To those people who have adhd, what is it like in an average day for you? I have adhd and I cannot imagine what it must be like. Normal people focus right?
Also, how do you decide what you want in your life? I have a million things I all want equally so I find it hard to work towards any given thing and I usually don't end up getting into anything enough to make enough progress, usually I just do a base amount of researching before I go "hm, I really want a better laptop, which needs money, so I better figure out ways to make more money!" and I'm no longer researching how to fix my keyboard. Now add 100 things (literally) and flip between them every 20 minutes and thats me.
So how the hell do you just say "I want this, nothing else is as important as getting this in X amount of time"? Theres so many more questions I want to ask, but I have a feeling my post is already overwhelming to the non adhd'er (from my experience) so I'll leave it at this.
>>17259940
>look at me guys, I'm such a special snowflake, I can't even comprehend being normal!
>what's it like without ADHD
You know that feeling when you take the medication?
>>17260022
It only helps me focus some, so I have 10 things I want to do, instead of 50. So still don't really know what its like to only have one or two things to focus on.
>>17259955
Easy there cap'n
>>17259955
>>17259955
>>17260081
He's right you know.
This is a shit fucking thread. Having ADHD isn't drastically different than not.
I have ADHD, and I think the reason people have trouble answering your question is because they don't really know what you're looking for. Most people don't really know the challenges of ADHD, so everything they have that differs from you are things they take for granted, as they're traits most people have.
For example, one thing I've really struggled with on jobs is learning minor details. I can have something explained to me, I'll understand it perfectly, and then 2 minutes later I'll completely forget it. This is because in an ADHD brain, the chemicals that basically register a memory are fewer, so things just don't stick. It's not uncommon to have something explained to me repeatedly if I'm not interested in the job. If it's something I take seriously, I just reflexively am tuned in - with my current position in food distribution in Africa, I haven't had any memory problems because I'm very interested. In my last job, as a clerk of a bookstore, people had to explain things to me repeatedly. It's because while I wanted to be good at the job, on a subconscious level I just wasn't interested, so no matter how hard I tried, nothing would stick. Most people just don't experience problems like that.
>>17260088
Nah. Sorry.. I'd explain why but I'm not interested enough, lol. (thats not negative towards you at all)
>>17260106
Yeah you're right. Took me until recently (im 23) to realize that other people that were "normal" thought differently than me. I have the same thing as you where I can't memorize small details for things I'm not interested in. I worked at a food place and it was hell, couldn't remember random specifics like what stuff goes on the #9. Eventually I got fired because I forgot that we now had schedules posted in a certain place, so didn't know I worked, didn't show up and the rest is history. Now however I work another job, but sadly I didn't go the exciting route, I went the simple route and work at a job where I don't have to remember anything. Currently pretty miserable desu. I can't imagine what it'd be like / how I'd get an exciting job like yours.
If you wouldn't mind, I'd love some advice about living with this condition based on your experiences. As a newly diagnosed person with ADHD their entire life I could use all the advice and help I can get so I can succeed in life. Because as of right now, I'm just floating by, and its got me pretty miserable, definitely not happy.
Anyways, I guess I was just hoping to understand, since I've been thinking about this and its something that interests me. But I suppose it'd take a "normal" person with a deep understanding of what adhd is to answer my question. And people like the other posters just don't understand.
>>17260149
Hmm... unfortunately I don't know how much advice I can give because I haven't resolved those issues for myself. In a month I'm leaving this job and going back for grad school, and if I have to take low level jobs like that I'm sure I'll have the same problems. What you're saying about the schedule is definitely a familiar issue to me. One thing I can say, write everything down so that little details like that become ritualistic. If you follow things like a ritual, they're not prone to getting lost. Look into meds. I don't take meds because when I did as a kid they made me depressed because I literally felt no emotions. But a couple years ago I took a friend's girlfriend's adderall pill for a finals exam and didn't have the emotion side effect, so if I have any problems in grad school I'm considering going back on meds.
The big thing is, find jobs you like, that interest you. This may mean just continuing to try different jobs. Retail jobs are notoriously hellish for ADHD people, but creative jobs can work really well because you're tuned in to what you're doing. Education can also be a great job - ADHD people often do great as teachers. If you have a degree, maybe consider trying education. If you don't, maybe try teaching English abroad or something like that.
Meditation
I am going to go out on a limb and imagine that ADHD is like an extreme, never-ending sugar rush in your brain. If that is close, then for us normals it's like not eating anything sugary, not feeling like we have extra energy with nowhere to put it, not feeling like we can do extra in a limited amount of time.
Question: how does it feel when you need to go to sleep? Are you still all over the place? Or is sleeping your only goal?
I have ADD, not the hyper part. I literally can't focus on something for more than 10 min. Even If someone is talking to me, I space out and my mind wanders off to something else then minutes later I realize fuck wtf was talking about? It's very frustrating. I procrastinate like crazy. Never studied for more than 30 minutes straight all through elementary until graduating college. I only managed to graduate by paying someone to do my projects
That being said, I have an appointment booked in November at a psych clinic. Hopefully they'll give me some meds to deal with it
It feels like not being a pussy and actually exercising discipline, self control and focus, which anyone can do.
You only suffer from ADHD if you choose to.
>diagnosed with ADHD, never took meds, learned to be "normal" anyway because I'm not a dumb faggot who lets their boredom and disinterest control their brain.
>>17259940
Discipline, obedience.
I used to have bad problems focusing and sitting still. Then I stopped being a lazy piece of shit and started biking a lot and now I don't have those problems
>>17260466
Me too...ADD here...
