What really scares me is that I don't meet the classical medical criteria for ADHD, but I relate to these memes like a motherfucker...
Mental health is never an on/off thing, my friend. It's a spectrum and you could potentially still be relatively high on the spectrum but not high enough for a full diagnosis. Nobody is stopping you from incorporating some more ADHD friendly techniques in your life too :)
The main thing to remember about these diagnoses is that you don't have the disorder unless it disrupts your daily life.
A lot of people have a lot of symptoms of some of these disorders without having the disorder itself.
I've had some time to think about this, and honestly at times it does disrupt my life. There are many examples in my life, which some of these memes hit really close to.
When I say I don't meet the classical medical criteria, I meant that I don't meet all of the multiple criteria necessary for a diagnosis. But some of that could just be from my upbringing. For example, I don't have the complete lack of impulse control that seems to be almost a requirement for diagnosis. I also was constantly browbeat and ridiculed for my lack of patience as a child, and had to develop ways to avoid the constant criticism. I learned patience as a coping mechanism.
I am affected by my lack of planning ability. I'll get the job done, but it'll always take longer because I didn't account for many different things. People constantly comment on that, because to them it was obvious how it should have been done and they can't understand why I just didn't do that. I try to control my budget with diligently developed spreadsheets, but it often goes off the rails because sometimes I just need to buy myself something to satisfy the itch when I'm stressed. I had serious boredom problems when I was in IT and stuck in front of a computer 8 hours a day, which might partially explain the 2-3 year layoff cycles. I loved developing code, but I hated working on the same program for more than 6 months. I also hated doing tech support with a passion, which I got stuck doing for over a decade.
I've just tried to pivot and work around things the best that I can. People have talked about it like it's living life on hard mode. But it's the only way I know how to live. It's barely holding together with Duct Tape, bubblegum, and a whole lot of hope, but I've gotten this far in life like that. My fear is that disrupting that to try to find a new path might completely tear everything apart.
I mean some of us have become experts at not letting it disrup life as we had no choice. But my therapist says I'm all kinds of adhd she is baffled I never went to a shrink before. Nothing has to affect your life not even hallucinations and lack of short term memory. You pretend to be like every one else and smart phones do the rest.
Experts for like a week before we fly off the rails again for six months 😭
My solution to that is to write it down on my phone! So I get my phone out, fight with the unlock system to recognise me, go to the app, and completely forget what I was going to write down. Voice control helps a bit, create note blah blah blah avoids the delay and the forgetting, usually.
Thank God for auto pay
The soap in my bathtub is too big for the soap holder. I want to cut it in half. I think if it every time I’m in the bath. Then I forget. Now I’m on the toilet. Maybe I’ll remember long enough to…
UPDATE: I did it!!
Update: I didn’t cut it.
Ironically I have found the best way to remember something is to tell myself to forget about it, because I then have to remember the thing I need to forget about. Unfortunately, this seems to mostly work for obligations rather than stuff that is fun.
Y'all still trust your brains? Lol
I'll set a alarm this time so I remember.... no I don't need to title the alarm so I remember what it's for, no way I will forget what it's for..... 6hrs later why the fuck is my alarm going of
Thought pop-ups in my head, I need to research about it. I alt tab, click in search bar... and I stare dumb at the blinking cursor... mind blank. Have to catch it fast, light speed, or it's gone.
This is when you discover checklist and day planners
" I have to remember to check my checklist "
They forgot the ultimate weapon...
STICKY NOTES EVERYWHERE,
so you can never forget, and you get to look crazy!
Don't forget,
WRITING ON YOURSELF!
Just for a little extra pezas on that tattoo you never got finished.
OH SHIT, DEPRESSION HAS ENTERED THE RING WITH THE CHAIR; OOOOOOH, HE NEVER STOOD A CHANCE!
The sticky notes just become background noise rather than effective reminders for me.
The lighter side of ADHD
