xan-yaps-about-brains

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

Ok nvm i remember now :3c

So a few days ago I was literally crying bc I didn’t want my dad leaving my room (he says goodnight to me everynight.its a routine thing) but i also wanted to be alone so when he finally left i just.sobbed and idk why cs my parents r literally a room away from me??? And the day after than I was just.on the verge of crying over anything mildly inconvenient

Is that just? Called being sad??? Is that horomones? Being moody?? Cs I NEVER EVER get like that,, (._.) I’m 100% probably just over analyzing a small lil moment

hi Reina! Don’t worry, you’re not over analyzing or anything :)

This sounds like Rejection Sensitivity Disorder/Dysphoria (RSD) and it’s usually something that people experience alongside ADHD and autism due to emotional dysregulation.

RSD is when you get really sad or distressed over something most people would consider mildly inconvenient or even normal.

It’s not something you really need to get diagnosed by a professional, there’s not really any “cure” for it, but you can always try self soothing or reassuring yourself that the thing you’re sad about isn’t intended maliciously of that makes sense. For example, being benched in a sport for 20 minutes, instead of being really sad that your coach doesn’t think you’re good enough, tell yourself they’re just saving you because they know you’re really good !

I hope this helps you out, and if it sounds inaccurate feel free to let me know :D

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

Uhh i forgot what i was gonna ask

im diagnosing you with inattentive adhd because of this/silly

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

schizophrenic people are constantly made to be a joke or a quirky edgy meme in recent years and it actually makes me insane. psychosis as a word has become watered down last year there was people “schizoposting” people joke about hallucinating or unreality because they think its funny and god forbid an actual schizophrenic person posts about their experiences because then you get people dming you with scary images and cryptic text to try to induce psychosis like that cant fucking kill someone i hate all of you people

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

Random Rambles #1

Summary: Why more research needs to go into ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder) and how it compares to ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)

I believe that there should be more research done into ODD and how it’s different from autism or ADHD, and this is for a multitude of reasons.

For example, I’ve talked to people with ODD before, and a lot of them said they felt misunderstood, mislabeled, or that ODD was basically “having autism, but being complicated instead of masking 24/7”. So, not even the people who are diagnosed with ODD feel comfortable or understood within that label.

Not to mention, all of the people that’ve asked me about symptoms they have and would like to know about, have all the symptoms of autism while being diagnosed with ODD. NIH ran a study with 608 children to determine the validity of ODD as a separate disorder from ADHD or autism, and found that a large percentage of children diagnosed with ODD also experienced autism symptoms. Specifically, 13-27% of parents reported their children with ODD meeting the autism criteria as well, and 21-25% of teachers reported the same. And those are very large numbers when you consider that means 79-164 parents reported their children having co-occurring symptoms of autism, and 127-152 teachers reported their students have co-occurring symptoms of autism. [source]

ODD feels almost as if we’re just labeling children with a disorder they should feel ashamed of because they, as autism criteria suggests, struggle with socializing and making friends.

If even the people diagnosed with ODD feel misunderstood and research shows such a huge overlap with autism and ADHD, then we need to ask: are we pathologizing ‘defiance,’ or are we just failing to recognize different expressions of neurodivergence?

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

question, why can taking my adhd medication make it feel like i'm less anxious? cause theyre NOT for anxiety but ig my brain thinks they are 🤷‍♂️

Hiya!! Sorry it took me so long to answer this 😭

Why do Some ADHD Meds Lower Anxiety?

Summary: talking about when mental disorders have overlapping criteria, how professionals go about treating overlapping symptoms, and why treating one thing can simultaneously treat the other.

The thing about mental disorders is that a LOT of symptoms overlap in multiple different disorders.

For example, ADHD and autism both have criteria about hyper-fixations, difficulty staying still, self soothing actions, irregular speech patterns, etc. But the main difference between these two, is that autism has social difficulties, whereas ADHD might, but isn’t always guaranteed to.

This happens with ADHD and anxiety, both cause dysregulated emotions, heightened anxiety, restlessness, etc. (this is also part of why ADHD diagnoses have skyrocketed, they’re so similar that sometimes anxiety gets misdiagnosed as ADHD.)

Because of this, what you might think is an anxiety symptom could actually be an ADHD symptom, and since you take ADHD meds they actively reduce symptoms of anxiety that:

A) Co-occur in ADHD

B) Are caused because of the ADHD

Often times when a psychiatrist or physician is prescribing medication for ADHD and anxiety, they’ll treat one first to see if that’s helpful enough, and if not they prescribe meds for the other one too.

For example let’s use restlessness as a symptom, this is often associated with GAD (generalized anxiety disorder), as well as ADHD, therefore, by treating the ADHD you’re treating that symptom too.

I hope this helps you out! And on the bright side, at least you don’t have to take an extra med lmao

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

First of all I’m sorry you’re going through this, it’s not okay and you deserve way better.

second, if she’s saying it’s how she was raised, that means it’s very likely a case of generational trauma. Generational trauma is basically:

Your great grandparents hurt your grandparents -> your grandparents hurt your mom -> now your mom is hurting you

it’s a very common issue, and it’s possible it’s some form of trauma, and yeah, fear, but i wouldn’t be able to know based off of this info.

But being from a manipulative family doesn’t give her the right to manipulate you as well

hii xan its been a bit hope youre doing well hehe can i ask a question regarding someone else, not me? coughs

yeah of course! You can ask any questions you have at all :3

and I’m going well I hope you are too !

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

hii xan its been a bit hope youre doing well hehe can i ask a question regarding someone else, not me? coughs

yeah of course! You can ask any questions you have at all :3

and I’m going well I hope you are too !

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

hi red! what does compulsive lying come from and is it a form of flight or fight ?

Hi Anon! This is a super interesting question and I had a really fun time putting this together <33

Compulsive Lying

Summary: What is compulsive and pathological lying, the science behind lying, compulsive v. pathological lying, and how it relates to fear

This one’s a bit long, so to answer your question quickly, no, compulsive lying is not a form of fight or flight.

Fight or flight is a response triggered by a perceived fear, and as of August 2025 the only recognized fear responses are fight, flight, fawn, and freeze (and occasionally faint). You can read more about them on my post here!

Now, in order to delve into what compulsive and pathological lying are, we should talk about what happens in the brain when you lie.

lying is a universally relatable experience, and is fundamental to human behavior and social interaction. People who lie do it to protect themselves, gain something, keep things civil, etc. [source]

There are three main brain regions that cause lying. The prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the insula. The amygdala can also be in involved, but these are the ones that do most of the work.

The prefrontal cortex is the lobe at the very front of your brain, it’s responsible for decision making, self controls executive function, etc. and thanks to neuroimaging, we know that its activity increases when someone is in the process of lying.

The anterior cingulate cortex is what detects possible flaws and errors in possible lies. The insula aids in increasing your emotional awareness, which implies liars experience feelings of guilt, regret, anxiety, etc.

The amygdala triggers stress and anxiety, which makes lying harder. But, as lying becomes more of a habit these emotional experiences become less likely and make lying much easier.

Cognitive functions also play a role in lying, they’re used much more when telling the truth due to coming up with a reasonable lie being much more difficult than telling the truth.

When you tell a lie, your brain often releases dopamine, and this can reinforce the behavior. In the other hand, during the process of lying, cortisol (the stress hormone) is often released. The mixture of these chemicals can cause a complicated response to the brain and helps you weigh the immediate rewards versus the long term consequences (and vice versa).

Compulsive lying is similar to pathological liar, with the key difference being that impulsive lying isn’t meant to hurt the person you’re lying to, but protect your reputation, sense of self, etc. [source]

Compulsive lying is not a formally recognized disorder in the DSM-5, but is often a symptom of other disorders or trauma.

A study done by NIH showed that 8-13% of people are pathological liars and of those 8-13% most reported experienced distress, impaired functioning, and being more of a danger to other people.

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

U yap abt brains while i dissect them- we are not the same /j

sigh… share some pookie…/silly

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

Currently working on some asks in my ask box, but I was curious if people would be interested in seeing psychological analyses on fictional characters.

I’m not sure if I’d do requests, but I would if I was in the fandom.

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

Hey babes uh if you can’t answer this tell me that privately but If my dad has undiagnosed ADD/ADHD (probably ADD), and my dad’s side has a PROMINENT amount of ADD/ADHD cases (some diagnosed), does that mean I’m more likely to have it? Is there like, a genetic factor for it? Or is my dad’s side just really unlucky? Also btw both the diagnosed and undiagnosed do not take meds, even though I’m sure they all need it <33

Hiya! This is totally fine! No worries :3

ADHD and Family History

Summary: What is ADHD, family history and its impact, and can ADHD be genetic

Hi! This is actually an amazing question thanks for asking! :D

So to start off, the term ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is an outdated term that is now considered inattentive ADHD.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) itself, is a disorder where someone might struggle with impulsivity, hyperactivity, inattention, emotional dysregulation, etc.

ADHD is typically categorized into three sections—hyperactive, combined, and inattentive—and because of this change, ADD is no longer used in almost all clinical contexts.

Now—moving onto family history and how that impacts ADHD—this is actually a very valid thing to take note of considering genetics is one of the causes of ADHD.

While the exact cause of ADHD isn’t clear, scientists have found that genetics and environmental factors (e.g. abuse) are associated with it.

NIH (National Institute of Health) did a study in 2016 to learn more about child-parent relationships and ADHD. It was found that 51% of fathers that have children with ADHD also have ADHD (41.3% for mothers.). You can learn more about it here.

Essentially, if your father and most of his family have ADHD that significantly increases your likelihood of ADHD.

So to answer your question, yes, a lot of the time ADHD is genetic, other times it’s typically caused by environmental factors.

I hope this helps you out!

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

Fuck i love science too

Hell yeah anon

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

why neuroscience is cool

space & the brain are like the two final frontiers

we know just enough to know we know nothing

there are radically new theories all. the. time. and even just in my research assistant work i've been able to meet with, talk to, and work with the people making them

it's such a philosophical science

potential to do a lot of good in fighting neurological diseases

things like BCI (brain computer interface) and OI (organoid intelligence) are soooooo new and anyone's game - motivation to study hard and be successful so i can take back my field from elon musk

machine learning is going to rapidly increase neuroscience progress i promise you. we get so caught up in AI stealing jobs but yes please steal my job of manually analyzing fMRI scans please i would much prefer to work on the science PLUS computational simulations will soon >>> animal testing to make all drug testing safer and more ethical !! we love ethical AI <3

collab with...everyone under the sun - psychologists, philosophers, ethicists, physicists, molecular biologists, chemists, drug development, machine learning, traditional computing, business, history, education, literally try to name a field we don't work with

it's the brain eeeeee

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

Hihi!! I think they're really interesting so could you explain to me more about fear responses(like fight, flight, freeze, fawn etc)? Is there things that cause the formation of certain ones rather than others, or is it just how a person is?

(or can they change?)

Hiya!! I’m so sorry it took me so long to answer this, tumblr kept being wonky :(

this topic is actually very fascinating to me, so thanks for the questions!

Fear Responses

Summary: What happens in the brain during a fear response, what are they, and how to ‘change’ a fear response

Have you ever felt scared and like your body went on autopilot? Maybe a bug jumped at you and you swatted at it, or you ran away when you saw a bear? This is your fight or flight reaction, and everyone has it.

When your body is experiencing a fight or flight response your brain essentially goes:

“Is this a threat small enough for us to beat up, or is it too big and we need to run away?”

If your brain decides that fighting is the best route to go, it releases adrenaline to prepare your muscles and body to attack the threat.

If your brain decides fleeing is the best route to go, it releases adrenaline (amongst other hormones) so you can sprint away and keep your stamina.

it’s not consciously thinking about it, your amygdala kicks into gear and makes the decision without thinking thoroughly but you can guess which one will occur based off that.

Now, there are actually five fear responses (including fight or flight). The other three are fawn, freeze, and faint. The reason why it’s called a “fight or flight” response and not a “fight, flight, fawn, freeze, or faint” response is because a) that name is atrociously long and b) fawn, freeze, and faint are all different.

Fight or flight is a phenomenon everyone has, even if they tend to default to one more than the other. But fawn and freeze are fear AND trauma responses.

Fawning is extremely common in cases of abuse and is basically the act of appeasing the threat rather than actually doing anything physical to negate the threat.

Freezing is extremely common in cases of sexual assault and rape, where when perceiving a threat their body almost shuts down in a way, it freezes.

Fainting isn’t always included in the fear responses cuz it’s very rare and usually more of a physical response than a psychological one It’s exactly what it sounds like, where someone faints.

Now, it’s not like you’re given a fear response at birth and stuck with it forever, like I said, everyone at least experiences the fight or flight response, but fawn and freeze are developed.

So can you learn how to stop fawning or freezing?

Yes! It’s difficult because it’s usually deeply ingrained into people who struggle with it, but with therapy and support you can at least, if not get rid of it entirely, significantly lessen how often you fawn.

And if you want, I can give you a list of therapies that are extremely beneficial for exactly that :D

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

I’ll make a post about it and tag you in it! <33 :D

damn

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

Ohh, my bad I thought you meant for fight, but yeah I’m not sure how accurate this test is considering it includes fight or flight even though everybody experiences those no matter who you are, but im not tryna sound like a jerk or anything like that”erm ackshuwally” I promise 😭

damn

[xan-yaps-about-brains]

I’m still working on your ask, and im not sure how this test works but everybody experiences fight or flight responses, basically your brain says:

Threat big enough for us to beat up? Fight

Threat too big for us to beat up? Flight

Fawn and freeze are trauma responses that are used as fear responses if fighting or fleeing does seem effective, not everybody experiences fawn or freeze, but everyone experiences fight and flight, it’s not like you’re assigned one fear response for life lol

There’s also one called faint, but it’s not very widely recognized in psychology because it’s more of a physical response than a psychological one and it’s very rare as well.

(Also since I study psychology I have a theory for a fifth/sixth fear response called fix but nobody wants to hear about a 14 year old’s dumb theories 💀)

damn