r/SCT

10 days in and it is amazing how powerful this is! Energy, motivation, focus, multi-tasking.

No explanation to provide here. Just an anecdote.

I've been researching attention networks lately and noticed something interesting. Several of you reading this might have thought that CDS and ADHD sometimes look like the total opposites of each other, some believe it actually is the case. Well, there might be SOME truth to this claim.

Everyone knows executive dysfunction is at the heart of ADHD. Executive dysfunction is heavily interchangeable, in my opinion, with 'problems in top-down attentional processing'. Top-down refers to going from executive to operational, while bottom-up refers to going from operational to executive. In economics, top-down means going from big picture (plans, strategy) to specific details, while bottom-up means going from data and details to strategy and big picture.

In terms of attentional processing, I think the best way to describe top-down and bottom-up is top-down meaning you consciously directing your attention towards something and sustaining that attention (sending stimuli), while bottom-up means receiving stimuli and unconsciously directing your attention towards that (receiving stimuli.)

Defining top-down attentional processing that way does explain executive dysfunction more mechanically. Now, the brain network responsible for top-down attention is the Dorsal Attention Network, and expectedly, there is atypical connectivity within this region in people with ADHD.

The brain network responsible for bottom-up attention is the Ventral Attention Network. Guess what? There is atypical connectivity within this region in people with CDS (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949732924000668). You could say that ADHD is problems with top-down attentional processing, while CDS is problems with bottom-up attentional processing. Ngl this fact was kind of known in other terms. I already knew that CDS had more to do with 'attentional orientation' issues but looking at both disorders in attentional processing terms is pretty interesting. You could say that ADHD and CDS are two sides of the same coin.

Hi everyone! I have ADHD-PI along with CDS. I currently take Atomoxetine 100 mg, and it helped with some of my CDS symptoms and of course ADHD as well. However, slow processing speed and brain fogs are still a great issue for me. I think the former is a lot more frustrating for me since it takes about 4-5x longer to learn and encode new material.

I am going to be starting my DPT education this coming July; for anyone that is in the healthcare field, I am sure you all know how long and rough the education journey is. I have been working on finding studying tactics for myself; however, I do need something to speed up processing just a bit. I have done some research, and it seems creatine has some good reviews.

What do ya all think of it and what has it done for you in terms of brain fogs and processing speed? Do you find yourself getting through tasks quicker after being on creatine?

I am unsure how much longer I should try out strattera for, no improvements in wakefulness, still struggling hugely with slow processing and lack of attention to detail. Any help in what to do next would be greatly appreciated

Also for those who stopped taking it did you go cold turkey?

What aspects of driving cause you the most problems?

Zoning out?

Slow reaction time?

Distractions? Can you handle other people being in the car talking (especially talking to you)?

Driving too slow?

Driving too fast?

Others?

How "pure SCT" are you?

Did someone find a solution for this. My brain never stop, i’ll have a scenario running for 10h straight, nothing stressfull, but i cant find a way to stop this shi…

Thats kind of ironic, i sleep with a CPAP and i’ve try practically everything to solve the constant tirednes, but when it come to sleep, my brain cannot give a break neither.

and yeah i’ve tried meditating and breathing exercises

Okay so I have been diagnosed with inattentive type ADHD one year ago, though I have self-diagnosed myself for 2 year and half now. For all my life, work has only been achievable through pressure and stress, I naturally have no drive nor energy to get to the end of a project.

So when I learned there was a treatment available I thought it was amazing, that finally I wouldn't to resort to pain and cold sweat to get through the work, that excitement could replace stress.

Where I come from Vyvanse is difficult to get and methylphenidate is the be all end all of ADHD treatment. I was hoping it could help... Only to see it resorted to the same technique I was already using, only this time chemically induced : stress. Yes I was doing work but only because I was stressed out on it.

The weirdest thing was that it felt almost exactly like caffeine, the same sweat, the same jitteriness, the same "motivation" coming from heightened anxiety.

I see Straterra being mentionned in here and I wanted to know if I could hope to get more energy out of it, or if the noradrenalin basis of the medication imply it will be the same as caffeine or methylphenidate : get productive because you're scared.

I suppose that the ideal state is the opposite of its symptoms.
That is, to be cognitively engaged with reality.

So, if we look at it that way, and ask what we should strive for, we could say there are two things we should avoid:

• not being cognitively engaged
• being cognitively engaged with fantasy

An example of the first is blanking out.

Examples of the second are rumination and daydreaming. In both cases, I believe, from my own experience, there is some kind of fantasy content that we engage with as if it were real.

For example, you imagine having a discussion with the person whom you believe is the cause of your despair, telling them this or that. Meanwhile, you are sitting there dazed, with your laptop open and Excel open in front of you.

Or you are mentally absorbed in imagined scenarios, emotionally reacting to them as if they were actually happening, while in reality you are standing in the kitchen waiting for the vegetables to cook.

So the point is that, although I am not trying to propose a complete solution, I think it is important to have a goal, a direction to strive toward. And perhaps that goal could be realism: the principle of cognitively engaging with reality.

Therefore, the aim would be to become a realist. And when that begins to happen, or even while we are engaged in the never ending process of achieving it, we should take pride in it. We should also build self esteem on the fact that we are doing everything we can, with what depends on us, to achieve it.

Isn't CDS severely underlooked? Besides low-functioning autism, couldn't we say it's worse than ADHD and Asperger's? Russell Barkley says ADHD is worse than CDS, however, I know multiple
people who may have ADHD and it's almost like it helps them in this modern and dynamic world. The case with Asperger's - as far as I know, they don't have slow thinking like us and they have niche interests in which they become exceptional.
It's so fvcking unfair living with this sh1t, and it really makes you realize how fvcked up this world is. Some are born cognitively and physically well and they thrive in life, we are born to suffer and watch other people's success, while being unable to do much, besides trying to find the proper medicine for our condition.

For years I have been trying to understand what is wrong with me. Despite being gifted (will mention a little later also), I have somehow weak and lazy brain, it is extremely difficult for me to force my brain to think. It is so lazy it automatically shuts down when reading things and etc, looking for instant ready answers and not thinking by itself. Even if I try to force myself to think it would be extremely difficult process, slow disorganized way of thoughts rambling all over and brain suffering every second trying to surrender and just stop. I do not know how my brain is so weak.

I have mind fog, extreme memory problems forgetting things intantly, my memory just clearing itself and many common symptoms people write. But I think I have more, somehow brain having low stamina or idk.

It is like I can only do and understand simple things, not difficult ones. I can never ever think of something clever, an idea to beat someone. Am I mentally retarded or what. Just what is it. What is wrong with my brain. Games, movies, scenarios, everything seems so complex for my brain which people get instantly and I could only understand if I pause and force my brain to somehow logically think for several minutes but it is extremely draining and terrible process. I have been like this for years. Do I have early Alzheimers/Dementia? I am in my 20s. It would be so early. What the hell is this. I also had a theory of my brain having some mutations from complex trauma and unhealthy environment and becoming this weak not being able to do anything

One remark I also have is that I am extremelly gifted and dumb at the same time. Let me explain. Spontaneously I have no wit, my brain just shutting down and so weak to do anything. Every quick thinking is so much burden brain just can not handle. No one is like that. But if I think for a long period of time I can think wonders. I have been gifted from childhood, enormous mathematical capabilities. But as trauma increased and untreated brain disorder, attention and memory problems, everything became terrible. I usually have lack of ideas, can not think of something and that became much much worse.

When I have to think it is an extreme burden for my brain. Even if I do, I noticed that it is somehow abnormally slow. What I mean is I observed I need 5 minutes for 30 second chess puzzle. I do not know why. I just look at the board and until I understand things and until any correct idea comes to my mind lots of time passes. No one I know or over the internet seen by me is like that. I do not know the reason. In games I always play 30 minutes and even that time is not enough. I constantly run out of time. My opponents need 5-10 seconds for each move and make much more clever ones whereas I need 3-10 minutes to somehow sink the board and calculations in my brain and do something but what I noticed is I am so mentally retarded I never have any strategy or clever idea or anything, I just play. Mostly I lose because of my time running out. If I try to get even a little quicker I blunder instantly. Just what is wrong with me I do not know

I do not think in childhood my brain was like that. I could play chess, did extremely well at neuropsychological test when I was 6, doctor said I had a mind of 14 year old or something, I looked at photos and could think of things. But as I grew older I developed thinking trauma. Then avoided every game and mental activity for years. And made my brain dead.

I have always feared iq tests when I grew up. I watched at questions and did not come up with anything at all and the thinking process was a terrible burden for my brain. I got huge anxiety and everything.

This brain dysfunction interferes with my whole life. I am so mentally retarded I can not do anything. My brain is so dysfunctional any entertainment or activity is impossible. I suffer so so much I had enough now, I just want to know what is wrong with me.

Is anyone like that? I genuinely have this question because I have not found anyone talking about this specific topic. Does this issue exist and does it have a name, what is it I want to know what's wrong with me. Do I have Alzheimers or brain mutations or just my brain is like that. Is it curable

Hi, I’m Erik. I likely have SCT/CDS (no formal diagnosis yet).

Since childhood I’ve had constant brain fog, severe distractibility, and poor working memory. It often feels like thoughts and information don’t fully “stick.” I also mix up words when speaking, which is frustrating and makes communication difficult.

In conversations, I struggle to stay mentally present unless I actively drive the interaction, which sometimes makes me seem cold or distant.

From what I’ve read, information about SCT/CDS and treatment outcomes seems very mixed.

My question:

For those with experience — have you actually found anything that significantly improves this, or is it still mostly experimental/uncertain in practice?

Thanks for any honest answers.

On this reddit sub and on discord some people reported they significantly reduced their sct symptoms by using the anti-depressive "nortriptyline"

Brand names include "Allegron, Aventyl, Noritren, Norpress, Nortrilen, Norventyl, Norzepine, Pamelor, and Sensival,..."

So is here anyone who took it too and can report us about his experience?

So please comment if you tried Nortriptyline.

(Please also comment if it didn't help you)

I found out about SCT recently, and I have to say I have all the symptoms (mindfulness, mental fog, introspective thinking, poor memory, mental and physical slowness, etc.) and I was never able to live my life to the fullest, however, a new thought regarding it came to mind and I'd be grateful if whoever's reading this could be honest and respond to me in that manner.

For the longest time I though I cared for other people and I was always on point regarding relationships, but I figured this all came from my intuition/intelligence, rather than real empathy. I don't care for sh1t what happens to any of my relatives or family. I don't feel real emotion for anybody, except for my own self. Only if I'm hurt I would be emotional.
Everything I do comes from my ego. I know that's terrible and I don't want me to be that way.
My questions to the people in the subreddit would be - do you feel the same way?
Could the introspective thinking, which I/we had for the longest be the reason for this?
Do you feel like you're more important than anything you do? Could that be a big reason why we don't do well in the present at most things?

Are we narcissists, or is it just my problem? Please be honest.

Moving up in your career is already hard, and CDS just makes it even tougher. I feel like I’m fairly accomplished in my field - won a fair number of awards, and done some work I’m proud of. But I feel like I keep hitting a ceiling where I’ve never been able to advance past senior-level doer/maker and into management.

I’m curious to hear how well you all are doing in this regard - what struggles have you encountered, and how have you managed to overcome or work around them?

I was prescribed Strattera recently but the side effects are awful, my resting BPM is normally around 70-90 but on Strattera it's above 120, I can feel it pounding in my chest all day. I want to give this med a good try because it can help with SCT but with these side effects it feels impossible. What should I do?

I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD when I was 8 and was ripped off the medication after because of my bing eating and talking to much.Of course I was really young and had a step mom who probably had no idea what she was really doing BUT,I am now 25(m) and last night I took my first dose of strattera 40mg to help with nausea and take away the daytime sedation.But let me tell you alllll night I was tossing and turning because I was having the urge to vomit , stomach was aching and was just feeling sick.I do struggle with Alexithymia and identifying certain symptoms so that is why I am here so others can help hopefully with their experience and I can hope to say I either feel like this or I feel like that or I don’t feel like that or that either if any of that even makes sense. I’m hoping to just start feeling normal. I also just got diagnosed with bipolar, but I’m taking one medication at a time. I would really appreciate any advice or any suggestion suggestions.

I’ve taken strattera and it gave me this weird mental rush like water rapids and static had a baby

I’ve taken Wellbutrin idk it’s on and off for me on this one I was taking it for adhd but since it wasn’t helping my executive dysfunction and productivity I stopped

I’ve taken adderall it genuinely did nothing for me

I’ve taken Ritalin/Concerta Ritalin only worked as well as caffeine on days my brain wasn’t tired and concerta worked everyday but the comedown was VERY BAD

Im on focalin and this is where I realized I may have both SCT and ADHD I’ve noticed sometimes my brain has this weird block where I’m tired but not really like I’m awake but fogged and my stimulants don’t touch it and neither does caffeine and no matter what I do or take (supplements) it won’t go away nothing works

I’m assuming that for some odd reason my brain won’t wake up somewhere in there because pristq helped but the emotional blunting cancelled it out

What do I do 🥲