ADD/ADHD/Etc

[Kumakun]

Added another project to juggle while my brain prattles over things that I wish I could see as a MU*

It’s hard to explain the need to juggle tasks if one gets dull or stuck or isn’t fun at the moment - and not lose credibility as someone who can get things done, finish projects, or release products.

My project graveyard is vast. The struggle is real.

[L. B. Heuschkel]

Finished the first half of my assessment today. The GP thinks it’s very likely that I do in fact have ADHD.

Now to wait up to a year for a psychiatrist to confirm the diagnosis and decide on treatment. Thank you, pandemic and Putin.

[Birdie]

@L-B-Heuschkel Why do you have to wait so long for a diagnosis confirmation?

[L. B. Heuschkel]

@Birdie A combination of pandemic backing up the resources of the healthcare system and everything grinding to a halt here in Europe because of the Ukraine war.

I may get lucky and get in sooner. But they did tell me to not count on it.

[Birdie]

@L-B-Heuschkel I’m so sorry to hear this. I am in the US. I was initially diagnosed by my nurse practitioner and was then confirmed by a psychiatric nurse practitioner and had started taking medication but I stopped before having my kids. About a year into the pandemic I started suffering multiple panic attacks a day. I decided to find a therapist to do talk therapy with. It wasn’t until 10 or so months into talk therapy that we discussed medication again.

Talk therapy has really been helpful. In the meantime time while you wait for an appointment with a psychiatrist, is talk therapy an option where you live?

[L. B. Heuschkel]

@Birdie Unfortunately not without a diagnosis, no. But I’ll live. I’ve lived 51 years so far without treatment, I can get through another.

[RightMeow]

@L-B-Heuschkel

We are here for you the best we can be. We might not be able to get you meds, but we can relate with you. That is always good. Also maybe give you some ‘tips and tricks’ if you need them.

[L. B. Heuschkel]

My GP agreed that I likely have ADHD. I’m now on a wait list for psychiatric evaluation, most likely sometime in early 2023. Unfortunately, Denmark has a long wait time for conditions that aren’t considered critical – and well, I’ve lived with it for 51 years so I can pull through another, I guess.

Thanks to people in here who helped me come to the realisation!

[Birdie]

@L-B-Heuschkel said in ADD/ADHD/Etc:

My GP agreed that I likely have ADHD. I’m now on a wait list for psychiatric evaluation, most likely sometime in early 2023. Unfortunately, Denmark has a long wait time for conditions that aren’t considered critical – and well, I’ve lived with it for 51 years so I can pull through another, I guess.

Thanks to people in here who helped me come to the realisation!

While it is not a substitution for being under the care of a physician, there are many wonderful podcasts on ADHD that offer some coping strategies, a basic understanding of ADHD, and other helpful resources. There is also something called the ADHD diet many people swear by. Just remember it is a process. Be kind to yourself.

I believed that medicine was the answer. I believed that as soon as I started taking medicine for ADHD I would be the perfect version of myself and I would finally achieve all of those (unattainable) goals I have set. This did not happen exactly like that. It has helped but I am still the one doing the work. Some days are better than others. That has been my journey so far.

I hate to say it like this but early 2023 is basically here. Keep your appointment. You’re doing great. ️

[L. B. Heuschkel]

@Birdie I’ve been medicated for a substantial part of my life for the Borderline diagnosis – that turns out to have been a mix of cPTSD and ADHD. Believe me, I have no illusions left about medicine – I’ll take it if they genuinely think it can help but I’d rather be without.

It’s wonderful to have so many things fall into place though. The hyperfixation, the lack of ability to focus, the lack of ability to sit still, the dyscalculia… A lot of things make more sense now.

[sao]

Fkn hour late to a hearing because I forgot about it, of course. Sigh.

[RightMeow]

@sao I’m sorry. I won’t say I know how it feels because I’m not in your particular branch of employment. However, I relate on my own.

[Raaspra]

@RightMeow I forget to eat for many of those same reasons.

And then some days I find myself eating constantly because it’s there, and I’m not paying attention. I’m doing twenty other things and hand-to-mouth is without conscious thought.

[Floof]

I got my official diagnosis yesterday. Not really sure where to go from here, but it at least feels good to not second guess myself about it all the time now!

[L. B. Heuschkel]

This is an issue I really should be debating with a therapist or other professional but, alas, I live in Denmark and I’m still waiting for my adult ADHD assessment to start ‘sometime in 2023’. That’s a long wait ahead so I’m going to poke the hive brain here instead.

I’ve been doing my homework of course and I realise that rejection dysphoria is very definitely a thing. But how do fellow ADHD people suffering from it tell when it’s the dysphoria rearing its head – and when people are actually excluding you, or worse?

Lately, a group of people in my game circles have been very pointedly ghosting me to an extent where other players have started to ask what the problem is. I’m seriously thinking about taking a break from roleplaying because of it; after all, I must be pushing people away or otherwise acting in a way they can’t condone, in order for this to happen. I don’t feel that I’m behaving in a bad fashion but obviously, mileage varies.

This is where I really could use some tools to make it easier to tell when it’s you yourself who’s being a rejection sensitive pile of anxiety who simply needs to suck up the fact that some people don’t like you, and move on – and when people are actually being assholes.

[Mourne]

@L-B-Heuschkel I can only suggest asking someone you trust who is still around.

[L. B. Heuschkel]

@Mourne said in ADD/ADHD/Etc:

@L-B-Heuschkel I can only suggest asking someone you trust who is still around.

I have asked for reality checks from friends and they’re not telling me that I’ve gone nuts. I am hoping that maybe there might be some reading material or tools out there, though, that can help detect bad patterns – whether in yourself or in others.

[Mourne]

@L-B-Heuschkel The problem with that is everyone has their own trigger points. Some people will trigger at different things and different levels. It’s an individual thing based on each persons patience and what annoys them.

We all have unique tolerance points.

[Aria]

I am usually not a Walmart shopper because ew, capitalism. But…

Walmart currently has some of the official Antsy Labs’ fidget cubes on sale for under $3.

[Kestrel]

I was looking for this thread.

I found myself reminiscing today on the ADHD thread we used to have over on MSB, and contemplating what a shame it is we don’t have one here. I benefited a lot from the camaraderie in that one, before everything spontaneously exploded.

I thought to myself, hey, I should make an ADHD thread over on BMD! Then I (wisely) decided to use the search function first, to check if someone else might’ve already had the bright idea. Turns out we do have an ADHD thread. Yay!

… But on the worrying side, it turns out I already knew that, I’d just forgotten. Because upon finding this thread, I also found I’d upvoted a bunch of posts already, which I don’t even remember having read. I reread them today and then upvoted some more.

I’m too young to be going senile, but I guess that’s ADHD in a nutshell.

---

So as for why I was actually looking for this thread, my tale of derpery aside — I’m sure this question must’ve been posed before, but what the heck is it about MU* that seems to have attracted so many people with ADHD brains? I feel like half the people I know in this hobby have the diagnosis or are in the early stages of looking into one.

Second question, does anyone feel like their ADHD might’ve gotten worse over time, in particular in any part due to their online habits? I feel this way, and I’ve been thinking lately on ways I should maybe try to undo the damage. As a personal anecdote, I was a voracious reader when I was a kid. I was always reading — I’d hide books under my desk in class to read rather than paying attention. Now? My hobbies are still very literary, namely this one, but I feel like I struggle to keep my eyes on a page. What gives? Reading brings me such joy when I’m able to do it, yet I feel like I’ve broken my own brain into only having the capacity for it in the short bursts of social, instant gratification that takes place during RP.

I have a book face-down on the table in front of me this very second, as I type this.