Having #adhd is deciding to research how to let go of the shame you've accrued since childhood & finally start building your self-esteem, but then getting sidetracked by the feeling of hunger as you realise you don't have any food left at home. Going to the grocery store is not an option, as that would involve getting dressed and stepping out of the house; therefore, the only viable option is to text your best friend "save me", watch YouTube nervously until you can't stand the rumbling in your stomach, go shopping, wonder why you were so adamantly against shopping when it was done in 20 minutes, feel excited about the fact that you have food now(noodles), and then repeat the whole debacle next week.
(The research was left as an open tab in your browser as a reminder for you to get back to, until 6 months later you decide having 896 open tabs is too cluttered, close them all, and by the end of the year realise that your insecure attachment style stems from an abundance of self-loathing and lack of confidence, the result of a lifetime of fuckups and minor mistakes being followed up by mocking remarks from teachers, family, and friends, until you are anxious at the prospect of making any action or decision, knowing the result. Remembering all of that, you follow the trail of clues until you realise that this is just the internalised voice of shame. Your interest piqued, you decide to research how to let go of this shame & finally start building up your self-esteem.)
#NicheSupportGroup idea: meeting for quiet people who were reprimanded a few hundred too many times for being "rude" as a child, and as a result are terrified of conversations.
Thanks to @devxvda posting about them, I picked up some Loops earplugs recently (with a discount from their link!) and they've been a godsend! Trying to concentrate with the windows open has always been a challenge for me (hello #ADHD ) and in summer this normally means I'm either too warm or it's too noisy to concentrate.
This last week I've been able to pop in the loops, open the windows and just get on with stuff without those distractions.
I got the Quiet and Experience Plus ones.
The Quiet cut out a bit too much for me - I don't feel safe wearing them if I'm awake, but I reckon they'll come in on the nights I sleep with the windows open and people leave the pub noisily.
The Experience ones have been great though! Properly useful on a day to day level.
When you are a child, people ask you what you want to be when you grow up. We all expect to find that one thing, that calling that will be our life's work. I thought I changed my mind all the time because I was young. Turns out, that was one of the biggest heartbreaks of #ADHD. I kept looking for decades.
If this sounds like you, it's okay to stop looking. Enjoy what you enjoy for as long as it lasts, then move on. That's who we are. It brings challenges, but also wonder.
Starting a new #ADHD medication (Alvanse/Vyvanse/Lisdexamfetamine) and now have to avoid vitamin C-rich liquids or as a food additive because it neutralizes it.
@Jeremiah agree but the one thing I like more about EU labels is that they all give per 100g amounts so you can actually compare two products without doing math.
🧵How to Come Back from the Dead: An #Autistic Chats with AI
Q: I'd like to ask a question about my own youtube channel.
Context: I am #autistic.
My work schedule is erratic.
I may produce effectively for a few weeks at a time...
But I may not be able to produce much for a few weeks. Sometimes up to 3 months.
Can you think of ways I might improve my channel knowing my restraints as a creator?
Please suggest 10 ways and feel free to be creative.
You can also be honest and open about your restraints as a creator, and explain why you may not be able to upload regularly or consistently.
Learn from other successful channels - Watch and study other YouTube channels that are similar to yours or that you admire, and see what they do well and what they can improve. This can help you learn from their strategies, techniques, mistakes, and successes.
If any of my friends here would like to semi-private chat...
This whole topic of needing help managing my production comes out of my recent illness... and frankly declining abilities as I age. Altho, I should have asked for help long ago.
But I had a realization that I've developed a marvelous machine... that I can't feed. Over 21,000 followers across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mastodon, My own blog, my podcast, YouTube channel, Medium and subStack.
I believe I could help so many folks. Consumers & fellow creators. Maybe pass on a legacy...
I can start another thread ("mentioned", semi-private) if anyone would like to kick around some ideas?
You'd think this would be close enough for the panic to set in and the focus to see me through, but no. I cannot concentrate on the work.
I am seriously wondering if this is going to be the one that doesn't happen. Which would be a bastard because this assignment is essential to pass the module.
@PetraPhoenix@lucidh3x Ah yes! The adrenaline of the last minute. The magic that makes my brain work! Luckily my Ritalin makes me depend on the deadline rush less often now.
@krazykitty c'est un car de ligne, je mets la trottinette en soute, c'est les memes chauffeurs aux memes horaires tous les jours. Ce matin le chauffeur du 8h15 a appelé le collègue du bus de l'aprem dans lequel je pensais l'avoir oubliée, qui l'avait tjrs en soute...
Everywhere i turn i get suggestions for helping my kids that are maddeningly hard for me. simply create and maintain a routine! (never in my life 😅) when they have a loud and aggressive outburst, respond with calm! (much easier before the Adderall shortage 😔)
We know this stuff is at least partly hereditary but it feels like most advice is from NTs and/or assumes NT parents. What am i missing, are there resources out there for me?
How ableist to assume parents are of course #neurotypical and helping their poor #neurodivergent children… 😢 We’re commonly in the same boat as them and far less likely to have had diagnosis and support from when we were kids.
So sure, load us up with all those helpful suggestions that don’t fit. Haha I agree, it’s madness.
Are there helpful suggestions/guidance for #ActuallyAutistic HOUSEHOLDS?
@jbzfn Yes! The skin crawling thing ('tiny bugs') & the vivid nightmares were normal for me before medication. I don't know if this was ADHD or bipolar (I have both), but Wellbutrin was a huge help. It's one of the only anti-depressants that doesn't spark mania, and it has a dopamine componant. It wouldn't work on its own - stimulant meds are necessary for me. But it solved my sleep problems. I still have the skin crawling occasionally. But at least I sleep..
@LevelUp Brown Noise helps much more for most ADHD people than white noise. There are great articles about this. It's also better to help to sleep. Used it for a while when our child was born.
current mood: trying not to start yelling at the walls about the fact that pharmacies are struggling to fill one of my scrips because i have things to do on wednesday and thursday that are much harder when i'm nosediving off methylphenidate.
it's not like it's an uncommon scrip. and the shortage of the alternative med should have rotated people back by now?? #healthcare#unitedStates#ADHD
You wear glasses every day? Like… to help you see? You gotta be careful with that. Near-sightedness is a myth by Big Pharma to sell lenses. You just need to learn to squint. It’s too easy nowadays to get a prescription from the eye doctor. They give glasses to anyone who pays
Sharon Saline: "So let's talk about why compassion, . . . and even I think self compassion, and its very close friend, radical acceptance, these two are very important for people with #ADHD. . . . you get messages about what you could do differently. . . . You need to do this, or stop doing that. . . . over time, what happens is that you develop a hyper vigilance about yourself, like when is the next time that I'm going to do something that isn't the right thing. . . . doing the quote sign."
My #ADHD is the reason I'm a hacker, board-certified anesthesiologist, social justice advocate, anti-fascist, health policy wonk, investor, entrepreneur, and your secret weapon at trivia night.
If you or someone you love has ADHD, empower them. Understand that they see connections that you don't, and that nine times out of ten, they're going to be right.
The moment that you try to force us into a box, we'll move onto something else but if you let us spread our wings, we'll help you soar.
6/6 Last thing I want to say about this is: if you're in tech, please don't make light/fun of #adhd treatment. There's a very good chance that someone within earshot actually needs the medication that you take for fun/just because/to give you an edge.
Also, if you're a parent of a child with ADHD: don't be ashamed and don't be afraid-- early diagnosis can make a world of difference. I know it's not easy, but it's worth the effort. Trust me.
@DataDrivenMD A former manager had ADHD. Excellent coder. When he ran out of meds, it happened once in years, he bounced off the walls all day. Back on meds, he was his old self.
That day when he was off his meds he played his favorite music featuring his favorite musical instrument at full blast so everyone in the company could enjoy it too!
Bagpipes.
One co. had a coke conga line to a bathroom.
Some coders have ADHD and need those meds. Try to resist the urge to tweak, fellow programmers.
Sometimes I wish the magical brain fairy that absolutely exists would make me neurotypical just long enough to figure out how to make my house pretty. I’m not asking for an interior design degree or anything (although that would be nice); I just want my home to not look like the inside of a dirty thrift store run by sad slobs.
@mjgardner oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I'm just worried about the epidemic around abuse. But for people that legimately need it as medication, of course.
I know there are a number of us ADHDers on here. Dr Barkley is a well known ADHD researcher; sadly he is about to retire, but in anticipation of that he is putting up a whole bunch of his research on YouTube in video-form to make it easily accessible (and presumably to help counter the misinformation around ADHD that exists on the internet). You can find them here: https://youtube.com/@russellbarkleyphd2023
