ADHD Attention

 I’ve seen many parents not wanting to medicate their children. I’m not going to tell you what to do with your own child, that isn’t my place. But, I wanted to explain to you what being unmedicated with ADHD does to you. And then you can make up your own mind.  I was taking methylphenidate for most of my teen years. And it helped my behaviour, but I was plagued with mental health difficulties. Almost a year ago I took a six-month break from ADHD meds. I’ve since started taking lisdexamfetamine and the changes are profound.  I feel like for the first time in my life, I can choose what I want to do. I’m not acting on impulse, I’m not reacting based on how my mood is. I feel like for the first time I understand how anyone else functions. Now, you may ask why that is, and the truth is, it’s complicated. Do you know the symptoms of ADHD? I’m going to guess you know *some* of them. Bad behaviour, struggle to sleep, low attention, high energy… Sound about right?  Well, they...

We've talked many times about overthinking and the good and bad sides of it, but I want to expand on a particular aspect of it today. Because I've overthought everything, I have a different way of looking at problems than many people do. I am not content to try a solution or two and find my preference. 

As a kid, I often felt things were unfairly expected of me. It took years of learning about myself to understand why these expectations were unfair. One such struggle was cleaning my room. I would be told to clean my room as any kid would be. 20 minutes later and it wasn't done, worse in fact. Thus came the ultimatum. So many more minutes, usually 5 or 10, and they would check again. If it wasn't done by then, I would get a punishment. So I quickly tidied up to their standards in a few minutes and avoided punishment. 

 Hey guys, it's Spec. I decided to take this slot from Jacob because I actually have something to say about ADHD for a change. I feel many people struggle with their mental health not only those with ADHD. But, it seems that people with ADHD struggle more frequently, and to a greater degree. 

As my knees near the floor for the last time, my bones creak and all the breath in my body leaves in one exasperated gasp. The pain is debilitating and the strain is simply too much. This will be my final act, my last moment. As I reach up to my child in anguish, hoping they have a happy life without me, my child takes the toy out of my hand and my wife tells me to get up.

It is no secret that the mental health services in the Uk are shocking, to say the least, but on top of this, it has knock-on effects on other services that some people may not think about. In my case, I have joined the long wait list for adults with ADHD who are looking to get help or support. 

Overthinking is my life, my existence, my state of being. But also I really enjoy the simplicity and easy thoughts. But on the other hand...

School is often a struggle for ADHD. Not because we're dumb or lazy, but because forced learning isn't interesting. The more forced something is, the less motivated I am. When I was in college, I struggled to sit for 5 minutes and even look at homework or projects. Yet during the same time, I got interested in using grey water in residential construction and checked out 3 books from the library. I completely read all three and took notes the whole time. Self-motivation is key for me to learn anything. 

  The first one I will work on will be my browser bookmarks. Not because I planned to work in this order, but because I randomly just got motivated to do it. When you get a motivation wave, you gotta ride it! This is part of Goal 2: Organising and Simplifying programmes and apps and files.

So I have some broad goals set for what I want to accomplish. Now comes the how. We need specific goals that I can consistently act on. In each broad goal, I make specific goals and prioritise actions that make the most impact with the least effort.

Today I write to you after a week and a half of a sinus and ear infection. I have not been able to complete basic chores, I have not finished the laundry or fully cleaned the kitchen. Today will be the first day I have logged into my online schooling in almost 2 weeks. Did I forget my medicine? Nope. Was I sleeping off the infection? Nope, I could barely get any sleep with this. So other than just feeling bad, why am I so thrown off? Other people get sick and 'push through' to get stuff done. 

 So I have my 3 reasons to do a digital detox. Time, Stress, and Family. Each one on its own is enough reason to make a change, but each reason leads to different actions to help reach my goals. Today I will work through my goals and steps.

One thing I've always struggled with is staying present and away from electronics. It's not just me being young and growing up with computers. My ADHD also plays into this. 

No, no, I'm not talking about the computers and the AI, I'm talking about human robots. You know the ones, who can't look up from their phones and can't participate in society outside of a social media post. 

The Feeling of Being Lazy We've all had those days where we felt a bit lazy, tired, and overwhelmed. Just unable to really pull ourselves up  and get to work. Well those with ADHD often live with this feeling constantly. 

Ok sit down, sit down. Settle and quiet down so we can have our lesson today. Today we will learn about... Learning! For this extremely important intellectual discussion, we will need to use only the most advanced data and graphing techniques to get the point across. Time for Paint. No not Paint 3D! Go to the principles office young man, you know we don't use that filth in this classroom!

In my last rant about the famous Dave Ramsey, I talked about his plan to get out of debt, how it followed simple logic with simple-to-understand solutions and pushed you to get there at gazelle intensity. Everything he teaches is great on paper, but he doesn't take into account those that struggle to remember basic self-care, let alone commit to a years-long endeavour of sacrifice for better financial security at some point in the future. 

Are you feeling down on yourself? Do you think your decisions have been so stupid you'll never be able to recover trust in yourself? Well, I have a solution for you! Critically acclaimed Dave Ramsey will lead you to self-confidence! How you may ask? Simple, in his talk show about finances and basic money management, he takes calls from viewers with serious financial issues, mistakes so unimaginably stupid that you will never question yourself over minor mistakes ever again.

 One of the things we've talked about is the extremes of ADHD. It's not just strengths and weaknesses, it's superpowers and disabilities. It's hyperfocus on a game for 24 hrs without blinking and it's going months at a time without being able to force yourself to do basic tasks like homework or hygiene. 

 If you search ADHD and empathy together, you'll find a lot of info about people living with ADHD struggling with empathy. You'll also find articles about ADHD causing more intense emotions, and more sensitivity. So how can we be both bad at emotions and more sensitive to them?