Painful bordom

I can relate to this. I am so incredibly bored and tired. Realised I'm autistic last year (aged 40), and since then, I've just become more and more disassociated from the world. I don't want to do anything apart from sit in my bed and read.

Honestly, it's fine.  I'm too prone to getting so wrapped-up in my own concerns and interests that I overlook the most important aspects of threads like yours.

I mean, now I feel bad; irrelevant comments can be the seeds of fruitful discussions. I'm just saying it doesn't really change my original point you see.

You're right, Peter - my post was irrelevant and basically pointless.

I mean I'm just using it to justify what I've personally experienced to be true. That boredom is a form of psychological harm. I don't need a study to confirm it, but I thought it might put things in context for people. Of course if you are aware of any research debunking the assertion that boredom is a form of psychological harm be my guest to reference it. But the point of this thread isn't really arguing that, it more about is the effect worse for autistic people.

I'd be wary of placing much faith in studies like the 'electric shock' one you mentioned. Often, such surveys are later found to be flawed in some manner. And, of course, a debatable statistic can always be summoned-up to support a preordained position or opinion (for example, political poll results frequently seem a bit dubious to me because relatively few people are asked for their views).

The novelist Martin Amis once wrote that every human being who is alone with another will eventually find their thoughts leading to the torture of that person; the late author Colin Wilson told a tale about two bored men marooned in a cabin for months - in time, they were so bored that they drew swords and tried to kill each other...just to end the ennui; both of these silly, extreme examples were used by the writers to introduce whatever larger points they'd already decided to make. Their premises - and, therefore, their wider conclusions -  were flawed at worst, arguable at best...just like Corbett's claim that only 20% of people are truly capable of leading others (merely an arbitrary, biased conclusion of no substance) and the study which concluded that 40% of Americans are illiterate (the actual figure was 14% - still not ideal, still debatable, but a big difference to 40%).

I'm sorry but online just doesn't do it for me. And tbh there is nothing that fits locally irl.

Hyperfocus on interesting tasks and topics is a feature of ADHD. I was quite surprised too when I learned that on here not so long ago.

https://www.additudemag.com/understanding-adhd-hyperfocus/

Except I really don’t have issues with focus. I hyper focus. A lot. I’ve lost whole days working at interesting tasks. The only thing that easily distracts me is people talking around me which is more an issue I have filtering out background noise I think.

I am very stimulation seeking though. I like bright colours everywhere, loud music, etc. it’s very very hard to over stimulate me with anything other than touch or smell. And even that I think is more a sensory processing thing.

I can sit and computer program or read a book on quantum physics for hours. Of course I might have loud electronic music playing while I do it. Or I might be tapping my feet or stroking my arms etc. but it’s In addition to focusing on what I’m doing not in spite of it.

maybe I don’t know enough about ADHD to say but the only other autistic ADHD person I know really struggles to focus. Can’t even watch a movie with out pulling out her phone and googling things.

You need to find the right people. However, by the very nature of some of the most interesting and intellectual people, they are usually hiding from mainstream society.

Why not join an online group (casting your net wider) where people share an interest you have? I play online chess (I realise that many people find this utterly boring!). My husband likes going to art class, as he generally relates to the people but do not have to chat to them (he is an introvert).

Have you thought you might be AuDHD?

I was very much like what you described as a kid, out of neccessity I had to learn how to restrict what comes out of my head into real world.  But I'm introvert, and I love alone time, in peace, and silence. If there is nothing in real world appealing to my ADHD  I shut it off, (I mean contact with outside, I can't shut off ADHD :P) and go to my Autistic Wonderland. My ex was constantly complaining I turn into manekin. 

It's a superpower to be AuDHD

I remember being forced to sit on a chair outside of class as some sort of punishment. Back when I was what 4 or 5. The one or so year I was in primary school before being homeschooled. And I decided that I wasn't going to be trapped by the chair I could always be free in my own mind. And you may have thought this meant being quiet and thinking but it didn't. I stretched my arms out on that chair and I became a jet plain in my mind. I sat there making zooming engine noises leaning from left to right picturing clouds to slalom around in my mind.

The point being the notion of just sitting on a chair was intolerable to me. My brain needed to find a way to make it interesting to me. I think I've always been this way.

Yes, this. I would get bored by the interminable dull forms because doing those would require just enough attention to not be able to switch off and go somewhere else in my head. Tasks can be boring (including some conversations) but I don't get bored at home because i can always find something to do or just sit and think.

Agreed

I can relate to finding everyday conversations and jobs boring. When I used to work in open plan offices I had no interest whatsoever in any of the conversations that seemed to drone on constantly all around me all day every day.

However as for feeling bored I can't say it's something I experience much if at all. I am 100% introvert and spend the vast majority of my time alone. I am never bored when I'm alone. I have great attention to detail and can become interested in the slightest thing that I switch my focus to.

Peter said:

sitting in boring silence alone and unstimulated for a period of time

I would choose this option for sure and I think it would take a long period of time before I started to become bored. I can get lost inside my own thoughts for hours or amuse myself doing number puzzles in my head. Silence for me is not boring, it is a blissful state which I find hugely energizing and uplifting.

Do you remember the actor George Sanders?  He committed suicide simply because he found life such a bore.