Neuro WTF Ever

The mad ramblings of a millennial with ADD, SPD, depression, tinnitus and a penchant for thinky thoughts.

[neurowtfever-blog]

That ADHD feel when you’re at work, rocking through emails and your email client suddenly dies.  Welp...there goes my productivity for the day.

[neurowtfever-blog]

Sensory Brain

SPD is so weird.  There are some things I absolutely KNOW will cause problems.  That high pitched sound movies throw in after an explosion?  Yeah, too close to my tinnitus.  And then there are things that I totally expect to cause some discomfort at best that sensory brain just...doesn’t notice?  WTF, brain?  Seriously.  W.  T.  F?

[neurowtfever-blog]

What is Time?

TADHDFW you’re running around the house cause you feel like you’re running late but your sense of time is screwy you leave the house WAY earlier than needed.  But you keep going cause if you stop to play “just one” game, you’ll definitely be late.

[neurowtfever-blog]

That ADHD Feel When

your work computer restarted overnight and you open your web browser and it’s all pretty and then you restore the previous session and oops.  There are all those tabs.  WTF did I even open that tab for?  There’s another one just like it three tabs over.

[bestial-eyes]

PSA about ADHD

✦ADHD is not a personality quirk

- some things that tag along with ADHD are:

        ~sensory processing disorder

        ~executive dysfunction

        ~poor fine motor skills

        ~sensory overloads (that lead to meltdowns)

        ~sensory seeking (self stimming)

        ~hyperfixations

        ~moderate to severe memory problems

        ~Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria- is an extreme emotional sensitivity and emotional pain triggered by the perception that one is being rejected, teased, or criticized. The emotional response is complete with suicidal ideation and people suffering from RSD often get misdiagnosed with serious personality disorders. RSD is only seen in people with ADHD and the emotional sensitivity/reaction is much more severe than that of a neurotypical person.

✦Some other “fun” ADHD things! 

          ~inability to regulate emotions

          ~no concept of time

          ~noticeable public stimming (resulting in stares from neurotypicals) 

          ~no impulse control

          ~insomnia

          ~listen but cannot absorb what is being said 

          ~no volume control 

          ~increased inability to focus when emotional

          ~difficulty stopping a task and transitioning to the next 

          ~social anxiety

          ~higher levels on generalized anxiety

          ~extremely forgetful 

          ~”all or nothing” mentality  

@ neurotypicals- some things to be aware of: 

- you cannot hyperfixate. only people who are neurodivergent can hyperfixate. please don’t use that word when describing your latest obsession :-)

- please don’t stare at neurodivergent people who are stimming in public

- be respectful of those who actually need fidget toys so they can subtly stim in public 

- if we forget something you tell us it is not because we don’t care, we just have a million other thoughts racing through our mind and no way to filter through them. 

- please be gentle with us. no don’t tip toe around us and treat us like we aren’t human, but be aware that even offhand comments can trigger RSD. no we aren’t being too sensitive, our brains are wired differently than yours. 

[bartmobile]

never forget that ADHD is a real disability and it affects our everyday lives in ways that often we don’t even realize

[neurowtfever-blog]

The More You Know

I’ve learned over the last week that I become more aware of my tinnitus when I’m stressed.  And when my allergies are bad.  And when I’m off my meds.  I ticked all three boxes last week.

[adhighdefinition]

Dr. Russell Barkley on ADHD (x)

[indirispeaks]

Piss off.  Diabetes will kill you, ADHD will not.   wtf, this is an absolutely terrible comparison to make.  ADHD can also HELP you if you’re the type of person who embraces it for the ability to hyperfocus on something you actually need to hyperfocus on.  Horrible man.

[adhighdefinition]

ADHD won’t kill you?! Oh, you’re so wrong. What about the increased risk of drug and alcohol dependency? What about the increased risk of accidental and sometimes fatal injury? What about all the people who are so badly affected by their disorder that they consider themselves nothing but a failure? Barkley is one of the most well-read, well-researched doctors on this topic. He knows what he’s talking about better than most people in the health system. But most importantly, NOT EVERYONE SEES THEIR ADHD AS A GIFT. Especially not when you consider the terrible stigma that is attached to it. ADHD doesn’t help you jack shit if the people around you don’t take it seriously.

[golbatgender]

Yeah, it will fuck your life over in a million little ways that decrease the material quarter of your life and will probably eventually shorten your lifespan, even if those little things don’t ever kill you outright. Missed medications, forgotten deadlines, overdue fees…anything where attention is crucial. You end up poorer and sicker from “unrelated” things that happened because you forgot or couldn’t focus.

[acemindbreaker]

ADHD doesn’t kill. If you’re in an environment unsuited to your neurotype, you’ll be at higher risk. But the effects of ableism are not inherent to the condition. ADHD no more kills you than being gay does. (Incidentally, a gay person in a homophobic environment can experience a lot of the same issues you describe for ADHD purely because they’re gay in a homophobic environment.)

If you need medication to function optimally, take it. But don’t compare life-threatening conditions to life-altering conditions and treat them as if they’re equivalent. And don’t confuse symptoms of prejudice with symptoms of your disability.

I’m autistic. I can’t live independently, struggle with self-care in a variety of different ways, and have a lot of other issues. And I’ve seen comparisons between autism and life-threatening conditions used to justify some of the worst acts of oppression against us.

[neurodiversitysci]

Yeah, it’s not a perfect analogy. ADHD itself doesn’t kill you, it just increases the risk of accidents, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, eating disorders (in teenage girls), etc. Some of the traits themselves, like executive dysfunction, poor time perception, and lack of working memory, cause problems unless a person can accommodate them. All of these direct and indirect problems can impair people, even when they come with gifts.

TLDR

1. Yes, ADHD needs to be accommodated and often medicated. No, it’s not as dangerous as diabetes. And we should already know from autism that it causes harm when people call a potentially serious developmental disability a “disease.”

2. Barkley deserves props for popularizing ADHD as a disability to be taken seriously rather than a character flaw. But he also says downright nasty stuff about people with ADHD, makes us sound incompetent and worthless. The sort of thing that people rightly object to when said about autistic people. He doesn’t seem to know or care that we’re listening. Barkley was important in the past, but IMO, isn’t relevant any more.

[adultadhd]

Umm… he clearly didn’t mean “diabetes and ADHD are equally severe”, he explains that both of them need constant care and attention to prevent further damage to the sufferer’s health (mental OR physical). 

Both disorders have no cure, but must be managed every day. That is what he’s saying.

He was using diabetes as an example to explain in a way neurotypical people will be able to understand - using a physical disorder that needs a similar level of attention to manage. 

[neurowtfever-blog]

Day 4 no meds

Day 4 of no meds.  I’m exhausted and my brain is bouncing everywhere.  How did I ever handle this without meds?

[neurowtfever-blog]

Unmedicated and Suffering

So I’ve never considered myself addicted to my ADD meds.  I know what addiction/withdrawal feels like and this is not it.  No.  I’m just basically useless cause I can’t concentrate.  Also, I feel like I could sleep for a week and still be tired.