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A trip through 90 seconds of the ADHD brain

bcnatty said:
My daughter has ADHD, and is definitely like that. Earlier on when she was first figuring things out, she would send me videos that someone made to describe what it was like and I would cry because it must be so exhausting. Sending out love to everyone who has to deal with this constantly.
Lately, in coming close to perimenopause, I definitely feel like I am totally all over the place and can't remember anything!!
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Hugs!
 
Aerobigirl said:
I'm certain I have ADHD. I've never been diagnosed, and it appears differently in women than men. Learning the symptoms and traits as they show up in women was like, "Wow! That's me! And it puts so much into context!!!"

A lot of times, ADHD gets me multi-focused, overwhelmed, and a surprise or distraction bumps me off my train of thought. I joke when I'm teaching that if you ask me a question, I WILL answer, but then you will have to put me back on the train and tell me what we were talking about. Sometimes, my interestingly-intertwined synapses will come up with bizarre but useful stuff, in bizarre but useful ways!

Case in point. Today is the day I have 2 hours to clean my house, right now, before going to work. So, what do I do?
1) Checks out TLP chatty pad to talk with scrapbooking friends
2) Starts to answer an email about keeping letters / cards
3) Thinks about mom's hoarding of cards and letters and other things
4) Things about a newspaper clip of a kid in high school
5) Thinks about how that kid is now a top ganga farmer in my home state
6) Medical ganga makes me think of a friend who has cancer and another friend who just had a stroke
7) Thinks I should send a card to the friend who had the stroke and just got home from hospital
8) Decides house can stay dirty
9) Decides to make separate thread about ADHD
10) Will finish thread and go make a card, which hopefully she will enjoy if not save.

Does anyone else meander along the path of life?
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Oh this is so very familiar to me. I was diagnosed with ADD about ten years ago in my fifties and so much started to make sense -- especially my hyperfocus with inability to stop doing what I'm hyperfocused on -- and my ability to ever get back to anything once I've been interupted!!
 
Aerobigirl said:
I listen to a lot of audio books. Sometimes it helps. For example, if I need to fold laundry, I'll do it if I have a podcast on, and it will sit forever if there is silence.
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Yes --- it's easier for me to concentrate on something boring if I have other stimulus and I do listen to a lot of audiobooks. I also like to color on my phone (in an app) while watching TV -- otherwise I get distracted.
 
I was diagnosed with ADHD in my early 50s -- so about ten years ago. Once I learned it's not like ADHD in young boys and how it presents in women it made sense to me. I highly recommend the book, Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for you by Jenara Nerenberg. Understanding how my brain wants to operate helps me feel better about myself and cope more effectively in the world. Right now I'm supposed to stop doing my Lilpad "Work" and do my arm strength training but I'm having a very hard time puttling myself out of the hyperfocus on Lilypad stuff that I've been in all day -- I spent the morning working on blog posts, and commenting. It's like I have to physically yank myself out!. Other times I can't get started on what I need to be doing because I see something else that needs to be done and am doing that and before you know it I'm doing something totally different and not what I set out to do. Making lists and sticking to them helps me prioritize and also remember what it was I was working on when I got interrupted. That was a lifesaver at work!

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StoryKeeperBeth said:
I was diagnosed with ADHD in my early 50s -- so about ten years ago. Once I learned it's not like ADHD in young boys and how it presents in women it made sense to me. I highly recommend the book, Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for you by Jenara Nerenberg. Understanding how my brain wants to operate helps me feel better about myself and cope more effectively in the world. Right now I'm supposed to stop doing my Lilpad "Work" and do my arm strength training but I'm having a very hard time puttling myself out of the hyperfocus on Lilypad stuff that I've been in all day -- I spent the morning working on blog posts, and commenting. It's like I have to physically yank myself out!. Other times I can't get started on what I need to be doing because I see something else that needs to be done and am doing that and before you know it I'm doing something totally different and not what I set out to do. Making lists and sticking to them helps me prioritize and also remember what it was I was working on when I got interrupted. That was a lifesaver at work!

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I'm going to take a look at this book, thanks! Especially if it's an audiobook. I have a lot of audible credits at the moment.
 
littlekiwi said:
I shared this with my mum who was late diagnosed with ADHD at 55 & she could relate..... actually so could I (I'm undiagnosed ADHD most likely as well)
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I think ADHD is a lot more prevalent in adult women than has been acknowledged. ADHD + menopause made me completely miserable 2020 through 2023. I'm slightly less miserable on the menopause front, but the ADHD is a hurdle. I can function, I just take roundabout paths to get where I'm going...
 
scrapchyck said:
And that is why the embroidery kit I purchased is still sitting there on the table mocking me, half done.
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Yep! For me, it's the rubber stamps I buy and don't use, the Olo markers I needed to have the full set of and don't use hardly at all, and the scrapbooking 12x12 paper I still buy to keep my local store in business, although I haven't paper scrapped since 2020 and I have a LOT of paper.
 
elseepe said:
I feel like that is "normal". My daughter has a diagnosis for ADHD, she often tells me I probably have it too because it is hereditary, and some of the "rabbit holes" and diversions are characteristic as well as the hyper-focus. I tell her, ok, but at my age it feels normal to me and it's ok to not do anything to change it. It may explain a lot.
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Oh, yes, it's definitely ok to be who we are. I have been this way always, and I've gotten this far! There are some drawbacks, like the clutter, unfinished projects, and distraction. There are also some benefits, like the way I can make connections between seemingly unrelated things that other people don't notice. Just knowing why my brain does what it does helps leverage my talents.
 
bcnatty said:
My daughter has ADHD, and is definitely like that. Earlier on when she was first figuring things out, she would send me videos that someone made to describe what it was like and I would cry because it must be so exhausting. Sending out love to everyone who has to deal with this constantly.
Lately, in coming close to perimenopause, I definitely feel like I am totally all over the place and can't remember anything!!
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Menopause / perimenopause, the joy! I'm post-menopausal, still with symptoms. Without suggesting a particular course of action, I would say that finding a doctor you trust who also listens to you can make all the difference in the world. My regular doctor looked at me in 2020 and said, "Yep, you're in menopause." That's it. That's all. No advice. Zip. Next visit 2 years later I was going nuts with some symptoms and she said, "Well I don't put anyone on hormones because they cause cancer. But we can increase your antidepressants so you're not so upset about it." I got a better doctor, and things got much better quickly. If you don't already have a great medical support system, may you find one.
 
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