Can't stop what I'm doing even if I want to. Is this hyperfocus?

[roy]

.

 

[Progster]

I do this too, though I'm not formally diagnosed with ADHD. Yes, I think it's a difficulty switching tasks - being able to stop doing one thing in order to do something else - in my case, even go to the toilet.

When I'm hyperfocusing, I tend to forget about everything else, I'm not really aware of time or anything else around me, so I don't think it's that.

 

[Progster]

do you suspect you might have ADHD? @Progster

Not sure. I do have some traits, but I'm not sure whether these warrent a full ADHD diagnosis, or whether these are just part of the Asperger's package - there is some overlap between the two conditions and people with Asperger's often do have ADHD traits as well.

 

[Illumination]

I experience this as well, but rather it's only "hyper-focus" on things that I am actually interested in (Special Interests usually), to the point that I won't stop watching/reading/doing something even if I am very hungry, or need to use the bathroom very badly. -- I would link my experience with this to Autism, not ADHD (As I do not have ADHD as a comorbid condition from my knowledge).

 

[Sabrina]

I just realized this... Basically, I've been reading threads on this website, stimming while doing so. But I've also been wanting to get up and do something else. But I wasn't getting up.
So this is a problem with stopping doing what you're doing even when you want to stop.
Is this hyperfocusing?
How can one be sure if this is more related to ADHD than HFA or vice versa?

I think it is hyperfocusing. It’s a two way sword, be grateful that you have it, and also be careful about skipping meals too often, holding pee for too long, etc.

 

[Ezra]

This happens to me a lot. I think for me it is hyperfocus.

 

[Bella Pines]

Yeah I think this is hyperfocus. There's a lot of different definitions of it but I don't think any of them really do it justice.

Hyperfocus is an intense form of mental concentration or visualization that focuses consciousness on a subject, topic, or task. In some individuals, various subjects or topics may also include daydreams, concepts, fiction, the imagination, and other objects of the mind. Hyperfocus on a certain subject can cause side-tracking away from assigned or important tasks ... an inability or impairment in switching tasks or activities.

I think for me, it's about shutting out the world to focus on one or more things. My hyperfocus doesn't always mean one thing, I might flick between a forum, randomly reading things, learning about something, graphics, even with the TV on. But the outside world is blocked out and can change without me noticing. If I'm on the train I'll look up to find that the people in the carriage have completely changed. I can hyperfocus when moving and it makes commuting easier. I like to settle down to focus for many hours, I'll get a laptop and a cup of tea and hate to be interrupted. Also it's black and white, I am either doing my thing or not, there's no balance. It also takes me a while to get in the zone, and to come out of it again.

 

[the_tortoise]

Hyperfocusing occurs in both ADHD and ASD, and I'm pretty sure it's exactly the same phenomenon regardless of the diagnostic label.

Maybe look up "set shifting" and "autistic inertia" and see what you think.

 

[clg114]

I have been lucky enough to spend my working career with my special interest, machinery. Back in my younger days I would get so focused on what I was doing that I forget to eat or even stop working when it was time to go home. I saw it has having fun and getting paid for it. These days my poor old body will not let me work to long, but I sill lose track of time until that happens.

 

[Pats]

Definitely hyperfocus. I've never been diagnosed with ADHD - to me the hyperfocus would be contrary to the title - attention deficit. Right? I don't know. I start doing something - or nothing - and don't want to be interrupted and if I am my insides go crazy. In the evening I start playing my games and I don't want to stop to go to the bathroom, get something to drink or eat, take a shower or go to bed. And that's just the norm. But sometimes when I start doing research on something that really interests me I go days in this hyperfocus mode that I wake up immediately going back to my research and forget to eat. My mind is on one thing and one thing only until I'm completely satisfied that I've got it all. And I have notebooks galore with lists and information written on these subjects.

 

[the_tortoise]

I've never been diagnosed with ADHD - to me the hyperfocus would be contrary to the title - attention deficit. Right?

It may be contrary to the label but labels rarely offer a full and completely accurate description of complex neurodevelopmental conditions....hyperfocus is a common thing for people with ADHD.

I was diagnosed with severe ADHD before I was diagnosed with autism (now I'm diagnosed with both).

At least for myself, I suspect hyperfocus and complete lack of focus are two manifestations of a central difficulty with regulating attention; Whether I can't stop paying attention to something or can't keep my attention on anything, I'm having problems directing my attention and regulating how much attention I give things.

 

[AO1501]

Oddly enough, as much as I too hyperfocus, I'd not really ever recognised it as such, and didn't know there was a name for it until this thread.

I have always tended to what I thought of as a heavy absorption into things I was doing, and 'autistic inertia' as described in a previous post is very recognisable to me. That it might not be easy to get moving on something, but once started, I've always found it hard to stop again. It has been such a distinct part of how I function, that this is actually the primary reason my employer wanted me to see a psychologist, because it was apparent to them that if I was engaged in something, it was sometimes almost impossible to get me to stop and change direction in order to deal with something that might actually be more immediately pressing.

Ironically, it was barely of interest to the psychologist once we were talking, because he was far more curious about other aspects of my behaviours and experiences. As a result, I'd not quantified the issue, or really even thought it was an issue.

In practice, when starting a task I will set parameters which define how I will know I have completed it, and then focus pretty much totally on reaching the completion. I've been told that I usually don't answer the phone, reply to emails, or even acknowledge people who come into my office - which I can believe since I have no recollection of the phone ever ringing, of emails arriving, or people coming to see me while I'm focused.

At home until recently I have no idea what my hyperfocus was like because there was nobody else there to notice, or for me to be concerned with. Looking back, I tended to spend hours working on tasks, often missing meals and usually not taking breaks, sometimes working right through the night and into the next day.

It used to feel really good to work that way, but now I'm not so sure!

 

[Pats]

It may be contrary to the label but labels rarely offer a full and completely accurate description of complex neurodevelopmental conditions....hyperfocus is a common thing for people with ADHD.

I was diagnosed with severe ADHD before I was diagnosed with autism (now I'm diagnosed with both).

At least for myself, I suspect hyperfocus and complete lack of focus are two manifestations of a central difficulty with regulating attention; Whether I can't stop paying attention to something or can't keep my attention on anything, I'm having problems directing my attention and regulating how much attention I give things.

See, I didn't know that. Thanks for educating me on this. When one of my daughter's friend's mother kept insisting that my daughter probably was ADHD I just said that's impossible because she could sit for hours and play barbies. I got that wrong, didn't I? By the way, she probably is on the spectrum and she's okay with that and maybe she does have ADHD too.

 

[Peter Morrison]

I have a trick that might help you. My OCD can trap me without my knowing. Only later do I realize that I spent too much time hyper-focusing on something to the detriment of my other interests and responsibilities. I am a rule follower by nature, so this works for me. I set an alarm and promise that I will stop when the alarm goes off. Not only is it a timer, but it signals a necessary shift in activity. I think it works well because I make the promise to "stop" when I hear the alarm. I don't allow myself to renegotiate the rules after the alarm goes off. I am too ashamed not to keep my promise. And, in the end, I am the one who benefits.

 

[Alan tm]

I normally used to work on my projects till I became ill .
Even when complete I wouldn't get much sense of completing.

This last year I had my normal life crashed by other events so that stopped.
I'd still over do things but I never thought it was possible to stop .

Situations have changed again and now I'm back to freedom to do things.

It's how long before I go right back to work till I'm ill

 

[2205]

This is interesting to read that most people totally become unaware of the environment while hyper focused. For me it’s like I am totally aware of time, phone ringing, people coming, getting hungry, etc, but I keep ignoring these things because “I need to finish my task”. And the task is not even some special interest related, it might be anything.

For example, I’m always late, because although I am fully aware of what time it is and that I’m going to be late if I don’t start going now, I still can’t stop what I’m doing, for example, writing a pointless forum post while I should be going to work already.

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t aware of my surroundings, so I wouldn’t feel so guilty.