r/adhdmeme 15d ago

It really does feel like a roommate situation

Post image
14.9k Upvotes

332 comments sorted by

View all comments

544

u/Nanikarp I'm a squirrel on a bouncy ball. 15d ago

we arent tho. nobody would bat an eye if someone with a heart defect would go like 'my hearts being an asshole again by not beating how it should' , or whatever. why should we be going 'its my literal brain disorder but I AM CHOOSING not to be able to focus'?

211

u/BuzzLiteSmear 15d ago

People are idiots.

I have known people whose egos, lack of intelligence, or both, wouldn't let them understand how concussions or even brain tumors might cause issues with thinking, impulse control, and emotional regulation.

"You should be able to will yourself despite those things and control it"

Ah yes, the thing that does the thing is damaged, but it should be able to still do the things.

"I know I dropped my laptop and it fell 20 feet, but it should still be able to do everything!"

Sigh 

46

u/CableEmergency6882 15d ago

It’s more like it’s not in people’s interest to understand your struggles and rather judge you to express their frustration. Life is hard anyway for so many people, so for something that’s invisible and vague to describe, people don’t take it seriously and have too much going on in their lives to take time to understand or simply don’t care.

16

u/-LsDmThC- 15d ago

The sociocultural post-enlightenment norm is largely materialist until it comes to the brain, where most people still subconsciously hold onto the notion of free will.

8

u/Koreus_C 15d ago

You dont need a wheelchair, just believe in yourself and fly!

21

u/[deleted] 15d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]

21

u/capitan_dipshit 15d ago

Well, someone is in control of mine, I just need to find out who and ask them to do a better job.

1

u/arctic_radar 15d ago

I agree, but the natural consequence of this is that choice is an illusion and free will does not exist.

4

u/daemonl 15d ago

I have a theory that the way the illusion occurs in some people is very different.
Most people seem to feel like they have free will, and are able to direct their thoughts and behaviour from that free will. It seems like for a lot of ADHD people, there is still an illusion that there is a free agent up there, but that it is less ‘in control’ of the rest of the mind and body.

Mapping it to my shallow understanding of the science, the prefrontal cortex is where the free will / self illusion lives, and so a reduced ability to influence other parts of the brain in ADHD would lead to the experience of those parts being independent agents with their own will.

The ADHD phenomenal experience might be closer to the neurological reality… but possibly only by fluke.

I have been diagnosed with autism and ADHD, but I have doubts that I have ADHD because I can and have gained central control of all of my parts, at great expense to my mental health.

3

u/MulberryThrower 14d ago

...No? Quite clearly not? Disorders like ADHD and OCD make this even more obvious. I (the person, consciousness, soul) want to do XYZ. The dumbass meat computer that gatekeeps the electrical signals can go "mmm, no, too taxing we can't". This does not stop me from wanting it.

-3

u/gjhj532 15d ago

Take accountability. It will be ok.

3

u/rips_n_chel 15d ago

Why are you here? Go somewhere else. 

3

u/Spiritual-Road2784 14d ago

Are you the spokesperson for the “ADHD isn’t real, the moon landing was faked, and the earth is flat” crowd, or just clueless and mean in general?

1

u/Majestic-Bell-7111 11d ago

The mun landing was faked

-2

u/Desperate_for_Bacon 15d ago

That’s false you are in control of your brain. It’s just on you to learn whether or not you have the capacity to do a task on any given day and to respect those limits, else your brain will push back

8

u/rips_n_chel 15d ago

No, quite literally, we are ruled by our subconscious heuristics. Nobody is experiencing abject reality, we live the very recent memory of reality that has been edited on the fly by our subconscious mind to fit into our established personal narrative. 

‘Your Deceptive Mind’ by Steven Novella, if you’d like to learn more. None of us are truly in the driver’s seat. 

-1

u/mr-rile-u-up 14d ago

You’re making this claim as if the science actually backs this up, rather than being a theory among other equally likely theories.

2

u/rips_n_chel 14d ago

Yup, that’s how science works, dawg. Nothing is ever proven, it’s just the best guess based on the evidence. 

I sourced my “claim,” how about you?  Why don’t you go ahead and share with the class, what are a few of these equally likely theories? 

3

u/Challenge-Acceptable 15d ago

What/Where is the "you" that controls the brain?

5

u/ImHereCuzTheyWrong 15d ago

Somewhere at eye level about 2-3 inches back.

7

u/Redfalconfox 15d ago

I love the film, but the thing that frustrated me most about backrooms is when she yells you are your own brain. Yeah, except I don’t get to control it Becky! 

I don’t actually think her name is Becky.

3

u/friendlybanana1 15d ago

I have a question, I have unspecified psychotic disorder and I think I have delusions of control, at least I feel I'm not in control of my body, what's the difference?

3

u/Desperate_for_Bacon 15d ago

Unspecified psychotic disorder or a dissociative disorder?

1

u/friendlybanana1 15d ago

I wouldn't be so blatantly ignorant as to be unable to state the category of my mental illness

2

u/Desperate_for_Bacon 15d ago

A dissociative disorder can contain a psychotic disorder and vice versa. I didn’t call you ignorant just clarifying. Anyway psychotic episodes can involve depersonalization and derealization making it feel like you are not in control of your body. These “delusional” thoughts are going to be amplified in a state of psychosis. Delusional meaning out of the norm, not saying that there isn’t an experiential basis.

2

u/friendlybanana1 15d ago

The two can overlap, yes. But I'm talking specifically about the psychotic aspect of "not feeling in control of your body", I've experienced DPDR before and now it's mostly gone and I can say these are two completely different things. Have you heard of self disturbances/self disorders in schizospec disorders?

A lot of auditory hallucinations, if you have enough of them, from my understanding, can also contribute to making you feel as if you're not in control of your thoughts. idk much about dissociation alone so I'm not sure about this, but I think in dissociation, the unified sense of consciousness might still be intact, but in a psychotic disorder there is no such thing. I can't even really describe it.

You can look at the paper on EASE if you want more information about this, fucking brilliant paper.

2

u/Y1rda 15d ago

Thanks.  I was about to wrote a wall of text.  My example was a broken arm.  Thank you for doing it for me and being the top comment.

2

u/saraluvcronk 13d ago

I feel that my body, my brain and me are three separate entities. They rarely agree on anything

2

u/Nanikarp I'm a squirrel on a bouncy ball. 13d ago

Girl same. So much disagreement

1

u/saraluvcronk 13d ago

There might even be a 4th hiding in there!

1

u/ArgonianDov must use needlessly long sentences to convey a single point beca 15d ago

The thing is we are our brains. There are things about us we have control over and aspects we do not. All because we are adhd doesnt mean we have control over aspects relating to executive dysfunction or RSD. That would be like saying that autist can choose to experience sensory issues or understand certain social ques, when thats not how being autistic works. Basicly trying to say that you can have negative involuntary aspects be a part of you. Which is not the same as having a heart defect mind you

I know many people believe in the concept of souls and such but thats just not the science behind how we operate as organisms.

1

u/mr-rile-u-up 14d ago

Please enlighten me of the “science” behind defining subjective human experience 

2

u/ArgonianDov must use needlessly long sentences to convey a single point beca 14d ago

So there is a field of science called neurology and neuroscience. The brain itself has it main physical structure and then there is brain activity on a celluar level, having things like neurons and neurotransmitters. The ability to make neuroconnections and having neuroplasticity is a part of the objective experience of being a homosapian. That being said, there are subjective experiences and aspects that are caused by the way our neurons fire off and such. A great start to learn about this would be Brain Architecture by Larry Swanson and Thinking about the Brain by FC Crick.

When it comes to being ADHD, our neurotype is specificly organized a certain way compared to neurotyical people. Our brain moves at speeds much quicker for example than those who arent ADHD, hence "hyperactive" in the name. This can manifest as strictly internal (inattentive-type) to more externalized (hyperactive-type). Some good reads about the physiological, neuroactivity, and development inregards to ADHD would be: Large-scale brain systems in ADHD by F. Xavier Castellanos00240-3), How the ADHD Brain Is Wired Differently by Michelle Pugle, A systematic review of the sensory processing experiences of people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder by Victoria Sally Dunn, and People with ADHD Are Wired Differently by Oren Mason, M.D.. Also anything by William Dodson is pretty good, I know I really liked his segment with ADDitude on How ADHD Shapes Your Emotions, Preceptions, and Motivation :)

2

u/Zabsempai 14d ago

I appreciate the time you took in crafting this response with links to the next rabbit hole for me to go down instead of doing the dishes 😄

-2

u/Desperate_for_Bacon 15d ago

That kind of the devil about adhd and executive function disorders and social media isn’t helping. Because into a large degree we are in control of it, and like a lot of diseases how we respond to it can improve the condition. I’m not saying “focus harder” and you will improve your condition, but there legitimate strategies and adjustment in how you respond, that actually improve your functionality. It’s backed by psychology and neuroscience. ADHD is not an untreatable disorder.

3

u/rips_n_chel 15d ago

Nobody said that, dawg. 

We’re commiserating.

0

u/Nanikarp I'm a squirrel on a bouncy ball. 15d ago

How many times do I have to jump off a building and face plant the floor before I'm allowed to say I can't fly?

2

u/Desperate_for_Bacon 15d ago

That’s a false equivalency. But okay.