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DAE relate? : Other side of impulsivity & difficulty prioritizing

jilllewis84 profile image
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Reading and listening to more podcasts about how ADHD presents, and I feel like I hear "has trouble prioritizing or delaying gratification; often chooses to do something fun over something important or boring," a whole lot. Which, even in spaces that get ADHD, makes it sound like we're enjoying ADHD more than we are. Because like, I know for me, before being diagnosed as an adult, I was so self conscious about being bad at prioritizing and hyperfocusing that I stopped myself from doing just about any fun thing. I even got in the habit of thinking, "I have to do this for work, but it's fun. So I should do it last." And then end up not getting it done or ever even starting *because* I perceived it as fun and was trying (so, so hard) to apply some willpower over prioritizing.

The same thing with impulsivity -- like saying "acts without thinking" glosses over the fact that, if I spend time "thinking" about something that triggered an impulse, literally nothing will get processed or change. Like a split-second, impulsive decision for me doesn't change if I spend another hour or day or month considering it (except that I might forget about it at that point).

Caught between these two worlds, I just became more and more paralyzed! Like, the willpower is there, it just doesn't work the way it does for neurotypicals, instead it became its own impairment. I basically shut my whole life down out of fear of my own unpredictability -- if that doesn't show willpower, I don't know what does.

I know this is probably not everyone's experience but I feel like it must happen more than it's talked about. DAE relate?

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jilllewis84
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TotalChaos55 profile image
TotalChaos55

You nailed it perfectly. Thank you so much for speaking up about this situation!!! I, also, want so badly to do things, get started many times, and freeze. I just get stricken with anxiety and just go blank, hyperventilate, etc... I am not lazy, but everyone around me thinks so, and are sure that my explanation stated above is just an excuse. I truly understand what you are going through!!,

jilllewis84 profile image
jilllewis84 in reply to TotalChaos55

Thank you! I'm glad it resonated. (wait, am I?) Sometimes it's such a trip thinking of how backwards experiences are when ADHD brains confront the neurotypical world! I hate having so meant experiences where my effort and success rate have been inversely proportional. And all the ways that that's been interpreted by others before I knew I had ADHD. I can start to see past it now I'm in treatment, but it's freaking hard.

TotalChaos55 profile image
TotalChaos55 in reply to jilllewis84

Yes, it is hard!

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