for anyone who thinks that adhd is some fun little thing where you just forget things sometimes and are hyper, here is what completing a household task (let’s say, for example, this task is to wash my laundry) looks like in my brain:
*sees laundry hamper overflowing* ok, i should probably wash my clothes, but first i have to…
take my laundry out of the hamper
pick up the dirty clothes that spilled onto the floor
transfer those to the basket as well
walk to the laundry room with the basket, past the kitchen
oh no! there are dishes in the sink, i better get to those now so i don’t forget *puts down laundry basket* let’s see, i have to…
see if there are clean dishes inside (usually there are)
put each dish away one by one
rinse each dish in the sink, then put it in the dishwasher
put dishwasher detergent pod into dishwasher
put rinse aid into dishwasher
wow! that took a lot of time, now i’m kind of hungry *forgets about the laundry basket’s existence and walks right past it*
*in bed* i feel like i’m forgetting something… oh well, must not be important!
thus, the cycle restarts.
doesn’t that sound exhausting? having to map out an entire list of steps just to complete one task? now imagine that your brain just does this automatically, it’s not even a conscious decision!
the mental toll is excruciating and we can’t even stop it from happening.
so, no, adhd is not just “sometimes forgetting things” or “being hyper” - adhd is a perpetual state of being unable to functionally execute and complete tasks without significant mental planning and labor.