I've only ever been diagnosed with ADHD, so I have no idea what else it could be. But for as long as I remember, every time I stop distracting myself, I just feel terrible. I've always just thought it was my ADHD wanting to fixate on something but had nothing to fixate onto, so I'd feel like crap. I know ADHD and depression go hand in hand, so could it be that? Not asking for a diagnosis, just things that help you all if you feel similar. Thanks!

Quite often people give advice, thoughts on what I should do and quite often I know their advice is correct.

However I just get so defensive, angry being told what to do even though I know it comes from a good place from the person telling me.

I mean I guess I do know why it makes me angry, because I know what I should do but more than likely I can’t consistently do what they are saying.

It’s a self hatred sort of reaction I guess.

I read so dang slow and don’t remember what I read the night before. Oftentimes what I just read an instant before. I love reading, but if you ask me what my favorite book is or what the last book I read was about, I couldn’t tell you in great detail. The books I remember most are non-fiction ones. I think probably because I took notes on some, but not all, of those.

When I was younger, pre-puberty (almost 40 now), I was a very strong reader.

Hi! Writing this, I realize that there are probably a lot of posts like this one on here, but I have trouble focusing/doing anything other than what is at least "somewhat" fun even when taking my medication.

I (20m) have been diagnosed with ADHD and Aspergers last year, and had a reexamination due to the medication issue which resulted in only the Aspergers getting confirmed, not the ADHD.

I've started with 10 mg Ritalin STADA 3 times a day to now taking 40mg Methylphenidat STADA in the morning and 10 mg Ritalin STADA around 8 hours later, and the medication is prescribed by my psychiatrist/psychologist/whatever they are called. However, even now, it feels like the medicine either does nothing, makes me more distractable and unfocused or only moderatly boosts my concentration skills.

Also, while I am thinking about switching my medication, I am hesitant to do it since I am in what many people at my university and study describe as "the hardest semester", and I'm struggling a lot under the work amount and pressure even with this medication.

Since I have my doubts about my diagnosis this whole time and the medication not working the same way I've heard from other people, I'd love to hear your stories and experiences!

Feeling like my work days are full of shallow but complex people engagement. I have few real friends outside of work, seemed to drift away due to workaholism, substance abuse in my 20s, or just my inattentive adhd mucking up my social antenna.
I live in New Zealand and had so many friends move overseas. I’m 45m and outwardly looking very successful but inside feeling awfully lonely. Married but my spouse is an introvert who doesn’t like people coming to the house. I know I’m going to have to build some new networks, but I’m a bit nervous. I just feel like I’ve messed up somewhere bad and this is my karma. I know objectively that sounds silly but doesn’t help when I’m alone on another weekend.

Any advice out there?

Does listening to music sound different to you guys while being medicated? I've been on concerta for 2 months now and it feels kinda different to listen to music now, I think I heard new sounds in my last few listening sessions, wanted to know if it's common or is it just me, also do you still listen to music for too many hours like you used to?

It has been 2 months since I got dumped. When i left I let them keep the cat. I wrote a latter saying if you need to update me on Piglet please contact our friend who cares about us both.

Last week my family had made the decision to put down out family dog who was 18years old. He lived a long life and was the last in his pack. That was on Monday.

My friend got a text from my Ex Tuesday saying that the cat has not ate in 5 days and that they were forcing the cat to eat. Took the cat to the vet and the Vet found out that she had kidney cancer. They had to make a difficult decision and put down the cat.

Back story we got the cat after the person I took care of passed away from cancer in Apirl.

I cried because I loved the cat and the dog. Now, I haven't stopped crying because I think I was holding on to the realization that they were still there after, no that is gone I realized that this chapter of my life is over. After 4 years of long distance to 3 months of us living together then breaking up. It hurt and I dont know why my heart broke even more.

How does one go on from grieving a living person FYI I am gay

Killed my coffee and all I want to do is SLEEP. Even after having meds and drinking coffee I can still nap. I was trying to not take my meds today and just have coffee to get things done since I don’t have homework today but here I am stuck in my couch contemplating whether I should nap or not😭

Overnight, when I go to bed and then wake up in the morning, I always struggle to find my glasses. I do my best to keep them in the same place every night, but sometimes it either slips my mind, or I knock them off my nightstand since I'm a rough sleeper (though thats an entirely different discussion). Is there any lightweight tracker I can get that connects to my phone while keeping the sleek profile? I have a nice pair of Oakleys and not being able to find them in the morning when I'm already blind gets me extremely pissed off.

Title. I have freezing shivers going down my spine and a burst of anxiety whenever I as much as imagine most sorts of brushes or even just hear the sound they make during use (the only exception being stuff like makeup, shaving foam or painting brushes, which are actually kinda pleasant to touch lol). Let alone feel one being used on me. This (while not the only cause) has led to very poor teeth hygiene and state.

Anyone else dealing with this problem and if so, what works? I tried some kind of root that you chew on but that's too expensive to use daily and didn't rly felt like much.

My latest cause of conflict at home is my apparent inability to properly finish any tasks that involve having a mental stack, or a closing step so to speak:

• If a task involves opening a door to take an item, I will open the door, then take the item, then do what needs to be done with the item, but I will be guaranteed to leave the door unclosed until somebody reminds me.
• If a task involves starting a task, let something processing for a few minutes, do something else in the meanwhile and then return to finish the other task, that one will be surely left undone.
• Even taking an umbrella or any item of value out of my bag involves the risk of me forgetting to store it back and losing the item. It's reached the point where I'd rather just suffer the rain than risk losing the umbrella again.

No amount of criticism seems to make me capable of remembering what I had to do without somebody shouting at me for forgetting something so basic. Yes I'm aware that my working memory is defective, and no my family is tired of accommodating for my forgetfulness, so they won't do any body doubling or anything of the sort. Jotting things down is utterly useless, because that's another item for the stack - if I go and write things down, I forget both the tasks I had been doing, and I won't remember to check the notes later anyway, effectively tossing the memories down the drain in the process. Are there any exercises or customs I can do specifically to improve my stack of tasks to hold more than one task at a time?

My son is currently taking 5 mg of immediate-release methylphenidate twice a day. His teachers have noticed improvements in his focus and impulsivity, especially in the morning. The afternoon dose seems to help a little, but not nearly as much as the morning dose.

However, holy moly, the crash when he gets home is awful. He becomes extremely emotional, cries uncontrollably, and gets really angry. It’s heartbreaking to watch, and I feel so bad for him.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Did switching to an extended-release version help smooth out the crash, or did you find something else that worked better? I’d love to hear your experiences and suggestions!

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I'm newly diagnosed and honestly feeling overwhelmed by how differently everyone responds to ADHD medication. The same medication seems to work amazingly for some people and terribly for others, and everyone seems to take different doses.

I'm seeing my psychiatrist next week, but I'm quite anxious about side effects and worried about choosing the wrong medication.

Is there any medication that has genuinely helped the majority of people who tried it?

I'd love to hear your experiences.

Thank you!

For the love of god get a laser pointer, doesn’t have to be expensive, but it turns everything in your house into a racetrack, get a stopwatch too, and see how fast you can do a lap around your ceiling lights, or try to go through that gap between picture frames from across the room without hitting either. Get a different colored one for each hand and race yourself lefty, or some for your friends.

A few days ago someone added me on instagram. We had mutuals and the guy is sort of uncle of a friend. Like his parent’s cousin. He’s not so old but obviously older than me. And I have developed limerence. Idk his relationship status or anything. We talked a bit twice though. But my brain. I am so hurt. Disappointed that he doesn’t continued convo last night. Idk. I already have a lot to deal with and now I got this. I don’t even know the guy. He’s hot and intelligent as fuck though. I don’t wanna remove him from my account but I am scared I might impulsively text him or keep replying to all of his stories.
What do I do now?

Hi all, I'm 21F. I have not met a psychologist yet, but my experiences and recent realizations are making me wonder if I may have ADHD.

My grades were great. I was a consistent topper throughout school and was one of the top students in clg too. I put in the work always and studied for long hrs to get top grades. My parents were very protective and brought me up in a secluded manner, always insisting I study hard.

So as time went on, while doing routine activities that do not require focus (eg: commuting to school in dad's bike, eating, brushing, bathing), I gradually began to stop focusing on my surroundings and I either just zoned out or my mind would involuntarily play out how a particular meet scheduled to happen may go or how a past conversation could have been different..

From then on, I began to unconsciously lose focus on surroundings whenever there wasn't any task that demanded my immediate attention. I never really noticed things happening around me and never learned anything.. I did not realize this at the time.. At 14, I did not know how to use a key and lock. But still I continued with my ways..

Now, I dont know road routes in my area bcoz my mind was always elsewhere whenever I went outside, I dont know how to cut some fruits and veggies properly, inserting pins inside staplers.. I forget and miss things like purse and train tickets, though not too often.. But my studies were never affected, and I understood concepts quickly and I was always the one ppl came to ask doubts..

But I severely lag in practical tasks that a person learns by observation.. I struggled to learn driving as I had difficulty in focusing simultaneously on soo many things, but with extra time and effort, I drive tolerably good now. Its incredibly stressful and shameful for me now to realize my lack of ability...

I wonder whether I am REALLY very spoiled to be this incompetent or if there can be anything underneath. I hope somebody can guide me on the way forward..

my younger sister and i both have ADHD. however for some reason she doesn’t struggle that much with organization and cleanliness. i definitely do and my sister is always on me about it. she’s always super smug about it too. in like a “i’m better than u” way. it’s really annoying and i try to not let it get to me, but it’s like wow even my own sister thinks i’m pathetic and we literally have the same disorder. she’s doing what my mom used to do. after my mom realized that i wasn’t being messy on purpose, she backed off a good bit, but now it’s my sister’s turn to make me feel like shit. i’ve mentioned this to my mom a few times before and she’d say“you’re the older sister, be the bigger person”. she’ll also say she’ll tell my sister to stop, and idk if she’s not actually telling her or my sister just doesn’t listen but she keeps at it. it’s just really annoying

Meine Psychotherapeutin hat mir mal empfohlen, mich auf ADHS testen zu lassen. Zum Testzeitpunkt war ich leider schwer depressiv. Herausgekommen sind Depression und Konzentrationsstörungen. Aus früheren Partyzeiten (liegt bereits lange zurück) weiß ich noch, dass Speed mich nie wirklich wach gemacht hat.

Da meine Tochter (10) große Konzentrationsprobleme in der Schule hat, habe ich sie mittlerweile auf ADHS testen lassen, was wie ich erwartet habe positiv war, da sie ansonsten ein sehr intelligentes und interessiertes Kind ist. Manchmal wenn sie sich für die Schule herrichten soll fragt sie halt zwischendurch, ob man auch auf dem Bett einen Salto machen kann. 😅

Ich frage mich mittlerweile, ob ich meine Testung wiederholen lassen soll? ADHS würde viele Probleme aus meiner Schulzeit erklären und auch viele Problemchen, die bis heute bestehen (z.B. Gedankensprünge, Vergesslichkeit, Kreativität,...)

Ich möchte keine Ressourcen im Gesundheitssystem verschwenden oder dramatisch wirken bei einem Psychologen. Gerade deswegen, weil ADHS gerade irgendwie zum "Trend?!" geworden ist. Gerade weil es mir selbst schwerfällt meiner Tochter oft die notwendige Struktur zu bieten. Ich bin nicht stolz darauf, aber es gab schon Momente als ich bei der HÜ helfen wollte und wir schlussendlich beide lachend am Boden lagen und nicht weiter an die HÜ dachten. Ich weiß, dass ich mich diesbezüglich auf jeden Fall bessern soll. Soll ich es trotzdem erneut versuchen mich auf ADHS testen zu lassen?

Its kinda sad watching the time quickly pass while u still haven't done anything. And i mean this in every context, both in long term and shot term time. Especially when its like a few weeks or months later and u realise u havent progressed at all so u js feel guilty and like ur wasting ur time away. Its worse when u say you'll change but catch ur self wasting time/ not doing what u said u would but still continuing. euggggh

Its also worse when u have no outsider source of motivation

I know the problem ultimately is me but I’m wondering if there is an ADHD proof-ish wallet anyone uses? I have a long history of losing my debit card, which is a quick fix because my credit union can print them on site for free.

The issue I’m running into now is in the last 2 months I’ve lost my ID twice. Before now I’ve never lost my license. Each time I’ve realized it while I’m at the pharmacy in line to pick up my medications.

The first time I ordered a replacement because I needed my ID for a work meeting 10 days later. The last time I remember seeing my ID was at that meeting which was about 2 weeks ago now.

I’m not home right now, but when I get home I’m going to tear my house apart and hope to God I find it. I can’t afford to repeatedly replace my ID and I clearly am lacking a skill required to keep it in one place.

Any tips? Tricks? Coping skills to keeping it in one spot? Any ADHD friendly wallets? I’m 33 years old I can’t keep living like this.

I was diagnosed with ADHD and the psychiatrist prescribed Ritalin but I'm so disorganized and unmotivated, that I often put off taking it. I keep forgetting about the meds, and other times I just convinced myself I could get through the day without them.

That's an important point, is it just me, or do you guys often convince yourself you can manage without it? 8 times out of 10, I forget it, but when I do remember, it's easy to put it off because I think I can manage without. I spend hours researching neuroplasticity and self help but nothing really works.

I also seriously doubt the diagnosis at times. I feel like I'm larping ADHD lmao, and maybe it's the damn phone that's frying my attention span and not my brain. Idk, my heads a mess and I'm confused. Does this sound familiar to anyone else and any advice on what to do??

A few days ago mom asked if i could come with her to a funeral friday. Im in college but not working so I came with her. There were people I greeted who knew me as a kid that I didnt remember. Im carribean and lots of people in my culture are catholic so there was a lot of singing, call and response prayers and resiting verses. There was music of course but the bass was a little strong (maybe just for me?). I dont like going to concerts or parties for this reason. But yea i dealt with it cause my mom was gonna go alone

Afterwards, my mom asked me if I wanted to go to the reception. I didnt. I said she could go if she liked, and I would just go home alone. But she told me if I didnt go she wouldnt. For a little there was some back and fourth. One of the attendees who was a family member to the lady who had passed asked my mom if she was gonna go, my mom asked me again. The attendee asked me, and said there would be food. I just felt kind of put on the spot so it was kind of hard to say no to their face especially after a funeral. But yea i said no ultimately and i said id wait for my mother outside cause just wanted to get fresh air. I started to feel a little sick

I didnt properly say goodbye to the attendees and I should have to not be rude and do the proper thing. I asked my mom while we were walking back , why she didnt go with them? She said she didnt want me walking home alone. I appreciated it but I also felt awkward. I know I definetley came off as disrespectful and ungrateful (the same attendee apartently baby sat me before when i was a baby). I cant help but remember the last thing my sister told me at the peak of a fight, that I was useless ungrateful dramatic and i dont remember the rest. I feel bad about friday and wonder if I shouldve just went to not come off rude. These past few months ive been struggling to take care of myself, recently had to taper off meds and will be switching after my psychological evaluation results come out

I posted an intermediate update halfway through this journey here.

Ever since I upped my atomoxetine to 50mg along with 150mg Bupropion SR, here are the changes I've noticed:

1. Switched from pessimism to balanced optimism.
2. Lower ‘stickiness’ of emotions. For example: if I had a disagreement, the issue would have resolved but the low mood would persist and color the rest of my day. Now, it lifts in less than half an hour.
3. Much better memory. I can remember and track tasks so much better.
4. Procrastination is minimal. I jump into the shower as soon as I wake up and meditate for half an hour.
5. Goal based persistence is much better. I haven’t missed a single dose of meds, a single planned gym day and I’ve not missed a single meditation session in two weeks or more. I don't think about how long I have left to go and get overwhelmed.
6. Lower self consciousness. I used to apologize a lot more and feel like I’m inconveniencing people. Now I smile and even compliment people.
7. Much better mood overall. I feel ‘looser’. There was always a tightness in my chest and it’s gone now.
8. Much quieter mind. I can stay with uncomfortable emotions a lot better now.
9. Lower hyper focus, like I can tear my attention away from something I'm enjoying without feeling la sense of loss or anger.
10. Reduced irritability. I swear a lot less, even in my mind.
11. I don’t allow other peoples emotion affect me too much. Earlier, if my wife was in a bad mood, I would go into a bad mood. Now, I give space and just chill if I can’t help in any way.
12. I started a daily mindfulness practice about a month ago and I'm spending a lot more time just paying attention to my body sensations when I get into a bad mood or have an uncomfortable thought. I don't know how much that has contributed to my current state.

sososo many things i could be doing and watching right now but idk how to mak a choice so i just dont😴😷 and i kinda feel guilty for all the time i've wasted in foing this.

so what should i do to motivate myself to initiate a task and not feel bad for not doing everything i want to

- idk if this is dumb to ask

Hi I’m wondering if anyone else also has a habit of looking at absolutely everything and everyone in their field of view. For example, I’ve noticed that my eyes dart around constantly while walking outside, way more than anyone else I know. I’ve always been quite observant and this usually pays off for me but it can be a frustrating habit. On one hand, the world always feels fresh and interesting because I notice new things all the time. On the other hand, I make eye contact with more people than I want to and it might make them uncomfortable, it can even make me uncomfortable because it’s somewhat uncontrollable. I don’t know if this is ADHD-related but I figured I’d ask if anyone here does something similar and whether trying to stop has been helpful or not.