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For adults, the hyperactivity manifests more as restlessness and impulsive behavior. Conversely, tasks you find under-stimulating (boring tasks, waiting in line

by samtho 3y ago

For adults, the hyperactivity manifests more as restlessness and impulsive behavior. Conversely, tasks you find under-stimulating (boring tasks, waiting in line, driving in traffic) may feel extra draining or mentally painful. Your living space may be cluttered or may become cluttered if you do not keep on top of it. Dishes can pile up and cleanup tasks feel insurmountable. Ironically, when you want to clean, you might hyper-focus into a mega deep clean. You may also find that starting tasks is very difficult and you won’t until it become a crisis. Tasks with no clear “done criteria”, non-linear steps, or undefined processes will be the worst. You will either way over prepare or go in without any information and just wing it because it’s painful to get sucked into a rabbit hole. You might understand how badly this can (and will) turn out, but can’t seem to do anything about it. You’ve also likely had many jobs, have an emotional hair trigger, tend burn bridges, cannot stand stupid in your life, but feel inadequate for, despite having good intentions, can’t seem to get anything done.

brayhite 3y ago
Just wanna note that having ADHD doesn’t mean you suffer from all of these things. > Tasks with no clear “done criteria”, non-linear steps, or undefined processes will be the worst. This was a major revelation for me. Even now in my 30s, I have to write out my own “acceptance criteria” for vague and ambiguous objectives at work to make sure I accomplish it, else it gets forever delayed in favor of smaller, more discrete tasks.
adastra22 3y ago
> You might understand how badly this can (and will) turn out, but can’t seem to do anything about it. To be clear, I think this is the major differentiating aspect of ADHD. Most people suffer from everything else on your list to varying degrees, but if they actually care they can make changes. ADHD people can really, really WANT to change, yet end up making the same mistakes over and over and blaming themselves. Still, if anyone deeply resonates with this ^ comment, you should seek psychiatric help. Whether your issue is ADHD, OCD, bipolar, or something else, there are meds or other interventions that help.

by samtho 3y ago

brayhite 3y ago

Just wanna note that having ADHD doesn’t mean you suffer from all of these things. > Tasks with no clear “done criteria”, non-linear steps, or undefined processes will be the worst. This was a major revelation for me. Even now in my 30s, I have to write out my own “acceptance criteria” for vague and ambiguous objectives at work to make sure I accomplish it, else it gets forever delayed in favor of smaller, more discrete tasks.

adastra22 3y ago

> You might understand how badly this can (and will) turn out, but can’t seem to do anything about it. To be clear, I think this is the major differentiating aspect of ADHD. Most people suffer from everything else on your list to varying degrees, but if they actually care they can make changes. ADHD people can really, really WANT to change, yet end up making the same mistakes over and over and blaming themselves. Still, if anyone deeply resonates with this ^ comment, you should seek psychiatric help. Whether your issue is ADHD, OCD, bipolar, or something else, there are meds or other interventions that help.