Now Ive Got That Feeling Once Again I Cant Explain
How a Person with ADHD Thinks and Feels?
The Understeering Analogy
This analogy comes from Colin and is admittedly fantastic. It explains what mornings feel like with ADHD.
Have yous e'er driven a car without power-steering? It'southward a practical example of what the understeering effect is really similar.
You have to work extra hard on something that normally shouldn't take much effort, just to avert going off the road.
A bad ADHD day can feel similar this. Information technology'southward frustrating when you accept to piece of work harder than usual to complete a simple task.
The Depression RAM Analogy
The side by side ADHD analogy was posted anonymously on Quora, but it'due south the one I probably identify with most.
E'er used an erstwhile Macbook with an outdated operating system and tried opening more than one awarding at a time? what happens?
The dreaded spinning beach ball.
For me, having ADHD feels like my encephalon is a spinning embankment ball.
The Open Tabs Analogy
Our next insight into what ADHD feels like comes from Pat Noue with another ADHD illustration involving computers.
The Constant Buzzing
Having ADHD tin can feel like an itch that needs scratching, merely information technology'due south in your mind. Spencer Reed describes more in his Quora respond:
ADHD and Task Anxiety
Sometimes having ADHD tin make you feel anxious about mundane tasks.
Anne K. Halsall elaborates on how ADHD and anxiety can play off 1 another in her Quora post:
Paying Attention To The Incorrect Things
Add/ADHD isn't so much about a lack of attention equally it is about attention regulation.
In his Quora answer, Peter Herring talks about the ability to regulate attention when you take ADHD, and besides nearly losing things:
The Steam Roller Result
Sometimes, when you're caught in the symptoms of ADHD, and you feel stuck, life still doesn't stop for us to catch up.
Lisa Perry uses some humour to describe what tin happen next.
The Roller Coaster
ADHD can come with some ups-and-downs for certain. Curtis Dickinson talks about the roller coaster ride ADHD can feel like...and also what helps smooth it out.
Where Are My Keys!?
Valerie Fletcher gives our next business relationship, and information technology teeters between frustration and hilarity. She uses the example of how misplacing your keys tin plow into a downward spiral.
Valerie Fletcher on What It's Similar Having ADHD :
"I have time gaps, idea gaps. You know when you lose something, and they tell you to retrace your steps? 98% of the time, I can't.
It goes something like this, "Okay, I grabbed my keys every bit I was heading out the door, at present I'm at my car and I'm holding my dog's leash. Holding my keys, past the door... at the car. F***! I Only HAD THEM!!! Why does this e'er happen to me? I'chiliad such a mess, God I forgot to become that stain off my pants. AGH, my keys, WHERE ARE MY KEYS?!?!"
Valerie Fletcher (continued)
This is a big office of the Add together for me. I spend a few precious minutes only thinking nearly how horrible I am for existence in my thirties and not having "fixed" this all the same, and how I actually need to become back to the psychiatrist to go started on medication once again (merely it makes my mouth dry at iv:30 every twenty-four hour period,) when I could be actually looking for the keys.
Then I empty out my handbag on the ground, go through all the pockets, lament the fact that I got a purse with so many pockets, when I realize I was supposed to be at work 10 minutes ago. Give thanks god my work has somewhat flexible hours. Then, this particular dance, or a version of information technology, happens nearly every day.
I have only recently (at like, twenty-eight) figured out that if I AM holding a completely different item, which is often the case, that the thing I need is probably in the spot that the item I am holding used to exist. But terminal week my husband found my glasses in the medicine cabinet. I am bullheaded without them, so there is no logical reason whatever they should be anywhere other than by my bed. My husband oftentimes checks the refrigerator for things I 'was holding but a 2d ago.' "
She describes the ADHD brain with an analogy I thought was pretty cracking (seriously, those with ADHD can come up with the nigh amazing analogies for the ADHD experience).
Valerie as well highlight the fact that although ADHD can be frustrating, information technology also feels tied to her personality, and perhaps if she was given the choice to, she wouldn't give it up.
Valerie Fletcher - ADHD Metaphor :
Say you accept a filing cabinet, and all the information is inside, but instead of alphabetical order, everything has been arranged every hour by a dissimilar person who did what made sense to them at the time. That's nearly how I feel my brain works.
Which, really, can be corking. What some call random associations, others call creativity. And, yeah, "beingness in the zone" aka hyper-focusing, is amazing, when it happens. Unless y'all're hyper focused on how best to reply a quora query.
The weird thing is, some of the aspects that others would phone call my "personality" are tied to Add. They are a part of me that I wouldn't want to give up.
Kyle Pennell on What It'south Like Having ADHD :
"Showtime and foremost, I approach life with intense energy and curiosity. I'm always planning something, always coordinating something, always doing something. My life has e'er been filled with projects.
In high school, it was mountain wheel trails and extreme sports videos, then it was trips abroad, college pupil clubs, and trip the light fantastic toe parties. At present I'g slowly learning code and becoming a ameliorate writer. I'thou e'er scheming something and chewing on something (mentally).
I'm extremely curious. The world absolutely fascinates me and I can't end trying to learn more than about it.Kyle Pennell
I'm extremely curious. The world absolutely fascinates me and I can't stop trying to learn more almost it. The internet enables this to get to farthermost levels. Amazon one-click allows me to impulse buy on books that I don't take time to read (my roommates are tired of all the packages).
I read too much online: I tear through comment sections and forums. Reddit, Hacker News, Quora, NYT reader comments—I gorge my mind on them. So much depth, so much character, it's all so damn fascinating.
People tell me I have amazing insights and ideas but what do I have to show for them?Kyle Pennell
I'grand still in the procedure of improving my brain. I want it to be stiff and flexible, capable of creating great things. Information technology's taking practice, but I'm learning the art the working in bursts: going hyper focus on things for a short while and taking a suspension.
Reddit, Hacker News, Stumble, Quora—these are all smashing but I've started to seriously cut downwardly my info intake. At that place's ever one more commodity, there's always i more than comment thread. There'south always something I can tear into and dwell on for hours--merely what is it all that intense contemplation really worth?
What about actually making something nifty? What about getting shit done and creating something? People tell me I take amazing insights and ideas but what practise I accept to prove for them? If I can learn to aqueduct my free energy and curiosity into real productivity, I volition be a forcefulness."
Kyle goes on to draw how he has to residuum out his marvel, and finishes with an incredibly insightful metaphor for what having ADHD feels like:
Kyle Pennell - ADHD Metaphor :
Here's a metaphor: having ADHD/Add together is like having an iPhone loaded with apps and enabling notifications for all of them.
If you did this on an iPhone, you lot'd become overwhelmed with "someone tagged you lot in Ten" "So and and then checked in at X" "You lot've received a coupon for nearby y" notifications every couple minutes. Simply through practice and discipline are you really able to plough those notifications off and actually go some function out of your tool. In this case it's my listen."
The Juggling Deed
This third excerpt is from Rachel Binfield. She describes her feel with ADHD using an analogy that I thought was fantastic:
Rachel Binfold'south Respond on Quora
Not just are you lot trying to juggle, but you also don't have a house surface under your feet. Information technology takes LOTS more than concentration simply to keep juggling because yous've got the mental overhead of staying upright.Rachel Binfold
"Every few years, I go to the local Renaissance festival. There'southward a guy there who juggles all kinds of random things - balls, swords, hats, fire, you proper name it. And then, he gets on a unicycle. Someone throws him each of the objects in turn and he starts juggling again.
I'k sure he'due south expert for years to do this, but when yous watch him, he's shaking back and along on the unicycle with an intense amount of concentration. In simply a few minutes, you lot can see the sweat start to dewdrop on his brow from the effort. Even as a professional person, he does actually drib things occasionally. It's not likewise long after that when the show ends and he gets to cease. Unfortunately, life never lets you end juggling - in that location'due south piece of work projects, dwelling projects, kids activities, household chores, personal life... Without ADHD (or whatever mental disorder, for that matter), you lot're standing on the phase juggling.
With adult ADHD, yous're on the unicycle. Not only are you trying to juggle, but you also don't take a firm surface under your feet. It takes LOTS more than concentration just to continue juggling because yous've got the mental overhead of staying upright. PLUS you have way more balls, because your projects are broken upwards into smaller pieces. Plus the balls are painted with super shiny colors. Your attention flits between the many assurance considering they're all coming at you lot at the same time and y'all can't just focus on one of them. If you happen to have a passion for red and securely focus on those, yous're going to drop something else."
Rachel finishes by highlighting something those with ADHD know all too well: the fact that most people don't know the balancing act is taking place. She likewise chimes in with an illustration about what medication is like for ADHD.
Rachel Binfold's Answer on Quora (continued)
Medication is similar putting preparation wheels on the unicycle. It takes the border off the juggling act so that you tin can slow downwards and focus on each ball a little betterRachel Binfold
"The most unfortunate matter is that the unicycle is invisible. No i gives you lot credit for the difficulty level of the juggling act. All they see are the number of dropped balls, not the endeavor it takes to keep them in the air. Because what matters in the developed earth is the answer to the equation. You don't get partial credit for showing your work.
Medication is like putting training wheels on the unicycle. It takes the edge off the juggling act then that yous can tiresome downwards and focus on each ball a picayune better."
Chasing Balloons
Randall Munroe'due south creates comics for the web on his website www.xkcd.com. Ane Quora user merely posted i of Randall's cartoons as her response. Information technology comes from his website, and information technology's labeled, "Add together".
Information technology captures the Add/ADHD experience well:
Doing Things Differently
Ben Mordecai is an Automation Controls Engineer, and has earned a Top Writers Award on Quora for three years running: 2013, 2014, and 2015.
In his response he talks about how, with his ADHD, he resolved to simply doing things a little unlike, and lists a few examples.
Ben Mordecai'south Cursory Snapshot on What It's Like Having ADHD :
- I must have plenty of java to function. Before I drank coffee in college, sure professors induced a Pavlovian response of yawning and exhaustion. Mail java, my comprehension sky-rocketed, and now I am pretty productive at piece of work
- Pocket-size, not-distractions aid a lot. A potable to sip and background music swallow only enough of the spare mental overhead to preclude myself from trying to remember nearly something else at the same time every bit I work on something.
- I take to be extremely organized. Calendars, spreadsheets, notes, reminders, and self-written tutorials all assistance me focus my attention at solving the problem.
- I accept to accept that it'due south only going to take me longer to do something and be willing to persist through it.
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What Does Your ADHD Feel Like?
If y'all're reading this and have ADHD yourself, maybe some of these stories striking domicile. I would honey to hear more examples.
What is your experience with ADHD like? Tell u.s.a. your story in the comments below. I wait forrad to hearing information technology, and maxim hello.
Source: https://adhdcollective.com/what-does-it-feel-like-to-have-adhd/
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