Attention to thoughts

After a brief conversation with someone, I wanted to find out about attention to thoughts in autistic people. Quite often when faced with too many options for something, say, a task, I don't know where to start, all options are shouting just as loudly as each other. I think this is the same for thoughts. I can get fixated on something insignificant which seems to shout loudly but when this shift moves to something else such as existential matters, this shouts just as loud. It does often feel like my brain is full to the brim like a room full of people chattering away. And I don't know which conversation to join. It's like I have difficulty prioritising what's a little thought or problem to what is a big thought or problem. 

I found this link really interesting but I haven't checked the references properly yet.

https://embrace-autism.com/autism-and-disorganized-thoughts/

I just wondered if anyone can relate to it or if you had any comments.

Parents
  • I have many thoughts at any one time. I did think I might have ADHD at one point, for various reasons including this. However, on describing things to my psychologist, it seems I have a ‘busy brain’. That sounds about right. I also struggle to make decisions. There are too many options and different conclusions.

  • Yes me too. But I do feel that once I've made a decision, I don't really think back to how things could've been had I made a different choice. I just get on with whatever has been decided. I find from talking to others, they reach a decision more quickly but then mull over or ruminate about it afterwards. I ferl I'm the opposite and do all that first. I think it's because I am detail orientated so need all information before I can reach a decision.

Reply
  • Yes me too. But I do feel that once I've made a decision, I don't really think back to how things could've been had I made a different choice. I just get on with whatever has been decided. I find from talking to others, they reach a decision more quickly but then mull over or ruminate about it afterwards. I ferl I'm the opposite and do all that first. I think it's because I am detail orientated so need all information before I can reach a decision.

Children