Hyperfocus vs. Perseverance?

[Geoduck]

So is hyperfocus really perseverance, or is it possible to have both, or varying degrees of either or both? This guy (Russell Barkley) has been getting a lot of publicity on these forums, lately. I’m trying to decide whether I like him or not. I think he’s like most experts, he’s human and right on some things, wrong on others. He’s the same guy who says there are no benefits to ADD, (and he has a point, some good things about us are just good things and talents and would be there with or without ADD, but I like to think there are some benefits).

He has a good point here, too. I’ve noticed that I have a problem switching gears. Doesn’t matter what. The reason it takes me forever to clean the house is because I can’t just clean one room and forget the rest. Once I get in a mode, it’s gonna be all of them (not that I have a million or anything). I can’t easily switch gears and do something else. Same thing with the computer, same thing with just about anything except exercise, where there is a set routine, or a set path to travel (such as a bike route), although I’m always tempted to go further or do more, unless I’m plum worn out.

Here’s the video. Interest in what you guys think: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfkg0VWx3rM&gt;

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[Anonymous]

Don’t have time to watch the video right now but I will check it out later, honest I will. My first response to your question about hyperfocus and perseverance is I believe I have both. I will think about it more in detail, then I will watch video and then I will get back. Thanks for the provocative topic. ( since I have been on these forums my spelling has gone to crap, maybe it is because I get so excited and I have always been able to think quickly, certainly quicker than I can type and often more quickly than I can speak) My thoughts can more so fast that i often have folks say” and how did you get there?) I digress….

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[Anonymous]

I can only speak from personal experience – I think there’s a time when “stubbornness” takes over and then the hyperfocus is no longer a good thing. I think it’s related to the impulsiveness and impatience. We’re trying so hard to “wrap this thing up” that we’re no longer taking proper care in what we’re doing – we just know that it’s not done yet and we really, really need to have it finished before we can move on. It doesn’t matter if there’s an impending deadline, bedtime or whatever – we have a need to see that thing done!

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[Anonymous]

Wow, just watched the Barclay video. I think he is a scary person. Very black and white and extremely bleak and negative. I felt myself getting angry. I did leave a post, but I wanted to say so much more. Talk about scarring the beegeebees out of parents! Hopefully they don’t all go out and have their children sterilized! Wow…he also referred to the “disorder” and brain impairment. He is someone I would like to argue with. I am not questioning the veracity of many of the statements with regard to behaviors etc, but to say unless you discovered it early in childhood ( which I did not) and get treatment, you are essentially doomed for a horrible life. I learned I had ADHD when in a CHADD group for parents when my son was three yrs old. Within 20 minutes, my ex and I looked at each other, and realized everything they were describing was me.

I have worked hard all my life to get educated and be independent. In those regards I have been most successful. Picking the right spouse I have not done so well. I am always learning….sure glad my folks, who I believe both had ADHD, didn’t just put me away and throw away the key. That guy really got me riled up!

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[Tiddler]

I really like what Barclay is saying. It makes sense to me and it is helping me get rid of the baggage I’ve been carrying around. I feel like he is saying, ‘This is not your fault. This is a brain problem’. That’s all.

I don’t really understand what perseveration means though. Is it about persevering? To persevere at a difficult task is surely a good thing? Is it about severing? To be disjointed from the rest of what is going on? Is it about persevering when one should have stopped and moved on to something else?

I can focus on things I’m really interested in – but it doesn’t happen when I want it to – sometimes it just does and sometimes it just doesn’t. At the moment, I have several other things I should be focusing on but I’m researching ADHD every chance I get, at the cost of everything else I should be doing.

Is that perseverance? If so, what does it mean exactly? Is it hyperfocus? What’s the difference####/

The accent confuses me though – persevere here is pronounced per-si-veer, with the stress on the first and last syllables. He says perSEVERance, which sounds more like the emphasis is on severing. I’m confused and probably obsessing slightly!

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[Anonymous]

Actually I wasn’t clear on that either. I had the same questions. It could be that I totally mis-read what he was saying. He did seem quite stern however, did not come across as there being a up side to it all. Again, I may have heard what I wanted to hear….need to think about it more. Thanks for your feedback.

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[Anonymous]

I’m falling more and more out of the Barkely camp. I know that I sometimes continue to do something more than is healthy–video games, television and things like that. I know that I should go, but I say “just five more minutes,” and 3 hours later, I’m tired and will only get 3 hours sleep that night. It’s a negative feeling, I feel like I’m swimming in quicksand and just can’t get where I need to go.

But I don’t call that my hyperfocus. My hyperfocus is when I’m learning something and engaged in a pursuit and will not give it up until I’m done. It’s a positive, euphoric state and I am objectively productive when doing it. Maybe it’s the other side of the same coin, or maybe I’m autistic, but there’s a difference. And this video makes me want to punch him in the head. Repeatedly. Until I miss the bus.

And @Tiddler, I think he was talking about perseveration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseveration) not perseverance.

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[Anonymous]

Swimming in quicksand? I’m there right now. I cannot do anything!!

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[Bill]

My experience is that perseverance and hyperfocus are not the same thing. When I know I’m going to be distracted about a task and I decide I’m going to get it done anyway, that’s perseverance. When that burst of energy comes, everything else drops away and I can see my way clear to the successful completion of what I’m working on, that’s hyperfocus.

For me, hyperfocus is not about doing something I love. It actually has a different feel. If I have a deadline looming, I can hyperfocus on a task I don’t even like.

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[Anonymous]

@Bill completely agree. I said the same thing, only angrily.

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly past.” -Douglas Adams

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[Anonymous]

Ok, I am getting some clarity here. Lab science is my passion, and when I am performing in the lab I am hyperfocused, detail oriented and if I may say excellent. When I was pursuing my education, I struggled, did receive a scholarship, but I was extremely determined and succeeded.

If I know I have to do wash, vacumn or other household chores, and I should happen to venture out to my garden, I am gone….. Having survived an acramonious divorce, with a wierdo joint custody, week on week off, my youngest son once said to me, “Mom, if you really want to spend time with us, why are you in the garden all day?”. Wow, that hurt, but was so true…

Not sure if I stated it on this forum but my spelling has gone to hell in a handbaskit, sorry…

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[Anonymous]

Pete-P, thanks for the belly laugh!

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[Bibliophile]

I realize that I am going to be in the minority on this one, but I tend to agree with Barkley’s equation of hyperfocus with perseveration. The reason is that it happens on stuff that I want to do and staff that I don’t. There is a loss of control whereby other things are ignored to the exclusion of what I am doing. It might be finishing something at work, doing an activity, or even working out a problem. It can not be consciously activated and it is very hard to get out of. It is like a car that is stuck in the mud, spinning its wheels, that sometimes requires external assistance to move on to the next thing. It is more than getting in the zone to do a task. It is more like getting in the zone and not realizing the zone has moved on hours ago.

How many of us know a task is finished but keep working on it anyway?

The euphoria of doing an activity that is stimulating and continuing with it (until I get bored and move on to the next thing) is related a little to the perseverance in that I will waste time I should have been doing other things in pursuing the activity of interest, but it also has to do with the euphoria that the activity triggers in my brain. I am addicted to the endorphin rush as are many ADHD people. Again, the euphoria cannot be triggered at will as an external stimulus most often must be found. With the euphoria, there is a time factor too as any task taking too long will expire patience and then interest.

Why do people here take it so personally when an “expert” says the average outcome of extreme ADHD is negative. If their outcome was not negative, they are an outlier and should rejoice, no? This is a spectrum disorder people.

No offence, but I don’t think a violent reaction to the video is a very appropriate response. It certainly is an ADHD one though.

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[Anonymous]

Geoduck, I have the same problem, and my husband cringes when I start to clean just one little area of the house, because he knows I’ll keep going and going. I do this pattern with a lot of things, I go to do one little thing and can find a task to do for hours.

For some reason I am not attracted to video games but I can play them for hours if I start. I do have trouble stopping what I’m doing to go somewhere, and I do have issues with recognizing time (how long it takes to do things), but I have learned that when I need to go somewhere, I have to stay OFF the computer. It’s my worst habit.

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[Anonymous]

to me, hyperfocus is when I am doing something and just cannot stop to the detriment of sleep, other activities, social life etc. When i get like this, it is hard to break away to even use the bathroom or eat. I’m not so bad that I miss school deadlines, work, or cancel already set plans.. although..it does make me late, unprepared, sleep-deprived, or prevents me from making plans with people. usually has to do with the computer.

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[Author]

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