Anywho with ADHD shuts down when they’re bored?
I used to handle boredom fine, but now it feels like it’s absolutely going downhill. I feel so sleepy the second I’m bored 😭, like almost an irresistible urge to sleep. Stimulation snaps me out of it, but it’s so difficult to do the thing even if it’s something I like, so most of the time I just sleep…
Sucks that I can’t have meds in my country, I only have a SNRI against depression and anxiety. Anywho unmedicated has strategies that most of the time work?
Not getting enough sleep can cause ADHD like symptoms or make ADHD symptoms worse. It might be worth looking into if your not getting enough quality sleep. Getting consistent quality sleep is a solid unmedicated way to reduce ADHD symptoms.
And once sleep is ensured to be organized, OP could check if he is also lacking in discipline to do other things. From my experience, ADHD may make the person seemingly undisciplined, so internalizing the opposite behavior may help mitigate potential behavioral issues.
You are completely right, but if they are experiencing something like I do, it’s not about needing sleep. Sleep deprivation doesn’t switch on and off depending on how interesting your activity is.
Just a few hours ago I was playing a video game with my daughter and feeling fine, and she started getting deep into some menus and I started dozing off, then she was done and it was time for some action and I was wide awake again.
Trading anecdotes, as someone who has terrible-quality sleep due to being severely overweight, I can be out like a light, midday, once I stop actively doing something. Having your mind engaged can absolutely help you power through low-levels of tiredness.
While that is true, the easiest way for me to stay awake when I’m sleepy is to do stuff. As soon as I’m idle, I doze off. I was obviously tired the entire time, but the experience is still similar to what OP is describing.
To my knowledge I do not have ADHD, but I am mildly neurodivergent.
All to often and I get accused of being lazy when it happens.
Like yeah I want my brain to fully disengage every time I’m not hyper focused.
You might also look into narcolepsy. Apparently it’s frequently misdiagnosed as ADHD due to that being so much more common. Not saying it is that, but worth keeping in mind.
I know EXACTLY what you mean. I called it vehicular narcolepsy, because long boring drives would trigger it.
Even if I was wide awake, boring tasks just cause me to shut down and I have an irresistible urge to close my eyes until things get more interesting.
Yep. God it was hard to stay awake in geography class.
Mine was Chem
