being hindered by said problem.
I've suffered from extreme depression before. I could not draw while I had it, as depression removes your ability to enjoy things and see purpose behind pretty much anything. I fixed the depression, the desire to draw came back. Fix your interest problem, and then figure out what you want to do with art from there, anon. Making any sort of decision regarding potential hobbies while your feelings are working against you, is not a good idea.
>>2318569
When you doing your work, do you find that it takes you weeks to finish a work due to distractions and boredom in the process?
>>2318764
Usually takes me weeks to start
>>2318762
I guess you're right. I'm having a hard time finding a doctor that can treat me. I was going to participate in a medical study about one of the currently approved drugs but they had some administrative problems and I couldn't continue. I've been calling doctors and hospitals for months and everything is either completely booked up or they don't deal with ADHD. The only places I can find are like expensive private psychiatrists who want $2000 for the whole deal. I don't have a regular doctor; I don't go to the doctor
I'm in the same boat OP, but once I got into the habit I'd draw for 3+ hours till I got too tired. But not that I stopped because my work schedule is random It's hard to get into the habit of it again.
>>2318569
Considering ADHD is a myth, yes it is entirely possible.
Start a routine where you force yourself to focus on something everyday. Pick a time where you're guaranteed to be free to do whatever without interruption.
Start out with meditating. Read up on how to meditate properly, don't bother with any of the spiritual bullshit. Meditation is just focusing your brain, that's all it is. You practice doing that for maybe 10 minutes. Work your way up slowly to doing it longer. If you consistently work at this, eventually you'll be able to do it for an hour, two hours, maybe even longer.
Also, put down the phone, get off the internet, quit going on social media. You don't have to do it completely, but this stuff fucks with your attention span, because you get used to having all this information constantly coming at you.
It's going to be hard to fix this, but that's not an excuse to leave the problem alone. Don't get caught up in applying labels to yourself in the form of medical conditions. You'll just constantly reaffirm your belief that you are a person with this problem, and as long as you're doing that it won't go away.
Start doing the meditating. Hell, do it right now after you read this, and then decide on what time you'll do it every day. Don't say you'll do it later because you won't. Close your browser, find somewhere comfortable and quiet to sit, close your eyes, and whenever a thought comes into your mind don't follow it, let it go away. Focus on breathing and relaxing tension from your muscles.
After a while, once you've built up some patience and gotten used to getting in this state of mind, you can use it for idealization of goals, or self reflection. Take this seriously, don't just ignore because it sounds like hippy bullshit or whatever, no excuses. If you do this you will get better.
>>2318929
source?
have you done this?
does this mean I can't spend 3 hours a day frogposting anymore?
>>2318604
>OP makes post about poor motivation and focus
>suggest weed
>>2318748
Were you diagnosed by an md or a therapist/counselor/mental health professional? If the md, think about a counsellor or other relevant pd/PhD. I've known about having adhd my whole life, but lots of counseling and medication helped. I'm not on meds anymore-I didn't take well to them, but you can learn to work around the fractured focus. I like to keep several disparate projects going on at once, so when I loose focus on one, I can try jumping into another. It works ppossiblyassibly for me, at least.
>>2318966
that's a pretty good idea too.
I like that other guy's meditation thing though. I'll try to remember to do it
>>2318937
If you think there's only one kind of strain out there or that they're all the same, do some research friendo.
I'm getting Adderall in less than a month. Are you jealous OP?
>>2319015
did you go to a regular doctor? I've been calling places for months trying to find someone who will deal with me
>>2319020
I went to a psychiatrist. Most places won't see someone with ADHD because a lot of the time it's college kids trying to get on Adderall. You either have to find a quack if you have no integrity or an actually good psychiatrist that will recognize you need it. The former is harder to find, but is thankfully what I have.
>>2319024
Do psychiatrists take insurance?
>>2319032
most
>>2318929
Listen to this anon
I think it's also worth mentioning to try yoga and walking long distances while learning to meditate. They are both based off of being in the present moment, and will help dissipate the ADHD "fog" of distractions and other ego related bullshit.
Just overall improving yourself as a machine will improve your mood and up your motivation. If you want to work like a machine then take care of your machine, makes sense right?
>>2318785
>Usually takes me weeks to start
So obviously you don't have a problem to sit down and do a painting or drawing in one sitting then?
I guess I'm more retarded than you are.
>>2318937
Meh, I said it worked for me. Boring things become interesting, and thus can be focused on. I mean boring in the sense of something like drawing, or writing, something the op would get bored of quickly. I've been smoking for somewhere around 4 months now, and for a couple years before that, I'd gotten into this shell of despair that I let myself get comfortable in, whether to get used to it so it wouldn't be that miserable, or I wasn't comfortable letting myself be happy I'm not really sure. At any rate, these last few months have been more productive than the couple of years that preceded them. I've been writing more, learning how to draw, got a better paying job and am working more hours, got my permit too.
>>2319598
>meditate
Nice meme.
>>2320920
Ps. I even managed to stop biting my nails for a few weeks.. something I've not stopped doing for a single day since I was 5 years old. Breaking a thoughtless habit like that only came with the decision to "do it", a promise I'd otherwise have broken within the hour.
>>2318569
I have a serious ADHD
but I manage to draw at least 5-8 hours a day
when I draw I forget to eat
I drew 20 hours nonestop before
you are asking wait how do u have ADHD than?
shit u didn't know half of me when I am not drawing
>>2318674
>>2318608
I think drawing is fun, even with the amount of work required to get good. Sorry you lack passion. My advice would be to study things you're ACTUALLY interested in. If the reason you started doing art was to convey something from your imagination that you other wise couldn't do, then you might as well focus on trying to learn how to draw whatever it is that stimulates your imagination the most.
>>2320941
Are you medicated?
>>2318748
ADHD has nothing to do with IQ, its attentional and motivation deficits. And it is underdiagnosed, not overdiagnosed
i think so. my cousin, who got me into drawing when i was a lot younger, had adhd and was on all kinds of hard drugs. he could draw perfect figures, cartoons from imagination, and he was entirely self taught
also, there is a MAJOR lack of understanding the difference between ADD (attention DEFICIT disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit HYPERACTIVITY disorder)
>ADD
what everyone in this thread is actually describing
you engage in activity and are easily distracted , cant focus blah blah blah
>ADHD
same as above but instead of getting bored and distracted you get bored and starting running around the house screaming like a fucking lunatic and jumping on furniture uncontrollably
its real, ive had family members with it
The flipside of ADHD is that if you manage to get focused, you're super-focused. Deadlines can help with that.
>this thread
Fuck. I know these feels. All these feels
>good grades, work hard, waste my life and free time with pointless bullshit cuz i cant sit down and do anything without serious energy if it takes longer than 30 minutes
>have to have like 200mg of caffeine coursing through body to do something I actually enjoy.
I had meds before, but had to cut it for job. Never told anyone I was on it and All my friends said I seemed happier than normal as well as friendlier and more well adjusted.
Shit I think that was the year I did a 3 foot long piece via stippling. Sports and exercise as well as sleep or lots of rest really helped too.
>>2318569
"I get bored"
We all do fucktard. Keep doing it.
>>2323783
yea but when the fuck does that ever happen, its so rare for me.
>I have no motivation: the thread
I understand this, but it really isn't necessary to self-diagnose in order to describe why you cannot work up the energy to focus on your art.
>>2326354
>I have no discipline
fixed that for you
Start a few different projects and bounce between all of them when shit gets boring. Just start in again right at when you want to do art, and bounce around.
ADHD doesn't work on skill. So if your art is shit, it doesn't help. You'll never improve technique in the format.
>>2326366
This. Or just do a series of rough sketches or studies and if you eventually come across an idea you like and know you can stick with, redraw it to a more complete standard.
ADHD is certainly over diagnosed but saying it isn't real is a bit of a stretch.
Nearly every human trait is variable, a persons innate ability to pay attention is too.
>m-muh big pharma selling out and treating regular human traits
overdiagnosis doesn't mean it's not real and doesn't ruin/impair lives
that being said it can be managed or at least navigated around
>>2323764
they're the same disorder as of dsm-v (newest revision of the standard american diagnostic "bible"), and you can have one of three subtypes: inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive, and combined. i've got combined subtype, both impulsive and inattentive symptoms, strangely not much hyperactivity.
>>2323727
it's underdiagnosed in some demographic populations (my own, for instance) but overdiagnosed in others (mainly white boys).
>>2323783
i use this principle to my advantage when i try to get anything done, including drawing. personally inertia is very important. i have real trouble initiating tasks and remembering things over time, which means i have no discipline. so like others said, you have to find some way to find what you're doing interesting and also very simple, so that it becomes easy and fun and you can slide into it.
i depend on drugs to help get me into the proper state of mind. i smoke weed to slow down and appreciate detail, and i take my meds (vyvanse in this case) to help me be productive, stay ahead, and also maintain my life. both have helped me with getting (and staying) drawing.
i can't form habits out of hobbies, i get bored and then too interested, but i can switch between them in bursts, and try to apply some of the principles of one to another. it's like taking a break from a painting and then looking at it again with fresh eyes, except with the drawing process as a whole. that keeps me from getting restless and frustrated.
>>2318569
I have it myself, and you most definitely can. You're just gonna have to sit your ass down and draw for a few hours, maybe like two to start, and if you feel like your interest is waning, take a 5 minute break, but make absolutely sure it's five minutes and no more.
Most important, KEEP ALL BROWSERS CLOSED. This is a hard one, but make sure you stick to it. If you need a reference, make sure you find it quick and once you have it, get back to your drawing.
You can do it anon, I believe in you. It's not gonna be easy at first, I'd be lying if I said it took me a month to get it down, it's taken me up to an entire year. Once you get it, you feel great though.
>>2318569
b888888888888888888888
Do a research on MEDIRATION.
Then start to practice it. BE PATIENT. it takes time, but it works (transcendental meditation or mindfulnes).
I had add, social anxiety and depression for years so im talkung from first hand expirience.
Again.. Meditating process is suuuper easy but suuuper hard and boring for people with mental disorder, especially add or adhd.
Be patient.
>>2327326
I forgot to add.. DO NOT use drugs like Aderall and Ritaling. They work perfectly fine when you stsrt using them, but they will fuck you up in long term.
P.s. i see now that someone else was talking about meditation too. I totally agree with everything what he wrote. Ignore that spiritual things, just practice it as a mind training - because thats what it is.
>>2318584
>Can't even enjoy movies or games thanks to adhd
You don't know shit you idiot.
