@deirdresm I always think it must be very sad to be neurotypical and not really deeply interested in anything, that seems like a really boring way to live
I had a pretty busy day yesterday Sunday, and yet at bed time around 11:30 PM I still was restless and played Cyberpunk 2077 for about 3 hours before finally hitting the sack.
These 3 hours are an #ADHD tax, and I’m going to pay for it in reduced energy until Wednesday, if and only if I don’t get restless again at bedtime for a couple nights, which may not happen, independently of my will.
I couldn’t have slept on time even if I had tried, I know it because it has happened to me before and I just ended up lying in bed, wide awake, with my brain still obsessing over something. In this case the best I can do is give in to my brain’s terrorism and do the thing I’m obsessing over before finally be ready for sleep a few hours later.
And it has nothing to do with my mood, I can be content like yesterday and still need this time for my brain to quiet down.
My superpower has got to be pushing things off and screwing myself over in the process, despite knowing better.
Yesterday for example. My house has an issue every winter with a certain section of water pipe in the basement freezing when it gets cold. I knew saturday night it was going down to -30c (-22f) with a -41 windchill overnight but I still neglected to toss a space heater down in that spot to keep it warm overnight.
Lo and behold first thing in the morning I wake up to no running water. So I had find where my propane torch was, just to spend half an hour running around with it to thaw the lines out before I could even make coffee or properly flush the toilet.
At least now I have a space heater running down there to keep it warm again, like I did last winter, and the winter before that.
This is instead of leaving the project out "until I get back to it", which leads to an archaeological dig with the most recent project overflowing onto the previous project, which is overflowing onto the project before that, which... this results in a huge, oppressive, unmanageable, crushing mess.
The time/effort of putting it away and bringing it back out is far less than dealing with the mess.
@alan Ah I see. It sounds like you have all things covered, from physical to digital. I'll have a look at CherryTree, which I don't think I've ever heard of. Sounds interesting!
Anybody have an opinion about clinical neuropsychologist David Nowell, PhD? I gather he has a blog at PsychToady, which does not incline me to think well of a clinician, but everyone makes mistakes. He's apparently some sort of ADHD expert, but he's a bit off the beaten path – apparently very interested in nutrition and ADHD, among other things. I'm curious whether adults who have ADHD find any benefit in his work, or whether he's considered problematic, or whether nobody's ever heard of the guy, or what.
I ask because I was just advertised an upcoming CE training of his, and I have a CE deadline coming up, so was wondering if I should do it.
@Janet_52square I appreciate your thinking of me, it was kind of you to offer your assistance. But this sort of comment you have left tends to result in other people with ADHD feeling denigrated for their differing approach to their ADHD, and leaping in to argue. While there's nothing conventionally wrong with it, it doesn't violate any moderation rules or etiquette, it is the kind of unintentionally hurtful comment which gives rise to pointless strife and low-value argument that I prefer not to have in my space.
I've noticed a lot of people on here who have #ADHD work with computers. Computers never clicked for me and I feel like I'm missing something so now I'm curious, if you have ADHD, what do you like about working with computers?
@PacificNic I ended up working with computers by accident because I'm really fast at understanding how applications function. The only thing I liked about working with computers was solving problems. I love being presented with a tricky issue and then digging in to see if I can fix it.
After my job went to crap, I moved my problem-solving computer interest to modding Skyrim, lol 😆
When I got hired, my first task was to spend a full month calculating and writing a hundred payment statements.
There's no way I'd be able to actually do that. Between every statement, I'd get paranoid and want to start the whole project from scratch. I would make small inconsistencies that would drive me crazy. I would never be able to finish.
So I spent a week learning Microsoft Access and writing a simple database to do all the calculations and generate all of the payment statements for me.
Am I more tired these days, or am I just unmasking and being more honest about how tired things make me? Because - in a related development - I'm not getting those explosive burnout depressions any more. #adhd#autism
@BenjaminFaliere@axnxcamr@actuallyautistic God that's relatable!! We get punished so much for our autistic behaviors, unmasking is scary even when we really trust the person 💜
@dramypsyd to be honest, I think I don’t want to be a problem for her. And unmasking would mean become a problem… From my point of view. Even if she says the opposite.
has anyone with #ADHD had any luck whatsoever finding hobbies - solitary or sociable - that they never seem to grow tired of and can spend endless hours on?
@thor
I’ve been a teacher for about 20 years. Each new year is a fresh start, which is great for my anxiety. Every class is different and has its own unique quirks, but the routines I maintain build a comfortable foundation I can always rely on.
@thor Not a small number of hobbies but a lot of hobbies which change if I will be able to do them for hours.
I learned to accept that they switch. It happens mostly without warning and I just accept that a new hobbies phase is there. Some never come back and others always will come back again.
RPGs is a hobby that is coming back very often if I play many different systems because it is enough variety but sometimes I need a couple weeks to month pause.
If someone is interested: the ones that always come back at some point are: lockpicking, programming, solving puzzles (jigsaw, Einstein, puzzle boxes, video games like baba is you), video games (Souls-like games and survival crafter like Minecraft especially because I decide when and how I engage the story of them for the most), board games, writing, building stuff (like robots, wood craft, miniatures, models, etc.), magic tricks, Rubik's cubes, RPGs, comics, books and a few more.
@liztai I'll time block. Then the time to do the thing comes. But I just want to finish the thing I'm doing. It'll only take 5 minutes. I'll do the thing right after.
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Oh no! How did it get so late? I'll have to do the thing tomorrow :(
the public mental healthcare system is completely overwhelmed. it doesn't have enough money and resources and must triage heavily.
some people get diagnosed by private healthcare providers and pay big sums for it, yet still get turned down for further assistance when they return to the public healthcare system afterwards. a diagnosis isn't enough. it must be a very serious case to be eligible for therapy.
this severe under-capacity explains a lot. that's why they offer so little help. best you can hope for is medications or welfare money.
@thor this is because they can't get the health care they want and have to accept what they can get. I was poor and had no health insurance and got very ill. I got treatment. It wasn't great and I had no options but it did the job. Now I have all kinds of choices and the care is more pleasant. Since health care us a limited resource, it has to be rationed in some way.
@thor there is no question that you can't get the therapist or doctor that you WANT unless you have to money. This is NOT the same as not being able to get care. under most universal health care systems, this doesn't change and options are restricted. There is no way to escape the reality that health care has to be rationed in some way.