ADHD and autism

Hi Rick,

It can be quite tricky and I'm still in the middle of a burnout episode. I'm 38 and am both too. In some ways I find my life is quite uplifted with having an enhanced sensory side to it, at other times I struggle with the overwhelm of processing too much too quick. What an interesting life I seem to have because of it although stressful sometimes. 

I have forgotten to put in my boundaries for a while which has led to this burnout but one thing that does help is to talk about it with like minded others. I also go through phases of needing to read or listen to audiobooks like Gabor Mate or Thom Hartman, and their more inspirational view of the condition from an evolutionary perspective. As opposed to feeling inadequate through a lens of medicine and some unhelpful stigmatised attachments around disability. The language that gets used can be hard to hear. But those audiobooks always seems to ground me however, and help pull me through a stuck patch, with my acceptance or grief that relates to being neurodivergent and not someone I've been trying to be for too long.

I wouldn't want to impose advice as our lives may be so very different but all I know is that gathering more knowledge on neurodivergence can be a game charger. 

Kindest Regards

Samantha 

Thank you for the advice, as we all know it's a lot to take in initially, but knowing you are not an alien  does help. All best to you too 

I was lucky with how quick my assessment was done, well I say lucky I didn't want to be part of this world anymore and ended up with the NHS crisis team and secondary mental health care.

I find with jobs I really enjoy new roles for a while then my Interest in them just disappears always have multiple tasks half finished. My previous job was in health and safety very repetitive and always leave things till the last minute. I found helping people with training etc was fulfilling but got so anxious ( legs shaking, nail biting, poor speech patterns) and reading the room in manager meeting was a total mess (had to do meeting with with managers from 6 departments)

In my youth I also was a bit crazy with the helpful little white ones which I've now realised made socialising so much easier as I got older I knocked it all on the head and things just plummeted

I hope you get your assessment sooner rather than later 

I’ve just done Right to choose for my son. My Gp had never heard of it so I had to educate him and print off all the info but we got there in the end . 

I'm waiting for my assessment, hopefully it happens some day.  While Autism has not helped my life, I suspect I have ADD and that has pretty much destroyed it.  I have no attention span, my mind flits between multiple things, I never get anything done and I avoid doing things like crazy. I do crazy stuff and have no clue why, my impulse control is very bad especially around money and food.  I am told these are all big red indicators of ADD/ADHD.

My GP asked me what i wanted from an ADHD assessment and I honestly said a single white pill.  That pill that allows me to get things done, gives me focus.  I know they work already, I had exposure to one of them at University and that pill got me through my second year assignments. Normally i would get assignments and procrastinate, to the point I had maybe ten assignments due, but if I sat down to do them I would be spend one hour doing them and five hours thinking about other things.  I had to redo assignments through the summer and retake exams. 

The next year a housemate gifted me something that changed a year of my life for the better.  I went from scraping 40% scores on my first year to 70-80% on the second year.  That tells me something is very wrong.  For a normal person well I know what it does to them.  Think raves and craziness.  But for me it's pure unadulterated focus and the ability to get things done, things that I normally can't get done.  A couple of years back I built a camper van, it took me six months.  With that pill, it would have taken me six days.

A guy I know has the same problems as me and he got his diagnosis and his pharmaceuticals, he now works for the NHS and has held down a job for two years and has in his own words, more focus and attention to detail than in his whole life up to that point.  That's what I want, but not everyday.  I don't want a crutch.  I want a selective problem solver that I can use on days when I need to achieve stuff.  Not every day requires that level of focus.  I believe in using things only when required.  If my task for the day doesn't require 100% focus and mental clarity, then why use something that achieves that.

Sorry, long post.  I'm actually considering asking my GP to invoke Right to Choose to get mine done sooner rather than later, so I have access to it when it will make a real difference and not when I've retired and it won't.

Hi Rick

I am undiagnosed of either as yet but my journey is just beginning in that sense. I have read everything in sight and researched to the point of obsession. I envisage that I will be also diagnosed with both as well as OCD. I totally understand how you feel like they conflict in certain areas with each other. It’s very frustrating to have a special interest in something but not have the capacity to retain the information easily. That’s just one example of course. I try my best to take things in but really rely on lists and diary entries. I think trying to simplify everything helps a little and break things down into small manageable pieces. If I try and overload my brain all the hard work gets undone anyway. 

Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful 

All the best for the future