Living with ADHD
What was I saying?
The virus and ADHD
It would be strange not to write about the virus today, but I think I mostly said it last time. How could I connect the virus with the topic of ADHD?
Well, maybe. We’re under semi quarantine, and everything is pretty much closed, shut down, canceled. We’ve have been spending a lot of time together in our small apartment and not seeing much of other people. I haven’t checked with my wife about this, but I thought I detected the beginning of possibly a teensy weensy slight bit of tension and irritability here this morning. Maybe it’s just me. I’m an irritable person, which I tend to blame on my ADHD, although that doesn’t really help much.
Anyway, the weather has been warm for three days and we’ve been able to take an afternoon walk, which we just completed, and I think the negativity has abated. Hopefully this post won’t cause any offense. Unfortunately, the prediction for the next three days is a return to below freezing. Boogers.
A brilliant insight
This occurred on the walk today. After all these years, I may have gained some understanding of mindfulness, being present in the moment, and living in my head. I noticed that I was thinking about lots of things: this blog, our finances (OMG!), other things I needed to do, and as almost always, the song running through the back up my mind. Isn’t thinking about lots of things what we ADHDers do? So what was I missing, unless something striking caught my attention? The sights, sounds, smells, bodily feelings. I was able to shift my attention and stop thinking and just notice the sounds: traffic, my wife’s arm rubbing against her jacket, my feet hitting the pavement, the birds, the breeze in the trees; and the different colors of the houses, the interesting signs on various houses, the clouds, the pain in my lower back, the slight breeze on my face, etc. etc. etc. I wasn’t in my head; I was in the present moment. That’s a very different experience and one that I’d like to keep having. I’ll see how it goes.
Irrelevant Note O the Day:
I’ve given up on DragonSpeak, sorry Dino, thanks for your efforts, and I’m using the Microsoft word app. However, it just doesn’t work on WordPress, so I still need to do this on Word and then transfer it.
Quote O the Day:
“ Nothing is ever easy.”
Strategies:
If you’re not sick, see if you can take a walk. Both exercise and getting outdoors are helpful with ADHD.
Doug
Stay well.
Extra Note O the Day
I meant to connect ADHD and the virus by writing about science. I meant to do a lot of things. Probably next time.
@addstrategies #adhd #add @dougmkpdp
My ADHD Brain
ADDadultstrategies 
i’m really glad to hear that you found a workaround for the Dragon issue–using Word is a clever solution to an annoying problem.
Let me know if it isn’t as fluid or doesn’t work as well–I’ve got another idea that could work too.
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dino- its working pretty well. i still might try to uninstall/reinstall dragon but i have no faith in that working.
you have another idea?
thank you for all your help
Doug
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Hello, Doug! It’s been a while… I was on vacation for 10 days (I visited my best friend in France and then hopped on another plane to London UK, which I visited for the first time, and I spent way too much money and I had sooooo much fun and I have no regrets!)
The virus is a booger. I’m oficially out of work. I’m not unemployed, mind you, just out of work. My boss is – I can’t stress this enough – absolutely amazing and has taken steps so he doesn’t have to fire anyone and we’re all on a sort of welfare until things pick up and we can go to work again. Now, what happens? I used to stand at work thinking of all the amazing things I could be doing at home for freee, and now I can’t do anything.
Well, almost. I did some cleaning and tidying up, played the computer, cooked…. I will be doing more fun stuff today. Right now, I need to heal my cold (that’s right! I got a cold! I think it’s a cold. If it’s Corona, it doesn’t matter anyway, because unless I get shortness of breath and need to go to a hospital, it’s a virus: you stay at home and you sit it out.). I wash my hands when I go out, disinfect hands and surfaces I need to touch, I keep the minimum distance and I take my temperature at least twice daily (so far, so good. Although: I usually don’t develop a fever with regular colds so… who knows? But wo cares?)
I’m overly pessimistic. ADHD strikes again. I sit at home and I fret. Economy is not able to stop and restart just like that, and people don’t seem to be aware of it. I hope it all ends soon and my workplace is safe, but I can’t know. People keep saying “we just need to screw the economy if that’s what it takes, because the most important thing is to stay alive”, and while the theory is nice, I want to shake them, smack them, and yell at them that most of us has absolutely no idea how to survive in the wild and if society crumbles, we’re screwed. This is the most pessimistic me, I really don’t think society will crumble, but these people really talk like we could just live in our appartments and go out foraging and everything would be fine. I had an almost-argument with a stranger, because this stranger was pontification on what we can do without in the future: “we don’t need flowers and we don’t need cars” going on an on about what would be essential workers is the future “I already have my working-certificate” (whatever THAT means). Later on, I realized this person works at some stable taking care of horses. Which while being pretty neat, they’re luxury animals. And when I politely asked why we don’t need plants and cars but we need horses, this person basically called me a moron “Did you read what I wrote? Did you even think about it? They ARE living beings! What are we supposed to do? euthanize them?!”. … I… I can’t even.
Going outside does help. Which is why, starting today, I’ll be taking my walk twice a day. I’m just glad that the german government allows people to meet ONE friend at a time. Even though mine have already forsaken me in their panic. *sigh* Strange, hard times.
Sorry if I ranted too much. I can’t even proof read what I wrote. Though it’s cold, the sun is shining! I’m going outside…
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Ram
great to hear from you. france and London, I’m envious. Yes, this virus is a booger. I wonder what the world is going to look like after this is over, different i think and i fear not in a good way. sounds like you are taking good care of yourself and are blessed with a good boss.
thank you for the update
best wishes
doug
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I’m so glad I got to spend those days in France and London! I’m almost jealous of myself! First: I took the chance and kicked the smoking habit again while visiting my best friend (was it Mark Twain who said quitting smoking is easy, he’d done it a million times?); I made friends with her eldest child, who got very clingy and loving and who was awfully cute (and I usually hate kids); and secondly, it was my first trip to London and I have made beautiful memories! Not knowing when this Corona scare will end and I get to travel again, it was just what the doctor ordered 🙂
Hope you and your family are all still safe and healthy!
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ram
i’m jealous too. good for you on stopping smoking!! that’s great. do you have a plan for coping with/short circuiting a relapse? do you know the triggers? it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself.
we’re all well so far, being very cautious.
hope we can all travel again soon, we’ve canceled two trips so far.
thank you for contributing
best wishes
doug
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I actually don’t have strategies for not relapsing. I have to say, I had already quit smoking once for 3 years and decided to start smoking not on a whim, but as planned as one plans quitting smoking (as odd as that may sound). So I already knew the gist of it: selecting a date in the not too near future, allow yourself time to correct your thinking (when you picture yourself on a vacation 3 months into the future but that’s one month after you’re supposed to have quit, correct your thinking ‘wait, I won’t be smoking anymore then!’ and rethink that scenarion without the smokes); acknowledging the date and thinking “Wow, only two more weeks as a smoker!”; telling everyone about the date you want to quit, so your head won’t trick you into thinking “well, no one knows you wanted to quit, so you can just keep at it because no one expects anything” etc.
I actually have no cravings whatsovever – other than the odd pang when I’m watching a TV series and someone lights up, but that lasts all of 2 seconds and it never really goes away.
It probably helps that life is so different from the usual routine now – smoking is very much a routine thing as well.
The challenge is when I miss a train or a bus that only goes every 20 minutes. Often, if the weather is nice and I’m not carrying something heavy, I walk part of the way to keep myself distracted.
I’d say a relapse is not a big worry right now, thankfully!
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ram- good for you. no craving is a blessing. I stopped many years ago, and had occasional cravings for about 5 years, but never relapsed. And you’ve identified a trigger, missing the train or bus and have a strategy, so thats great.
thank you for conributing
best wishes
doug
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