#as well as avoidance and perfectionism and adhd

[t-leaves]

Told my therapist about shifting and she just smiled and said 'we can work with this.'

[copperbadge]

Feeling a little overly perceived by Dr. Dodson right now, not gonna lie.

I'll throw a transcript under the cut, but both reading the transcript and listening to the video can be difficult as it's quite long, so here's some highlights. As always, these are the opinions of a specialist but only one specialist, so take with a grain of salt, and if you have research to add to this, please feel free to comment or reblog with it. I believe this presentation is from sometime in 2022.

ADHD appears to derive from issues in the corpus striatum in the brain. In most people, the corpus striatum filters out all but the most important input AND output; with ADHD, the things normally handled "outside of awareness" must be handled consciously.

People with ADHD don't see their emotions coming. Emotion is immediate, intense, and unfiltered, making therapies like CBT or ACT difficult, because you can learn the technique but you won't have time to employ it. Because people with ADHD have impulse control issues, expressing emotions "inappropriately" is common, leading people with ADHD to believe they can't trust themselves.

One function of ADHD-typical dysregulation is Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, which nobody understands even a little. People who have it can't even adequately describe it to people who want to study it. It is intense, painful, and apparently impossible to control. Prevention is based in maladaptive behaviors designed to avoid it entirely (perfectionism, people pleasing, generalized withdrawal). The only currently known treatment is alpha agonist medication.

Lastly, by the age of twelve, a child with ADHD has likely received twenty thousand more "negative or corrective" messages than their neurotypical peers. (This isn't relevant to the rest, I just found it sufficiently horrifying to warrant inclusion. Fortunately for me, if I got 20,000 negative or corrective messages, I wasn't paying attention for most of them.)

Anyway, here's the transcript of the first half. I did this by copying and cleaning up the auto-transcript on YouTube, but I stopped at Question Time, so this is only the first half (the presentation). Transcription of the second half is available at YouTube.

There is suddenly a very large interest in the whole subject of emotional dysregulation and ADHD. That has been driven oddly enough by the Food and Drug Administration, which has just opened up several pathways that drug companies can study emotional dysregulation and whether or not their medications can get an FDA indication for emotional dysregulation. So it's sort of follow the money. Up until then, there was not a great deal of interest for ADHD emotional dysregulation.

We have to understand that the ADHD diagnostic criteria were not made for people like you and me, either practitioners or people who have ADHD or their families. They were designed for and made by people who do research and pretty much that's it. People who do research have to have criteria that they can physically see and count. "Little Johnny was up and out of his chair three times in the last hour," and you can write a three on your clipboard. Things which are invisible, not always there, hard to count, or even hidden by the patient, don't lend themselves to research very easily and so tend to be ignored. And so consequently this is one of the main reasons why emotional dysregulation -- until there was some other motive provided -- was pretty much ignored and disregarded.

Consequently ADHD right now, if you look at the 18 diagnostic criteria, are almost entirely behavioral criteria. What is the person doing? Not how is the person thinking, what is the patient feeling, how are they controlling their emotions, how are they sleeping. Things that are all very, very important to the person who has ADHD but which is essentially ignored by the diagnostic criteria.

Why should you care? Who really cares about this? Well, the definition of what ADHD is and isn't defines who and what will be studied. It defines who will actually get into a study and what questions will be asked. It defines who will be diagnosed with ADHD and who will not. One of the most common problems I get is with a secondary referral to me -- somebody clearly has ADHD but they're not pinging off the walls, they can sit and do their work, especially when they get into a hyperfocus, and so they're told they couldn't possibly have ADHD. When really they just have the inattentive subtype and they're not being driven by their behavior, their overt behavior. Therefore it defines who will get treatment, who will get insurance coverage for that treatment, and who will get accommodations in school when they're young and at the workplace when they're older.

Consequently we should also care because the other major components of ADHD get ignored. These are the ones that if you really stand back and look at it cause the greatest amount of impairment, the greatest amount of embarrassment, the greatest amount of just…problems in general. We're talking about cognition and thinking, that people with ADHD fundamentally think in a different way than do neurotypical people. They are able to engage with the tasks of their lives in a totally different way. Their ability to control their emotions and their behavior, control their emotional responses, tremendously affects their self-esteem and their self-definition. Who am I? What am I worth? What am I valued? Why am I valued in a certain way? What do other people think of me?

It affects tremendously the nature and healthiness of relationships. How you respond emotionally to the people in your realm makes a great deal of difference about the healthiness and gratification you get from your relationships. Being highly dysregulated in terms of your energy and emotions also affects deeply how well you sleep, how easy it is to fall asleep and awake refreshed, and of course it affects emotional dysregulation.

And this is probably, when you look at it in the long term and especially with adults, probably the most impairing part of the ADHD syndrome. The vast majority of people with ADHD have found ways around their academic and work performance, but they haven't found their way around their emotional reactions to the people and events of their lives.

At all points in the life cycle -- child, adolescent, adult, and elderly -- people who have ADHD nervous systems lead intense, passionate lives. Their highs are higher, their lows are lower, all of their emotions are much more intense. And that really is what we're talking about: not really the quality of the emotions -- people who have ADHD have the same types of emotions for the same reasons that everybody else does. What we're talking here, in terms of dysregulation, is two things: one, the expression of emotions, being able to choose whether or not you let an emotion out. And then, when you do decide to express it, how intensely that emotion is experienced and expressed by you as a unique individual.

Consequently just about everybody with ADHD, but especially little children, are always at some sort of risk of being overwhelmed by their own emotions from within themselves. This is something that needs to be really emphasized: a lot of people with ADHD grow up not being able to trust themselves.

So why is this happening, especially to people with ADHD? I think that just about everybody now would agree that ADHD is primarily a problem of insufficient inhibition, being able to slow down and keep things from happening. If you look at the mass of the human brain, 85% of all the nerves in your brain and out in your nervous system are inhibitory in function. We happen to be aware of the other 15% because we can see what happens when those nerves are used: they create movement, they create emotions, they create our experience and memory. We have to remember they are a minority of the actual mass of the human brain.

Most of what happens inside the brain occurs outside of awareness. What happens is the brain starts something, it gets it moving, and then uses inhibition to guide that toward the destination it wants. It's like shooting off a rocket -- shooting it off is the easy part, guiding it to where you want it to go is the hard part.

When you look at where stimulant class medications work, they work solely in the deep areas of the brain down in the basal ganglia, and especially in an area called the corpus striatum, which is just Latin for a "striped body". That's how it looks when you look at it -- it's got many very fine stripes in it. This area, the corpus striatum, is almost entirely inhibitory in function. What it does is that it inhibits neurological input and output to just the one piece of information or one action that happens to be most important at that time. Everything else gets handled, but it gets handled out of awareness.

Probably the easiest place to see this in action is when we're driving a car. Driving a car is the most difficult thing that the average human being ever has to learn how to do. It's a very difficult process, if anybody has ever had an adolescent learning to drive. But once we learn how to drive a car we do it largely outside of our own conscious awareness. We can drive along, talk to the person on the seat next to us, think about what we're going to have for dinner, sing along to the radio, and not really pay attention, conscious attention, to what's going on around us. But if suddenly something is out in front of the car, even before our conscious brain can process what that thing is, our corpus striatum has already handled it. Slam on the brakes, swerve to miss it, start to question that person's parentage, in the twinkling of an eye. The corpus striatum has been scanning everything, handling everything.

So basically what ADHD is, is that relative lack of inhibition that should be there. Inattention, which is a cardinal feature of ADHD, is the relative lack of the inhibition of other inputs or distractions. When we look at physiologically what's happening, we don't actually pay attention to one thing. Neurologically, we suppress every other thing we might engage with except the one thing that we want. It is maximally inefficient in that way.

Impulsivity is a relative lack of inhibition, of the expression of actions and emotions before you can think about them and make decisions about that expression. Hyperactivity is the relative lack of inhibition of physical and mental activity. When the physical activity of the hyperactive little boy who's pinging off a wall goes away in adolescence, they're still very much mentally active in their own brains.

So what? The “so what” for most of us is that when this area of the brain is not working as it should, people cannot regulate the experience and expression of their emotions. Emotions are experienced as completely unmodified and unscreened. The word that most people use is that they are raw. They come out without any modification at all, they go in without any modification at all. People can see this in hyperacusis, where somebody chewing or the conversation across the restaurant comes in loud and clear because it can't be screened out.

All this is tremendously overwhelming. We get overwhelmed by entirely too much input, and the impulse to have entirely too much output. It's exhausting, and when it does get inappropriately expressed it's embarrassing, so consequently people with ADHD must always be vigilant of themselves.

Now, when we look at the traditional therapies that have been used, or tried to be used, with ADHD, they have had very very poor track records. They're largely ineffective in helping people control the expression of what they think and feel. The reason for this is that people with ADHD don't see their own emotions, their own actions, coming. They find out about their emotions and actions the same way everybody else does: it's already out there before they even know that it's coming. Consequently they don't have the time and the warning to use the techniques and new skills that they may have learned in behavior modification therapy, or in cognitive therapy. They learned them, learned them perfectly well, but the cat’s out of the bag before they can make use of them.

Right now, as we sit here today, medications are the only thing we have to offer that have a proven track record, because they're there all the time. We have two basic groups: we have the stimulant class medications which are amphetamine, methylphenidate, et cetera, which help directly with inhibition. They help slow things down, they help inhibit both input that would distract us and output. It gives you the same two seconds that everybody else has, to see an emotion or an action coming up, to play it out in your mind. “If this happens then this will happen, then that'll happen. Oh, I don't want that to happen, I'll redirect it.”

The alpha agonist, of which we have two -- guanfacine and clonidine -- inhibit the energy driving the speed and intensity of response. Interesting enough, when we look at just clean effectiveness, when we measure how effective is this treatment, the alpha agonists are significantly more effective than are the stimulants. Usually that's kind of a false choice, because most people end up taking both classes of medication.

A very special type, I think, of emotional dysregulation is -- again a terrible technical term -- what's called Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria. We actually don't know what it is. It's much too early to tell. But it does seem to be a thing with which many people with ADHD identify. There was a brief article from ADDitude that got posted on Reddit, on their subreddit on ADHD; that particular posting got twice as many responses, in less than a month, than any other posting that had ever been put on that subreddit. It really touched a lot of people in a strong way.

In my own checklist, when I'm asking about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, the question I have is: “For your entire life, in other words going all the way back into childhood, have you always been much more sensitive than other people you know to rejection, teasing, criticism, or your own perception that you’ve failed or fallen short?” This is directly from a psychiatric textbook, an old one, and it's the definition of a technical term, for psychiatrists called Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria.

It's important to note, this is all a matter of degree. No one likes being rejected or criticized. Everybody hates it when we fail, we fall short, especially in front of other people. Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria is much more intense, and is much more than this universal discomfort.

When they were originally doing the research on this particular idea, 45 years ago, they wanted to get that intensity right up there in the name, and so they chose the word dysphoria -- which unfortunately happens to be Greek -- but it means “unbearable”. Because that was the description they were getting from people over and over and over again. Again, for reasons unknown, people with rejection sensitivity have trouble describing what the intense emotion is all about. They can describe its intensity -- “it's awful, it's terrible, it's catastrophic,” -- but not the quality of the mood. And so, over and over again, these research subjects would finally just tell the researcher, “Look, man, back off. I can't find words to tell you what this awful feeling feels like, but I want you to know I can hardly stand it.” And so that's where the word dysphoria came from. A researcher at Harvard who decided to put it into Greek, but that unbearable quality is very much a part of what's going on, a part of the experience of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria.

It's extremely common in people with ADHD; my guess is that about 95% of my patients report it as a significant impairment, and about a third of my patients say that it is by far the most impairing part of their ADHD. For the majority of people, and most occurrences, it is not that particularly disruptive, but when it hits, it turns your life upside down.

So how is rejection sensitivity experienced? There's no warning. It hits out of the blue; there's no way to protect yourself from it. It happens all at once, it goes from zero to a hundred percent instantaneously. It is commonly experienced as being physically painful, as if someone just punched you in the chest or punched you in the stomach -- there's an aching in the core of your being.

Once it gets started it seems to be largely uncontrollable until it's run its course, whatever it is. The quality of the mood is indescribable. Most people struggle to find any words at all to describe this feeling, even though it's massively intense. The duration can be a few minutes to several months. It's a very potent experience and can make it very difficult to risk ever being rejected or criticized again.

If this very intense emotional reaction is internalized, it looks for all the world like an instantaneous major depression, complete with suicidal thinking. And so a lot of times people do get a diagnosis of major depression, because the clinician they're working with fails to pick up the triggered, instantaneous nature of the onset of that depressive-looking syndrome. If it's externalized, it presents as a rage that is directed at the person or situation that wounded them so terribly. In fact, being “wounded” is is a very common description. This sort of sudden trigger change, with an intense emotional response, not uncommonly leads to a misdiagnosis of borderline character organization.

So if you can't see it coming, and you can't do anything once it's happened, how do people try and protect themselves from episodes of rejection sensitivity happening in the first place? Some people use perfectionism; they try to be above reproach. They feel driven to be the very best at everything they do. These are the penultimate overachievers. It works, but it's also an absolutely terrible, driven way in which to live.

By far the most common response is that people become people pleasers. They are constantly scanning everybody around them and trying to figure out what that person wants or would approve of, and that's what they give them, so much so that it is the to the exclusion of what they want for their own lives. These are people who take care of others, please others, to the exclusion of any sort of gratification in their own lives.

Another very common way that people try to deal with this is that they give up trying anything new, giving up anything in which they might fail or be embarrassed. I have hundreds of patients who have never been able to apply for a job or ask someone of the opposite sex out for a date. Just the imagination of being told no is so frightening, so devastating, that they just say, “No, I'm not going there. I'll sit this one out.”

One of the most effective ways of dealing with this are the alpha agonist medications, and when they work they can be almost completely effective. Alpha agonist again is a tongue twisting name, but it's not as tongue-twisting as the full name, which is alpha-2 selective adrenergic agonists. So you can see why we shorten it a bit. They were originally blood pressure medications that came on the market in the early 1980s. They worked very poorly -- when they did work, at most they lowered blood pressure about 10%, which was measurable but it still required other things that needed to be done in order to get most people's blood pressure down into a therapeutic range.

We have two of them, guanfacine which was marketed both as immediate release and extended release under the name of Intuniv, and clonidine, which was marketed under the trade name of Kapvay, both as an immediate release product and as a delayed release product. They have been used as a treatment of the hyperactive component of ADHD for more than 30 years, so these are not new medications for the field of ADHD. They're very much the treatment of choice for the “hyperactive, disruptive, and obnoxious little boy” that is what most people have in their minds when they consider the notion of “What does a person with ADHD look like?”

The exact mechanism of action of these medications both in ADHD and especially in rejection sensitivity is highly unclear. We really don't know -- we have a couple of ideas but they are very definitely theoretical. The only thing that we know for sure is that the stimulants don't work by stimulating anything, and that the alpha agonists don't work by being alpha agonists. How they do work is completely unknown.

We have two medications, they seem to work equally well, so there's nothing that would lead you to choose one over the other. The problem is that the robust response that we're looking for that really changes people's lives, is disappointingly low -- at about 30% to either molecule. Luckily that 30% is a different 30% of people, so that 30% of people get a good response to guanfacine but it's largely a different 30% that get a response to clonidine. So if the first medication tried does not work, it makes good clinical sense that that one should be stopped and the other one tried. There was an unfortunately worded sentence in an article I wrote for ADDitude several years ago that gave the impression that you could use the two medications together; they should not be used together. You try one, if that doesn't work you try the other.

The typical dose of either one is in the range of three milligrams of guanfacine per day or about three tenths of a milligram of clonidine per day. If you take all the people who get a good robust response to either one of these medications, about 80% are going to end up at these doses, so it's by far the most common dose.

There are of course side effects. Anything that's going to adjust the adrenaline system of the body is going to have the potential for sedation as a side effect, and this does occur for about 25% of people. It's usually mild and it does go away -- over a period of several months. So a person has to be fairly patient with that. It can cause dry mouth, and it's by a different mechanism then the stimulants can cause dry mouth, so the two of them together can really make your mouth cottony dry. And the third one is an accentuation of a universal experience we've all had, when we stand up quickly and suddenly and we get dizzy, get kind of a head rush, vision goes a bit gray. The technical term for it is orthostasis. And this can happen more frequently when you take the alpha agonist medications.

The benefits of the alpha agonist medications take a while to develop. When you change the dose it takes five days for the benefits to develop, so once again they're not like the stimulants where what you see is what you get at one hour. It takes a while for these medications to work and to see all that they can do.

Now just as a side note, Strattera has been looked at in two studies for emotional dysregulation and the results have been what they call mixed. If they did work it was only to a very minimal degree, almost undetectable, so Strattera does not seem to be a medication one could use and expect to have it help with emotional dysregulation.

So in summary, emotional dysregulation is a basic feature of ADHD, is almost universal in ADHD, and it should be considered as a core symptom of ADHD that ought to be evaluated in every initial evaluation. Rejection sensitivity…it's unclear yet -- this is an old concept that has only been brought up in the last couple of years. Its exact nature is still unclear. It does seem to be a specific form of emotional dysregulation, especially in regard that it does respond very well to medication. But again, how it fits into emotional dysregulation is completely unclear at this point. It does seem to be something that's really important, though. It is a thing that resonates with a large number of people with ADHD.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

hello howl! do you have any favorite hcs of killer that you or someone else created? do yap if there's a lot, my brain is deprived of killer🥺

Alright, this are mostly about Stage 2 because he’s on my mind. Feel free to add on with yalls own killer hcs.

1. That Killer has ADHD. Probably a stereotype born from fanon killer’s personality, but I like it if it’s done well. (Which i rarely see, but that has been changing recently!)

2. That killer is some degree of blind or in general has a hard time seeing. Makes me think his other senses would be a lot better than his sight—especially his vision worsens depending on what Stage he’s in.

3. That he and Chara did pinky wears and the pink swears were sacred—not capable of being broken or the other has the right to kill or torture the snitch however they want. (My HC.) (Alexa play secret)

4. That Chara gave Killer Asriel’s half of the heart locket/golden locket, the one that said “bffs forever.” Especially if Killer has come to associate it with control, and it’s the only way to gain control over a Killer who has been stuck in Stage 4.

5. That his SOUL is a record player of all his victims dying, fearful, hurt, painted, angry, hateful and frantic words. Or at least Killer thinks it is—as he constantly hears them in his head whenever he attempts to resist killing or hurting anyone in Stage 1, and the constant flood of internal degradation is overwhelming enough to trigger Stage 4. The last part seems be somewhat canon, but the record player isn’t.

6. Cannibal Killer, started by me, holds a little place in my heart.

7. Cathearted and Angelkin Killer. Love it. Angelkin was @justanidiotartist’s idea.

8. Princess Killer. As in there is a timeline where he and Chara overthrew Asgore’s rule and became the royals of the Underground for a time.

9. That a part of Killer’s conditioning and training was being taught royal etiquette by Chara. It was framed and hidden under the disguise of learning something new, and a game— a way to keep Killer entertained and avoid boredom, therefore keeping him stable while implementing further rules and structure—but of course it had its typical violence and the use of Resets was often if Killer ever made a mistake or forgot a single thing.

He was taught to hold himself and carry himself as “something more,” above the others in the Underground, but never above Chara and not as real as anyone else.

His spine is always straight, trying to maintain a composed demeanor even when leaning into his silly behavior and extroverted mask. He eats his food in a very specific practiced manner without conscious thought, using his hands and utensils in a specific way.

He only eats when the “Queen” (Chara, Nightmare) eats, and stops when they stop—regardless of if he’s finished or not. Sarcastic, overly exaggerated bowing and signs of deference towards Nightmare—“Your Majesty,” “Your Highness,” in a deadpan, sarcastic manner.

And this one’s a bit more canon, but he copies and mimics Chara’s ways of speaking in a formal manner— such as how he says “greetings” instead of “hello” or “hey.” Often more obvious when addressing those he views higher and above him, or when stressed.

Maintaining old habits of perfectionism and cleanliness despite appearing outwardly apathetic, as if he doesn’t really know why he does it, he just does. His spaces are to be ordered and clean, all gear and weapons done in a certain way, and it’s probably more than once he’s corrected the others gang members postures and manners of eating or speaking.

One thing Chara never managed to make him stop doing was putting his hands on the table. He did that then and he’ll keep doing it. (Somewhat canon. Bro always has his hands on the table.)

10. Killer has the same fascination with the number 9 that Chara does. My HC.

11. Killer with schizoid personality tendencies. My HC. (Bit more complicated than that.)

12. Killer is subconsciously drawn to heart imagery—especially upside down hearts. He will often absentmindedly trace them on his bones/carve them, or draw on paper. It calms down his body. Especially after having failed some type of mission—both when killing or refusing to kill.

13. He stims. They’re small and not noticeable if you aren’t looking, easily dismissed as something else, but he stims. My HC. (I like to think his whole clasping hands over the soul/chest in prayer gesture is a happy stim and a nervous one. And also finger guns.)

14. He is a romantic. But only in his own head and fantasies.

15. Golden flower tea..yum.

16. He treats his weapons and animals better than he treats actual people or himself.

17. Stage 2 will blatantly ignore you if you try to call him Sans. (Somewhat canon.)

18. Stage 2 is mostly apathetic and indifferent but also distrustful of children. My Hc.

19. Chara and Killer’s relationship has been through just about any type of dynamic you can think of. Creator/creation, parent/child (both have played this role), teacher/mentee, enemies, friends, partners. Anything but equals.

20. He is actually very good at knife tricks. Will only fail when he wants to cut himself on purpose, or wants to make someone laugh.

21. Actually a pretty good caretaker, at least physically. Mentally and emotionally tending to a patient needs some work.

22. GNC fashionita.

23. Believes having no needs will make him invulnerable and free.

24. That a more humanized Killer would have long black hair he styles in many different ways. Also that he has a hooked nose and still doesn’t look entirely human.

25. The idea that he gives himself something like tattoos that remind him of Color in his Good Ending. Gradient flaming heart rainbows like Jinx’s blue cloud tattoos. My HC.

26. Catlike behaviors. Yeah. Including being very petty and causing problems for no obvious reasons.

27. Various forms or presentations of pet or age regression depending on the Stage.

28. Hates feeling too exposed physically. ✨ body issues ✨

29. Would’ve thrown the comfort plushie Color gave to him for when he’s Stage 1 away if it the plushie didn’t have an excellent texture. (Is the reasoning he gives.)

30. Acts of service. Just come to him instinctively. Very parentified eldest daughter coded I think.

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

There are several pretty interesting and well-written analyses here that suggest that Mike suffers from depression (and hypothetically) an eating disorder. I'd be interested in your take on this (I realize that analyzing a fictional character with so little confirmed evidence is difficult, but as you said it's fun, and if there are these hypotheses, especially coming from Stranger Things where the brothers have made it clear that every detail (even clothes or colors) matters).

I'm pretty sure Mike is depressed because you don't jump off a cliff at 12 just to save your friend's baby teeth and it's clear in season 4 that he's not in the best of shape… but I would be very interested by your psychological expertise point of view ?

Could Mike’s behavior suggest any psychological challenges, such as anxiety, perfectionism, or even mild depression?

Hello there, lune. Thank you for this interesting Ask.

As you mentioned, analyzing a fictional character is very difficult. We're only able to use what we're shown in the course of the canon content. Even things said off-the-cuff by members of the cast or writing staff would be questionable in such an exercise unless it were reflected on-screen.

That said, Mike's behavior does point to some concerns worth further investigation.

You specifically mentioned people talking about Mike having depression or an eating disorder, so I will start with those.

In order to be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, someone needs to meet the following diagnostic criteria. Yes, I did pull my DSM-V off the shelf for this.

I will highlight any areas that I think could apply to Mike.

A. Five or more of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represent a change in prior functioning; at least 1 must be either depressed mood or loss of interest.

Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by subjective report or observation. In children or adolescents, can be irritable mood.

Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in activities most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by subjective report or observation.

Significant weight loss when not actively dieting (+/- 5% body weight in a month) or significant change in appetite.

Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day.

Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day as observable by others.

Fatigue or restlessness nearly every day.

Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day.

Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.

Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or specific plan for committing suicide.

B. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

C. The episode is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance or other medical condition.

So, as you can see, Mike does not meet the criteria, in my opinion, for a depressive episode, let along Major Depressive Disorder. However, it cannot be denied that he shows some hallmarks of depression, so let's shoot over to differential diagnosis.

ADHD can sometimes make people think about depression, but it's usually due to the irritability that can come with lower impulse control. Mike certain can be irritable, but I don't think he shows criteria for ADHD.

But then there's Adjustment Disorder.

I won't list out the entire criteria here to avoid boring everyone, however it can present similarly, but less seriously, to depression. The key component here is that someone shows an onset of emotional and/or behavioral symptoms within 3 months of an identifiable stressor. These symptoms include significant distress that not proportional to the stressor and/or significant impairment in important areas of functioning. The symptoms also fade within 6 months of the end of the stressor. It's important to not confuse bereavement with adjustment disorder.

When thinking about Mike's mood at the beginning of season 2, it can be easy to think he might fit the bill here, but he was technically grieving El, who he thought was dead. Same with season 1 when he thought Will was dead. I think what we're just seeing there is that Mike becomes withdrawn, sullen, and irritable when grieving. That's not really abnormal, and he does get better in both cases when the one he is grieving is revealed to be alive.

I also don't see any evidence of eating disorders. I'm not sure where this one comes from. I know Mike is skinny, but that's because his actor is skinny.

Honestly, I think Mike's "issues" are overblown. He is a teenager going through teenage things for the most part, and he has a lot of supernatural stress on top of the mundane stress. Yes, he jumped off a cliff, which is highly concerning. However, when you look at the larger picture, Mike just doesn't seem to meet diagnostic criteria for any disorders, at least based on what we see. In the moment he did that, he was in a significant state of despair. Will was alive, but his only hope in finding him, El, was missing. Couple that with a bully holding a knife on one of his friends, and Mike may have just been so emotionally exhausted that he couldn't come up with any other solution. Indeed, when we see Mike when no supernatural bullshit is happening, he's more or less a typical teenager.

Mike probably should have something that can be diagnosed. Hell, all these kids should, considering what they've experienced. However, it's not depicted on screen in Mike's case. If I were personally writing Stranger Things, I probably would try to write Mike as having depression, or some symptoms, at least. It fits the course of his story and where I think it is heading in season 5. Perhaps the Duffers felt that it would be a bit much to be so heavy on the psychological repercussions on their characters. Perhaps it's because they decided to hit on these concepts a bit stronger with Will (season 2) and Max (season 4).

Regardless, Mike has a lot going on, even if there's not enough of any one thing for a diagnosis. Just because he hasn't met criteria yet, he still could in time if he doesn't get help and/or his situation doesn't improve. At the very least, his willingness to put himself in harm's way to save others is concerning. However, I think it comes more from a place of wanting to help others than hating himself. He doesn't so much devalue himself as he does simply value others more.

[lifeafterpsychiatry]

Hi! I wanted to answer the anon who was asking about what ADHD meds do & don’t help with as someone who was late-diagnosed and started meds this year. However, the effect of ADHD meds and even experience of ADHD itself varies heavily from person to person, so do keep that in mind!

DO:

- Actually hearing and retaining what people are saying. I was never able to fully experience a college lecture without panic because of only hearing bits and bobs of the lecture, going in one ear and out the other. I can truly focus and actually respond to what people are saying in a single line of thought without desperately trying to stimulate myself as much as possible to maybe get 1/2 of the detail to stick in my brain.

- Time blindness!! At first starting meds it felt like the day went for 500 years. I felt so much slower and mentally calmer, and I was able to complete “simple” tasks in under 15-20 minutes that could normally take me up to 3 hours due to distractions.

- Memory! Off my meds I have an enormously hard time remembering anything I’m trying to accomplish. I bounce from task to task without ever finishing it. On meds I’m able to think “I need to do laundry” and I just. Do the fucking laundry. It’s magical and I’ve cried more than once thinking about how much I’ve spent my life thinking I’m stupid or lazy for not being able to “just do the thing” like everyone else.

- Shutting down/fearful procrastination— I would be stuck doing nothing for days and days because I would want to do a task so badly but overly think about it and essentially paralyze myself in the decision making/getting started process. When I’m on my meds I can just do the fucking thing! Even if I don’t really feel like it! When before I practically had to have the exact perfect circumstance and could never create them, I can just plop myself somewhere and do the fucking thing. Just like I’ve been told all my life— “Even if you don’t want to, do it anyways” except now I have the actual ability to do that like everyone else. Before it was like everyone else was telling me to turn on a light, but I had no switch.

DON’T:

- Help with hyperfixation. Sometimes I can fixate even worse when I’m on my meds, just because my mind is so single stream that I’m able to do things for even more excessive periods. I burn myself out accidentally a lot quicker if I don’t provide myself with manual distractions to take breaks from daily/academic tasks.

- Immediately fix you. It was hard to start meds because I had to unlearn a lot of habits I had developed to cope with my undiagnosed ADHD— such as constantly moving, stimulating myself, having candy, etc. Just because the day became longer didn’t mean my time management became awesome either. I’m still working on tools that help ADHD with my meds!

- Not really a don’t but more so an unexpected side effect was becoming very intensely angry or upset when the medicine wears off. I struggle with emotional dysfunction already but the anger was so severe and I didn’t know that ADHD meds wearing off can cause that.

- Work 100% all of the time. Some days things like stress, poor sleep, poor diet, etc, can alter the way the same dose of meds works for you. Especially if you are nicotine dependent or a regular caffeine consumer, the way your meds work can change on a day by day basis. Some days I feel like the meds aren’t working at all, but more often than not there’s still a difference between myself being unmedicated and medicated.

- Instantly make you better at studying/task completion. Apparently having ADHD for years made me so extremely avoidant of many things that I just don’t have the skill set to do them well yet. Like studying, for example. I still struggle with extreme perfectionism that impedes me outside of ADHD paralysis.

- I’m gonna say it twice but they DONT FIX YOU ON THEIR OWN. Yes, they make your life fucking way better than before especially if you’re an adult with undiagnosed ADHD, but you have to learn how to use tools and learn skills to support yourself for the medication to help you to the max capability! I will definitely say that being on meds helped overhaul my mindset when I’m off meds and improved my perception of myself, but again, the meds can only get me so far!

I hope this helped anon!!!

Thank you for taking the time to share this! I hope anon sees it 💕

[gaelic-symphony]

Please don't feel obligated to answer this publicly or at all... I was wondering how, if at all, do you think being Jewish and neurodivergent impact one another? Does one influence the other? Do they intersect? How does one inform your experience with the other?

So I've had this in my ask box for quite a while because I wanted to take some time to mull it over (and then I forgot about it. Whoops.), and it's a complicated question. I'm not sure I really have an answer to how my Jewishness and my ADHD intersect or inform my experiences with the other, but I do know that a lot of aspects of Judaism really seem to vibe with my neurodivergent brain.

The fact that Judaism has mandatory breaks built into the schedule of life feels like something very ADHD friendly. It's like the Pomodoro Method on a much more macro level: six days of work, one day of rest. And it really is rest. There is no rise and grind, no hustle culture, no veneration of productivity on Shabbat. Productivity is strictly forbidden. And sometimes the ADHD brain just needs that.

I also think the Jewish framework for sin and repentance has been so beneficial in accepting my brain's limitations as a former Twice Exceptional student with ADHD. Because smart kids with learning disabilities or neurodivergences frequently develop a really big fear of failure and inability to accept their own mistakes when pointed out to them, and a lot of that comes from anxiety and perfectionism that they have to develop in order to "reach their potential" and "overcome their disability"--which, of course, is bullshit. And if you grow up in a culture where sin and damnation are used to motivate people through fear, it's no wonder that neurodivergent kids--especially bright ones who do fairly well in school by punishing themselves into success--develop severe anxiety around failure.

But the Jewish concept of sin and repentance is very different. Sin is a part of life. It's something humans do because we are not perfect. Because we are living creatures with animal brains trying to make sense of our existence on this planet and figure out how to share it with others, and we don't always make the right decisions about it. Sure, you should try to avoid sin, but it's not something you have to fear, because you know what happens if you sin? You accept that you messed up, apologize to Hashem and to anyone you may have hurt, do your best to make amends, and try to do better next time. That's it. And I think that's been a very helpful approach to take when I experience failures or setbacks because of my ADHD. I am allowed to make mistakes because that is just part of being alive. And even if I make a really big, catastrophic mistake, there is no mistake I can make that will doom me forever. No matter what mistakes I make today, the sun will rise again tomorrow, and I will keep moving forward, making amends, and trying to do better.

I'd be really interested to hear from other neurodivergent Jews about their thoughts and experiences as well!

P.S. I started writing a Jewish Alex fic based on your earlier ask!

[uncloseted]

I used to think I had ADHD bc it's so hard for me to get schoolwork done, but Ive realized that I really just procrastinate bc I'm scared of starting an assignment and failing. I mainly procrastinate on essays and projects bc it's usually a challenge and also a sum of everything you have learned in class, and I get scared because I feel like I'm not equipped to do it. So I avoid avoid avoid and do it last minute. Sometimes I get really good marks actually! So it proves that I am actually

Equipped to do the assignment even if I do it super late. But, I'm wondering how I can drill into my head to just DO the thing and not be terrified that I'm going to fail and avoiding it for fear of confronting the truth that I'm a "failure" and can't do the assignment (logically I know this isn't true but emotionally my brain automatically doesn't believe it).

Yes! Perfectionism is such a huge reason why people procrastinate and I don't think people talk about it nearly as much as they should.

The first thing I would do when dealing with procrastination from perfectionism is to remind yourself that the outcome of your work isn't a reflection of your worth as a person. You can be loved and worthy even if you aren't perfect at everything you do. I think oftentimes, people who struggle with perfectionism feel like being perfect at things is a necessary part of their identity, but we aren't our successes and failures. Letting go of the idea that the outcome of tasks define us makes it easier to complete work. And when you do fail at things, try to reframe what that means in your mind. Instead of "failing this exam means I'm a failure as a person", maybe try reframing it as "failure is a normal part of life. If I never fail, then I'll never be able to grow."

When you're starting an assignment, try and set reasonable goals and standards for yourself. Of course you want to give each assignment your best and get 100% on everything, but what's the bare minimum that would get you to achieve your goal? If you have a class you're taking, what's the bare minimum that you would need to get on this assignment and still pass the class? Figuring out what would be good enough can help to combat that feeling that the world is ending when an assignment isn't perfect. It can also help you to get started, since you can remind yourself that it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to get done. Give yourself permission to make mistakes and remind yourself that you can always go through it again at the end and improve it if you need to.

In terms of general anti-procrastination strategies, there are a few things you can try:

Break your task into small, manageable steps that you can check off a list. These can be as simple as "open document" and "write name at the top of the paper". The more little tasks you do successfully, the more you'll feel like you can do.

Commit to only doing a little bit. Maybe you'll just do one step that's on your list, or you'll do two minutes of work. Usually, after that time is up, you'll feel like you've gotten over the hump of starting a new task and you can keep going. But if not, let yourself take a break. You've at least gotten a little something done, which is better than nothing.

Reward your progress. Once you get to pre-set milestones in the task you're going (like you've finished five of the small steps on your list, or you've finished writing a paragraph of an essay), give yourself a little treat. It sounds silly, but if you can train yourself to associate doing work with getting a treat, it's easier to start doing the work.

And more than anything else, I think it's important to be kind to yourself. If you had a friend that was struggling the way that you are now, what would you say to them? You'd tell them that they're capable of completing the assignment and even if it doesn't go well, they're not a failure of a person, right? Try to talk to yourself that same way when you're trying to get through doing an assignment. It will feel silly at first, but the more that we practice kindness and compassion towards ourselves, the easier it becomes to do it, and the more we believe the things we tell ourselves.

[noxexistant]

Hi I wanna know what you think all the newsies’ mental illnesses are 😤

Or as many as you can think of

oh, hell yes. bout to put my lifetime of my own brain plus everyone i’ve met through mental health exploration and treatment plus living in care with other traumatised and mentally ill kids to work. (although, obligatory disclaimer, these are just ideas and me messing around, mental health is messy and complicated especially when translating between modern understanding and how that would’ve been understood and expressed in-period. this is not me formally diagnosing these characters, more just being like ‘hey, what if’ in a more nebulous sense. and, again, mental health is messy!)

first of all, jack definitely has c-ptsd - complex post-traumatic stress disorder, caused by consistent and long-term trauma and, as the name implies, with more complicated and far-reaching symptoms than ‘standard’ ptsd. he dissociates a lot, and his visions of santa fe can border on delusion when he’s in worse states - which can sometimes border on hypomania. his self-esteem is unstable and imbalanced, and he has a lot of issues with paranoia; he believes the world is against him, that anyone will betray him, that any information learned about him will be used against him. he lies compulsively as a result, about even the most innocuous stuff. he uses anger as a cover for his emotions. he’s restless and unable to really hold grudges because he’s so desperate for bonds, but he’s also quick to back off when people get too close. he has a pretty fearful-avoidant attachment style, but feels deeply betrayed when other parties are the ones to back away from him instead of the other way around. he also probably has adhd, defined by hyperfocus and hyperfixations and inattentiveness to anything he finds dull, he’s fidgety and talks a lot and usually ends up putting his foot in his mouth and then talking even more.

david has anxiety and frequent panic attacks, and i can also see him having ocpd - obsessive compulsive personality disorder, which is entirely separate from ocd. it’s characterised by a need for perfection and severe anxiety when things aren’t perfect, holding unrealistically high expectations for himself and others, and getting very anxious/distressed when mistakes are made by himself or others. he likes things organised and structured, his perfectionism holds him back from actually doing things, he focuses on work and productivity rather than his needs or hobbies, he has trouble delegating or working with others as he can believe that he’s the only person who can do something right. he has to hold himself back from immediately re-doing tasks for others, like when one of the other newsies ties their boots sloppily or les doesn’t fold his clothes right or sarah doesn’t wash the dishes properly. he’s also autistic.

crutchie has ptsd, bouts of depression, and is all but incapable of being honest about his emotions - he’d rather keep them under wraps and all but avoid them entirely, would sooner make himself sick with them than express them openly to others. he also dissociates, which helps with avoiding emotions, though his dissociative bouts happen most commonly after ptsd triggers or flashbacks. he goes empty-eyed and unresponsive when he’s dissociating, just staring into the middle distance, and he can’t get out of bed on the worst days of his depression. he won’t eat, won’t speak, will at most just try and smile at anyone who expresses concern - tight-lipped, more of a grimace than anything.

race has adhd and episodes of hypomania. he exhibits self-destructive and self-endangering behaviours, including starting fights and generally just doing stupid stuff that could well get him and others hurt, and he absolutely cannot be talked down when he’s hypomanic. he has aggressive/violent outbursts if anyone tries, will stop talking to them - usually running away to brooklyn entirely - until he’s come down by himself, and then he’ll come back and apologise sincerely for what he might’ve said when he was “jittery”. the others are always understanding, though race still harbours a lot of shame for it. he’s terrified one day he’ll say or do something that makes spot hate him.

albert is anxious and restless and a kleptomaniac - he steals compulsively, particularly anything shiny or expensive-looking. he’s not great with relationships, tends to have little interest in other people, and can’t really read tone or social cues. i could see him having symptoms of autism or schizoid personality disorder, which have a considerable overlap in symptoms, most commonly characterised by difficulty with relationships and disinterest and “lack of humour” and preferring being alone - though quite probably not enough symptoms to be diagnosed with either (speaking in the realms of a modern au).

finch, i could totally see having schizoid personality disorder. he’s paranoid too, frequently gets the idea in his head that he’s being watched or followed, particularly since he ran away, or feels like the others are talking about him. he hoards food (as much as he can when there’s so little of it) and has a lot of sleep problems, sleeping little and light. he doesn’t really dream, but when he does they’re stress dreams or nightmares and he always wakes up with his heart pounding. he’ll spend the time until the bell rings sat up, eyes darting around the room, sure there’s something, someone, something.

specs has symptoms of ocd, most commonly rituals to ensure the safety of the other newsies. he has to wash his face just right so that everyone sells okay that day, and step over the trolley lines perfect because if he doesn’t someone‘ll get hit, touch each of the beds in a certain order to make sure everyone’s safe for the night, stuff like that. his glasses are also always spotless, and nobody can touch them.

tommy boy stammers and has social anxiety. splasher has ptsd, and frequent nightmares because of it - and an intense fear of abandonment. elmer has very little self-esteem and is loud/disruptive for attention, including making out-of-turn jokes. henry harbours nothing but guilt for his father’s death (even though it wasn’t at all his fault, it’s often just how grief manifests) and isn’t processing his grief at all, sometimes he’ll lose himself in the delusion that his father isn’t really dead and the deli is still waiting for him; he also has a lot of issues with food, including binging when food is available.

spot’s got c-ptsd and his complicated emotions tend to manifest as anger/aggression. he doesn’t know how to articulate his feelings, and usually won’t try. she’s kind of terrified by her relationship with race, because she doesn’t know why race likes her and wholly believes that he’ll suddenly stop. their sense of self-esteem is very complicated - very high in some aspects, and non-existent in others. he can struggle with depersonalisation.

and, bonus, because i’m me:

the delanceys both have c-ptsd. oscar has adhd and antisocial personality disorder. morris has bpd and autism. feel free to ask me if you wanna hear more about them, or about any other characters i didn’t mention, or even just more about a character in particular <3

[aninternetian]

Godot adventures script

I've written a script for a potential youtube video that I need to record somehow without my face or voice. Will post this here for now and see how I can continue to do this. I'll also try to use this blog for detailed update over each video. Also, this post isn't written by any AI tools. WIll be talking more about it in some video someday.

About me

Hi, I’m Ros. I’m a freelance coding instructor and I make educational content about programming. I was an artist but I moved closer to programming due to my interest in game development. I did cs50, which is an introduction to computer science that I highly recommend for anyone interested to learn programming.

A quick disclaimer. Due to various circumstances, the best place for me to work is my local library but I won’t be able to record my voice or myself. For now, I’m using text to speech and an avatar of myself.

My intentions

I still wish to do this series despite all these issues. This will be a playlist series for my godot adventures! Been wanting to learn how to use it forever, especially since it’s open source. I have some experience using Unity3d but that was quite a long time ago so this will be new for me.

So what I will be doing is diving straight into making a simple 2d fully playable game. I haven’t figured out exactly what the game will be about, so that will be in the next video. Do comment if you have any ideas! I’ll be avoiding space shooter because I've done a few versions of it.

In this series, I’ll be sharing what I did, any errors I make or come across while using as little tutorials as possible. So you’ll be seeing a raw, unfiltered look at me learning by doing as well as the messy parts of game development. While i do have some coding and gamedev experience, I haven’t code in a while. So I’ll share whatever I know but there will be some missing gaps which I’ll hopefully find out in this adventure.

Why am I doing this in this way?

So, I have ADHD. I’ll probably get bored of it in a few months time and I’m trying to use this youtube channel as an accountability buddy and taking a totally different approach to avoid boredom.

This will also be a way for me to overcome any fears of making videos due to perfectionism. I’m pretty sure there are videos like this and my videos will be messy and feel like a work in progress. There will be stuff all over the place but my intention is to highlight quality learning over all these issues. By reminding myself that this is an unknown channel and whatever issues I have are not the point. Doing this will allow me to get better with video making. Regardless of how bad the video quality is, the content is more important.

And the goal to make a fully playable game as well as potentially inspire and encourage viewers to try diving into learning stuff as well.

Avoiding tutorial hell

Maybe you’ve heard that the best way to learn anything is to dive straight into it. This experience will teach you more than any tutorial ever would. Doing this will get you to use muscle memory instead of memorization which is more effective for lifelong learning. You’ll also learn what programming is like where you’ll face a lot of frustration, annoyance, why is my code not working and so on. And this is where I’ll share all of it!

I'll be avoiding tutorial hell which is definitely a fault of mine. I’ll try to only search for specific stuff that I need to solve. In case I do use a tutorial, I’ll record why and how I come out of it. It might be unavoidable for me to go through some resources so I'll summarise what I've learned. I'll try to honestly share whatever I can as long as I think it will be useful and helpful for your programming journey.

My current setup/environment

I’ll be using OBS, maybe canva and capcut for video editing or graphics stuff. I’ll also use AI tools like ChatGPT and RunwayML. Mostly for brainstorming.

I’m likely to record during the weekdays so I’m not sure how often uploading will go. I’m also job hunting so I might upload less or stop uploading depending on how things go.

How you can support

You can simply support me by subscribing, liking or sharing. This will also allow you to receive a notification when videos are out!

Your support might help me have accountability and encourage people to learn programming.

If you can afford it, I have a "buy me a coffee" link in the description. I’ll also set up a patreon if it goes well. It will hopefully allow me to eventually afford a quiet room for recording.

My hope is that you will learn how to not let perfectionism get in the way to simply "start"

Let’s see where this adventure takes us!

Linky links

[wibehavioralhealth]

Understanding and Appreciating the Unique Challenges of Female and Male ADHD

Female vs Male ADHD; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects individuals across the gender spectrum. However, the manifestation and diagnosis of ADHD can differ significantly between males and females. In this blog, we will explore the distinctive features of female and male ADHD, shedding light on the challenges faced by both genders and emphasizing the importance of recognizing and addressing these differences.

Recognition and Diagnosis:

a. Male ADHD: Historically, ADHD has often been associated with hyperactivity, impulsivity, and disruptive behavior, which are more commonly observed in males. As a result, males with ADHD may be identified and diagnosed at an earlier age, especially if their symptoms are overt and disruptive in a classroom setting.

b. Female ADHD: Females with ADHD, on the other hand, may exhibit less noticeable symptoms. Rather than overt hyperactivity, they might display inattentiveness, daydreaming, and internal restlessness. These subtler manifestations can lead to underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis, as their struggles may be attributed to other factors.

Social and Academic Implications:

a. Male ADHD: Boys with ADHD may experience challenges in academic settings due to difficulties with impulse control and hyperactivity. They may face academic underachievement and encounter social issues, as impulsive behaviors can impact relationships with peers and authority figures.

b. Female ADHD: Girls with ADHD might navigate social challenges differently. Their inattentiveness can lead to academic struggles, but they may also internalize their difficulties, developing feelings of inadequacy or low self-esteem. The subtlety of their symptoms may make it harder for teachers and parents to recognize their struggles.

Coping Mechanisms:

a. Male ADHD: Males with ADHD might be more prone to externalizing behaviors, such as acting out or being disruptive. While this can attract attention and interventions, it may not address the underlying challenges they face in managing their impulses and attention.

b. Female ADHD: Females may develop internal coping mechanisms, such as perfectionism or avoidance, to navigate their challenges. These coping strategies can mask their struggles and contribute to the perception that they are managing well, even when internal turmoil persists.

Treatment and Support:

a. Male ADHD: Treatment for male ADHD often involves a combination of behavioral therapy, medication, and support from educators and family. The emphasis may be on managing hyperactivity and impulsivity.

b. Female ADHD: Recognizing the unique challenges faced by females with ADHD is crucial for tailored interventions. Treatment may focus on addressing inattentiveness, building self-esteem, and providing support for emotional well-being.

Conclusion:

Understanding the nuanced differences between female and male ADHD is essential for accurate diagnosis and effective support. By acknowledging and addressing the distinct challenges each gender faces, we can promote a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to managing ADHD across the spectrum. Through increased awareness and education, we can empower individuals with ADHD to thrive in various aspects of their lives, regardless of gender.

For additional blogs and resources, visit here.

[changingchances]

So men are more likely to have tic disorders in the first place and they act on a similar circuit as well (I had to write like a 10,000 word paper on the connections between ocd, adhd, and Tourette syndrome this past spring lol so I’m vibrating with joy over here).

People with ocd can sometimes just have not right feelings associated with a need for perfectionism and control, and I imagine that depending on his trauma, Gojo’s obsession may be centered around feelings of uneasiness and not rightness and the compulsions if he had any would basically be anything to ensure that he is in control and is never at risk of bad things happening to him again. This may be with avoidant behavior?? I see this all the time in ocd (hi I also have ocd 🤣). Personally, I have weird counting and sensation compulsions that literally no one would ever notice if I didn’t make them plainly obvious. I’m also a huge perfectionist but also highly avoidant of anything that causes discomfort, boredom, or May hint at failure.

Okay okay okay okay

So I've been thinking a lot about Gojo's brain lol. And I think he could fit the bill for a bunch of conditions- but this may also be because the field itself is beginning to move away from categorizing disorders and instead is starting to examine things not only based on spectrum perspectives, but also through the lens of genetic an biological lenses (check out the RDoC, it's SUPER cool).

I think he definitely fits the bill for executive dysfunction overall- man's tonic and phasic dopamine regulation is not regulated AT ALL. I could see him as also having a touch of savant syndrome maybe potentially possibly. Mild ASD I think would also make sense for him. But so would a certain level of OCD in my most humble and personal opinion- or even autonomic nervous system dysregulation that leads to sensitivity to certain stimuli and migraines. I love his whole sugar addiction because in the manga it really does make sense- sugar is pretty much glucose at its purest and glucose is what the brain uses for energy, so him utilizing so much brain power and thus developing a sweet tooth is just peak brain function lol. I think whatever conditions you decide he may experience would be super fun to explore, and it could easily tie into him being very good at very hard subjects and also having a hard time understanding why other people don't get it as easily. I'm gonna start flipping through my notes to see if there's anything that jumps out to me as very Gojo.

I definitely think OCD would fit, I was thinking about it earlier as well.

Savant syndrome sounds like a really good fit for him, too!!

And yes, his sugar addiction makes so much sense and it all pairs so well with him just being so smart and why he chooses such difficult subjects.

🤔🤔🤔

My brain just go zoom right now with the possibilities and I am filing this entire message away for later 😂

[unproduciblesmackdown]

when i make the gtmpota whodunit? video.....then

[myhoneststudyblr]

my masterpost | my studygram | ask me anything 

how to stop procrastinating series

[click images for high quality]

[transcript under the cut]

Other advice posts that may be of interest:

How To Study When You Really Don’t Want To

Common Study Mistakes

7 Strategies to Improve Concentration

Procrastination 

/prə(ʊ)ˌkrastɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/  noun

Definition: to keep delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or boring

Example: She was smart, but her constant procrastination led her to be late with almost every assignment.

Causes of Procrastination

There are lots of different causes of procrastination and it will probably be different for everyone. As well as this, it is likely that procrastination will be caused by multiple factors so it is important to figure out what exactly it is for you.

Here are some reasons:

Perfectionism

Fear of failure

Fear of criticism

Avoidance

Low self-esteem

A tendency to self-defeat

Depression

Trouble focusing

ADHD

Waiting until the last minute

Task aversion

Resisting challenges

Decision fatigue

Difficulty defining goals

A disconnect with the future self

Lack of energy

The Cycle of Procrastination

Procrastination is a perfect example of present bias. This is our hard-wired tendency to prioritise short-term needs ahead of long-term ones.

Aversion to a task

The particular nature of our aversion depends on the given task or situation. It may be due to something inherently unpleasant about the task itself, but it might also result from deeper feelings related to the task, as explored previously, such as anxiety and fear of failure. To avoid the task, we do other activities, such as watching Netflix or scrolling through social media.

Short Term Reward

When we procrastinate instead of completing the task, we are - in the short term - provided with relief. This means that you are getting rewarded for procrastinating, and we know that when we’re rewarded for something, we tend to do it again. This is  why procrastination tends not to be a cycle, rather than one-off behaviour

Procrastinatory Cognitions

Ultimately, procrastination only compounds the negative association we have with the task. The original feelings will still be there whenever we come back to it but will also be paired with increased stress and anxiety, feelings of self-blame. These self-blaming thoughts are called "procrastinatory cognitions" and typically they only exacerbate our distress and stress.      

The Effects of Procrastination

Some of the obvious effects of procrastination are wasting time, not meeting goals or our full potential, and perhaps receiving lower grades. But as we've already seen, procrastination also fosters lots of negative emotions.

Over time, chronic procrastination has not only productivity costs, but measurably destructive effects on our mental and physical health, including:

chronic stress

general psychological distress and low life satisfaction

symptoms of depression and anxiety

poor health behaviours

chronic illness

hypertension and cardiovascular disease

Summary

Procrastination is not being lazy

It is avoiding tasks by doing other 'easier' tasks

It can be caused by lots of different things and it is important to figure out what is causing your procrastination

When we procrastinate to avoid a task, we get a short-term relief from negative emotions and thus are 'rewarded'

This means that it is easy to fall into a vicious cycle of procrastination

Procrastination can have negative effects on mental and physical health as well as productivity

[tailoroffates]

How to beat writer's block

Here are 9 tips to get yourself out of a nasty writer’s block (y'know, other than the obvious ADHD issues that I also struggle with).

Causes

Fear – This usually revolves around publicizing your work, being rejected by publishers, or the general criticism you can receive from your peers. Being nervous or afraid of these things is absolutely normal, but it becomes a serious issue when it prevents you from sharing your work. There are always going to be trolls, just remember when they come out the taunt you that they’re just jealous because you have potential and they’re stuck living under their toll bridges. Leave them there and pay them no mind.

Self-criticism – I’m guilty of this one so I’ll be as fair as I can without being a hypocrite about it. We are our own worst critics. It only gets harder to view ourselves as professional or avoid that nasty old imposter syndrome when we compare our own work to that of other successful authors. Stop that! Keep writing and honing your skills and one day it might be okay to compare in this way, but until then this process is just being unfair to yourself. These authors have been writing for years and practice so consistently that they’ve earned that best-seller title. You’ll get there, just try to stay out of your own head until then.

Perfectionism – This one is a little harder to get out of because we always want to do good and put our best work forward, however, this can often lead to us overthinking the structure of a single sentence and cause so much time to be wasted just trying to make it perfect. Here’s the thing though, nothing is perfect, and here’s why… No matter how well you do your work will be perceived differently by your readers individually. Everyone is different and you can’t please them all, so do your best to make sure you are happy with it and you’ll likely have others who enjoy it as well.

Pressure – This is mainly due to deadlines. Whether they’re set by teachers, publishers, heck even if they’re set by you. This one isn’t so easy to overcome as the closer you get to that deadline the more the anxieties start to set in.

Tips

Now that we’ve covered the causes, here are the 9 ways to creep your brain out of your writer's block.

Re-read – One method that helps me out of my (book-related) writer’s block is to go back a chapter or so and re-read some of my older materials. More times than not, this gets the gears going again and places my thought process back into the mindset I was in when writing it.

Take a break – Sometimes you sit there writing for so long that your brain starts to lag and your blood flow slows down, stopping you from refreshing your thought process. A good way to fix this is to take a small break and do something else. Get up, stretch, get some water, and maybe even go for a walk (I know, I know. The “walk” thought made you cringe, but it can really help). If those things sound too effortful, just switch to a different creative subject like trying a writing prompt or writing a little poem. Either way, sometimes the brain is just looking for some inspiration, and staring at the same page for hours isn’t gonna cut it.

Tunes – Every once in a while I’ll have myself a nasty struggle with trying to set a scene. I find that a cheeky way to help this issue is to make a playlist of songs that put me in the mindset of the scene I’m trying to build. For example, when I’m trying to write something sad or traumatic that happened to a character I’ll play some sorrowful tunes to get the right ambiance. The same goes for fighting scenes. I’ll play many upbeat and catchy songs to try and get a good idea of that half-cocked adrenaline feel so I can write the fighters reacting to one another effectively.

Quiet time – Sometimes too much noise or too many distractions can cut into your writing time, making your mind as blank as the page you’re sitting in front of. If so, maybe try and go somewhere quiet and avoid external distractions so you can write in peace.

Perfectionism – Yes, you read that right. We circled right back into perfectionism, but hear me out. If you’re sitting there on that same sentence because you can’t decide the best way to structure it just make a note of where you are and keep writing past it. You’ll have time to fix that when you re-read or edit your work. Wracking your brain about it now is just slowing your progression.

Outline – One thing I find incredibly helpful is to outline or write an overview of your plot line, subplots, and where you want it to end up. I know, everyone wants to be a pantser, but not everyone can do this effectively without wasting years of their time stuck on the same chapter or even worse yet, leaving so many plot holes that even an acrobat would trip over them. I spent 3 years trying to write my book and when I finally gave in and wrote up an outline I had it done in 24 weeks. Don’t be a me.

Happy habit – Another cheeky tip I used to help myself out was to create a productive habit out of writing. The rule was 1500 words a day, and eventually, it started to get easier and easier for me to get the words out of my brain and onto the page. Your word count does not need to be this high, just set a comfortable goal and get to it!

Read something – No, not your own stuff. Read something else that you find interesting. More times than not this can inspire your gears to start spinning so you can get back to writing your own works.

Play – Alright, so at this point you might have just been working for too long. Stop that! A big old work binge can be great from time to time but just remember, all work and no play made Johnny a dull boy. Don’t be Johnny! Go have some fun and get that tension out so you can be your best you! <3 Hopefully, this helps those of you out there who like me, spend way too much time just wishing the brain would shut up and write things.

[pyroclastic727]

Is Amity autistic?

In the Owl House fandom, we hear a lot about how Luz is written to be ADHD. Now I would like to present the flipside: Amity is coded as autistic.

Here’s the breakdown.

Amity is touch-averse. “BuT aMiTy ToUcHeS LuZ aLL tHe TiMe” nice try. The key to autistic touch-aversion is only being okay with touch when she initiates it. And that totally matches up with Amity. See, Amity is really happy when she initiates touch with Luz. She’s also cool with it when Luz holds her hand after standing near her for enough time that Amity can predict an incoming touch. That’s because Amity consents to that touch and expects it.

But when other people touch her? She doesn’t take kindly to that. When Luz initially bumped into her at Covention, she snapped at her and degraded her. Even when she bumped into Luz in Enchanting Grom Fright, her initial instinct was to snap at Luz, since she didn’t expect to be touched. When Hooty touched Amity’s face without consent, she flipped out and beat him up. Not even Lilith beat Hooty up when he wrapped her up in his mucus-filled tube, but Amity gave Hooty the injuries we all wanted to see him with, because he breached her boundaries without her consent. Even as late as the last episode, Amity fell over when her face got close to Luz’s on the bleachers, because she didn’t expect it.

Amity stims. Okay, this one took me a while to catch, since most of the time, Amity is very controlled with her actions. This symptom isn’t very intense; her senses aren’t understimulated too often, and she really only does it when she’s really excited.

Mainly, when Luz offered to carry her. While she adorably scrambled for words, she also flapped her hands against her legs. At first I thought it was just a cute thing she did, but there’s more to it. She was so excited to be held by Luz that it showed up in her hands flapping...a common stim. With Amity feeling more comfortable around her new friends than the old ones, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more stimming in the future.

Amity always has The Mask as her expression. You know, the one with her eyes half-lidded, eyebrows raised, mouth slightly downturned. I also call it the Resting Blight Face, for...reasons.

At first I thought it was just a way to hide her true emotions, since her parents are assholes. But even though Luz makes her feel accepted, she keeps doing it. It’s more like...you know that feeling when you’re thinking really hard, or uncomfortable, or ashamed, or even just relaxed, and you can’t think of which expression to wear quickly enough, so you put on an unreadable one to tide people over? Apparently most people don’t do that, since allistic people tend to have expressions for those feelings, ones that arise naturally.

Another symptom of autism is having hard-to-read expressions, or being less expressive. In Amity’s case, it’s the fact that she doesn’t see a need to have an expression in calmer moments, so she just uses her usual expression.   

Amity hyperfixates. This has several facets, so I’ll break this down.

She initially hyperfixated on school. And that’s how she became top student. Amity Blight is who you would mistake for a “gifted student.” But make no mistake...she is not gifted, and gifted is a bullshit label used to overexert people and force them to keep school as their special interest for their entire lives (and I may have a bit of a vendetta against it). Anyways, we already know she’s a perfectionist. My theory is that Amity originally was hyperfocused on school--the Abominations track, to be exact--and that’s part of how she got so good. Then, her focus shifted, but the school expected her to keep being top student. Cue the perfectionism; she was no longer able to focus on school like she wanted to, but everyone expected her to, so she got insecure about it.

She hyperfixates on Azura, just like Luz did. Yeah, she keeps it secret from the world, for most of the time. But she definitely likes Azura a lot. I mean, she started to reconsider her opinion on Luz when Luz offered her an Azura book. She destroyed her jock career because she tried to use an Azura move in real-life Grudgby. Her interest in Azura is long-lived, starting about the time that her interest in school would have expired (which would explain why she stayed closeted). And we can’t ignore the fact that she sees Azura in Luz and is definitely enjoying the parallels between herself and her fictional counterpart. (Which might not be a coincidence, but that’s an entirely different theory).

She hyperfixates on Luz. Yes, part of this is a crush. But a lot of us have watched Amity’s personality go from alpha bitch to cutest little bean in the Boiling Isles, all thanks to Luz’s influence. Lumity is not a rivals-to-lovers speedrun due to bad writing, it’s due to Amity hyperfixating. She’s already extremely introspective, going so far as to keep a diary where she analyzes and makes sense of herself. It’s not a stretch to say that she identified the faults that kept her from Luz and worked hard to change those off-screen. 

Amity keeps a journal. To me, this seems like masking. You see, Amity is what people would consider to be high-functioning, since she can pass for allistic. But in order to do this, she has to put in significant effort on her part. See, when she does something that makes it so she doesn’t pass, she just sees it as a problem (since she probably doesn’t know about autism, and she passes well enough that she would totally be undiagnosed). Then she tries to fix the problem, in order to keep being perfect. 

Amity has awkward body language. Thanks to the journal and other ways of masking, you don’t see this early on. But once she feels comfortable enough around Luz to let her guard down...she completely forgets boundaries. To review: in episodes 15-17, she throws herself at Luz, holds her formal rival’s hand for 24.71 seconds, blushes every time she sees Luz, and loudly declares her thirsty thoughts about Luz in uniform before literally running away. While some of this can be seen as normal gal pal things or crush things...you’d think a repressed wlw like Amity would try very hard not to touch Luz, so as to avoid being outed. Or at least she would do less of that stuff, so as to respect Luz’s boundaries the way she wants her boundaries to be respected. But that’s not the case, since she straight-up misses a lot of social cues. And since she feels comfortable around Luz, she doesn’t feel the pressure to be so paranoid about the cues, and can be her awkward self. From her point of view, she probably sees it as being freed from her parents’ judgment.

Amity takes things literally, sometimes. Now, this doesn’t happen all the time, since she isn’t heavily affected by this autistic trait. But when Luz says “I’m picking up what you’re putting down” and Amity says “I’m not putting down anything” and looks down...she not only missed the conclusion Luz drew from her words, but also assumed a literal meaning from her words. I can’t come up with many other instances of this, mostly because this doesn’t happen often. I would assume that Amity missed these a lot early on, and learned how to mask/identify them.

Amity is easily upset when things don’t go as planned. Let’s review these. In the library, she gets really mad at Luz when they end up stitched to a book, and it takes Luz’s sweet personality to get Amity to loosen up and laugh over it. When she goes to practice magic, and Luz steals her wand and uses it to get her siblings kidnapped, Amity locks Luz in a cage and assumes that she will get badly injured if she tries to fix the problems she caused. When Luz comes to her school, she panics and focus on how that doesn’t change anything. When she burns Willow’s mind, she appears absolutely terrified of being punished, flinching and bracing for impact when Luz finds her near the memories, constantly trying to distract Luz as they work together to save Willow, and hiding behind Luz when she confronts the Inner Willow. When Luz asks her to join her in Grudgby, Amity doesn’t initially agree, instead taking much more of the episode to come to terms with her involvement in it.

Amity likes predictability. She’s not attached to routines, but she does like being able to expect things. If she makes a plan for the day, she expects that day to adhere to that plan, and she doesn’t respond well when it changes. When Luz comes to her school, she focus on how that doesn’t change anything...not how that would ruin things or complicate things. Whenever she gets involved in Luz’s shenanigans, she either gets angry, scared, or takes a while to accept it. In a broader sense, she takes a while to accept that Luz and her shenanigans are a permanent fixture in her life--sixteen episodes, to be exact.

Finally, it would make for some excellent representation. An ADHD Dominican-American bisexual protagonist is pretty groundbreaking. But an ADHD Dominican-American bisexual protagonist girl who dates an autistic wlw witch girl from another dimension is exactly the kind of intersectional representation you’d expect to see from an unrestricted Owl House crew.

...Now, this might just be me hardcore projecting. I’m a little scared to post this because I don’t know how much of this is me reading into imaginary things, or trying to convince myself that Amity is like me. Feel free to debate/disprove me or support me in the comments. 

[simplepotatofarmer]

c!dream most likely has adhd 

(as observed and told by me, someone with adhd)

this is actually a thought that’s been on my mind for awhile because there are quite a few moments where i looked at dream’s actions and thought ‘yeah, that certainly could be an adhd thing’. i’m going to go over these in sections, starting with what i feel is the most relevant. 

there is a link between adhd and attachment issues. in reviews, it’s been shown that adhd can be a predictive of a lack of attachment competences, leading to insecure attachment representation or even attachment disorders. i think this is important because one of clearest personality traits we see in dream is his unhealthy expression and relation to his attachments. (there’s also something to be said for dream having an attachment disorder but since i have no personal experience with that, i’m not going to talk about it. i do have experience with insecure attachment, however.) 

having insecure attachment representations can result in avoidant behavior, believing it’s better to cut yourself off before it’s done for you: something that isn’t just a possibility but a certainty. 

mood swings and outbursts which is common in adults with adhd. there’s a few examples of this in canon but the most obvious one is the ‘i don’t give a fuck about spirit’. from my experience, it has all the hallmarks of an outburst: a stressful situation where he has a drastic and sudden shift in mood and temperament, something that you can hear in his voice and the way he speaks during that entire moment. he’s not okay, he’s not handling things well and it’s very clear.

a tendency to fixate on certain things or projects (or people) that aren’t well prioritized. this one is pretty self-explanatory and i think pretty obvious. or maybe it’s obvious to me because i have a problem with this but i do see it in dream. clearly you can see the fixation on the discs and on tommy himself as well as the idea of having a united server. but you also see it with the house building: this was something completely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things especially at the moment but he made a point to build a house, focusing most of his attention on it until he blew it up. (which could also be related as people with adhd have a hard time finishing projects and a sense of perfectionism that can lead to irritability and lashing out.)

other things included but not limited to:

- fidgeting or restless behavior (watching dream spin the clock was very much a ‘*looks at my fidget toys* ah’ moment) - inaccurate or warped view of relationships - recklessness or risk taking - a tendency towards multiple word repetition

anyway, these are merely my thoughts on c!dream having adhd and in conclusion: as someone with adhd, i’m claiming c!dream.