Jordan Peterson Advice on ADHD | UBC Talk

The UBC Free Speech Club had the honour of hosting Dr. Jordan B. Peterson on November 3rd, 2017.

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The UBC Free Speech Club is nonpartisan and committed to cultivating an open dialogue on campus, where arguments are made with wit and reason rather than rhetoric and personal attack. We cherish a diversity of opinions and seek to promote an open debate stage, where political correctness no longer holds sway.

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[gordonhall]

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 57. Listening to Dr Peterson talk about ADHD is like listening to me talking about baking a cake. I have been present when my wife has baked many cakes but to me an expert would be stretching the truth somewhat.
If you wish to educated then take the time to listen to Dr Russell Berkeley, he knows what he is talking about.

[MrLuigiFercotti]

My ADD was not diagnosed when I was a child, and I only sought help for it later in life. I was the classic "smart" kid who didn't get very good grades, was often inattentive in class (or clowning), and an expert procrastinator.
I totally agree that the medication does nothing for cognitive ability. However, my subsequent experience with stimulants allowed me to get shit done like nobody's business. And let's face it, that is 90% of the battle in school and your professional life.
School and work demands organization and production, lots of it. The opportunity to use you creativity, imagination and skill (which absorbs you totally and attention is not an issue) is generally not required much, even if your job requires it. Most of the time, work and school is effing rote and boring.

[DonnHowes]

I suffered severe anxiety and mental disorder 23 years ago as a teenage, got diagnosed with ADHD. Spent my whole life fighting ADHD. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.

[zensleep]

As someone with ADHD, I think he completely underestimates the amount of problems this can cause for someone. Procrastination, lack of focus, and impulsivity are not only issues that are hard for school or work environments, but also for our closest relationships and our self-esteem. The amount of criticism we have to endure throughout life is overwhelming. There’s no way someone with ADHD can access their full potential in life. Even the diagnosis itself helps us understand and free ourselves from our own shame. Additionally, it has been proven that our lack of dopamine leads to a lack of motivation in life. So are we just supposed to live with that?

[BigAcapella]

I struggled to be a B student. I was always extremely intelligent. Medicated and diagnosed with adhd at the age of 30. It's like I'm now the man I always knew I could be. If I had caught this earlier in life I probably would have been a doctor/lawyer. Regardless, I'm thankful to have a new power and focus in life.

[GrimFowler]

My grandmother is 70 and based on stories from her and others in her life, and being her live in caregiver, she definitely has add. I cannot even imagine how successful she could be had she gotten help early on. And now mental decline is starting. It breaks my heart how much of a joke mental health is made out to be in America.

[jamesemerson]

I was diagnosed at 31. I have suffered severe anxiety and depression my entire life and as an adult I have gone through several addictions that I have essentially imposed on myself because of what I would describe as severe boredom, constant procrastination, anxiety and lack of stimulation. Nothing made me excited anymore. I didn't really get pleasure out of anything. The only thing that calmed me down enough to enjoy playing music which is what I do, was illegal marijuana, which also caused tremendous anxiety and made me totally disorganised. I am now on ritalin and it's absolutely changed my life. I basically don't know what boredom is anymore, and I look forward to the little things in my day now. I can be in the moment and actually enjoy doing things that before, I was totally unable to do due to severe, crippling procrastination and anxiety. My confidence and ability to confront difficult situations and stand my ground appropriately when needed has improved tremendously. I have given up alcohol, cigarretes and marjiuana and no longer binge eat. I am working about 20 hours more than I was before during the week. I am on the lowest dose of my medication. My anxiety was essentially obliterated once I went on a stimulant. Oh and my sleep is WAY better. I have never slept so well in my life. It's absolutely changed my life. Sure, ADHD is overdiagnosed but for people who have it, true ADHD it can contribute negatively in your life to have devastating effects. I feel deeply for those who have suffered awful addictions, depression and anxiety, and have been told they're stupid all of their lives who could be helped enormously with medication.

[machobunny]

It would have been nice if the video ran long enough for him to answer the question. This kind of editing causes my CPOD to kick in, Chronic Pissed Off Disorder.

[shmattice]

Just wanted to say dr Jordan Peterson has changed my life and I’m only 16 been threw so much in my life but as many people say I started changing small habits like studying and righting neater and getting up early, reading books in the Morning, telling my self I can instead of I can’t. I also suffer with a multitude of disorders and let me just say this man has helped me Thankyou dr Jordan Peterson

[howardmoon]

For what it’s worth, my brother has severe ADHD and it was obvious from a very young age. When unmedicated (and this was also true pre medicated) he could not maintain his attention on anything for longer than around 45 seconds- even on the things he is interested in, which is atypical of a lot of people who get the diagnosis. You cannot hold a conversation of any kind with him that does not involve a direct order (which he will often forget in the process of executing). He loves video games but outside of platformers that switch the present task at regular intervals, he is terrible at them because he cannot maintain thoughts on what he is doing. He has days where he eats almost nothing, and days where he eats utterly excessively because he cannot create a routine.

Compare all of that to when he is on medication (it is Concerta for him, which is Ritalin squared). He is able to hold down a steady job, meaningful relationships, and is a good guy to be around. Medication has saved him from a life of overstimulated confection where he cannot do anything but forget what he was just doing.

[FrankD-fobe]

I worked with someone who was a marginal employee in terms of productivity and in grasping new problems. He got married for the second time years later and his new wife sent him to a doctor who put him on medication in a few months he became a star employee. He got promoted and became known for his grasp of municipal law and codes.

[mrchams]

I admire Dr Peterson however I feel he didn’t answer the question which I thought was excellent

[sweetdaddydong]

I feel like the title of this video is misleading. He answered the first part of the question, yes its over diagnosed. But there was no tangible advice on how to deal with ADHD. It was a smart choice because its super complicated, not all strategies work for everyone the same way and ADHD isn't his particular area of expertise. It was very strategic and smart of him not to offer advice on this subject in this particular speaking format. You can see how carefully he was trying to choose his words. Very smart man. The point about the professor dealing with the problem is a nice idea but in practice is probably not practical given first year university class sizes.

[yulsbrumbeck]

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 41 years old it might be over-diagnosed in men but it's definitely under-diagnosed in women, I have struggled my entire life for everything, from the most basic of tasks to socializing, to studying, working... Just everything has been an uphill battle after another, without an explanation, but a lot of criticizing from people around me I've been called lazy, clumsy, a total disaster, uninterested, a weirdo, too intense, too sensitive, crazy, messy or a total mess...and many other things, I've been bullied, not only by my peers but by teachers, and other adults that were supposed to protect me... And now that I'm finally diagnosed there is a sense of relief accompanied by a sense of Lost and grief... Realizing all of the things that I could have done, all of things that I've lost if I had only gotten an early diagnosis, I was always always like this except for when I was a child I wasn't hyperactive, I am now though, it has gotten so bad that I'm not even able to work at this moment, I'm just started medication but I can't yet say if it works or not if it's going to change my life or not cuz it's a very low dose still and I can't feel anyting, but if it works believe me the side effects are well worth it to have some kind of a life... To give my daughter I better mom!!

[-The-Stranger-]

I can respect that about the guy. If he doesn't know the answer, or doesn't have the ability to get into it, he'll just say so.

[SpicyTexan]

I wasn't diagnosed with ADD until I was 38. I believe it played a huge role in my divorce. Medication changed my life.

[chesterg.]

I went to private school and was going to be held back in fourth grade because I could not focus or sit still in the class room. I took Concerta, my grades went from below a 2.0 gpa to a 3.5 the next semester. I also had to take speach therapy for stuttering. My stuttering went away completely the first week of being on Concerta. My teacher thought it was a miracle from God lol

[lography]

My adhd was basically ruining my life. I have those temperaments that Jordan described, but alone I could not stop pulling my beard hair out and I had a severe tick when I was a kid (full blown Tourette's for a while and it was made worse on Ritalin and Dexedrine). As a 29 year old now, I was able to get a prescription for Vyvanse and my life is going a LOT better now. There's a bit of a stigma that adhd doesn't exist or that medication can't help, but I have no side effects (besides loss of appetite, but it's used for binge eating disorder, which is good because I overeat anyways, likely due to this). Also I have trouble sleeping some nights but I always have, and this is technically after the medication should have worn off anyways. I'm a teacher and I see ADHD symptoms in many students and what likely is actual ADHD in maybe 4% of students (1 per class of 25). Which I just googled after writing that and is dead one with the average. Perhaps it's over diagnose or prescribe, since the number is higher in children and lower in adults. But as I have moved into adulthood I can tell you that adhd is real and it's not something that goes away. Medication can help to manage it. For me it's like having many radios playing at once, and the medication technically turns one up louder than all the other so you can focus on that one (I think anyways). But the effect I feel, is like they all shut off, and I just hear the one, quietly. I am actually able to read books, plan out my semesters, not lose things 24/7, write a checklist and sequentially get it done and not scatterbrain my way through 20% of 5 different things. What's most important, is that my medication has made me feel normal enough that I notice when things should simply be done: brushing my teeth, putting dishes away, making the bed as well as getting more exercise, eating when im actually hungry, using checklists, actually listening to people talk and not getting lost in my thoughts and having to guess at what they said. It's helping me to develop the habits necessary to ameliorate the symptoms of my adhd, so it's a bit of a catch 22. But for me, ultimately it's nothing short of a miracle.

[geneconnell]

I really don't feel like he answered the question, the guy was asking for advice of how to deal with a problem, not exploitation of well-known corruption in universities.

[benf]

You don't have ADHD, your problem is these things:
*goes on to articulate symptoms of ADHD*