psychological profile of swimmers

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

mattson — Sun, 28 May 2006 04:42:03 GMT

Originally posted by gebbadine could you tell me how that's done? or re-thread this in poll format? thank you :) It may be too late, now that this thread is 3 pages long. But if you want a poll in the future, it is at the bottom of the page when you click the "new topic" button. (There is a checkbox, asking if you want a poll.) Oops, just noticed that it is on the FAQ page too: How to create a poll

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Allen Stark — Sat, 27 May 2006 12:34:09 GMT

There is an extremely complete 4 page form that can be filled out by their doctor so ADHD people can take closely monitored amounts of stimulants and still be USOC and FINA legal.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

FindingMyInnerFish — Sat, 27 May 2006 04:20:37 GMT

Re. ADD medication... I know someone who took it as an adult for ADD, and to some extent, it helped. But for sports, it was hardly performance enhancing.... more like performance inhibiting. My friend never wants to touch the stuff again, due to its effect on resting heart rate and consequent effect on speed overall. Also this individual got a chest cold that was very, very hard to shake. From seeing that, I think that the USOC should be informed when someone's taking the drug so s/he can get a head start! ;) Of course, any drug will agree with some but not others. As for introvert/extrovert, if you want to get a sense of where you are on the spectrum, the Meyers-Briggs test is a good resource. But then again, most of us kind of know from our experience. This test also gives you an idea where you are regarding other personality areas... may be more than you want to know, but it's pretty interesting. Doesn't go into your swimming preferences, though. :)

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Fri, 26 May 2006 16:21:05 GMT

Dorothy, you sound like a really great parent and I admire what you do for your children. I hope I get to meet you some day.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Fri, 26 May 2006 15:43:56 GMT

from Kiersey & Bates : "... The main word which differentiates an extrovert from an introvert is sociability as opposed to territoriality, but the extrovert also finds breadth appealing where the introvert finds the notion of depth more attractive. Other notions which give a cue to this preference are the idea of external as opposed to internal; the extensive as opposed to the intensive; interaction as opposed to concentration; multiplicity of relationships as opposed to limited relationships; expenditure of energy as opposed to conservation of energy; interest in external happenings as opposed to interest in internal reactions... " thank you for your responses

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

dorothyrde — Fri, 26 May 2006 12:40:22 GMT

Originally posted by MichiganHusker Dorothy, you sound like a really great parent and I admire what you do for your children. I hope I get to meet you some day. Thanks, that is very nice. Not sure how good I am, I do try. I am as stubborn as my daughter and won't let her give it. Makes for some interesting study sessions!:rolleyes:

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

nkace — Fri, 26 May 2006 12:22:11 GMT

Extroverted sprinter

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

dorothyrde — Fri, 26 May 2006 12:09:00 GMT

Geek, I have wondered that myself since many parents of kids with ADHD hyperactivity gravitate to swimming because it is a sport where their child is constantly moving. Constantly moving means less time to get in trouble, so there are quite a few ADHD medicated kids in swimming. Personally in viewing their swimming, I don't see an advantage. Skill and talent still win out. And the lazy thing, when you work with a child for years and years, and years and you see them working hard, and they are still barely passing, or not passing, and you start to dwelve into why, and the extreme turn around with meds, going from failing to straight A's. in 9 weeks, well, it sorta makes you a believer in the ADHD inattentive diagnosis. My son is lazy, he is not ADHD anything. But he is lazy. He could be straight A's, but because he does not work real hard, he gets A's and B's, and sometimes a C, which when he gets, he puts more effort in and brings it up. My daughter works very hard, on average2-3 hours a night on her hard subjects of Math and Science, knows the material, goes in and flunks the tests and does the homework, and goes in and forgets to hand it in. And she tries very hard to remember to hand it in and she gets very discouraged when she cannot remember, and very discouraged when she prepares for a test, feels good taking it...and flunks. Just saying, there is something to this ADHD thing, don't discount it.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

aquageek — Fri, 26 May 2006 11:48:42 GMT

Thank you for that information. This is a fascinating topic but unrelated to swimming so I'll let it be. I was only using lazy in the parental form of the word, not a diagnosis. I realize the term lazy is very un PC these days, along with many other words so I guess I shouldn't use it so loosely. Back to swimming, are all these legal stimulant drugs kids are on these days mostly banned by swimming governing bodies? If so, does that put the attention disabled at a disadvantage because they might not be able to focus on their training, schoolwork, etc? If not, does that put the non attention disabled swimmers at a competitive disadvantage?

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Allen Stark — Fri, 26 May 2006 11:08:34 GMT

Methamphetamines are legal medications but they are rarely used because they are so addicting.(Cocaine is a legal medication and marijuana is not,I find that interesting.) Dextroamphetimine,the active ingredient in Adderal,is potetially addicting and this needs to be monitored carefully. However ,studies show that adequately treated kids with ADHD are much less likely to become drug addicts than untreated kids with ADHD. Also "lazy" is an insult disguised as an explanation. It has no information value. Why didn't he do it? Because he's lazy. How do we know he's lazy? Because he didn't do it. It's a convenient cop out/insult but it is circular logic with no information value. If you want to help someone you can't just say they are lazy,you have to find out what is going on.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

aquageek — Fri, 26 May 2006 10:43:10 GMT

Is it possible to be quiet and reach your potential without medication? What about someone who is quiet and lazy, should we medicate them? What about someone who goes far beyond what they think they can do without medication, is that possible? Potential is such a subjective word, who decides if you are hitting it?

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

dorothyrde — Fri, 26 May 2006 10:34:01 GMT

My bad, you are right about beer. So we could have a depressed hyper active Geek?! The meds my nephew have tried for ADHD were a stimulant form or an anti depressant. The one that works best for him is aderral(sp?). The first type they tried made him so violent my sis was afraid for him and herself. The anti depressant worked OK for awhile, but he asked to be re-evaluated because he could feel it was not helping. He is in High School, and is co-operating with the process of finding the right meds. He is also inattentive and did not get diagnosed until 15. the quiet onces are missed!, but his joy at finally working to his potential when he got on the right meds was good to see.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Fri, 26 May 2006 10:11:39 GMT

I am so introverted that I am not going to say anything about this topic.:o :D :D :D

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

aquageek — Fri, 26 May 2006 09:07:20 GMT

Originally posted by dorothyrde ADHD 101 Geek, Beer is a sedative, you need caffeine and lots and lots of it!! I drink a lot of coffee, but not as much as gull80, who has a dependency issue with the stuff. Beer is not a sedative, it's a depressant. Most commonly ADHD drugs are stimulants, according to a few websites I reviewed. For the psychiatrist on this forum, Allan Stark, I read where amphetamines are also prescribed for ADHD and all it's nuanced variations. How different are amphetamines from meth amphetamines ?

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

FlyQueen — Fri, 26 May 2006 05:16:29 GMT

I have had a ton of experience with ADHD kids ... I would say that many are over medicated and it is becoming diagnosed way too often ... some kids just have more energy ... some kids have potential do well in school but cannot focus long enough to reach that potential, they struggle socially, and have some other issues ... I would recomend to SOME medication WITH behavior modification therapy and education for both the parents and the child about the nature of the disease and how to effectively deal with it ... I was the kid that was not medicated because I never struggled enough academically ... I wish my parents had medicated me because I think I would have been an outstanding student as opposed to an average one ... for me the best thing is working out ... it gets rid of a lot of extra energy and helps to calm me down ... I'm the 1/3 that did not outgrown ADHD, I did learn to cope with it but I think I would have had an easier time with life had I been medicated ... I worked with a kid that was brilliant ... off the charts intelligence but had severe ADHD he was not able to stay on task and do his work, he didn't get along with the other kids and was even having issues going in his pants ... medication was a miracle for him and now he is thriving ... it's amazing ...

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 25 May 2006 16:51:49 GMT

the only time I'm not bored is when I'm either swimming or running. I am both an introvert and an extrovert. It depends on what I'm doing.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 25 May 2006 16:50:38 GMT

I have a somewhat related question about the psychological make up of swimmers. Did anyone read about the dozens of Mt Everst climbers who walked up and down past the British mountaineer who was in distress and was left to die? I wonder if any swimmer, introvert or extrovert or a combination of the two, would ever watch another person in distress in the water and not attempt to assist in one way or another. I can't imagine taking any delight in a sport that puts ones personal goals above the safety of another. For the record, I like sprints and see myself as an extrovert.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 25 May 2006 16:00:20 GMT

Originally posted by aquageek I think it is wrong to accuse a person of being Cruise-esque when you can read and watch shows with many medical professionals who clearly state we are hypermedicating our children these days. Breathe in, breathe out. I was just pulling your leg a bit. In fact, I very much agree that as a group, our kids are overmedicated. Each individual, however, needs to be considered on his/her own issues. -LBJ

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 25 May 2006 15:55:26 GMT

While I do not argue that there are many kids out there who truly do have problems and can benefit from certain medications, I think that some of these childhood and adolescent behavioral problems can be attributed to piss poor parenting.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 25 May 2006 15:21:35 GMT

Originally posted by aquageek I think the over medication of children is a national disgrace. So now we FINALLY know Geek's true identity: Tom Cruise. -LBJ

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:27:00 GMT

Originally posted by Peter Cruise Matt, how dare you try to hijack this thread back to the original topic? Geek- weak mind requires weak (American) beer... I know...I am a bad man!!:cool:

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

dorothyrde — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:25:50 GMT

Originally posted by Allen Stark While my question about ADHD may have seemed flip it wasn't. I am a psychiatrist and ADHD is one of my interests.I say it is the most over diagnosed and at the same time underdiagnosed psychiatric problem. That is because the main way kids are referred is because they are causing problems in school. There are lots of causes for that with ADHD being far down on the list. Way too many of these kids get wrongly medicated. The inattentive kids don't cause problems and get referred late if at all.What is the matter with being deamy? In our current school system it means you get C's instead of A's. Then everyone tells you "You are smart you just need to try harder" Then since they are trying they either get depressed or oppositional or both. When I said underdiagnosed, I was speaking about the inattentive. If a child does not cause problems, they melt into the background. Parent/teacher conferences are always, we love your daughter, she is a wonderful child, full of compassion for others, polite, well behaved, very quiet, but she can do so much better on her work. She works very, very hard, but when the material is dry, she goes away, when the material interest her, she is there and enthusiastic and scores high. It is a rollercoaster, and I can see how these kids get depressed and oppositional. In the fall I was very, very worried. Things have improved considerably since then, partly do to extensive testing and just understanding what is going on, which is the first step to helping her. She has one big thing going for her. She is very talented in art, and is getting recognized for that. That helps her confidence a lot. Matt, I think it is easy to blame bad parenting, and some of that is there. But I have learned not to judge, because the minute you do, your child does something that makes you look like a bad parent!

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:22:55 GMT

My grandfather emigrated from the U.S. to Canada in 1915 so that he could join the Canadian Navy and fight in WWI while the U.S. followed its isolationist policies.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Allen Stark — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:01:40 GMT

While my question about ADHD may have seemed flip it wasn't. I am a psychiatrist and ADHD is one of my interests.I say it is the most over diagnosed and at the same time underdiagnosed psychiatric problem. That is because the main way kids are referred is because they are causing problems in school. There are lots of causes for that with ADHD being far down on the list. Way too many of these kids get wrongly medicated. The inattentive kids don't cause problems and get referred late if at all.What is the matter with being deamy? In our current school system it means you get C's instead of A's. Then everyone tells you "You are smart you just need to try harder" Then since they are trying they either get depressed or oppositional or both.

RE: psychological profile of swimmers

Former Member — Thu, 25 May 2006 11:48:09 GMT

Matt, how dare you try to hijack this thread back to the original topic? Geek- weak mind requires weak (American) beer...