Thoughts on procrastination

I'm curious if anyone in here has any kind of info on whether a dietary/supplement deficiency causes bouts of procrastination?

I'm in a horrible rut when it comes to getting work done I know I need to get done lately. On the flip side, I'm happier than ever and enjoying my life. I'm active. Eating well. In a loving relationship.

Just wondering why I'm finding it so hard to sit down and get work done that I know needs to get done. I've had bouts of this in the past and I'm wondering if it's caused by some kind of imbalance or if this is something that is all on me.

Also, if anyone else goes through this and figured out ways to break out of it and has any tips, I would greatly appreciate it.

H

I am very interested in this too hadrion. I have the same problem.

Motivation is fueled by dopamine. A precursor to dopamine is phenylethylamine (PEA). It increases desire, motivation, physical drive, etc.

In ADHD for instance, they are typically low in PEA, so when these levels are boosted, there is usually improvement.

There is a product by Nutricology called PEAhance, that uses AFA to supply PEA.

IH--Is there anything in the regimen that could be decreasing dopamine?

I still have desire and physical drive. I also think the internet has become a very big distraction in my life and I need to avoid it during work hours completely.

I once read that dismorphophobia and the obsession with hair that is sometimes linked with it can also lead to procrastination...

now this it's like reading the horoscope... a symptom like this may seem to be worded in a way as to fit to most people

Try sun exposure. Works for me.

The sun gives benefits beyond Vitamin D.

good luck

jdp701 wrote:Try sun exposure. Works for me.

The sun gives benefits beyond Vitamin D.

good luck

JDP -- Interesting thing is that over the past month and a half my sun exposure has increased dramatically. We used to live in an apartment in the city and now have a house with a big yard. I'm outside way more than I ever have been over the past 5 years. Especially with my new dog.

I thought one of the more interesting things is that my skin burned easily with this sun exposure as compared to many years ago. I think my body is now adjusting to being in the sun since I was very sun deprived.

My hair loss did not begin until my old dog passed away and I had no reason to go outside other than to walk to my car. From the stress of losing my dog who I was very attached to and had since I was a child into my adult years to the sudden lack of sun exposure, I think I triggered something that caused my body to lose hair rapidly since I had no loss prior to this.

I'm just in a strange rut where I'm putting off work I need to do. I know it's wrong. I know I have a lot to be gained by finishing it, but I just can't get myself to buckle down and do it. It's frustrating and very much feels like I'm on the outside looking in at myself watching this happen.

Are there any updates on this topic?

I have chronic anxiety and ADHD, and it really interferes with my ability to get things done. When I sit down and try to focus on schoolwork, I feel random surges of anxiety and my thoughts begin to wander. For example while I'm reading my textbooks, my heart starts racing if I feel like I'm not understanding the material right away. The same thing happens while I'm attending class and trying to focus on lecture.

I have no trouble focusing on hair loss research though .

I've had ADHD since I was pretty young. My elementary school teachers would complain that I was always staring out the window/ceiling and never focusing on class activities.

The anxiety issues on the other hand are probably a result of some traumatic childhood experiences.

Add some depression to the mix...and productivity is gone. I also have body dysmorphic disorder.

I found out about my hair loss before my senior year of college, and I haven't been able to focus on anything else. It's been more than a year and I haven't made any progress toward completing my degree. Instead of focusing on schoolwork I go to the library and study dermatology textbooks.

I'm inclining more and more toward hermithood. I generally avoid social interactions. Stay indoors and read or listen to music. Sounds miserable but the whole experience has made me more thoughtful and philosophical, and in some way I can appreciate the changes that have occurred during the last year.

But I need to make some changes if I'm going to finish this degree.

Maybe some supplements would help? My psychiatrist wanted me to get on ADHD meds (Adderall) but I declined.

imprisoned-radical wrote:Are there any updates on this topic?

I have chronic anxiety and ADHD, and it really interferes with my ability to get things done. When I sit down and try to focus on schoolwork, I feel random surges of anxiety and my thoughts begin to wander. For example while I'm reading my textbooks, my heart starts racing if I feel like I'm not understanding the material right away. The same thing happens while I'm attending class and trying to focus on lecture.

I have no trouble focusing on hair loss research though .

I've had ADHD since I was pretty young. My elementary school teachers would complain that I was always staring out the window/ceiling and never focusing on the class activities.

The anxiety issues on the other hand are probably a result of some traumatic childhood experiences.

Add some depression to the mix...and productivity is gone. I also have body dysmorphic disorder.

I found out about my hair loss before my senior year of college, and I haven't been able to focus on anything else. It's been more than a year and I haven't made any progress toward completing my degree. Instead of focusing on schoolwork I go to the library and study dermatology textbooks.

I'm inclining more and more toward hermithood. I generally avoid social interactions. Stay indoors and read or listen to music. Sounds miserable but the whole experience has made me more thoughtful and philosophical, and in some way I can appreciate the changes in my life during the last year.

But I need to make some changes if I'm going to finish this degree.

Maybe some supplements would help? My psychiatrist wanted me to get on ADHD meds (Adderall) but I declined.

A lot of people online have had success with phosphatidylserine and krill oil, and ashwagandha for adhd.

Wall of text, but here I go.

What you've got to realize about psychiatry (and medicine in general) is that something is classified a "disease/disorder" according to how much, and in what way, it affects your life. Fifty years ago homosexuality was a "disorder" because it usually meant there would be social/psychological problems in life - today it's not a big deal. The fact that homosexuality has been removed from the DSM is a purely political matter, there's zero science involved.

ADHD is considered a disorder today, but that's partly because we expect kids to be obedient little robots in school and take their brainwashing without complaint. There's nothing natural about kids sitting in a classroom for 6 hours a day, then coming home to do homework for another 2 hours. The fact that a ten year old boy doesn't want to sit still in class is not indicative of pathology, it may just indicate a diagnosis of "ten year old boy". A lot of what we call ADHD may just be a natural variation in the spectrum of personality traits. It's sort of like the personality disorders - everyone exhibits paranoia, dependence, etc. to some degree; when the paranoia becomes so much that it adversely affects your life, you've got a "disorder".

So when you go to the psychiatrist and tell him about your hermithood, your fixation on your hair, your difficulty finishing up at school, etc., of course he wants you to get on some meds, you have multiple problems adversely affecting your life, ie "disorders". The goal of the institution of medicine is to make people comfortable with life, and you are very uncomfortable with life right now.

That's not to say that all ADHD is a natural variation in personality. There probably are genetic variants, biological environmental stimuli (infections, toxins), and social environmental stimuli (stress) that can lead to the phenotype of "unnatural" ADHD. I'm pretty skeptical of mainstream medicine, but there probably are people out there with ADHD who would benefit from pharmaceuticals.

The fact that you're able to focus on researching hair loss indicates to me that the problem is largely with your response to your environment (psychological) rather than with the more uncontrollable ('biological') factors (infections/toxins, genes). I think the real question here is, why does studying required material make you nervous; you said you had traumatic childhood experiences, maybe that has something to do with it?

/rant

imprisoned-radical wrote:I'm inclining more and more toward hermithood. I generally avoid social interactions. Stay indoors and read or listen to music. Sounds miserable but the whole experience has made me more thoughtful and philosophical, and in some way I can appreciate the changes in my life during the last year.

This pretty much describes my life over the past 18 months. Bare minimum in school, social withdrawal, etc. I'm pretty sure my family thinks I'm depressed, and maybe I am, but fuck it, I wouldn't have it any other way. OTOH I'm sure that this mode of existence is profoundly unhealthy in the long run, although I don't know if forcing yourself to live 'normally' is any healthier. I see it sort of as a temporary phase, but I've made barely any progress.

BTW I was in a similar position a few months ago, I had to buckle down and study to secure future job prospects. I quit the health obsession cold turkey for 2 months to study; basically, I tried to see my studying in the context of health. No studying in this economy means no job prospects; no job prospects means no money; no money means I'm out in the street; living out in the street is no good for your health. That's the only thing keeping me in school right now.

I've gotten the procrastination thing under control for the most part. I've found that the act of forcing yourself to do what you're spending time thinking about is a discipline that yields huge benefits for me. Just making yourself do something sounds simple but it takes practice. Your mind will talk you out of a lot if you let it.

I don't lack motivation or drive, but I used to get very exhausted thinking about doing things whether it be work (which I love since I love what I do for a living) or taking out the recycling.

There's been a lot of moments where I'd just rather sit and do nothing and waste hours of the day only to beat myself up later on for doing so. You kind of have to forgive yourself for the things you've done (or in this case haven't done) in the past and then force yourself to do the things in front of you. Make that change, so to speak.

With me, there's a huge fear of success/fear of failure component to what I do. I work in a high profile industry that I always dreamed about working in and the reality of it has been a bit of let down. The reality of making a dream come true didn't live up to the fantasy. Dealing with that has been difficult for me since I worked insanely hard for most of my life to make it happen for myself. I made sacrifices along the way and had tunnel vision when it came to my career goals so hitting the proverbial lottery and then realizing it wasn't what I thought it would be like was a rough adjustment for me.

The thing that has helped me is taking the pressure off of myself, being confident in my abilities and forcing myself to just do things.

Also, exercise/fitness helps me tremendously in this area. I excel in the gym and the rush of that leads me to practice that discipline in real life. My cycling instructor talks to me about "the Let" which is that point when your brain tells you "ENOUGH" and then you dig inside yourself and push through it. I've been working on that for about 6 months and I've been making huge strides.

I don't know if chelation helped this shift happen for me. I do know since I chelated I'm calmer and more in control of my emotions than I was.

That said, I know when I'm flailing around procrastinating I need to reset myself and push myself to do the work I know I need to do in front of me.

We have a ton of distractions in life. Hair, health, money, family, friends, movies, music, TV, video games etc. That said, when you make focusing on achieving some goal your focal point, you can accomplish most things that require hard work and dedication.

If any of you guys need advice on getting through bouts of this, don't hesitate asking for it here or in your everyday life. I'm not talking about therapy, although there's nothing wrong with that. I just think once you start talking about this problem and admitting what it's doing to you, that's a huge step in correcting it. You need to be honest with yourself. Can you work harder? Can you try harder? What are you afraid of?

Answering those questions for yourself is the first step to blowing through the barricades we put up for ourselves.

imprisoned-radical wrote:

I have chronic anxiety and ADHD, and it really interferes with my ability to get things done. When I sit down and try to focus on schoolwork, I feel random surges of anxiety and my thoughts begin to wander. For example while I'm reading my textbooks, my heart starts racing if I feel like I'm not understanding the material right away. The same thing happens while I'm attending class and trying to focus on lecture.

Well put, I can agree, however not so much with school work as I am not in school, just in general.

One thing I do notice when I can't do something that I want to get done because I have to be or go some place, I get the sudden urge and cleared thoughts, altight I am gonna do it... but it never happens "when" i have the time.

Relevant article

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/magazine/28depression-t.html?pagewanted=all

The fact that you're able to focus on researching hair loss indicates to me that the problem is largely with your response to your environment (psychological) rather than with the more uncontrollable ('biological') factors (infections/toxins, genes). I think the real question here is, why does studying required material make you nervous; you said you had traumatic childhood experiences, maybe that has something to do with it?

My mom had mood swings and during her low points she was borderline psychotic.

Like everyone else in her family, she is superficial and obsessed with physical appearance. She felt that my sister and I were not good-looking, and repeatedly told me things like "you're so ugly I can't bear to look at you."

She told me I was worthless, good for nothing.

Once she burnt me with matches.

There are some other things which would probably fall under the category of sexual abuse, and I can't even bring myself to post about those things in a public forum. When i was 9 I did something to make her mad, and she dragged me through the streets hitting my head with the handle of her umbrella, and kept telling me that she would make me strip naked in front of my sister's friends. That day I ran away and told some Mexican day laborers what she was doing. Thankfully she didn't end up doing it.

I'm afraid of women. I can't look in the mirror. When I think about my hair I feel sick to my stomach. I'm so self-conscious that my heart rate increases when I speak to people in person. When I leave the house I'm more susceptible to unexpected paranoia attacks, I don't like the feeling of the sun on my face...don't like it when people look at me. I rush back home and behind closed doors I feel safe.

In my mind I've already concluded that if I go bald I'll kill myself. Simple.

Imprisoned-Radical:

You asked about supplements that help with ADHD...pick up the UltraMind Solution by Mark Hyman, MD. This book suggests a supplement protocol to help with various psychological problems. I've had a bunch of issues similar to yours, including ADHD. I followed Dr. Hyman's protocol for about six weeks. While ADHD remains, many other "psychological" issues simply disappeared. Depression, anxiety and obsessive thoughts are down by 80%. I am finally comfortable living in my own skin and for the first time in my life I am starting to truly enjoy social contact. For most of my life I've been really avoidant. Give it a try - this protocol worked for a lot of people.

imprisoned-radical:

Reading your story is so similar to mine; I'm so sorry you went through this.
Sometimes I feel that is such a burden to carry.
Keep strong.

imprisoned radical,

My heart breaks for what you've gone through. I can't sit here and see you say you'll hurt yourself if you go bald though.

My wife's mother, my mother-in-law, is an awful person who did things to my wife that are horrible. Even after we got married, she opened up credit lines in my wife's name and went crazy with them sticking us with bills we didn't know existed. My wife has shut/cut her out of her life. She removed the toxic person from her life. It's been very difficult for her, but she's so much happier and enjoying life realizing the small person who hurt her can't hurt her anymore.

Equating hair loss to happiness is normal, but you can't let it beat you. Life is great. You only get one shot at this ride and you should seek things out that not only interest you but inspire you. Filling yourself up with purpose will make you forget the hair loss. When you make hair loss your purpose though, it's tougher to do this.

Forgive yourself for what's happened to you in the past. Forgive yourself for losing hair. You need to do that first. Let go of all that shit.

Figure out what you really want to do and start working towards it. I can't tell you much about myself, but I picked a real longshot of a career for myself. Everyone told me I would never make it happen. I did make it happen. I just wouldn't quit. By doing that it attracted people to me. People wanted to be around me because my drive and focus were infectious. Meanwhile on the inside I thought I was a loner and a freak. I couldn't imagine people liking or even loving me. Then one day when I found true love with someone who gets me, I realized that wasn't the case.

Set your goals and make them happen. Don't make your goals having hair. Make your goals living this life to the fullest. Pushing past the boundaries we all set for ourselves.

If I could do this, so can you. I'm not more special than you. I just fought through the noise and pushed myself to where I wanted to be.

Good luck and hang in there. Reach out to people whether it be in here or in life.

imprisoned-radical wrote:

The fact that you're able to focus on researching hair loss indicates to me that the problem is largely with your response to your environment (psychological) rather than with the more uncontrollable ('biological') factors (infections/toxins, genes). I think the real question here is, why does studying required material make you nervous; you said you had traumatic childhood experiences, maybe that has something to do with it?

My mom had mood swings and during her low points she was borderline psychotic.

Like everyone else in her family, she is superficial and obsessed with physical appearance. She felt that my sister and I were not good-looking, and repeatedly told me things like "you're so ugly I can't bear to look at you."

She told me I was worthless, good for nothing.

Once she burnt me with matches.

There are some other things which would probably fall under the category of sexual abuse, and I can't even bring myself to post about those things in a public forum. When i was 9 I did something to make her mad, and she dragged me through the streets hitting my head with the handle of her umbrella, and kept telling me that she would make me strip naked in front of my sister's friends. That day I ran away and told some Mexican day laborers what she was doing. Thankfully she didn't end up doing it.

I'm afraid of women. I can't look in the mirror. When I think about my hair I feel sick to my stomach. I'm so self-conscious that my heart rate increases when I speak to people in person. When I leave the house I'm more susceptible to unexpected paranoia attacks, I don't like the feeling of the sun on my face...don't like it when people look at me. I rush back home and behind closed doors I feel safe.

In my mind I've already concluded that if I go bald I'll kill myself. Simple.

radical-
I too have a similar story to you. I was physically abused as a child and suffered from depression most of my life, and would cry at school a lot because I was scared of the world--no one understood why I was crying, neither did I. It wasn’t until after my first year in college that everything really came crashing down--depression, with severe anxiety, and really bad insomnia. I was already self medicating with alcohol. Eventually, I ran through a whole line of SSRI's, an SNRI, anti-anxiety medication, an anti-psycotic and more, at different time periods. Non of it really worked, exept for the sedation that made me sort of forget instead of find a real solution to my problems. Bupropion helped with motivation, more on that later.

I was a full time student the whole time. Whatever I read or researched pertained to my school work and the free-time that I had I used to hang out, go to parties, drink, etc--nothing productive--I was not growing as a person. Towards the middle of my academic experience, I noticed recession (especially the left side) of the hairline and thinning at the crown, it stressed me out and eventually I started using propecia for a month (sides) and then rogaine, folligen, spiro cream, revivogen (ALL GARBAGE by the way).

Long story short, it wasnt until I graduated last year and actually the start of this summer after working int the spring, that I was forced to just sit still and process all of these emotions that I was experiencing. I had lots of free time and I was able to use my researching skills to attack my emotional issues, and hairloss. I was forced to be really introspective and learn about myself.

I found this forum which has been sort of a sanctuary for me and a base for a lot of my research. The most important thing that I have been able to achieve is an understanding of who I am. I have learned so much about myself , that I truly know myself better than anyone else and no matter what others do or say to me they cannot disturb my life--that is most important--that goes for my mother and other family that can be toxic to me at times.

For a time I was isolating myself a lot and procrastinating just like you--not caring about anything like job searching, volunteering, cleaning my apartment, etc. All I wanted to do was research ways to get better. I would look in the mirror at times and get angry because I didn’t like the man that I saw. I knew that I could do much better for myself, feel better, look better, think better. Well after a long summer, I can say that I am hanging in there. I am not drinking alcohol, smoking, taking anykind of prescription meds, or any type of topical for hair loss--and I feel pretty damn good.

Metal Chelations has been great for both my mood and hair. So far I have tried humifulvate and started MCP last Friday. Mucuna pruriens could be a good option for you. Bupropion 300mg really got me going and vanished my procrastination a year ago, to the point where I did not need coffee. Although I am still worried about unproductivity, I don't want to take any prescriptions meds so I'm actually starting Now mucuna pruriens next Thursday with hopes that it will give me similar results via increased dopamine without too much sleep disturbance and anxiety.

You have to finish your degree, perhaps some mucuna can help with motivation for the time being. Once you graduate, you can attack your problem with a different approach if you desire, but definitely knock that degree out--I'm sure that once you graduate you will be even more successful in fixing your troubles.

Think of it this way. You are blessed to be in the position that you are in. The fact that you are searching for help here speaks of your strength. This is a metamorphosis for you. Right now it is tough, but you have to push through it. Stay positive, keep researching what your heart desires and most importantly--keep learning about yourself--when you find your true self and know who you are--no one, not even your mother will be able to touch you.

Keep reseaching and learning about yourself. You are getting stronger, and this experience will afford you the ability to council others in a similar situation in the future. The truth is that your mother created a "monster," in the sense that you will be a great person. Rise above.

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement.

There is good information regarding psychological issues and pathogen issues which is inversely correlated to the amount of heavy metals one has which is further inversely correlated to the amount of energy blockages one has.

Here is one good link regarding pathogens causing psychological issues. http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james16.htm

There are several good links if one does a google search and has been done on this forum before regarding the gut brain axis. Basically what effects the gut, also effects the brain. There was one article I read recently that showed that 100% of all mental illness (including I believe depression, anxiety, etc.) all had leaky gut problems.

There was also another study I read recently that said if one is to tell someone they have HIV then their NK cell activity drops to something like 50% just on the belief they have HIV.

And I've mentioned before but diet is strongly associated with which pathogens will dominate in the body. Metal chelation will also lower the load as well... each pathogen uses a specific mineral/metal. Beyond that, most pathogens use iron and is another way to reduce pathogen load through blood donation.

Here is one quote from Susan from a yahoo Rife and Lyme forum for further info.





"Well said Marc the body has an amazing ability to communicate with us and an
incredible ability to heal if we remain open to it. Sometimes we must give the
body a nudge with the right frequencies, or supplements and that requires
listening to the body and using the tools that helps us to assess what the body
may need.

One thing I have learned through Oriental medicine is that if we have enough
negative events stored up in our cells, this can degrade the immune system and
we will eventually become sick. I strongly believe in the Chinese medicine
belief system that Anger tends to manifest as problematic in the liver, Grief or
Sadness will manifest as a problem in the lungs, Worry is equated with problems
in the Spleen, depression manifests as problems with the heart, also a fearful,
or insecure, person may have compromised kidney function. I have also read
that young woman who have been molested can have problems later in life with the
ovaries or the uterus. It is incredible how much our emotional state can effect
our overall immune response and ultimately our well being.

Scientists are also now finding that transgenerational factors can also weaken
our genetics. A study of the offspring of victims of the Holocaust showed that
several generations of children, grand children and even great grandchildren
whose ancestors had been relegated to Nazi concentration camps had a greater
inability to handle stress even generations later, then others whose families
did not suffer such emotional trauma in their life. The trauma actually
imprinted on their genes. Of course we all know how environmental factors can
effect not just our genes and cause damage, but the genes of our offspring.
That to me explains why the rate of Autism continues to rise in recent years.
This study helped me to realize that we are the "keeper of our genes" and what
we do now may have implications far down the road into several generations. Dr
Klinghardt is also a big proponent of transgenerational healing.

Norman Cousin's author of Anatomy of an Illness, many years ago proved to the
world that laughter was the best medicine and created the perfect energy for
healing. He put his Ankylosing Spondylitus into remission by watching old
episodes of Candid Camera. Research results indicate that, after exposure to
humor, there is a general increase in activity within the immune system,
including:

* An increase in the number and activity level of natural killer cells that
attack viral infected cells and some types of cancer and tumor cells.

* An increase in activated T cells (T lymphocytes). There are many T cells that
await activation. Laughter appears to tell the immune system to "turn it up a
notch."
It also provides an increase in the antibody IgA (immunoglobulin A), which
fights upper respiratory tract insults and infections.
Also an increase in gamma interferon, which tells various components of the
immune system to "turn on."

* An increase in IgB, the immunoglobulin produced in the greatest quantity in
body, as well as an increase in Complement 3, which helps antibodies to pierce
dysfunctional or infected cells. The increase in both substances was not only
present while subjects watched a humor video; there also was a lingering effect
that continued to show increased levels the next day."
Contents at a Glance

Even hospitals are starting to understand how emotions can play a role in
healing by allowing pets to be brought in to the hospital. Some hospitals allow
Reiki practitioners or Acupuncturists to work on a patient in the hospital.
Sometimes science and energetic medicine can work together cooperatively,
alternative and complimentary medicine is just starting to be recognized in some
parts of the Allopathic community for it's value in healing.

I marvel at the body, it's ability to heal itself given the right tools.
Negativity has no place on anyone's healing journey and I hope that those who
equated energetic testing with occultic practices will take my posts in the
spirit in which they were intended which was to provide a supportive and healing
environment to others through information and by adding tools to our healing
arsenal."

For what it's worth, chelation has changed my mood considerably. There's a marked difference in the way I processed events before & after chelation. I also do believe it's making my supplements work more effectively.