I AM AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE OF NATURE!! GIVE ME A TOPIC AND I WILL LEARN EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT IT IN .02 SECONDS
The topic? Mythical Kings and the origins of prominent clans of Ireland in the year seven hundred and sixty five CE. What's that? I was supposed to be doing the dishes??
Yup, got diagnosed once as a child in the 90s, got told I would grow out of it, only to be diagnosed again as an adult.
Considering I was born afab I was very lucky that I was diagnosed young.
And sure thing, any advice helps.
Wow that is a really good way of describing the feeling of hyperfocus and exhaustion. I think being kind to yourself and not setting impossible goals is great advice. Thank you for taking the time to share all that. I can relate a lot.
Which is amazing because the pathophysiology of ADHD is just neurochemical related. Girls got neurotransmitters to.
Reading this thread is making me reconsider if I have ADHD.
Last time I brought it up with my therapist she gently dismissed it, and she’s probably at least partially right in the sense that I’m slowly getting better without having to pathologize how my head works. On the other hand I’d really like to be able to live my life fully, and if ADHD meds could help me achieve that sooner, that would be lovely.
Kind of have the same issue. Pretty sure I have ADHD (my partner is convinced), but I was good in school as a child (mostly coasting on intuition as I am terribel at studying) so I'd never be able to convince a therapist.
But at the same time, when you read descriptions of illness online it kind of works like a horoscope, so I'm probably just lazy and depressed.
Most ADHD is neurochemical. Drink like two monsters and see if it makes you feel focused or like death. That was how I got to thinking I might have it.
feel focused or like death
which result is ADHD and what's the other result mean?
ADHDheads process stimulants a little differently from NTs, so, depending on your existing level of caffeine tolerance, if something over-the-top like a Monster or a Death Wish coffee or a couple of Jolt Colas takes you from a tired mess and turns you into a productive human with the ability to focus on tasks (and not a jittery, anxious wreck on the verge of a heart attack), you might have ADHD.
It also doesn't help that "normal" soft drink manufacturers are getting in on the caffeine arms race -- Mountain Dew and Pepsi Zero Sugar are both like 69 mg and 68 mg per can now, which is more than double what you would find in, say, Coke or Coke Zero. For reference, Monster has 86 mg, and the Keurig version of Death Wish is around 420 mg (and more like 700 mg/12 ounces for the bag 'o beans version).
if it makes you feel focused or like death
what about both, or one and then the other? :sadness:
If you get a mixed result it does indicate a dopamine disregulation occuring. Ether the dopamine difficulties is smaller or caused by other pathophysiology. It could still mean ADHD or it could be depression related, or it could just mean your body doesn't like caffeine as much. Either way it just leaves you unhelpfully needed to find better testing.
but I was good in school as a child (mostly coasting on intuition as I am terrible at studying) so I’d never be able to convince a therapist.
don't be so certain. this is me too and i definitely have ADHD. i don't think it's the disqualifying factor you're imagining here
100%, I coasted through all of school until university then crashed and burned. Recently diagnosed now
I've recently picked up more IRL hobbies (because going out to drink is way too damn expensive) and yeah it's great getting outside and stuff. I started learning how to longboars dance and I'm already getting better!
This is me. Like every one. Although I don't consider myself a doomer, nor do I have an ADHD diagnosis. Maybe I should look into getting seen by a therapist
Microdosing speed really does help. I get survivors guilt about how well I can function after my meds compared to my friends with like treatment resistant depression or whatever
Tbh prescription Adderall and Ritalin isn't too bad, I would say just take it when you need it and you won't develop a tolerance. I take it 1-2 times a week
I mean, that is what ritilin is. I get a 35mg extended release with an optional 5mg straight dose for breakthrough symptoms. At that level it takes a while to build up tolerance, month or two of everyday maximal use. As I will occasionally forget to take it, or just skip it on rest days , I almost never have any tolerance or other type issues. If I was going to school I would want a slightly higher dose but that is all well within regular guidelaines from the medical literature. Absolutely has been a life changer though. It is actuall gentler on the body than the ammount of caffine you'd have to take to get similar results
adderall just works, sucks less in absolutely every way than caffeine
no issues at all for me
lol wtf? Are these ADHD symptoms? They all fit me pretty perfectly. My mom and my brother both have it, but I always did well in school so I was never checked for it.
It is genetic. It does also correlate pretty highly with autism and early overperformance in school.
"Gifted" kids usually have it the worst out of everyone, which is why we tended to burn out in the first year or so of college/uni.
Heh, flunked out of college twice at a relatively prestigious university and just decided I actually am lazy and not as smart as I thought. Just got diagnosed and things at least make some sense now.
Yeah, I was always "the gifted kid" and ended up graduating at the very top of my high school class without ever studying.
Initially college wasn't bad for me, but when classes started requiring me to actually study, I had a crisis. I managed to pull out of it and actually learn how to study, but my study habits are obsessive. I tend to hyper-focus for hours when I'm working on it to the point where I actually hurt my back from being hunched over while studying at one point.
After college though, yeah. Hardcore burn out. Going from job to job, bouts of depression from lack of job, etc. Things have looked up for me in the past year or so, but it was a long road to get here. My hobbies are still suffering though.
How did you get a diagnosis as an adult? I relate a lot to the meme and now I'm worried.
If they ask me a bunch of stuff I don't have typical answers for, then I feel like I'd just be brushed off.
I'm not sure either way, maybe I'm lazy and depressed because of it and it'd be an excuse, or maybe I really do have something and I've actually been overperforming. Idk. Fuck.
Oh I've never been diagnosed. I'm in the same boat as you.
My Mom and my brother have been diagnosed though only the former is on medication for it. I was a good kid that did well in school so there was never any reason to diagnose me. Also, I grew up poor as fuck in a deindustrialized rural town in Appalachia so it wasn't like my parents were keen to spend the money unless they had to.
But if you find out, let me know.
Delete apps on your phone (tik tok, instagram, youtube), and set it to grayscale during the day. You won't want to look at it as often.
The way I have reasoned it: The unconscious brain makes the decisions, and it does so based on very simple stuff. I felt the other day that I really didn't want to get any work done, but actually I am fairly sure I unconsciously decided that I didn't want to be in my office because the furnace is acting up and it got slightly cold/uncomfortable. Once I took care of my low level needs (layering up, putting on thicker socks, making tea) I got out of that frustrated headspace immediately.
So, create conditions for your success.
What helped me a lot is doing these two things:
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Start a habit tracker The main goal is to keep track of certain things in your life that you want and should do. For example, mine tracks sleep quality, mood, daily tasks and basic hygiene, time I wake up at, medicine use. I fill it in every night when I go to bed, when something is bugging me I attach a journal entry to get stuff off my chest. The goal is to be aware of your habits and daily routine. It gives you the insight you need to make small positive changes to your daily life. Don't use it to track huge goals, start small and basic.
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Track everything you do for a week (I did it for a month) When I woke up, I would write down what things I needed to do today (with my habit tracker as a guide) and then estimate the time I would spend on it. Then I would do those things and write down the time those tasks actually took. After I while, you get a good feel for how long stuff takes. It doesn't matter if you are way off. It's a tool to become aware of how you spend your time and how long things actually take. Do this until you feel it's pointless.
Those two were enough for me to make one small change after the other and improve my life substantially. And whenever I relapse into being a mess (which does sometimes happen), I have my habit tracker as a basic guide to get me back on my feet.
Thus is a great idea, I've been thinking of doing something similar. If it actually helped you a lot then that is encouraging, might actually get around to starting it then
I use notion because it's free, and you have a lot of control over how you want stuff to work. But heck, excel, google sheets, some open source spreadsheet software or even paper could do the trick.
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Seek out an ADHD specialist to help pinpoint problem areas, but fundamentals are very important. Emotional control, patience, and dealing with anxiety were really big ones for me, skills nohody taught me as a child because they gave up when the usual method didn't work (great mindset to demonstrate for a child) but I've been working on them and it helps a lot. Visualization was really big for me. Imagining a clockwork spring in my chest that tightened with my level of tension helped me be aware of that tension and learn to dial it down.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer for this shit. You basically have to find your own way and try different approaches than what would work for an NT. Good luck.
Recently diagnosed and the anxiety bit is where I'm struggling the most, working with professionals who know me better is clearly going to be more helpful, but is there anything you can think of that helped you in that respect?
Box breathing helped me more than anything else getting a handle on my anxiety. Breathe in four seconds, hold four seconds, out four seconds, hold four seconds, repeat until heart rate calms the fuck down and you can get a handle on things. Learning how to quiet your thoughts is big too. Me, I figured out imagining a physical sensation in place of words or images helped. Imagined myself performing a glottal stop then mentally moved the sensation to my brainstem.
It's gonna be frustrating as hell but you gotta mentally experiment and figure out what works for your specific shit. It will be painful. But it is eventually rewarding.
I personally just go "fuck it. We ball" repeatedly in my head until I get ahit done
On a serious note, tey this out:
I'd you need to clean or something start up an album that you like. Promise to do cleaning stuff for at least the first 1 or 2 songs. Usually you'll feel good enough to keep going after that, but even I'd you dont, you still got some stuff done in the time of those songs so it's betterthan doing notbinf
I just put on a timer for like 20 minutes and say "OK I'm gonna clean hard for just these 20 minutes". Surprisingly, I can get quite a bit done in those 20 minutes. Sometimes I'll continue
This is actually great advice. Can confirm this helped me today.
Never been diagnosed with ADHD, but I can relate to all of that, and most of them on a daily basis :soviet-hmm:
