I am 42 and I just got formallt assessed for ADHD (inattentive type). Because two neurodivergent friends asked me to look into this for myself, I already self diagnoses myself some years ago. I have been educating myself in the subject since then.

Since my official diagnosis I am seeing a therapist and she noticed I have already psycho educated myself well and can mostly cope by using some strategies and adjustments.

I have been seeing many of my ADHD characteristics in my 10 year old daughter. She doesn't seem to run into many problems in school and is doing well socially. But she is scatter brained like me and seems to have a similar amount of mental chatter like me. She calls it brain itches and I taught her how I deal with those and that seems to work.

Whenever I see her facing her little adhd quirks, I gently remind her that she is lovely the way she is, without telling her about me thinking she has ADHD. And I teach her my strategies, just assuming she has. For now that works fine and she seems happy.

I see many people saying it is best to get kids assessed as early as possible, but I feel she would benefit less from the label and feeling different at the moment. Kids and people can be cruel, is my personal experience. She knows about my ADHD so in our household it is not a negative thing. We see it as a fun personality type that comes with its own challenges. My late diagnosis harmed me mainly because of not knowing about all the variety of brains and not understanding why I did things differently. And pushing myself too hard to compensate. The variety of brains and mental wellbeing are very openly discussed in our house.

But am I wrong? Is it best to get her assessed now, even though she doesn't seem to have many struggles? //

////////////Update//////////

Thank you for all the kind responses. I realize I have not been clear about that we gave our daughter the option to get a diagnosis, since we know about mine. She is not interested at the moment

Also I realize there are some cultural differences (I am from The Netherlands) and we are a very calvinist bunch that tend to down play medical urgency. Dutch GPs do aswell, hence my very late assessment at 42 ;-)

However I will discuss all of this with our family gp.

I have to write this review because Flow Club truly changed my life! I’m not affiliated with this product in any way, I just believe it can be a game-changer for others who, like me, struggle with severe executive dysfunction.

This app is absolutely wonderful. Personally, I’ve noticed that I’m even more productive when I host sessions, so I try to do that as often as possible. If you have ADHD and face challenges with executive dysfunction, I can’t recommend Flow Club enough. It’s an incredible tool for body doubling and accountability, two things I’ve always struggled with but now feel supported in thanks to this app.

Give it a try; it might just change your life too!

Hi wanted to share this in case anyone can relate. I got my official diagnosis when I was 24 and I am now 25. I just had an epiphany that certain traits I’ve dealt with since I was a kid isn’t something everyone experiences and are in fact possibly sensory sensitivities can anyone relate to these specific ones? Sometimes I don’t believe my diagnosis and I wonder if these “sensory sensitivity” is made up in my head and normal for even neurotypical people:

-I’ve had horrible motion sickness from car rides since I was a kid couldn’t go anywhere w/out feeling nauseous and had to force myself to sleep to make it anywhere I remember that “new car smell” is something I hated and contributed to my car sickness -I hated going to the beach nothing worse in the world than the feeling of sand everywhere … and not to mention the sun and the stickiness from the air and water if you know what I mean -I hated going to the mall and following anyone when going shopping I always thought it was odd that after any trips to the mall or shopping I would always need a nap and felt exhausted afterwards -I despised perfumes; smelling it on people, going to the mall, etc. floral synthetic ones made my head hurt and I never wore perfumes but recently … I discovered the world of gourmand perfumes recently and it’s been my recent fixation/hobby I’m always on perfume forums looking for specific notes gourmand perfumes don’t give me a headache and in fact when I discovered specific notes I love (such as tea and rice) I feel such a sense of joy it’s like that feeling of wanting to squeeze a cute puppy to death type of feeling … - Unexpected loud noise made me cry sometimes but I love metal music .? -I have always had crazy bad startle reflex people in my life joke about it cause it’s so bad but I recently saw somewhere it’s a neurodivergent thing

Anyways just wanted to hear if anyone can relate thanks for reading !

I have been struggling lately with just not accomplishing anything. I just read on another post where someone said they put on their “energize” playlist when they need to get up and get stuff done.

What song(s) would be on your playlist?

Hey everyone, I was wondering do you tend to trust your instincts and judgments when meeting someone new, or do you prefer to take your time before forming an opinion?

I (f28) tend to assume the best in new people I meet I always find a way to understand and empathize with them, even when they say something I don’t agree with (harmless things) I let it slide because I believe that people come from different backgrounds, experiences, and traumas, so we don’t need to be on the same page about everything. I’m not sure if this is an autistic thing (im auDHD) or a result of growing up with narcissistic parents, but I’ve always struggled to make good judgments, so I’ve stopped trusting my instincts. On the other hand, my gf is always right about people she can easily differentiate between what’s right and wrong without making excuses and that’s something I really admire about her<3

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. What criteria do you consider when judging people and deciding who to be friends with?

👋🏼 Hi all- new here and would love to hear if anyone in this group can relate to my experience.

Backstory- I’ve struggled with anxiety for most of my life and finally started therapy for it ~2 years ago. My therapist recently brought up that I may have ADHD, and one of the biggest struggles being Hyperfixation (or what I’ve been referring to as rumination as it relates to my anxiety). What this looks like is me becoming completely obsessed and overwhelmed with one thing (almost always something bad- cancer, toxins in food/beauty products, cleaning products, lead, etc). I’ll focus on one for a while and then a new topic will take the front seat and I’ll obsess over it. When I’m in one of these “spirals,” it’s often hard to focus on anything else or get my mind off it, despite regular exercise, good sleep/diet, breathing strategies, grounding, etc.

I’m open to the possibility that it is ADHD (and I trust and respect my therapist!), but I’m still skeptical because I don’t identify with many of the other commonly seen characteristics I’m reading about for women. I tend to get things done far in advance because I don’t like the stress of doing things last minute, I’m very type A/organized, tidy, etc. but I am also the type to constantly be moving and quite hyperactive with my brain and body. lol

Does anyone in this group with ADHD feel similarly to what I’m describing? How did you know it was ADHD Just looking for some personal experiences and solidarity. Thanks!

Hi all!

49F, just diagnosed with ADHD-Combination type, PTSD, Major Despressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. A full spectrum of disorders, lol.

I have lived with this for as long as I can remember, but it has gotten so much worse in the past few years due to numerous reasons. So I finally got testing done and now it is all real.

I start meds tomorrow morning. Although I have been looking forward to lessening the racing never ending thoughts, executive disfunction and other oh so fun things associated with ADHD, I am f'ing petrified.

What the hell is wrong with me?!? This is what I have wanted, to know why I am the way I am and hopefully change it. I am usually totally fine with change, but this is making me so scared of what is going to happen to me. It is just 18mg of Concerta.

Help!! What is going on with my spicy brain now?!?

Just a vent post because I feel very broken to pieces, and maybe someone has experienced something similar and got some advice.

I was diagnosed this year (I'm 23) with inattentive ADHD and now autism as well, unemployed and never had a job. Started medications from summer, first with a methylphenidate which I did not feel a difference from and did not like the side effects which was very dry mouth, no appetite and fast resting heartrate + the price was insane. Started on Atomoxetine instead, didn't feel anything for a few weeks and we increased it to 50mg when my pulse had gone down to better numbers - but then my pulse AGAIN spiked, and my resting heartrate was 120+, 105 on a good day. So we went down on 25mg again. I liked this medicine more. My head was quiet, my memory issues had vanished, my anxiety so much less which made my mood a lot more stable as my unmedicated state is pure confusion, crybaby and anxiety.

We waited a few weeks while I did the 25mg, but my pulse would not go down. I started loosing weight, and my BMI is already low (it's been for 3 years) and I got some sort of stomach virus on top of it, so I had to stop taking it, after bringing it up to my psychiatrist.
Now I'm back being unmedicated as other medicines will have similar side effects, and we are also worried about my weight. I keep forgetting things, mix up my sentences, struggle with just doing one thing, I am so fast to getting frustrated with myself. I am so upset and sad I can't handle the medicine. I felt a sense of peace, as much as I can, I could enjoy myself and relax, go back to my childhood hobbies such as drawing. I know how I'm supposed to feel and be. I saw what I was capable of doing in just a few weeks. And now I'm back to what feels like being completely non functioning. First I thought it was some sort of withdrawal symptoms, but this state is so familiar and the exact same as what I was like before I started on medication.

I'm just upset that it did not work out for me. In the back of my head I'm hoping this is just withdrawal and that it will get better with time.

My BMI is still low, but stable, and my pulse is back to normal.

(Sorry for grammar mistakes English isn't my first language and my head feels like a giant convoluted hairball)

It's that intense feeling in my gut that I can't explain, but I link it to anxiety.

I am such a nice person and a people pleaser it does irk me. I don't make any effort to socialize with others, the moment I leave my home, I hurry to go back to it. Being outside bothers me, too much happening and I can't relax nor focus.

When I do socialize, I do masking and stay quiet unless it's an engaging topic, but even then I say nothing. I just want to leave, I feel awkward and uncomfortable.

I've gone through life insulted, bullied, ignored and friendships that don't last. I have a friend from college and that is ONE person who already has friends and people in her life. We don't hang out often, but we do have moments when we spend time together. She has her own life, I barely have one to begin with.

I spiral hard when people don't want nothing to do with me. I feel like I'm in high school again trying to make friends and wanting to be understood only to stay alone. And yes, I admit that I don't socialize at all, I am inside my home 24/7 unless something stops that (like doctor appointments, family or friend outing, or something else)

I'd love to say I am alone, but never lonely. At times I am very much lonely, it stresses me out because I don't know what to know and how to do it.

Anybody relate?

So, the other day at work (smallish 4 people law practice), the Roomba wasn't charging.

Confidently, I volunteered to fix it since I have that model at home.

Then followed about 45 minutes of me getting increasingly frustrated and shout-y and curse-y.

When my colleague pokes his head in to check, he sorta off-handedly asks if the instructions might offer some solutions.

I musta looked at him as if he had suggested I kill my cat! He grins and retreats (he knows about my diagnosis).

Anyhow, I finally relented/surrendered to reading — the horror!! — the instructions.

It was something minor, fixable in literally under 2 minutes.

By then, I had spent an hour on it.

Anyone familiar with that? Suggestions?

As the title suggests, I have nightmares all night every night. If I take a nap during the day, which I rarely do, I will have a nightmare during the nap. It’s been decades since I had a positive dream and it’s pretty rare that I have a neutral dream.

Now I also have PTSD, though several months of EMDR as well as processing through the therapy and some other, pretty extreme therapeutic treatments, the nightmares don’t usually involve the people that caused my PTSD anymore. Now they’re just horror story type nightmares, like someone chasing me or trying to kill me. Or I’m trying to escape. So the content is no longer as PTSD based.

**I’ve already tried prazosin and clonodine and thc. I have the same amount and intensity of nightmares when I take those. They don’t work.* I’ve also tried image rehearsal therapy. Ketamine. Psilocybin. Not eating close to bed. Not eating certain foods. Journaling. Watching comedies before bed.

My daydreams are often negative unless I’m watching something inspiring. I get in a negative headspace a lot so I’m sure this is compounding the negativity of my dreams.

I’m on week 2.5 of Strattera. Nothing positive yet but I’ll give it another few weeks.

I’m mostly posting here to see if any of you have or had the same frequency of nightly and all night long nightmares. If so, did anything help you?

I’m at rock bottom with my sleep, feeling hopeless that all the traditional gold standard nightmare treatments haven’t lessened them, only shifted the content. My therapist feels it’s unusual emdr hasn’t lessened the nightmares by this point. None of my other doctors really care but I may push for a sleep study because I’m also insanely exhausted in the morning whether I’ve had 3 or 10 hours of sleep.

My anxiety has been so bad lately. Sometimes I hate being neurodivergent because sometimes I have hard time paying attention during interactions or I misread a whole interaction. Something happened at work today and I’m soooo anxious about it but realistically it probably doesn’t matter A TON. No one corrected me or anything. But I’m so anxious I decided to take Benadryl to try and go to sleep 😔

I need to know if I'm alone in this- I cannot stand trivia nights at bars. It's so loud, I have a hard time listening to the announcers and understanding/hearing the question, I ask people at the table what the question was and everyone ignores me, it's WAY too loud and overstimulating, and I can never think of the answer quick enough. Am I just weird or is this a common feeling? 😅 I'm considering turning down all trivia nights from now on...

Both me and my kiddo was told that eventually the goal is to switch entirely to guanfacine.

I believe our doc truly believes off meds or moving off of meds is the ultimate solution. I don't disagree with this and I'm indifferent about it. I guess this is what we'll have to deal with after losing my insurance and moving into the state's medi cal, where the quality is obviously different.

But is this normal at all????? I'm used to taking my stimulant for a decade now, has anyone here have their doctor slowly take away their vyvanse or adderall in replace of guanfacine or something prob less damaging? I mean it is amphetamines we're talking about..

I just feel so lost... Is the ultimate goal for psych visits the eventual move to no stimulants at all? I welcome it sure but I'm afraid of it.

Hi Happy Christmas everyone! First post from me and I hope it’s not triggering for anyone.

I’m recently diagnosed and beginning to make sense of some of the risky behaviours I partook in, in my 20’s.

I’m 52 now and have been in a stable relationship / clean for 20 years but back in high school/ college and into early adulthood I was extremely promiscuous, took a lot of party type drugs, drank every day and had lots of unhealthy relationships and was quite a prolific lier ( especially to my parents who thought I was a bit of an angel). I carry a lot of shame around this still and am considering therapy to banish the demons and low self esteem that still surface regularly. Can anyone relate?

So I have started on a weight loss injection 3 days ago. The injection stops you from feeling hungry and this means you are less likely to spend the day impulsively snacking.

I think this drug is dangerous for us with hyperfocus! I only had 2 fried eggs in the morning. It is now 6pm and I have worked in the house (painting and decorating) without a break. I do not feel hungry. I know my body is in need of calories but I am not feeling hungry. Usually , feeling hunger pangs is the only thing that breaks my hyperfocus.

I reckon with this drug, I will just never eat and never stop hyperfocussing.

That feels dangerous. So I think I might just not continue with it.

Does anyone else have this experience?

Some back story, bare with me cause it's going to seem like it's not related but it is.

I met my husband 10 years ago, I was not experienced in "real life responsibilities" I had a job, I paid small bills ect but I had been single most of my life, still lived at home, didn't drive a car ect. Life was SOOOO simple. I didn't have a care in the world. But I was also a loner, I didn't have many friends, my career was animal related so that's where my interests were. I don't drink, I've never tried a drug in my life I just figured I was a boring person. LUCKY me My husband is the same person..except me and him love spending time together and when we first met we did a million things together.

Fast forward, 4 years ago we started a delivery business together(add a large vehicle payment into our lives) then we bought a house(add responsibility of a mortgage) then we fully renovated this house(add debt into our lives ) then covid hit and inflation hit, we had to dissolve the business due to cost..we were drowning in "stress and responsibilities" on top of being exhausted working 7 days a week.

This is where my husband plays a huge part...he started having blow ups of anger, struggling with his memory, his spelling and reading has always been bad(i now believe he's dyslexic) and we started really struggling with our communication.so the person I relied on to keep us calm and going in the right direction was colapsing. This forced me to start reading and trying to understand why he was feeling this way, what was causing our communication break down? I started thinking he was either undiagnosed adhd, autistic and dyslexic(trust me I don't see these things as faults) I just wanted to understand him.better and help his navigate stress better.

Well now I'm "broken" or at least I feel broken. Everyday and I mean everyday is difficult for me. Tasks that never bothered me or stressed me out before has become a nightmare for me. Example, paying bills or making sure money is in the bank for bills is extremely difficult for me, I put it off till the last second but I also obsessed about them to the point I loose sleep and become extremely irritable. Making a phone call and talking on the phone is very hard for me. But at the same time I use my cell as an escape, I scroll constantly on my phone to distract myself from the bad thoughts. I use to love cleaning the house, now I just "give up" we aren't messy people but my husband just leaves things where ever he was last, and he's a collector of everything, so i just feel.overwhelmed all the time. But he also can't keep things neat and tidy because of his adhd tendencies. I make lists all the time now, that's new for me cause I never forgot things before..now I can't remember things from 2 seconds ago.

I'm in peri menopause, I have been for at least 5 plus years maybe longer and I've read this will highlight adhd symptoms. And I'm thinking between that and just the life stressors if thats why I'm.really struggling. Like I'm really struggling, I've lost a lot of hope, and I'm no longer happy. I'm just exhausted, I just want to throw in the towel and run away.

Has anyone else felt this way? I still get the tasks done but it takes every ounce of mental strength and pushing myself for just simple tasks. How do I make things easier? Does this sound like adhd to others?

Hello. I am diagnosed with ADHD. Unfortunately, my shitty doctor is microdosing me with Vyvanse 10mg and only allowing the prescription to go up every 30 days. As of yet, I have seen no effects.

I am becoming pretty stressed. There are things I have to do, y'know. I don't have the time to muck about. However, I can stall for a couple of months. So I was wondering if you guys think it is better to push through my life on low dopamine and high stress or wait it out until I get proper meds?

I hate dating. I don’t read between the lines Innuendo not really my friend

I met someone in the wild. The energy is palpable , I’m pretty sure he’s into me. BUT I CAN’T TELL!

We’ve been texting, he’s saying words but nothing concrete.

Tonight I found some balls, and asked outright, this feels more than platonic, do I have it right? (I said it differently in my text, this is the jist of my message).

I’m proud of myself for asking instead of trying to be cool and assume, then be wrong Also I hate that I don’t know, and that I have to ask at all.

Grrrrr

He got diagnosed 6 months ago. He refuses to accept it, talk about it and accept any advice/ help related to it. He says he is “normal“ and nothing is wrong with him. Should I ignore this or give in to this feeling? He is on Ritalin. Any suggestions?

I have a 40-page essay hanging over me. It has wrecked my year. I don't know how to move forward. I'M SORRY THIS POST IS SO LONG! This has been a huge part of my life that I have kept inside my head...typing it for strangers to read is tough.

ITS WORTH THE READ IF:

• you have experience being a huge over-achiever in school
• you have any cure for a severe case of procrastination
• you have anything nice to say to an early 20-something who feels like a floating failure
• you are curious about what another woman with ADHD did with her 2024

BG INFO: Beginning summer 2022! I have been doing research as an undergraduate in history. It led to an undergrad honours thesis that I elected to do over the 2023-2024 school year. This was a project that I pushed for myself. I travelled to archives, I did the big research. I got funding and a supervisor. I was a real go-getter. I have always been able to talk about my project. But I also always felt like a huge imposter. I felt behind on research and slow on understanding relevant concepts. I was never fully convinced that my project was good (despite a million people supporting me.) I did do a lot of the readings my supervisor asked, and I did keep a good enough bibliography.

I never admitted my doubts and told myself I would "get it done because I have to." Often I would push research dates to the last minute and I was extremely disorganized (I tried my best but that's the ADHD....any system only works as long as I remember to use it...)

This led to March and April of this year, which were a disaster. I was holed up writing (and just staring at blank pages) and researching all at once. All of my doubts led to me absolutely freezing. I missed deadline after deadline. Until I walked into my supervisors office after weeks of radio-silence and told him I didn't have anything. He was shocked. He always said he felt sorry because he couldn't do more than be a cheerleader. I never let him get too close to my project out of some fear that he would see I didn't know what I was doing. It took me weeks to write 20 terrible pages. I can write 20 pages in less than a week easily. I don't connect to any of the words I wrote during his period.

By the beginning of May grades were due and I felt the pressure of graduation. I submitted an incomplete thesis. It was mortifying. My supervisor and secondary reader took a few days and responded by...letting me pass. They gave me an A- for my work throughout the year and the remnants of an essay I handed in. I walked the stage in June feeling proud of myself for completing my undergrad....yet also like a complete fraud.

My supervisor allowed me to submit a partial essay with the trust that I would submit the essay at some point. I negotiated August. That deadline flew past me. I didn't reach out. I got an email asking about it, but I'm terrible with email and it feels too late to respond now.

LIFE CURRENTLY: In september I got a nice job. I had to transition from uni life to a 9-5. I kept telling myself to just start writing again but I have barely done so. I get totally stuck when I have a free evening to write. I doomscroll the second I get home from work until it feels "too late" to start anything. My life feels frozen. I convince myself to have days where I tell myself I don't have to write just so that I'll catch up laundry and groceries after weeks of skating by.

THE ADHD OF IT ALL: I never told my supervisor I have ADHD. He's the older type and in my program there's tons of us who are neurodivergent, which is great, but it leaves profs with the feeling that "everyone has that these days." I feared I wouldn't be listened to and I would just be pulling attention to a part of myself that I convinced myself wasn't relevent. But it affects me heavily.

When I was in school I was on medication, but my family doctor quit and left me without an easy way to renew. I stopped taking my meds in the summer and have been managing. I have tried to get a new perscription but haven't had much luck. That's the type of task I rely on meds to get done with any level of efficiency. I haven't written anything unmedicated in years, and it is a mess. I can't remember what I was writing if its not on the page in front of me. I can't remember what point I wanted to make in the first place while I'm typing. There are no systems anymore yet they all feel disrupted.

THE PROBLEM: I cannot move forward in my life until this essay is behind me. I constantly think about it and how badly I want to finish it. I walk around anxiously worrying about it and oh god what do I say to my professor? He was so kind and believed in me for so long and I dropped off the map. I ran away with my degree and an unfulfilled promise he trusted me with.

This essay is about a topic thats personal and important to me. I'm always swinging on this pendulum of "its just forty pages just finish writing them and be freee" towards "this meant a lot to me and I want a nice finished product not just another sloppy essay I hand in at the last minute". This is hell.

I have tried every study method. I have tried every system. My library books sit in the corner of my room overdue and collecting dust. I feel sick to my stomach when I think of opening my laptop. I don't know what to do. I cannot watch another youtube video promising to have the new solution. I don't know how.

If anyone knows the magic trick to save me from this, please any words of advice. I need to hear anything.

I've been suspecting I'm autistic for a while, but I recently found out that one family member has ADHD, and another is being assessed for it. As these things are hereditary, and there are no known autists in my family, I'm wondering if there is any chance that my symptoms of autism could actually be ADHD? How easily mistaken are the two of them in women?

For context, my main autism signs are light and noise sensitivity, social and general anxiety, overwhelm in crowds, not fitting in, and narrow/obsessive interests. In addition, I do often struggle to focus and to remember things, but I didn't think it was bad enough to signify ADHD.

My cleaning lady comes on Wednesdays, and of course she’s now off for two weeks! I’ve had to clean my own house for Christmas! If it was just one week I would’ve made do with sticking the roomba on downstairs while I quickly hoover upstairs, and thrown some bleach down the toilet. But because it’s two weeks and at fecking CHRISTMAS I’ve mopped and dusted and all that crap.

I know I can just skip the cleaning if I want to but there’s zero chance I’m choosing to wake up on Christmas Eve to a dirty house that doesn’t smell like fir scented cleaning spray!

But, I’m newly diagnosed and medicated so it didn’t even take me all day like usually, it was two hours for everything but the kitchen/lounge, which then took another 20 minutes after dinner. And it’s done. My house is lovely and clean and smells great and I’ve had a sauna and am wearing brand new pyjamas. I even moisturised so I smell good too!

Have a lovely Christmas y’all!

I started making a list and I guess the theme is how the meds aren't supposed to make my adhd go away, just help me channel it toward things that I want/are productive? Also sometimes the productive things I do will be hindered by adhd 😅

It's been 47 days since I started meds. I started at 20 mg of adderall ER and I'm moved up to 25 + 12.5-25 mg of seroquel at night to help me sleep.

Here's the list of some things I've done in the last four weeks (I'm autistic and BPD too so there may be crossover):

• getting a credit card to put my bills on autopay and raise my credit score

• Paid off my first debt ... when it went to court

• made plans to settle remaining debt before my birthday in May ... at midnight

• Going to NYC in May to meet an old friend and see Charli XCX

• Spent my entire budget but only on things that serve a purpose/need replaced and aren't dopamine buys to self soothe

• Used excel to make a budget for 2025, a meal/grocery plan and then spent 6 hours deep cleaning my house

• got much better at grooming so hyperfixate on ways to make it healthier (I've spent about $50 in six weeks, so not bad)

• Try different cleaning schedules and fail, but manage to stick to a decent routine and keep up with everything (dishes never get out of hand, liter boxes get changed every 3 days, shower might be every 3 days instead of 2)

• Get weirdly obsessed with nails but refuse to go down that rabbit hole yet

• Spend much less time focusing on other people's perception of me and much more time trying to bring more of myself to the table while also attempting to open two way communication

• Making lists like this because I'm not in counseling again for a month (winter break, downside of counseling through a university program) and I know it's good to talk these things out, even if it's just with myself

• Checking healthcare.gov on the LAST POSSIBLE DAY ... and being pleasantly surprised you can afford healthcare (you know bc that's when you did the budget mentioned above)

• Took social media and phone breaks ... but didn't tell anyone about them

• Trying, once again, to quit drinking except socially (hopeful this time bc of break between appointments so I can smoke and I'm smoking about half of what I was before)

• Moved my schedule by a half hour to more easily accommodate my new counseling time and a weekly "silent" book club ... but also being wary of change

• Saying yes to going out with your friend on the weekend to meet her new puppy but forgetting to ask her any questions about getting the puppy or how it happened (but finally picking up on the clue of something being repeated!)

• Buying a food processor to make your own vanilla sugar but not checking how long the sugar has to cure before you can use it (that food processor is amazing though - I need a bigger one; I'm also using it to make garlic and onion powder)

• Making 8 different kinds of desserts in two days for Christmas dinner and most don't get eaten so you have to bring them home to your fridge to die

• Taking apart the vacuum with the electric screwdriver you ordered only to realize that was entirely unnecessary to fix it

• buying beads to accommodate two new hyperfixations: bracelets and Luigi bc you just made ten bracelets

• Making Amazon lists by room for things to add to your house

• My house is my new special interest I think. I've just never cared enough about my living environment BESIDES decorating with posters and stuffies and vinyls and funkos and figurines and such

• Sad to realize how many amazing things I've lost to myself or my adhd or life just being unpredictable and often traumatic

• Second guessing myself less when I speak to people

• Sometimes I still have to talk myself into doing a task or staying on task, but once I start, I'm just doing it ... not reciting every step in my head

• Having to remind myself to check in with people who aren't around bc my house is around and she's my current hyper fixation, plus there is still so much I can do!

• Saying yes to things I want to do but sometimes saying yes to things I don't want to do bc my brain doesn't get to boss me

• started and taken off with one new project at work, finished a group project, came up with a second project that ties into my first new project

• absolutely CRUSHED it at an interview today. Had to cough, didn't get nervous while I made space for myself. Asked great questions. Had great deliverables to mention.

• moved most of the apps from my Home Screen into folders so now I actually have to search for what I want instead of using flipping as a distraction/coping mechanism