xannaJan 5, 2023

A feature of #ADHD is not just losing things, but becoming fixated on trying to find them again. Even inconsequential things. And I mean FIXATED. Impossible to think about anything else, for hours, days.

This morning I dreamt I found the tweezers I lost last week and I'm crushed to realise it wasn't true.

#ActuallyADHD #Neurodivergence #Neurodiversity

My face right now:
/nsrs

Show threadIvanJan 5, 2023
@xanna A relationship between #ADHD and dreams - discuss.
Show threadxannaJan 5, 2023
@ivan ooh, interesting! I have an atypical experience of dreaming, but I've not heard dreams discussed in an ADHD context. I wonder whether other ND people are more likely to be vivid dreamers like me?
Show threadIvanJan 5, 2023
@xanna
I've never looked into this though it's been crossing my mind as I have long complex dreams most mights and have started wondering whether it's an adhd thing.
Show threadxannaJan 5, 2023

@ivan that's my experience, too! You might be on to something.

I had that experience as a kid, but as I grew out of the adolescent sleep pattern into adulthood, I developed insomnia which made the dreams far less frequent. One of the wonderful things about finally getting healthcare for ADHD was the meds curing my insomnia and now I've got my dreams back!

Show threadIvanJan 5, 2023
@xanna With me I've never had insomnia - quite the opposite, but I dream like a Hitchcock movie!
Show threadxannaJan 5, 2023
@ivan Since childhood I've referred to my dreams as 'my in-flight movies' 😁
Show threadIvanJan 5, 2023
@xanna
I'm working on a chapter on #adhd and creativity for a book about Neurodiversity. I'm interested in what I call the adhd 'search for stimulation' - which may impact on dreams too of course.
Show threadxannaJan 5, 2023
@ivan I view my adhd through a framework of stimulation. For me, it's the framework that makes sense of my experiences most completely. Good luck with the book!
Show threadIvanFeb 2, 2023
@xanna I'd be interested in hearing more about this framework and how it helps you 'view' the world.
Show threadxannaFeb 7, 2023

@ivan NTs can find it difficult to understand why stimming is helpful to productivity. After all, if you are struggling to do a thing, why would giving yourself something else to do as well make the first thing easier?

I use this analogy to explain why stimming is calming and productive:

ADHD is like having a brain made of toddlers. If you don't give them anything to do, they will be rowdy and distracting. If you put the TV on (stim) they will sit quietly, and you can get on with your work.

Show threadxannaFeb 7, 2023
@ivan I use a framework of stimulation to understand my mental needs. If I feel stuck or sad etc., it might be that there' a part of my brain that needs more stimulation, and meeting that need can free up the rest of me and dispel the mood or mode I was stuck in.
Show threadxanna
@ivan
I can't cope with a tiny background noise, not because the noise is acoustically painful, but because my ADHD brain can't stop focussing on it, and it's like it keeps trying to tell me about it. My brain is seeking stimulation and finds the background noise, which then overwhelms my brain. If I replace that with a chosen stim which is deliberate and more conscious, like putting on a podcast, my ADHD is satisfied by that, detaches from the noise, and sort of sinks into the background.
Feb 7, 2023 at 4:25pmWeb
Show threadxannaFeb 7, 2023
@ivan This is how I make sense of things like the paradoxical caffeine response that some ADHDers have. Or why we give hyperactive ADHDers stimulant medication, even though that seems it should just make us more hyperactive, but it actually makes us more calm.
Show threadxannaFeb 7, 2023

@ivan Though talking about a different aspect of ADHD than I am above, the ICNU framework is also related to stimulation. Interest, Challenge, Novelty and Urgency are things that stimulate an ADHD brain, and so tasks that have an ICNU aspect unlock executive function.

(I think that was first described in those terms here: https://www.additudemag.com/symptoms-of-add-hyperarousal-rejection-sensitivity/ )

3 Defining Features of ADHD That Everyone Overlooks

The textbook signs of ADD — inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity — fail to reflect several of its most powerful characteristics; the ones that shape your perceptions, emotions, and motivation. Here, Dr. William Dodson explains how to recognize and manage ADHD’s true defining features of rejection sensitivity, emotional hyperarousal, and hyperfocus.

ADDitude
Show threadxannaFeb 7, 2023
@ivan I'd say that creativity naturally encompasses interest, challenge and novelty (and often urgency if we are creating for a work project or other deadline). I imagine that this is a reason why ADHDers are generally creative and so many of us have crafting hobbies.
Show threadIvanFeb 8, 2023
@xanna
I would want to examine 'interest, challenge and urgency' etc in terms of what those words actually mean to a human being, but I would imagine that these would lead to a creative output. But it's not a given, e.g. why would urgency lead to a creative result? If the normative drivers of delivery are absent, why does urgency affect an adhd person?
Show threadxannaFeb 8, 2023
@ivan yeah, urgency is the one that doesn't fit so well. But the way it feels to me is that ICNU is a set of factors, any one of which may be motivating, not all are needed. And creative endeavours tend to hit 3 of the 4 by the nature of creativity, which is a good hitrate compared to eg housework or watching tv etc.
Show threadIvanFeb 9, 2023
@xanna
What I'm trying to do at the moment is reverse the reasoning, so that rather than saying an adhd brain is interested in a task because it encompasses elements of ICNU, rather ICNU exist in the world because of adhd, the nature of our brains reconfigures the world. So, rather than saying Interest, Challenge, Novelty and Urgency are things that stimulate an ADHD brain, and from that we can work out the relationship between ADHD and creativity. Anyway, that's my theory!
Show threadxannaFeb 9, 2023

@ivan Very interesting!

The ICNU thing was an addendum to my main point, really, which was about stimulation being a calming thing for ADHDers, in a way it doesn't seem to be for NTs, hence stimulant drugs having a positive effect for us when that seems counter-intuitive.

Show threadIvanFeb 9, 2023
@xanna
Well, that's my adhd brain picking up a fragment and running off with it - and for giving me that I thank you! On the subject of stimulants working in a counter-intuitive way I don't have much to add except to note that my younger self considered amphetamine sulphate and dexedrine to be his favourite drugs - looking back I suspect self medication that worked!
Show threadxannaFeb 9, 2023
@ivan every ADHD coffee-addict agrees with you :)
Show threadIvanFeb 8, 2023
@xanna
That's very interesting, thanks, although I'm wary of absolutist approaches, i.e. NO! THESE are the attributes of adhd. I think it is a more complex and chimeric thing than Additude mag allows most of the time.
Show threadxannaFeb 8, 2023
@ivan oh absolutely. I don't take that stuff too serioysly, tbh, I just wanted to cite my sources since it was not my own idea!