Addiction to multitasking/stimulation - Do YOU have it?

Post Reply New Topic

I find myself struggling to read a book without music in the background, or play guitar while not having a song in the background or watching tv. Its almost like.. Withdrawl symptoms. Then ive realised - maybe im addicted to multitasking/stimulation?

My body actually needs the high stimulation that is gained through music, video games, or any other "noisy stimulation". Maybe being exposed to computer and tv monitors since birth created a dependency on constant high level stimulation? Maybe the ADD/ADHD just gives a boost to this addiction cocktail?

What do you think? I mean, the whole application/computer/internet ADD multitasking fest has begun in the last decade. Maybe after 20 years we will start seeing grown ups with heavy dependecy on constant stimulation like dependency on alcohol or drugs.

And if such "stimulation addiction" exists, do you, as asipes/adhd/add think you're more immune to it(because of your autism) or you're more vulnerable to it(because of your autism)?

I find my self having a hard time to concentrate on one thing,. I need to be doing something as I watch TV and when I am reading something online, I end up wanting to do something else so I end up with other tabs open and I do want to read those but can't get my mind to it. But yet I can work fine without any music. That is because I am moving around. If I sit still, I get tired so I need movement and I used to fall asleep in class because I was not allowed to pace. When I read, I am flipping book pages and smelling it.

I think internet has led to ADHD like symptoms in almost everyone.

I need silence mostly. But lately I find that I cannot read just one book or article.
If my browser has just one tab open, I have this obsessive need to search for more stuff to read simultaneously.
So I branch out of the current article or I find a new one (reddit and twitter always help to find new stuff to read) and I juggle between paragraphs of different articles.Sometimes on entirely different topics.
Even at work, I am not able to focus. I always my browser open with something to read. I switch between tasks. It is actually more stressful and I am highly inefficient. But I am not able to stop.
I used to be able to read one book with proper focus before. Now I have got this obsessive need to read atleast 2 books at a time(time period say weeks or a month. Not yet crazy enough to read 2 books with one on each hand)

I have been thinking recently, about this "issue" that I have with music in the background.

For me it has something to to do with shutting down some of my thoughts. I have so many thoughts in my head allllll the time that muting some of them with music can help me concentrate. I have always been listening to music but it has been exaggerated lately, probably due to stress.

When listening to music some thought strings will be muted while I can concentrate on other thought strings. I am well aware that this mode of thinking is not something that everybody does, it might not even be common

I think this is a general human thing. We are creatures of habit. All my life I've heard women say they can't just sit and watch TV without something in their hands, like needlework, etc...

Reading in the bathroom (there are books just for bathrooms)
Doing homework while watching TV or listening to music.
Doodling during phone conversations or meetings

Busy hands, busy brains.

I wouldn't worry about it. It's considered a healthy thing; plus... Idle hands are the Devil's workshop.

I absolutely cannot multitask. I am only able to focus on one thing at a time. In fact, if I am reading or watching TV or anything else and my husband tries to talk to me most of the time I cannot understand what he is saying. I have to stop what I am doing and face him before I can even begin to focus. There are times when I am particularly wrapped up in what I am doing that even that doesn't help. I know he is talking, but I cannot make sense of any of it because I am thinking of other things. I'm okay with background noise like the washing machine or the kids playing and whatnot, but I cannot tolerate music or the TV playing in the same room in which I am trying to read. Also, if there is music and the TV on at the same time in the house it drives me insane. It is easier for me to tune out excess visuals than noise. For instance, if I am reading a muted TV on right in front of me doesn't bother me, but a radio playing annoys me to no end.

I have the extreme dificulties to tune excess visuals! If there is a TV I will watch it, I watch commercial in the street if they are moving etc. Anything that catch my eye will distract me

What people forget is that, while the typical Aspie is sensation-sensitive, there are a number of us who are sensation-seeking. Consider it like the choice of two different subtypes. You're either one or the other. I am one of them. And, I am happier juggling a dozen different things at once that I like. But, sometimes I do have to focus and shut things out, as well...

no.............. most of the time I only do one thing at a time and doing more than one thing drives me crazy........very occasionally I'll go online while watching t.v. Sometimes I put on music (classical or children's folk something "light" like this -not rock) or white noise while reading but this is to block out other noises in the house because the noises bother me.

Not me...I am TERRIBLE at multi-tasking. I get disoriented very quickly when those situations occur.

I can't watch TV without doing something else at the same time. TV is too boring otherwise. Not stimulating enough by itself. Which is why I also hate watching videos. Sometimes, there are videos with interesting information in them, but I can't watch them to get the information. They are just too boring.

For most things that I am working on, I just do the one thing though.