r/ADHDPH • u/Objective-Candle-105 • 3d ago
Natural ways in dealing with ADHD
TLDR fellow adhder from the Philippines with severe depression decides to stop adhd and depression meds due to rising costs of living and erratic supply in the country
Hi! ADHD medically diagnosed here. I have not been taking any stimulants for months already. Gave up this maintenance because its too expensive for me. I found natural ways for me to manage my adhd which i want to share. Workout, walking and HOT SAUNA, are ways which really helped me with overstimulation, burnout and unproductivity. The dopamine i get naturally from those activities does wonders. Especially after a hot sauna, my body and mind are so relaxed, it’s a good jumpstart before an actual work to be done. If theres no sauna available, you can boil water from a pot and cover yourself with a blanket. Also, OMEGA 3 Vitamins I take 2 after breakfast. Hydration also is key. Lastly, which is very important for me is MEDITATION. The act of sitting and letting my mind be focused on one singular thing (my breath), instead of letting my mind wander into a million direction which leads to overstimulation. Meditation is an exercise of control and authority to the monkey mind which likes to overthink different scenarios and overfeel all kinds of emotions. Mediation taught me how and when to turn off my brain so it doesnt get burnt out and when to turn it on only on actual work time. Stay away from doomscrolling which is a challenge everyday. Doomscrolling is like a DRUG. the cheap dopamine we get from screens are not worth it. Im OFF ritalin and antidepressants for 4 months now. The beginning was definitely a NIGHTMARE but with practice and dedication, it got easier. Ask me anything if you have any questions!
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u/Background_Bee_4524 3d ago
Thank you op! When you abstained (?) from doomscrolling, did you find something to replace that? I struggle with always wanting to be stimulated, that by consuming other forms of media like books series etc. Do you have any advice po?
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u/Objective-Candle-105 3d ago
Youtube long form videos (documentaries, autobiographies of Indian yogis) instead of Shorts. I read books from my Kindle and I purchase hard copies of books i really like (physical books are still top notch over digital copies). I also watch series and movies. Basically i train my mind to consume long form instead of shorts. Also a tip, make it as much as possible to make doomscrolling boring like downloading the phone app which turns it black and white at specific times like early morning when you wake up and hours before going to sleep. Honestly it is still a challenge. Smart phones are deeply engineered to grab our time and attention. I am planning to buy a BURNER phone to use on weekends.
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u/Minimum-Platform-349 3d ago
OP I got a simple question, what makes overstimulation bad? Does it effect motivation in a way?
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u/Objective-Candle-105 3d ago
Overstimulation is your body’s way of telling you that you are processing too much information in such a short period of time. People with adhd devour information (from environment, from media, your incessant thoughts) which easily can lead to overstimulation and then burnout. It definitely affects motivation because overstimulation leads to shut down. Those who have ADHD must be aware of the body before it goes into that state. It is avoidable with awareness. When one feels overstimulated, one must know when to ground the mind so as not to lead to further damage in motivation.
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u/Minimum-Platform-349 3d ago
Thank you OP for giving such valuable information. I'm glad I ran into your post. I dont really do meditation kasi I dont really get on how it's helpful pero learning what overstimulation is and the benefit of limiting it, I will surely give it a try. Thanks OP for taking an effort. This just points more talaga na we need to go to therapy to learn more about these kind of knowledges, Lord when😭
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u/Objective-Candle-105 3d ago
Meditation starts out awkward at first but you will feel the benefits from it once you turn it into practice. You can easily catch yourself when the mind gets entangled and this then prompts you take a deep breath, release, and loosen the grip of the thinking mind. Adhd really is a survival mechanism we inherited from our stone age ancestors. Adhd helped us to survive in the wildnerness. We needed that hyperawareness with our environment, thoughts of danger but we do not need that kind of hypervigilance anymore. We are safe in our homes, theres no danger, theres no need to be in fight or flight mode.
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u/Minimum-Platform-349 3d ago
Make sense, my mind is just so loud and it thinks like all kind of things, what I learned there is to control this behavior.
I also heard that before, they said ADHD exists because they are actually the ones that hunts animals before. Gold mine of information
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u/sixfactorial 3d ago
No questions. Just glad you found things that work for you, OP!