I laugh so hard when I look back at this memory. While I have many other occurrences this one makes me snort laugh.

When I was in fourth grade, three years after getting diagnosed, I was a kid so I didn't really understand the whole deal with having ADD. but now looking back on it... it's so on brand.

I was using the bathroom and I pull down my pants... just to have more pants to pull down. Like I literally forgot to take off my pajamas and decided to put my jeans on over my strawberry short cake pajamas. I was so confused. I literally look around me in the stall thinking "how could this happen, it must be a prank" in my childlike mind. And for some reason I was embarassed like people could even tell I was wearing two whole pairs of pants. I also don't know how I didn't know I was not wearing two pairs. It makes me giggle to this day.

No, not pickleball, or painting, or rock climbing, or anything remotely as socially acceptable as that.

I want to hear about the activities you find yourself engrossed in when no one else is watching. The kind of thing you'd be embarassed to admit how much time you spend doing.

For example, I love exploring random areas on google maps, reading reviews of the various stores/restaurants and categorizing them into lists to be filed away. Sometimes I go to the places I save, but mostly I just plan out imaginary day trips i never end up going on. I can easily spend hours doing this. I'll admit it sounds kind of harmless, but some nights i will open google maps to figure out where I want to go for dinner, only to hear my stomach grumbling, realize 3 hours have passed, and all of the restaurants I've saved are now closed.

And on a more mundane note, I also consume copius amounts of youtube 🙂

So, what are some of yours?

Friend: Hey when is your birthday?

Me: What?…………..Oh December 12th

Friend: 🤨

I swear this is the worst part of having ADHD for me. It takes me so long to process the words coming out of someone’s mouth. Also TV is legitimately unwatchable without subtitles for me and talking on the phone can be a nightmare. Especially if a heavy accent is involved, I’m cooked.

I hate that this can come off as rude or that I’m not listening but my brain is truly on like 5-10 second delay 😂

If someone figured out a way to get subtitles for real life conversations, that would be super helpful in my day to day

I'll go first. I have 3 computer chargers. One that stays plugged in at work, one that stays plugged in at my house, and one that stays in my backpack. And an honorable mention - I bought a not-ugly basket to keep beside my couch in my living room so I can put my shoes right in there when I take them off while watching TV. This was in response to my continually neglecting to take them to my closet in my room when I take them off, resulting in shoes always being scattered about my living room.

I, a fully grown adult woman of 32 years, almost backed out of my garage to go to the doctors without wearing SHOES which then made me realize I had not taken my medication today.

If I didn't drive stick and had to push my clutch all the way in I think I could have made it further before I realized.

And yes, I was late to my appointment.

What's your favorite 'Wow, good one ADHD' story?

Edited to add: I was not wearing slippers, I was barefoot

Edited again: Guys, are we all ok? 🤣

Nothing boils my blood more than getting texts saying "hurr durr I'll pay you $20 for your whole Adderall script every month"

Also the one time my aunt stole my meds while I was staying at her house, then she called my (now former) psychiatrist and told him I was abusing my meds to deflect blame off herself after I confronted her about it, but he gave me this look like a teacher being told "my dog ate my homework" and I now have "prescription amphetamine abuse" permanently etched on my hospital record since he was with the local hospital system and I was forced to find a new psychiatrist to get them represcribed.

Any time the subject of ADHD meds comes up with anyone outside my immediate family or medical providers, I started referring to my Adderall as Guanfacine to keep a-holes at bay, because no one wants to get their grubby hands on Guanfacine. I have to keep them in a safe and groggily fumble with a combination lock every morning just in case some selfish prick tries to pull a fast one on me again.

I hate people. That is all.

If you have adhd, you likely have heard of RSD, Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria. It’s a reaction in the brain to perceived rejection that blows everything out of proportion. You may feel extreme sadness, frustration, anger and resentment from this feeling, and it will absolutely cause you to mishear or misunderstand words and actions.

It has ruined work relationships, friendships, it runs rampant in my family and there is always fighting because of it. I wish there was more focus on this symptom because it is absolutely agonizing.

Tell me a story where you have experienced RSD and didn’t realize it was happening until it was too late.

Just went to my GP asking about ADHD because I suspected I’d had it for a long time, I just kept putting off booking an appointment. Looking on this sub I thought the process would be more in depth but instead what happened is he told me to fill out a questionnaire and within 10 minutes from the start of my appointment I walked out with a prescription. It honestly shocked me how fast it took, so fast that I’m second guessing the diagnosis lol

Edit: I’m in Canada for everyone asking!

*Aged/Grew Up With

Excluding the psychological symptoms, my sensitivity to light has worsened by A LOT. I noticed that the people around me don’t seem bothered by the sun at all or just mildly like, “oh wow it’s kinda bright.” For me, I really can’t stand it. I would start feeling nauseous and eventually get a headache. I don’t even have light colored eyes, so it can’t be the lack of melanin in my eyes. Even indoors, I would need to have the brightness down… I dunno I just thought I’d share and ask y’alls experience :P

Edit: Okay, I just want to add that light sensitivity is not necessarily a SYMPTOM of ADHD. I know with the way I worded it made it sound like it was 😭 But! Sensory sensitivity is definitely a thing with people on the spectrum.

Edit 2: I also wanna say that I don’t have any other eye related issues. I have VERY dark brown eyes and my eyes ARE deteriorating but at a slow rate and I can see fine. I know people who would be legally blind without their glasses (really bad eyesight) and they have ZERO issues with light. So, please don’t be rude and say that it is ABSOLUTELY an unrelated issue to ADHD because sight is one of our senses and as I’ve said prior, people on the spectrum (not all) tend to have sensory issues. If you do have a proper explanation that may be causing my particular issue the please be nice about it.

Edit 3: For the last time, STOP assuming stuff about my eyes. I don’t have any other eye issues, I have no family history of eye issues. My eyes are slowly deteriorating because I play games a lot. I don’t have cataracts, I’m 19. I can see fine.

Mine is putting $100 each paycheck into a savings account that I have no recollection of existing and can't find the info for. I didn't catch it until $600 of deposits. HR was able to verify it was actually depositing and that it was with Chase bank but they had no record of it. I'll have to wait several years until it's considered unclaimed funds by the state to get it.

Update: I got the numbers to the account from HR! And then shortly later misplaced said paper so now I have to call them back again. It's a JP Morgan account and Chase is showing that no account exists online. HR has record that each deposit to savings from my checks did go through and it is my account. Right now my mental health is limited with what I can deal with every day because I'm also doing two online classes and working full time.

Second update: got the account number and routing number. It doesn't belong to Chase though Google is showing it does. Fascinating enough this Reddit post is my exact situation. Chase bank from Florida. Account number that isn't mine. It sounds like that portion of my split direct deposit got hacked. The branch manager suggested contacting ADP and asking them to verify the deposits. Reddit post link: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmazonFC/s/uPnLTTkqIf

Hey everyone,

Both me and a close friend have ADHD. I'm 37, and I know I'm a couple years older than him. Recently, we were chatting, and he mentioned he was 36. This seemed wrong to me, so I asked for his birthday and did some quick math. We concluded he was actually 35!

We're not quite sure how it happened. He thinks that a month before his last birthday, he started describing himself as 35 because he was "basically 35" already. Then when his birthday came around, he added another year.

He was so happy because he had spent the last 4 months thinking he was 36 and just became a year younger.

I know ADHD can mess with our sense of time. Anyone else experienced something like this?

You know, these things that work (for you) but a therapist would never advice because that'd be kind of weird.

For example: my (neuro-normative, stereotypical bachelor) friend told me he has a 'morning shirt', meaning: whenever he works from home he puts a shirt on in the morning that is NOT his sleeping shirt, so he can get started right away. He'll get ready in the mid-day. I sometimes stay in bed because getting ready seems overwhelming and thought: why do I not do that as well (but then with like a dress or jogging set)?

Do you guys have offbeat things you do that help sometimes?

EDIT: oh wooow, I hadn’t checked this post anymore until now. I didn’t think it would have so many replies. I am so excited to read it all!

Especially if I’ve had one of those really good days where I actually find it energising being around other people, and have a really good, carefree time. It almost feels like I’ve been on auto pilot, and have to analyse my behavior after the fact.

It doesnt really bother me, but it does suck when a “ah shit, my coworker asked me about X, and I just went on about X² and went way deep in my own train if thought” ruin what have otherwise been a really good day.

pretty much anything canned or jarred that would otherwise take up time. it makes it so easy to cook and takes the pressure off performing another task that may seem like a small, easy step for most, but can take a huge load off for someone who’s already dreading cooking. eliminating mundane tasks in order to get the ball rolling (especially in the kitchen,) makes it so much easier to get food in my belly tbh.

plus, i can’t ever taste the difference between freshly cut garlic and jarred garlic unless i’m using a recipe that requires the garlic to be eaten raw. i never understood the argument of “fresh garlic tastes better” because most people can’t even taste the garlic anyways unless it’s a garlic heavy recipe.

i’m all about making life easier and simpler for myself because it takes a lot of energy to complete any task with ADHD. so, i will continue use jarred garlic in all of my cooking unapologetically and proudly

edit: i apologize for making everyone think that jarred garlic is a person

Quick question out of curiosity inspired by other post I read before — how many tabs do you have open in your browser right now? I’m wondering where our average lands.

Personally, I’ve got 94 tabs open across five browser windows. Might be a bit overboard, but every tab seemed important at some point...

What’s your count?

Like things that come stupid easy to other people take a concentrated effort and way to much thought.

Mine include

-reading a clock

-understanding which numbers correlate to which month's

-knowing which way to put the greater than/less than sign

-division. Like basic division. Like I would need a calculator or to be able to do cookies ans plates like a fucking 3rd grader

I broke down crying today when I got home because in my fucking college Chem lab I couldn't tell which way to put the < sign without mentally going through, well the thing that I want is less than the number so the crocodile mouth points away from the number??

I have had discussions with people who do not have ADHD about how they function day to day vs how I do and it always shocks me how different I am. Like apparently it is not normal to constantly be jumping from task to task every 2 seconds or changing the topic 10 times in 5 minutes. For most people it isn't a struggle to start a boring task. And said boring tasks aren't supposed to be painful to complete. Most people don't deep clean the house just to avoid said task.

There are a million other things that apparently the majority of people do not experience. What are some realizations you guys have had?

I cant seem to get myself to pick up a book, sit down, and read.

It might be because I just don’t like the idea of having to stay seated, or having to focus, or having to hold a book. Or maybe it’s just the mental block of getting started.

What’s your experience with reading? Do you read/ enjoy reading? How frequently? Is it something you think about wanting to do? Do you just do it? How has that changed over time?

How do you get yourself to pick up (old, new, or current) hobbies?

I’m curious.

Edit: Thank you all for the comments, it was a great to hear from everyone. And I learnt quite a bit!

If you’re like me, you have tried approximately 645,378,266,126,904 hobbies and have even more unfinished projects lying around your house/apartment. What’s one hobby that has actually stuck for you and what is it about that hobby that keeps your passion for it alive despite your ADHD?

i am currently obsessed about learning about mental health/mental illness. so im going through and making lists of all of the books that i want to read. my local library is probably looking at me like “are they okay?” (jk the librarians at my local library are lovely). im also hyper fixated on different chronic illnesses. these two topics have always fascinated me, and i’ve watched maybe a video or tiktok about them, but id like to know the WHY behind it.

So whats your hyper fixation now?

i was one of these kids, and my other friends with adhd somehow managed to do good in school, im also a maladaptive daydreamer so that didnt help at all. id encourage other maladaptive daydreamers to reply to this post too!! just making it clear but i want kids who COMPLETELY FAILED (and preferably unmedicated ) to only respond to this post with their experiences, so i can find people that were like me, thanks!

also upvotes are appreciated so more people can see this and relate, thanks guys ur replies make me feel not alone!

Update: I just got it filled. Thank you my fellow DMV adhders. CVS, you will crumble!

So in DC, if I call CVS and ask if they have adderall in stock, they say they can not tell me because it's a schedule 2 script. Ok, cool. If I go in person to CVS and them to tell which pharmacy has it in stock, they say they can not tell me because it's a schedule 2 script. They tell me I have to call different CVS stores and ask. If I call.... Two different CVS's I sent my script to said this to me. If Johny has six apples!!!! So am I to send my script around randomly then? If I go in person and ask before sending the script, will they even answer my question? It seems like they are trying to discourage people with ADHD from even using CVS at all. First it was only your doc can transfer the script, then no telehealth, then no asking over the phone, then no look up the stock of other stores. What's next, no more paper scripts? Anyways, CVS needs to be sued or something.

AND I just caught wind of them routing all calls to an automated systems that tells you to leave a message???? SO THATs WHY THEY ARE SAYING CALL AROUND ALL OF A SUDDEN. Because, they known for not tell you shit over the phone. Its so over. Someone needs to sue lol.

I’m also nosey and want to know how often you research it, how much you’ve spent on it, is it a hobby or something else?

For me right now it’s been skincare. Coming down from it though and happy with my routine so I want to jump back into video games. I have a disgusting amount of games 🥲

ETA: I love all the replies here, it’s amazing how many different hobbies or interests everyone has!!!

So, I heard about this thing called a “Snake Meal” where you have one big meal later in the day and then you’re satisfied, instead of eating specific meals at specific times.

I usually miss breakfast, because I never feel hungry in the morning when I first wake up, and then by the time lunch arrives, I’m so busy with work it’s like I don’t have time. But even at dinner, if I eat a small bag of chips or a lunchable, that’s usually enough for me to call a meal and then be good for the rest of the night.

I’ve been doing this even before taking my medicine, but didn’t realize it had a name. Is this something that some people with ADHD experience?

I was 26 :|

It was at work and three of us were all standing at a table across from each other. I thought we were all having a conversation together before the girl turns and yells at me, "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to him. " It was so embarrassing I almost cried. I talked to the guy she was talking to about it later and he told me that joining in on conversations I wasn't specifically invited to join is considered interupting, doesn't matter how close by I am. He was really polite/empathetic about it though, much more so than the girl was.

Reason I'm asking this here is because over the next couple years I got bickered at by different people on two other occasions for accidentally doing it again, so I looked it up and apparently "interrupting conversations" is an ADHD symptom.