See also: Schrödinger's neurodivergence.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you like this?"
"There's nothing wrong with you, you need to stop making excuses."
The lighter side of ADHD
See also: Schrödinger's neurodivergence.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you like this?"
"There's nothing wrong with you, you need to stop making excuses."
"sounds of mom crying somewhere"
Uuh...yeah that's not part of growing up with ADHD, at least not universally in any way...and what's with the bruised legs?
and what’s with the bruised legs?
Tldr: inattentiveness, bumping into tons of stuff, and only remembering it when you look at the bruise or someone reminds you.
An explanation that's meant to be humorous because it happens to me and my wife all the time:
"Oh my god, where did THIS bruise come from?"
earlier that day
bump "ow, how did I hit the coffee table..."
bump "fuck that hurt, I swear the counter was another 6 inches over"
smash "FUCK the freezer door closes too quickly!"
has to be reminded of these events to remember tham
High pain tolerance with this is borderline dangerous
I once went on a tech support visit to someone's bosses office, finished what I was doing, left, and the guy escorting me told me my hand was bleeding the entire time.
I am absolutely that oblivious, i didn't even know what I nicked myself on, didn't even feel it
I've had cuts I didn't know about, but the worst was when I worked retail and managed to smash my upper arm on a shelf, and apparently I was bleeding bad enough to leave a broken trail from the front of the store to the break room.
I couldn't feel anything but the aching of the blunt force trauma, I didn't feel the sharp cut or any stinging at all.
I've also had plenty of small spots I have no idea how they happened, but usually I'M the one to figure it out...
I had this while working the other week. Only in my break I noticed my hand was bleeding…
Yeah, some of this stuff is just garden variety ineptitude and/or teenage ungainliness. You can't lump every inability or struggle into your diagnosis, or it weakens the core truths.
My kid doesn't have ADHD
I went undiagnosed until mid-30s, then I finally get treatment, which allowed me to finally finish my degree while making Dean's List while getting the rest of my life in order.
What was the treatment?
20mg Adderall XR and I feel like a new person.
Thanks for sharing that. I know based on all of the descriptions I’m a classic case. I’ve just been so nervous to introduce more drugs into my life. But damn if that description doesn’t make me want to feel like a new person too though. I’ve dealt with this shit way too long.
Everyone is different, and it can be different drugs and doses to get it right. Part of it recognizing behaviors and working with them.
Thanks. Honestly my behavior and outlook is pretty great considering how potentially severe my individual case is. It’s more the symptoms that drive me nuts. I deal with them well, but I’d rather they be lessened than be constantly contended with.
Thank jeebus my job involves interesting multitasking.
Yeah, turning a strength into a weakness has been key. Continuous Improvement Manager I get to hop from cool thing to cool thing, constantly learning new things. Well, there's a ceiling and at some point you learn everyone is dumb as hell. Find the thing that pays you to go down rabbit holes profesionally.
Yes, weird with the teacher relationships. A kid from my class, strong on the hyperactive side, was really hated by some teachers. One threatened to beat him up in front of the whole class, another (of the super nice relaxed ones) just threw him out with a book to study on his own in the hallway. I suspect that he never did a single line of homework or studying at home, but his test grades were too good to let him fail.
I don't have hyperactivity. The best teacher I had really hated me, because he was all about punctuality, reliability, discipline - totally not my approach to math. His teaching was great, I didn't forget a single lecture to this day, and it allowed me to get all the math course certificates for a STEM field later, although I never finished the degree. A few STEM teaches though realised that my obsession with electronics and programming was really getting somewhere and tried to motivate me to put in the time in related fields, but I never put any work in, and only for computer science was that enough to still ace it.
My own son is even stronger in the extremes. He is barely old enough for his grade, but already has to take math in the grade above. Can't skip, because his reading & writing is just on par (although in two languages). But he is extremely disruptive. His teachers seem like they understand that he puts in the same mental effort to focus and sit still, just with worse results than the average. And they support my suspicion that he has ADHD and should get tested. Well, will probably take 4 - 6 months to get an appointment, and another 4 - 6 months until there is a diagnosis.
I was the A student then next year I was the F student
Same lel
I had top marks in the year then dropped out
I never had restless leg syndrome, however I did have one teacher claiming that I was a literal genius, while another was recommending I be held back a grade in high school. Lol. Fun times.
In AP Computer Science my teacher gave me a school award for how good I was and had me lead lessons and was constantly called brilliant, and I got a 5 on the AP test without an issue. I also got a C in the class.
I'm now 31 and have dropped out of college because, despite never struggling in a class, I stopped doing any of the work when I thought caffeine was causing me issues because I was addicted (which I totally was) and quit it. I just realized I'm textbook ADHD and no one bothered to tell me before. The caffeine was what kept me sane.
Is the bruised legs from punching yourself in frustration? That's why I would have bruises like that. That might not be the ADHD, though. It could be the autism or the borderline personality disorder. And it's actually a coping mechanism to hit myself instead of breaking things.
Nah, that's accidently whacking yourself on things. Doorknobs are my nemesis (hips/waist), as are countertop corners (knees) and cabinet doors (back of head)
What is this "growing up" you talk about?
I freaking hate RLS
Too real.
RLS sucks, gabapentin seems to help in larger doses but I still get the urge to ~~punch my thighs off and~~ do cardio at 3am.