adhd-sweetdreams

[adhd-sweetdreams]

i know we're all sick of self-care being a marketing tactic now, but i don't think a lot of us have any other concept of self-care beyond what companies have tried to sell us, so i thought i'd share my favorite self-care hand out

brought to you by how mad i just got at a Target ad

#self care #mental health

[adhd-sweetdreams]

This tool is designed to overcome your executive dysfunction by asking you questions and leading you to a helpful answer.

IT’S HERE

(Updated link 3/11/23)

#executive dysfunction #analog brain #adhd

[adhd-sweetdreams]

I don't know who needs to hear this but:

-"it only hurts a little" is still pain

-"I can ignore it" is still pain

-"I can cope with/manage it" is still pain

-"it's bearable" is still pain

-"I can push through it" is still pain

-"it doesn't hurt that much" is still pain

-"it doesn't stop me from doing x" is still pain

You don't need to be in agonizing pain to be in pain.

#chronic pain #physical health

[adhd-sweetdreams]

GIANT SELF HELP MASTERPOST

｡◕‿◕｡

emergency compliment  calming manatee calming paintbrush soothing techniques the thoughts room the quiet place daily puppy draw a stickman self injury recovery masterpost need a hug?? comfort box alternatives for anger and restlessness happy thing masterpost when you’re sad? click here to smile feeling stressed? cheer up! the dawn room

isnt the rain beautiful are you feeling okay? calm down weave silk to calm down do nothing for two minutes match the colours look at the stars!

wanting to self harm or worse? maybe you want to comfort someone else wow beautiful nature sounds! really good game to get feelings out nature not your thing? coffee shop noise

sand patterns speak to people how to care for self harm cuts distractions and alternatives for self harm how to fade and cover scars what to do when someone notices your cuts/scars? resisting the urges 25 ways to avoid self injury tips to help stop cutting helping someone who is suicidal stupid games to cheer you up (pointless games) the butterfly project just relapsed? reasons to live

eating disorder support groups coping with exercise addictions bulimia recovery coping with weight gain overcome your eating disorder

bipolar self help living with bipolar dealing with bipolar without medication 10 more ways to cope with bipolar bipolar coping skills

how to cope with depression natural depression treatments ways to deal with depression/stress overcoming loneliness  finding the right antidepressant

understanding and managing anxiety understanding and coping with panic attacks tips and tricks for dealing with anxiety anti stress breathing tips coping with social anxiety cope with panic attacks

self defence tips rape escape how to break out of a zip tie

depression resources masterpost cool game called ‘the end’ to distract you “how to cut” (not what you think) big master post of masterposts

HOW TO stop skipping breakfast stop biting your nails work through feelings of social isolation understand types of anxiety deal with anxiety calm down calm down during a anxiety attack do yoga to cheer  yourself up learn how to mediate cope with ocd coping with social anxiety disorder coping with schizophrenia coping with depression coping with bipolar coping with borderline personality disorder coping with eating disorders coping with autism spectrum disorder

GET HELP WITH

disorders/mental illness low on cash but wanting help? panic and anxiety coping with PTSD never say these things to someone having a panic attack what is ocd? more about ocd what is PTSD? what is social anxiety/social phobia supporting someone with PTSD tips living with someone who has OCD what is depression? what is autism spectrum disorder? what is bipolar? what is borderline personality disorder? what are eating disorders? what is generalized anxiety disorder? what is panic disorder? what is schizophrenia?  suicide prevention hotlines more hotlines (UK) list of hotlines for everyone mental health hotlines

8TRACKS PLAYLISTS CALM/CHEER UP MUSIC

note to self good feelings spring fling coffee shop acoustics rad covers good feelings a little bit of everything good morning breathe acoustic conquer school wheels on the road choose happy sleepy tunes coffee shop tunes

BACKGROUND NOISES

MYNOISE SOUNDROWN RAINY MOOD COFFEE SHOP SOUNDS TO FALL ASLEEP TO STUDY PLAYLIST MOST RELAXING TUNE ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS CALM SOUND

#self-help #masterlist #mental health #life tips #executive dysfunction #coping

[adhd-sweetdreams]

The Percy Jackson series in a nutshell:

↖ this user has drank from the infernal river Lethe, which flows through Hades and brings total oblivion, eradicating all memory and thought

#percy jackson #adhd #adhd character #actually adhd #nd memes

[adhd-sweetdreams]

Being disabled is googling what exact qualifications for each number on the pain scale mean/equate to so when you go to the doctor you'll know for sure which number to say

#I’m so bad about knowing how to rate my pain so this is super helpful!! #pain scale #physical health #mental health #doctors appointment #info

[adhd-sweetdreams]

Fortesa Latifi, from The Truth About Grief.

#grief #dealing with grief #mental health #depression #quotes

[adhd-sweetdreams]

Hi everyone,

I thought I would share a comparison between tantrums and meltdowns I found. Although they can look similar, there are differences between the two. I hope many of you find this helpful.

Stay safe my neurodivergent friends. :)

Tantrums

Meltdowns

#this is so important to understand!! #as a kid my parents and I wrongly assumed my sensory overload meltdowns (from then undiagnosed trauma/adhd) were tantrums/anger issues #so we spent years treating it like that and it never really got better #(some things like stepping away to ‘cool down’ helped but that was bc it removed me from the overwhelming input) #and then I got diagnosed last year and started trauma therapy with an ND therapist and suddenly my sensory issues are WAY easier to manage #still distressing but I haven’t had a complete meltdown in the way I used to in about 6 months! now my meltdowns are a lot less chaotic #and it’s so much better #tantrums #meltdown information #tantrum information #neurodivergence #autism #adhd #sensory processing disorder #actually adhd #actually neurodivergent

[adhd-sweetdreams]

adhd is so embarrassing ur basically like “I have to have fun right the fuck now or I’m throwing myself off the roof” 90% of the time and you also have very little control over this

#I have adhd and sensory processing disorder so I’m constantly trying to balance the amount of sensory input/stimulation so that it’s not too #much to too little #*or too little #and it’s really hard to find that small middle ground #but yeah adhd boredom is basically being (literally) bored to tears #the worst is when you’re overstimulated sensory wise but under stimulated in terms of brain engagement #so your brain is all like ‘WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING NOWWW’ and your body is like ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT’ #so you’re very uncomfortable and stuck #actually adhd #actually neurodivergent #executive dysfunction #adhd boredom #sensory issues

[adhd-sweetdreams]

having a genuinely garbage memory might not be the worst part of living with ADHD, but it may be the most embarrassing

#SO TRUE #add trauma into the mix and YIKES is my memory bad #I also have a hard time remembering faces which can get so awkward #like I promise I’m not being rude my brain just doesn’t remember things #actually adhd #actually neurodivergent #adhd #nd memes #mental health

[adhd-sweetdreams]

I really dislike Kawaii Future Bass or whatever this genre is called so I made it sound shitty with a bunch of random samples.

#can confirm this is what the inside of my brain sounds like at all times #just lots of random songs overlapping #maybe the occasional vine or YouTube clip #actually adhd #nd memes #audio #auditory stim #music #mashup

[adhd-sweetdreams]

seriously though it would be an enormous help if more people understood that autistic brains/bodies (and some other conditions too) very VERY frequently don’t process sensations and emotions in normal ways and INSTEAD replace them with bodily and emotional responses that are total nonsense in an NT context

like i have chronic pain, i have an always-on headache that used to be around a 2-3 on the pain scale and is now a 6-7 most days.  but periodically i find that instead of actually feeling a level of pain i can rate, i have a series of puzzling physical sensations like nausea that miraculously get better when i take painkillers and go lie down in the dark.  because they were actually pain signals.  pain signals that got turned into something else at some point in my body.  so i have days where i feel GREAT and pumped to do stuff and then i’m like WHY AM I NOT FUNCTIONING WELL and i go lie down in the dark for a while and it gets better??  because i was actually at an 8 which is Can’t Function levels for me, but 90% of that pain was invisible to me, turned into nausea and manic energy and weird sudden mood shifts instead of “pain”.

I don’t experience normal thirst signals most of the time, either.  I get cravings for ice cream and lime popsicles and watermelon instead of being thirsty.  I had to learn that “i suddenly desperately want ice cream” is my body’s way of saying “put some water in this bitch”.

I also get nausea instead of hunger signals a lot of the time.  nausea is one of my body’s favorite go-to signals to send, in general, so it can mean almost anything.  when my stomach turns i have to go through a checklist of possibilities to figure out what i’m actually feeling.  this is a big reason i eat a lot of snacks.  it’s step number 3 or 4 on my “why do i feel sick” list and happens at least once a day.

and anyway this shit is important for non autistic people to know because we can’t always tell you what we’re experiencing, but also sometimes we can get really upset and overwhelmed with trying to even understand what we’re feeling.  doctors especially need to know this.  how can i tell you what’s wrong with my body when my body doesn’t know how to use its own language for communicating what’s wrong?  when it routinely sends me a mishmash of signals that are totally useless for figuring out the problem?  it’s not impossible but it requires an understanding of just how different the place i’m coming from really is.  you can’t get anywhere by treating me just like an NT patient.

but most people aren’t even aware that “body signals” are a real tangible thing that can be effected and “go wrong” when your brain and body are built weirdly.  literally any process in your body can be broken, that should be obvious, but people are so oblivious to the things their body does automatically that they aren’t aware they exist, and therefore don’t know they can break.  it’s really important to make people aware of these functions.  there are so many disabilities that happen when a hidden function breaks and it’s impossible for abled people to grasp those disabilities without comprehending that that’s an actual thing their body does for them.

#YES THIS #I get nausea instead of hunger cues too #and I don’t get thirsty until I’m super thirsty or dehydrated #my body doesn’t self-regulate temperature well so I can be hot or freezing in what most would consider mild temperatures #not having proper bodily signals/cues is what bothers me about the intuitive eating movement—I keep seeing posts saying #‘this is the best option!’ but for many ND ppl w/o hunger cues that would be a disaster #I wish that was acknowledged a bit #not everyone’s cues work the same #actually adhd #actually neurodivergent #autism #sensory issues #arfid #interoception

[adhd-sweetdreams]

a cafe that had a few of my safe foods just closed all of its stores suddenly 😭 where am I gonna find vegetable soup that’s half as good

#RIP #the location I usually go to had already closed a while ago but I thought that was just one location...like there were active stores #still working not even a month ago #but I hadn’t been in a while bc my usual store closed #and trying to go somewhere new is more spoons than I usually have tbh #but still...I’m gonna miss that soup #tw arfid #tw food #actually adhd #adhd inattentive #sensory issues #actually neurodivergent #arfid #avoidant restrictive food intake disorder #actually arfid #adhdsweetdreams personal

[adhd-sweetdreams]

Are you a *constantly finding new music* neurodivergent or a *listens to same songs on repeat* neurodivergent

#actually adhd #actually neurodivergent #adhd #nd memes #music

[adhd-sweetdreams]

it is not a failure to have a difficult time taking care of yourself or advocating for youself. it is not immoral to struggle.

#reminder for myself #invisible disability #invisibly disabled #mental health

[adhd-sweetdreams]

Say you break your ankle. You could know everything there is to know intellectually about the injury. Even with this vast knowledge, you will still experience physical pain.

Now take this logic and apply it to things like ADHD, autism, clinical depression, and other less visible/divergent disabilities. You cannot think your way out of feeling.

That is to say: you are not a bad, lazy, or selfish person for struggling, even if you know why you are struggling.

#THISSSS #disability #thinking vs feeling #actually adhd #actually neurodivergent #mental health #invisibly disabled

[adhd-sweetdreams]

what the neurodivergent movement is about:

no matter your brain, you deserve autonomy

no matter your brain, you deserve dignity and respect

the way you function shouldn’t be stigmatised or frowned upon

everyone should be given access to the supports they need

what the neurodivergent movement SHOULD NOT be about:

we’re not disabled, we have different abilities! stop calling us disabled! etc

neurodivergency is always a gift!

uwu we’re all cute and bubbly and wonderful people!! being neurodivergent is so quirky!

we’re not disordered!

the moment you start saying things from that second list, you are excluding a good portion of the neurodivergent community who struggle on a daily basis. you exclude those of us who aren’t gifted, who can’t function well, or who rely on disability support to survive.

you can call yourself whatever you like. just don’t make generalisations about the community that exclude those of us who are sick and tired of being excluded from a hell of a lot already

#disabled isn’t a bad word! it’s okay to use it. #‘differently abled’ makes it sound like I have some super secret mutant powers or something. which would be totally rad but alas #I just have a ton of trauma and other fun stuff instead #invisible disability #neurodivergent #actually neurodivergent #dyscalculia #actually dyscalculic #learning disability #and other stuff that is disabling but I’m in the middle of hyperfocus cleaning and don’t feel like trying to remember all my issues to tag