ADHD memes

Yeah, music, cooking and video games are pretty much my only consistent hobbies. I think that's because they all have genres

This is what I learned in cognitive behavioral therapy.

For those who cannot afford therapy right now:

Thoughts shape our emotions, and in turn, our emotions drive our behavior.

Therefore, to combat problematic behavior, one must:

1. Identify the facts of the problematic behavior; then,
2. Identify the emotions driving our behavior; then,
3. Analyze and challenge the thoughts behind the emotions.

We do this because many of the thoughts driving our emotions are not accurate and have to be challenged. These false thoughts are known as cognitive distortions.

Worksheet.

The way I heard it described is that your brain, just like any other organ, has a function, and that is to produce thoughts. Just like you can't stop your heart or quit breathing, you can't stop your brain from thinking. Just like you can do things to speed up or slow down your heartbeat, or breathe more or less air, you can do things that influence your thoughts. But you can't shut it off entirely.

You are not your work, hobby or even friends.

Oh yeah

Are you kind, empathic, do you help to elevate others; that is how we should define ourselves.

Oh no

I tell them my hobby is starting new hobbies. And then I list a few of the latest obsessive bursts (this year, rock painting and roller derby and Pilates and paint by numbers and gardening).

I usually just tell people "I fix shit" or "I build things". Computers and bicycles have been somewhat constant throughout my life though.

Don't get into salt water fish tanks... pistol shrimp are cool as shit... but getting the tank right is not for the ADHD person :)

Comic books even just keeping up with current Arcs... get pretty expensive and then you just have a backlog of 30+ books to read

Beer making is fun... Cleaning up sucks

Gardening wasn't for me... I would get home from work everyday and have to spend an hour or two taming my tomato plants (Like vegetables... hate gardening)

I am sure I have more hobbies abandoned than this. Thats the fun of ADHD. I have abandoned more projects than most people have started

Lol. Same. I only realised I might have some level of ADHD when so many memes rang true to me. Perhaps that's how it should be diagnosed. It's certainly quicker and easier.

Oh! Oh! I already posted a meme about that!

This is the way. To cycle through several times may take years, but over time all the bits of practice add up. Until one day, you look at what you've created, and realize that you've actually gotten quite skilled.

When I started using a camera as a teen, I didn't let people call me a "photographer." I was just "a person who likes taking pictures." To me, being a "photographer" implied possessing skills and purpose beyond what I'd had.

A few years later, I came across some blog about various artistic principles, including ratios and framing. I went back through some of my favorite shots and was surprised to realize they already followed those rules. Apparently, over the years, I'd picked up a bunch of photography skills that people take classes to learn. It just took tons of practice and experimentation, which I returned to in cycles.

When I was younger I defined myself by the things I liked, and others similarly, you just start to see more depth and wisdom the more years you're lucky enough to kick around, in this planet, I think. And then you start to see, mostly the stuff people like is just funneled coping mechanisms. I can now tell you what peoples traumas are, by what they like. (lol)

I wouldn't say "more broken". There's a lot of diversity across the ADHD community, especially when we account for how other life circumstances intersect with ADHD. For me, for example, I find that the vast majority of what I typically consider to be "ADHD-related brokenness" is actually probably more linked to past trauma.

I think it's important to recognise that there is no universal ADHD experience because in many respects, we're still figuring out what the hell ADHD actually is ("we" here meaning humanity); Science plays a big part in increasing our understanding of ADHD, but so does community knowledge (which includes memes)