Adhd things that need to be talked more about (because adhd is more than just not being able to focus)
Short term memory loss. Seriously, I forget things that are said to me 5 minutes ago or will forget I opened a soda and will have 3 open cans by the end of the day with none of them finished. A lot of people donāt know about this, and so they think that I donāt care enough to listen to what their saying (which I do!!! I just canāt remember it) or that Iām lazy because of all the things I donāt end up doing because I forgot I had to do them.
Lack of motivation. Listen, I honestly canāt do anything on my own for the most part. I have to have someone else tell me to do something or have them set goals for me because itās so damn difficult for me to do it myself. Again, Iām not lazy, I just have trouble doing things on my own
Language processing difficulties. Sometimes, English and words in general donāt work out in my head. Reading or even listening to someone talk can be extremely difficult for me to understand because my brain just wonāt work. Why? Canāt tell you 99% of the time! Itās not that I need to focus, itās that my brain is just buffering.
Needing multiple forms of stimulation at all times. I have a tin of putty that I keep in my book bag and a smaller one I keep in my purse at all times because of this reason. If I want to learn anything at school, I have to be able to look at something, hear something, and have something to do with my hands. Otherwise, itās probably a big nope for me. Whatās frustrating is that since this isnāt talked about enough, I often get called childish or get looked down upon because I have to play with silly putty in a highschool class.
Hyperfixation. Adhd can mean not being able to focus, but itās also focusing too much on something! This can mean anything from a certain interest someone is in to at that moment, to something like a song that has been stuck in your head for a week. People seem to not understand this and think that weāre boring and have nothing else to talk about or that weāre annoying because we keep bringing the same things up over and over again but thatās not the case. Trust me, Iām annoyed with the hit or miss song too, but at least itās not playing in your head constantly like it is for me
These are all the ones I can think of right now, but itās really important we talk about this stuff more. All of these things that come with adhd can be very frustrating for those around us because they donāt understand that we canāt help it. To an outsider, it may just look like a person with adhd is just lazy and doesnāt care, when itās actually just how our brains are wired. None of us want to be frustrating to others!! In fact, all of this frustrates us too!! But since adhd is just known as ānot being able to focusā, people donāt realize what all comes with it and how it can really fuck everyone over.
Please add more if you can think of anything else!! Iām horrible with lists lol
RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria) is also a fairly common experience of ppl with adhd! RSD is an extreme emotional sensitivity caused by the perception of failing, or being rejected, mocked, or criticised. (key word: perception. the feelings of rejection/failure arenāt always very rational). it seems to not get enough attention, even in discussions about neurodivergency, which rlly sucks b/c itās a very painful thing to experienceā¦ it often also comes with suicidal ideation, and since not a lot of people know what it is, in some cases itās misdiagnosed as serious mood disorders like bpd or bipolar :-(
^^^ I was gonna add RSD, glad someone else did! Also (this is long and I know I left a lot out/probably messed up but I donāt have the brain rn to proofread and these are Important):
shitā¦ I had some stuff to add, I promise, I canāt remember
ummm ugh I really did though
oh! Oh yeah!
ADHD is an executive function deficit disorder (EFDD)Ā
A lot of the below points are related/connected to executive dysfunction, bc itās such a huge part of our brain structure, even with the help of meds. Strap in for some psychology fun, folks!
Our Limbic System:Ā itās like a Boggart - terrifying, in constant flux, and absolutely ridikkulus.
Amygdala chaos. Our amygdalas (part of limbic system in brain that regulates fight/flight/freeze) operate at extremes. This ties in with RSD a lot cause it can cause us toĀ āoverreactā with anger, despair, intense fear/panic, and/or a sort of paralysis that makes it near impossible to deal with difficult situations
Messed-up reward centers. We donātĀ āprocrastinateā so much as we just donāt have the natural function to self-motivate. Also, impatience.
HippocampusĀ - in charge of memory & auditory processing
Wernickeās area - responsible for speech comprehension
Brocaās area - responsible for producing speech
Basal ganglia - habit-learning and forming, schedule, routine
ADHD symptoms arenāt selective. People often say stuff likeĀ āif it was important youād rememberā orĀ āyou can focus on things you enjoy, so clearly you CAN focus and just choose not to.ā Um, no. Symptoms can apply to anything. Even stuff we really care about we can forget or fail to get up the motivation for.
Hypersensitivity - we can get sensory overload easily, or have way too little stimulus, both of which impair almost all functioning
Sleep problems. Our options are insomnia, hypersomnia, or oscillating wildly between the two.
Neurotransmitters hate us! :) TooĀ much, too little, too unregulated, synapse issues, you name it
Norepinephrine - Oh, norepinephrineā¦ please return from the war. This is the Big One. The thing that first comes up when talking about ADHD in the brain. Itās in charge of motivation, stress/excitability/reactionary regulation, attention, memory storage and retrieval, alertness, maintaining focus and task endurance, processing sensory information, priority-setting, intentional behavior, thought-organization, executive functioning involved in reasoning, learning, and problem solving, etc.Ā
Dopamine - ourĀ reward centers are messed up. It takes a LOT more for us to get a dopamine boost, and even then itās much lower and duller than neurotypicals get. Exercise, food, whatever it is - it isnāt nearly as effective for us when it comes to depression/anxiety/mood problems in general. It can help, but not in the same way.Ā
Serotonin - influences mood, social behavior, sleep, and memory.Ā
Basically our frontal lobes are little shitsĀ (emphasis on littleā¦ theyāre small) You know, the part of the brain that does that thing called ~Executive Functioning?~
Goal-oriented tasks - we often canāt just do something simply bc it needs to be done. Thatās not enough.
Delayed gratification - doesnāt process unless instant results/rewards/consequences
Our perception of time is WAY off -Ā either something is Now, or itās Not Now and therefore waaaay in the future or past. If a project is due in a month, it will Always be a month away even the day prior to the due date. If I look at the clock and itās 12pm, it will Be 12pm until I look at a clock again, even if I know itās been a while since then
Impulse control - again with not understanding the concept of long-term. We also donāt inherently understand mood regulation or how to handle outbursts
Social behavior - uh, yeah. That can be hard. Sometimes weāre completely unaware of our surroundings and how weāre acting, but then sometimes RSD and social anxiety kick in and we become hyper-aware of every nugget of body language, tone, expression, etc., interpreting everything as negative (Iām making them uncomfortable, they hate me, Iām being weird, Iām stressful to be around, they coughed probably as a sign I should stop doing something. Or start? Oh no.) We blurt stuff out even if itās totally unrelated or unhelpful, lots of times when we know we shouldnāt but we just? canāt help it??Ā
Decision-making - hahahaha yep. remember fight/flight/freeze? Yeah this isĀ āfreezeāsā favorite place to butt in. Either our minds go blank and we cannot think of any options, or itās exploding with Too Many possibilities to think through properly. This usually results in doing nothing, panicking, or crap what was the last one I was gonna say?? Oh right the impulse control thing again - we just do Something without foresight. Which brings us to
planning - thinking ahead is hard enough. We CAN plan and be good at it, but sticking with it is super difficult. Which is obnoxious bc being on a schedule in some way is known to be helpful for ADHDā¦ oof.
Initiating, following through on, and switching between tasks.Ā A lot of the time we honestly donāt know how to start something, or even how to go about thinking about starting something. I canāt think enough right now to fill this one out but you get it.
Working Memory: The ability to hold things in your mind. HAHAHA unless itās something lodged in there for months thereās no telling if I can remember a n y t h i n g
Comorbid Disorders - Because of the way our brains are structures and how they function, ADHD has a SUPER high comorbitity rate, meaning there are often more disorders at play. For instance, ADHD nearly always comes with built-in depression and anxiety. Ppl with ADHD have higher likelihoods than the general population to also have: bipolar (type I or II, cyclothymia, dysmithia, rapid-cycling, etc.), OCD, BPD (ADHDers can have BPD as well, but it IS often misdiagnosed because of how similar it is to RSD), dyslexia, eating disorders, etc. Many ADHD symptoms are shared by/overlap with other things inherently, even without separate diagnoses, like being prone to chronic sadness or feelings of worthlessness, inability to regulate emotion, etc.
ADHD IS A REAL DISORDER THAT GOES WAY BEYOND WHAT YOU THINK
I know we ADHD peeps have trouble reading lots of text at once, soĀ
TL;DR: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!??!?!!!??!!!
This.
Thank you.
I also get word stuck in my head and I say them over and over again until the need to say it goes away. And once I crashed into a tree because I couldnāt decide to go left or right.
^^^ ok first, Iām so sorry. Second, that is the funniest and most relatable thing Iāve heard all day
Decision making!!! I literally get distracted by options! this would be good for this reason and that would be good for that reason and both bad for other reasons and HOW DO I PICK?!
This means I am actually very good at seeing things from different sides and perspectives but it also means my face will just give you a buffering status if you ask me to choose something at any given time. My favorite color? Well green is so nature-y but orange is yum and blue makes me cozy in my fuzzy hearted parts and purple is so majestic....
My youngest has ADHD and we have learned to look at menus before going out to eat otherwise she will sit and buffer for 20 minutes in the drive thru trying to pick a meal to order. āOrder whenever youāre ready!...ā āwe will....ā š
