• Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    And building yourself back out of depression once treatment starts isn’t an overnight thing

    I was diagnosed like 3 months ago at 29

    It’s a night and day difference but it’s still a bit rough at times

    But I’m working on it and now that I’m able to stay focused on a task it’s easier than before, but it’s not easy

    • agedbeef@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      If you don’t mind me asking, as a stranger, did you start meds? My partner was recently diagnosed at 28, and started meds, but I’m not sure how well they’re working.

      • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 year ago

        I did start meds but I’ve noticed that the key factor in how well they work is how I spend the first hour of my day.

        If I open YouTube or social media the day is a wash.

        If I start the day making breakfast listening to music with the idea of doing things that day, it goes great.

        One thing that really helps me go with the second option is having a tab already open from the day before that has a playlist I can just start. And it’s the only one open.

        I was diagnosed with Inattentive ADHD so my experience may be different than someone diagnosed with Hyperactive ADHD.

        Also be sure that they’re doing more than just meds, education about various ways of managing ADHD in conjunction with meds will lead to far better outcomes than those things separately.

        Or maybe the meds don’t work for them and they need to try something different. One of my friends tried 3 different meds before they landed on one that worked.

  • guriinii@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Autistic and ADHD, meds helped but the side effects were awful for me, so I’m just a mess.

    • Bommi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      For sure. I was diagnosed at age 7or8 took meds till my 16 but stopped. I am 28 now and learned to live with it. The meds aren’t a cure all solution. I didn’t feel myself when taking them and i tried a bunch. It doesn’t sit right rather be myself and learn to live with myself and look for people who can live with me.

  • dumptruckdan@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Yup. Also applies if you’re diagnosed but having to rawdog all of it because your body can’t tolerate either ADHD meds or antidepressants. So you’re stuck trying to kludge together solutions with behavioral, cognitive and lifestyle changes and it’s like trying to build a sand castle with powdered sugar. Maybe you can make something stick together a bit, but one big sneeze and it’s all gone.

    • Monkeytennis@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      What’ve been the most helpful changes you’ve made? I know it all depends on the person, but I’m interested.

      • dumptruckdan@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        My phone has been a lifesaver for remembering things. I grew up in the days of paper planners, so it’s a real treat to be able to set up reminders etc. Prior to that I used lists and post-it notes. Post-it notes are tricky because if you use them a lot they become part of the scenery, so getting an assortment and changing to a different color note helped me to notice them.

        For developing habits, instead of “do it for 30 days and it’ll stick” (lmao) I try to shoot for progressively more consistency over time. So when getting back in the habit of flossing, every day was overwhelming but I could do once per week which was better than nothing. Then every other day. Now I do it daily. Does this work with everything? No but when it works it works. In other words don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Some > none.

        Mindfulness is not a cure-all but it is a good building block. I practiced just being present and noticing my thoughts. Noticing thoughts allowed me to start observing my train of thought to see where exactly it derails and keeps me from getting things done. If I can figure out where I’m getting distracted I can create workarounds for those. Sometimes I have to literally make a diagram of the thought pattern, like a flowchart, to see what’s happening.

        I also made a list of my main goals in life including the pedestrian ones like eating healthier and doing creative things, and posted a thing on my fridge to help remember to do something towards those goals every day that I feel up to it. That cuts down on the amount of time I spend in neutral gear wondering what to do with my time. If I don’t know wtf else to do then at least I can do something small that will advance a life goal.

        The last thing I’ll say is give yourself some grace. Nobody has their shit together. Some people just fake it better. Reward yourself whenever you make progress and go out of your way to point out to yourself when you accomplished something or successfully used a cognitive tool. That voice in your head that says you’re dumb and can’t do anything? It’s a jerk, don’t listen to it. Go out of your way to rub your successes in its face.

        That’s all I got, hope it helped.

    • ickplant@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      I agree that I still struggle with the social stuff a lot. The meds do help me with executive functioning tremendously, but they are not a panacea.

  • Suddenmoose@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I havent been diagnosed but im sure i have it. Getting a diagnosis is a pain in the ass in austin. That being said i think i have gotten better at recognizing when i am in an abnormal state like depression. My mind starts getting cloudy or darker and feel it get heavier. If that makes any sense

    • bric@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I went to my primary care doctor about it, and I matched every attention/stress criteria on their sheet, but I dodn’t have anger issues so they said I didn’t have ADHD. Yet every time I see a post like this it matches exactly. It’s weird to say I think I have ADHD when a doctor has told me I don’t have it… But I still think I have it, it just matches too well.

      So I guess welcome to the undiagnosed gang, good to have you

      • CorruptBuddha@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Ugh haha! That’s annoying, can relate. I got disqualified by my psychiatrist because I can work independently 😂 Fuck haha. HOW stupid is that?

        I got pissed, immediately drove to the clinic where I got my referral, got a doctor, and told him I wanted another referral for a second opinion, told him the psychiatrist’s opinion didn’t make sense to me. He told me it’s subjective, and said I could do a self assement. I haven’t done it yet haha, but I’d recommend pushing the subject.

  • Molecular0079@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I feel like I have untreated ADHD, but at this point I have no idea how exactly to get the proper help and sometimes I am too afraid to ask. What should I be looking out for in finding treatment?

    • sycamore@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      What’s called ‘untreated adhd’ in this image is in fact just normal personality traits that most people experience.

      • settoloki@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        Everybody pees, but if you’re doing it 80 times a day there’s probably an issue.

      • cats@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Just like everyone gets sad but not everyone gets depressed, everyone experiences ADHD symptoms but only some have ADHD. It is about the frequency and severity of the impact on your life.

      • B1naryShad0w@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You’re absolutely right that everything depicted in the image are things that are almost certain to occur to everyone. However, the difference between the two, as some other comments have already mentioned, is the frequency of which these symptoms occur causing it to be more debilitating than you would expect them to be.

        I think it’s valuable to society as a whole to respect and be open to other people’s struggles when it comes to mental health, and your comment does not seem to acknowledge that but rather dismiss it.

        This type of thinking and being quick to dismiss is natural because our human brains cannot interpret experiences others go through, especially with things that involve how they perceive and process information in the first place. But this is the main reason there are so many people that have untreated mental health issues BECAUSE of the fact that it’s really hard to differentiate a mental health issue from someone going through regular everyday life. And the inverse is also true where many people struggle don’t even know that they’re struggling because even they think it’s typical.

  • Eddie@lemmy.lucitt.social
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    1 year ago

    I love how this is almost laid out like a chart. Each row is a different category of things to work on as somebody with ADHD. The left half is what to try to do and the right half is what not to do. All we can do is keep trying.

  • WndyLady@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Increasingly in my life, I’ve found this to manifest as an intolerance of frustration. Need a tool that’s not at hand? That project’s never getting finished. Anyone have methods for coping with this?

    • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      For hobbies/projects or just general upkeep, I find it helps to have dedicated, visible places for things. Myself and my wife both have ADHD, so we’re a bit of a mess lol. My wife likes to paint and she has a dedicated table and cart that contains all of her art stuff. In theory, it stays there and never leaves. She’ll occasionally take things out of their space and they will be forgotten/abandoned for weeks. When it stays in its place shes more active and doesn’t quit on pieces due to not having easy access.

      I like to cook and find the same to be true in the kitchen. Certain things go in certain drawers, cabinets, etc. Obsessively. They have to be exactly where they’re supposed to be or I’ll either forget about them or try to improvise, often with not great results. So I guess my advice is to keep things where you’re most likely to use/need them and do your best to stick to it. Having multiples of whatever your “thing” is also helps. Within reason of course. There’s no need to have multiple drills, stud finders, blenders, etc.

  • tnomrom_haroj@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    People don’t understand that beating yourself up is still a shot of dopamine. Drama, including drama limited to your head… It’s still dopamine.

    Depression, sure, but the constant negatives that come with adhd is still a steady dopamine IV drip.

  • Elektrobank@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    And after 40+ years of suffering in get diagnosed, and medicated, and now all the meds are backordered… Back to my old ways

  • Rainbow Bumblebee@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    I feel this to my soul. And for the longest time I didn’t know it was ADHD. I just thought I was a lazy piece of shit.

  • richyawyingtmv@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Diagnosed autistic as an adult, but not tested for ADHD…but this image feels very, very familiar.