#adhd in adults

[neurospicy]

This might be an unpopular opinion but if you’re mean to someone for being awkward, having weird interest, being a picky eater, speaking in a monotone voice, etc, and they later end up being diagnosed with autism, you are, in fact, still ableist. People shouldn’t have to have an official label or dx to be treated like human beings, and the fact that you’re more worried about the social connotations and disapproval you may face for being mean to someone with the autism label rather than being worried that you were cruel to someone who can’t help it says a lot about you.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Late diagnosis of ADHD in Women

Future ADHD

[advashaviv]

So much of ADHD can be boiled down to "I'll just"...

I'll just be a minute!

I'll just finish this thing I do which I love and is neverending, then move on to that urgent task.

I'll just leave this here for now.

I'll just call them later.

I'll just put on my all-is-fine mask.

✨ ADHD fantasy fiction

[angelinasnotebooks]

Hate that my form of hyperfixation is consuming and not creating.

I think I've been falling in love with ideas my whole life. I see colors and concepts and characters, and I want every part of the illusion to play around my body and immerse my mind and soul. I thought growing up I would be an artist. When that mentally shattered, I moved on to thinking I would become an author. Now, however, I don't know what or who I'll be. All I know is that my brain never stops coming up with ideas. 

Yet, with all these ideas comes the possibility of creation. It's what I want, isn't it? I want to create these pictures and stories and share them with the world. So, why am I motionless in my pursuit to bring my mind to life? I have a library in my head. There's a girl in there. Her favorite color is blue. She doesn't know if life is worth living. I have an art museum there too. There's a portrait of a dying renegade, and a demon alter ego desiring joy. Then there's the realm of fandoms. The endless multiverse of continuations and alternatives.  

There's a lot going on inside my brain and imagination. Chemicals I do not understand and signals I cannot control. An abundance of beauty only an individual can conjure with their subjectivity. With no outlet for these thoughts and images, I find it all to be too much at times. Wings heavy on my back and flightless under the pressure. The ability to soar is there, but the weight within is burdensome.  

Every day I come up with something new. Some ideas are fresh while others are another line on the loom, but that is all they are. Thoughts. Ideas. Invisible whisps, webs, and wishes. It's as if the only part of my frontal lobe that works is that of imagination and complex thinking. I attempt short stories, painting, studying, chores, school projects, craft projects and I never get them done. Planning, time management, logical reasoning, and decision-making have all taken a backseat. I can't get any of them done, so I turn to what has already been done. 

I rewatch a favorite show. I read another fanfic. I click on a YouTube video and another. I scroll Tumblr. I read character analysis. I try on the clothes in my closet. I add shit to my wish list. I post photos from two months ago on my Instagram. I relate to autistic ADHD tiktokers. I pretend Pinterest will help me get my life together. I think about the MCU. I watch another comfort, crime, haunted, mythical series. I visit my AO3 bookmarks. I doom scroll whatever app I can get my eyes on. I turn thirteen again and either spiral into a depressive state or become infatuated with the Hunger Games--again.

The point is, I can't force my brain to work on the original ideas. Sitting at a desk with supplies doesn't get my hands moving. I fall numb waiting for my body and mind to comply with my intentions. So, I end up here again. Hitting a heart button to let other people know that their commentary and hard work have reached me, and I liked it.  

I don’t want all my ideas and universes to end where they are. I don’t want to minimize or invalidate my existence, or the experiences of others like me, by remaining artistically stagnant. I want my mind to be a visual tangible galaxy free to be roamed and explored. I want to have my heart in my hands, and I want to give it to every single person that I can. I want these thoughts, these precious ideas out of my head and into yours, dear reader. I don't want to consume; I want to create. If I'm going to go down the rabbit hole, I want to be the rabbit. The entrance maker. Not the lost girl I am right now. 

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

Here’s why I don’t take “inattentive vs hyperactive” seriously…

Clinicians: after using my neurotypical brain to briefly observe you in a completely sedentary office setting I noticed that you did not scream or lose your mind or run laps around my office even once, and since adhd burnout/paralysis/executive dysfunction don’t exist, you must have inattentive type. That’s the only explanation for your composure while in my office. You’re welcome :)

Actual adults with adhd: HELP I’m TOO TIRED to MOVE (unless I’m presented with any adequate stimulation) (unless I feel safe enough to fidget) (unless I get adequate rest and nutrients) (unless by some miracle I can take care of myself properly) (unless I hear a song I like) (unless it’s 2am when I get the zoomies) (unless it’s something I find fun then I’ll be bouncing off the walls) (unless it’s a project that interests me then I’ll work for twelve hours straight) (unless I have to sit for more than two minutes) (unless you ask about my childhood when I was constantly yelled at to calm down and sit still) (unless by some miracle I can achieve proper self care so I’m not constantly trying to pour from an empty cup)

[notexactlyrocketscience]

Mini “Should I consider whether I may actually have ADHD?” masterpost:

“The lost girls: ‘Chaotic and curious, women with ADHD all have missed red flags that haunt us’ ” by Noelle Faulkner for The Guardian

“The Lost Girls of ADHD: Getting diagnosed as an adult hasn’t been the relief I thought it would be” by Kara Eva Schlegl for Human Thoughts

“ADHD Is Different for Women” by Maria Yagoda for The Atlantic

“Failing at Normal: An ADHD Success Story” by Jessica McCabe for TEDx

“Should You Be Assessed for ADHD?” by Dr Stephen Humphries for Harley Therapy

Bonus: “The Results of My Brain Scan” by Laura Clery

There are a growing number of similar articles and resources that you can easily look up now, but the above list, starting with the first article (shared by a woman of colour friend with ADHD), is how I dove headfirst into a rabbit hole in January 2021 that's become a years-long journey.

I grew out of my selective mutism and into an incredibly organised student as a teenager, but my productivity and focus quickly went downhill halfway through twelfth grade before I took my IALs.

The first time I considered having ADHD was in August 2019, during my freshman year in university. After a friend (who grew up with far more prominent mental health struggles, including depression and anxiety that affected her grades) shut me down saying I was probably just “demotivated” instead, I quickly dispelled the thought. I didn’t want to be yet another neurotypical person trying to use mental health issues as an excuse for my laziness. I grew up with crippling, alienating social anxiety, and it had gotten worse with my move to the US for university—I wondered if I might have autism; I had always been so different from other kids. But I didn’t get a high probability on the free quizzes on the internet, and that had been the end of that.

I didn’t know at the time what masking was, and how ADHD and autism symptoms can overlap—how the two are often mistaken for one another. I didn’t know that ADHD can present differently in women and people of colour because of the environment we grow up in, and because of how we have been excluded from medical research from the moment of its discovery.

In Bangladesh, we’re expected to grow out of our neurodivergence, which is euphemised as personality quirks. There is a great stigma around having children with disabilities, and around mental healthcare in general, so parents often live in denial about their neurodivergent children. There is a very stereotypical view of how a child or adult with autism is supposed to appear, and about the occasional “hyper little boys” that will usually grow up to become quiet, calm, mature and shy. Girls are raised in an extremely regulated, structured environment with high expectations. We begin developing masking skills from the moment we develop a sense of gender.

If you are struggling to understand yourself, look up your symptoms. Do a deep dive. Ask your friends—multiple friends. Trust your instincts. Be patient and forgiving of yourself. There is so much more dimension to mental health and neurodivergence that may not be well-known within your community. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I promise.

[6catsandanerdo]

A good thing about dating an ADHDer is that we genuinely love with no games because we lack the attention and patience required to play a game with someone.

[sir-klauz]

“Do your chores!”

Me: “ok..!” *adhd brain possession midway thru washing a bowl* *5 hours later* “how did I get up here”

[notallfay]

So my lack of posting has been in part due to an ADHD mainia. They happen every so often where I get the urge to clean. I think they might be in part stress triggered if I'm honest, but I like the end result because I get stuff done.

I don't mean a regular mess clean, I mean I turn my bedroom upside down. I de-clutter and want to make some kind of improvement in how it looks clean. I mean business.

But I've got Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so this urge to clean does make my body ache, and it can take me a while. So I've been going through this for over a week now. I'm nearly done, and I'm starting to get the Dopamine boost.

And it tends to be one hell of a boost for my ADHD brain. So yeah, I've been hyperfocusing on cleaning.

[neurospicy]

I honestly resent the “adhd and autism are superpowers and only struggle because of capitalism” narrative, and I find it deeply flawed and lacking in nuance to the point of being harmful.

Adhd and autism both exist on a spectrum. They are each their own cluster of traits/symptoms, and those exist in varying degrees based on the individual. Are there aspects to adhd and autism that are advantageous? Absolutely, but we can’t pretend that they exist in an advantageous way in all of us. Some people do have the “right” traits, dialed up to the “right” intensity, and that might allow them to take advantage of their neurodivergence in a way that helps them succeed.

That isn’t to say that they don’t also have struggles due to living in a neurotypical world as an adhd’er or autistic, but they might be able to overcome it. Another person may have all the adhd or autistic traits dialed up to 100, to the point that it’s too debilitating for them to take advantage of any positives that might exist. There are high support needs autistics, for one example, who regardless of whether they had to work to afford to live or not, would still need help with living. Help cooking, cleaning, bathing.

I have “severe” adhd and while I don’t have an official autism diagnosis, I know I am autistic. I never related to the energetic, social, novelty-seeking picture that is painted of people who have adhd. My autistic traits cancel out the “positives” of having adhd, while my adhd traits cancel out the “positives” of being autistic. I’m too burnt out and exhausted all of the time to put forth much mental energy. I freak out when things aren’t predictable. I can’t function if the room is too cold. I can’t eat if my food is too cold, too squishy, too chewy, doesn’t have the right sauce available, doesn’t have the drink I like with that particular food, etc. My interests are very narrow so I don’t have the typical adhd love of variety. Yet I also can’t stay organized or follow a routine. I can’t recall information properly when I need to. I’m not patient. I forget things that just happened 30 seconds ago. I can’t plan to save my life.

This also ignores that some people have no comorbidities or they only have one or two. Some have several to contend with. Some of us have learning disabilities. We aren’t all former gifted kids that just can’t follow traditional structures or sit still in class or at the office. Some of us are legitimately debilitated in all aspects of life. Some of us aren’t just struggling with going to a 9-5…some of us can’t even keep a 9-5 because of our symptoms.

Does capitalism make things significantly harder? Absolutely. But if capitalism were to vanish tomorrow, I still wouldn’t have the executive functioning to keep my space clean, to make myself food, or to stay consistent on my own chosen projects. I would still struggle with arfid. I would still have a delayed circadian rhythm. I would still struggle to make appointments and make phone calls for myself. And I would still struggle to connect with others or make friends with people who might help me with these things.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

ADHD & Older People

Future ADHD

[advashaviv]

"Doing, doing, doing, getting nothing done."

Possibly the most ADHD sentence in my whole novel 🤔

ADHD cozy fantasy

[anxietyfrappuccino]

the irony of my adhd is that while i am constantly avoiding washing the dishes, when i do wash them i am in fact the one who cleans them the best

[trauermaerchen]

spent my entire law lecture reading about forensic entomology instead of paying attention

[jaymartinstudios]

ADHD Mind Training Secrets

[xanaxlollipop]

ADHD & hormonal contraceptives

If you don't know now you know:

The contraceptive pill can interfere with ADHD. Usually there are 3 types of pills: progesterone, estrogen and combined.

Progesterone contraceptives tend to increase the symptoms of ADHD

Estrogen based contraceptives tend to enhance the effects of ADHD medication, and if you're not taking medications usually the symptoms are reduced anyway.

The combined pill still doesn't have any study about the effect on ADHD symptoms. (Yes, kinda disappointing, I know.)

This is not a suggestion on which therapy you should follow or not, this is just to inform y'all people with ADHD...that this thing exist and If you have any questions you should contact your gyno/doc and have a little chitchat with them.

Stay safe y'all ❤️

SOURCE:

Reproductive steroids and ADHD symptoms across the menstrual cycle. Bethan Roberts et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2018 Feb.

Understanding Girls with ADHD: How they feel and why they do what they do. Dr P. Quinn