Leaving reddit was also one of the best things I ever did for my mental health. Joining this place has been such a positive thing ☺️

“scrolling down post by post is such a dumb concept.” It really is isn’t it! 🤣

THAT WAS IT!!! Thank you so much 😁😁😁 Oh my goodness 😲 such a blast from the past. Also makes me realise that it wasn’t moving all the time but it was size that indicated importance. Honestly I couldn’t find this no matter how hard I looked. I was sure it was long gone. Wow…

THAT WAS IT!!! Thank you so much 😁😁😁 Oh my goodness 😲 such a blast from the past. Also makes me realise that it wasn’t moving all the time but it was size that indicated importance. Honestly I couldn’t find this no matter how hard I looked. I was sure it was long gone. Wow…

I’ve never taken any medication and don’t intend to. The thing I’m obviously not successfully getting across though is that what I’m describing to you is not an uncomfortable life in any way. I love the way my brain works 🙂 Really I’m just after a news reader of some kind that would work at the same speed that my brain hoovers up information. Also, I think you’ve probably called me an addict enough times now thanks.

It’s not that. I’ve always felt more comfortable when there is a lot of information in front of me (hence my original question). I love shopping in large supermarkets for example. All those packages and brands, colours and words. It literally makes me happy and I often walk around just smiling because my brain feels peaceful when there’s lots happening all around me. The caveat to that is if I’m being compelled to do anything in particular with this information by anyone, like a teacher or a manager. So long as there are no bad consequences if I don’t take in all the information and process it according to someone else’s rules, then it’s blissful. It also makes me basically unemployable, which is why I’ve mostly run my own businesses all my life! 🤣 Also, because of this, I didn’t have a very good time at school, specially at a time when no one knew about ADHD. The habits I’ve described may look like addictions but they aren’t. It’s just the way my brain has worked for over half a century now.

Thanks for your obviously well meaning reply but my brain has always worked this way. For decades… I play incremental online games half a dozen at the same time and watch news feeds that way too. Even before the web was born I would gather multiple tv’s and have them play a whole array of programs simultaneously. I cannot watch movies in the cinema and I fast forward through everything I watch. I also watch almost any YouTube video at 2x speed. Not being able to flip between multiple sources constantly is a real and genuine struggle. I asked this question simultaneously to ChatGPT, by the way, and it agreed with you about RSS Feed readers 🙂

He is not a merry man!

Worf :)

Oh oh I’ve got an actual potentially brilliant solution for you! 😁

It’s called an Infinity Cube. I’ve bought like 20 of them and given most of them away (I have 2 now lol). They’re not expensive but they have made a huge difference for me in being able to listen to people, period. I also use it for all the meetings I go to and in fact now I really notice what a struggle I go through if I forget to bring one.

The one I linked is made of smooth black, rigid, silky material and has a perfect weight to it. It’s also very quiet so people won’t notice you’re cycling it. I say cycle because that’s kind of what it does in a sort of infinite loop and I think that’s why it’s so perfect for the brain squirrels.

The other interesting thing I’ve noticed about it is that people more towards the AuDHD end of the spectrum don’t vibe with it at all. Letting someone I’m talking to play with it has almost become a way to stealthily test if they are my flavour of ADHD hehe

Wow :) you’re the only one to engage with my post and not the throwaway bit at the end when I randomly thought about dentists.

So I can easily describe to you how my behaviour became less masked using the “golden retriever” analogy. My energy has often been described by close friends as being “golden retriever” like, a bit like Dug, the dog from UP. Kinda goofy and positive and bouncy. Before I knew about ADHD I used to keep that fairly hidden except to friends. Now that I know why I behave like that I can be a lot more me, a lot more of the time. I’m a much happier person for it too.

My leading theory at the moment is that now I feel the world understands and accepts ADHD a lot more, I’m not only dropping the masks I show the world but possibly also the unconscious masking of my behaviour from myself.

I’m still trying to understand the ins and outs of it though hence the question in here. I just wish I hadn’t got distracted and added the random thought about dentists. It seems to have triggered a few people. Probably dentists 🤣

Thanks for sharing, that was really interesting :)

In the last few months I joined a business networking group that was initially meant to be a group to help us all grow our businesses. Within a couple of meetings it basically turned into an ADHD support group though. There’s no business involved really because it’s such an amazing experience just being in a room with 15-20 people who all share the same ways of talking and looking at the world. I always leave those meetings with a huge grin on my face. The only problem is that it’s really disorganised (I mean of course it is…) So you’re never really sure if the people running it will overcome their executive dysfunction and organise the next one hehe

Oh I definitely have a whole bunch of that!

Yes, very possibly!

For me it’s coffee + environment. If I’m just at home chilling then the effect of drinking coffee is very mild. If I’m at a business networking event, for example, it can really trigger my hyper behaviours. I get extremely enthusiastic, creative and happy.

By the way, one of these business networking meetings I go to is exclusively for business owners with ADHD and I can’t tell you how much fun that is!

It’s basically 15 people happily talking over each other and not taking it personally and 5 or 6 who didn’t turn up because they thought it was another day. We have one neurotypical person there to try and tether the ballons that we are down into some sort of coherent group but it is wonderfully chaotic :)