TOTAL DEVASTATION

[awrighy118]

I suffer from ADHD and anxiety and agorphorbia.

My home was ruined in a recent f2 tornadoes in Mississippi. I don't have anywhere to go yo FREAK OUT. HELP.

[NotHavinIt]

I am so sorry to hear this. Can you get hold of the authorities to help you get into a shelter while you figure out what to do?

Of course with ADHD "figuring out what to do" is what we suck at. Do you have a friend who is a good organizer & can help you develop a plan? They don't have to be local if you still have a phone.

And/or see if anyone at the shelter can help you do this. Social workers are trained to plan all their cases. They also know community resources.

One day at a time. One hour at a time. One half hour at a time. Five minutes at a time. Keep breaking your tasks down to small enough increments that they are doable.

And remember, when you have anxiety that is stuck in the on position all the time, you can't trust it to reflect reality. As long as you've found shelter & food, you are in good shape for what you've been through. You can move forward now.

Get someone to help you plan out your steps of action and only focus on one task at a time. Get some paper, write TO DO at the top, & only list one thing so you are not overwhelmed. This will help you focus.

And if being creative & hyperfocusing are a few of your ADHD gifts, use them. Once you get settled, your creativity will generate lots of ways to help yourself. You just may need someone to help you put them in order. And once you actually start (the hardest part), your hyperfocus will probably kick in, & it will actually be hard to stop & transition to the next thing that needs to be done. You'll be awesome

We ADHDers are poor at jobs we find boring because our brains need lots of stimimulation. But we generally shine in a crisis. Many of us are first responders, emergency room personnel, policemen, etc. Let your ADHD light shine.

Breathe. You can do this. Look around for available help & shut down the negative voices in your head by talking back with truth statements. Also keep your mind busy by doing your tasks--this distracts from the voices.

Praying for you & all the others traumatized by the storms. People who lived through Katrina will be coming to help you all. They know. God bless.

[quietlylost in reply to NotHavinIt]

The local Red Cross or Salvation Army can usually help in disaster situations like this. Hopefully someone is putting you in contact with them. As above, transition and chaos like this can be really hard for people with ADHD. It can be helpful to have someone else try to help write things down for you and help make reminders for you to do things like make calls or keep track of things on your to do list. So sorry to hear about this devastation!

[Joanna197 in reply to NotHavinIt]

What do you think are the best jobs for adhd