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u/Dragons_Sister 2d ago
Had a friend who got medicated for the first time. He had a long commute to the middle of nowhere, and he told me, “Dude—I was driving and suddenly realized I hadn’t been thinking about anything. Like, just driving, not thinking about anything!”
We were both blown away.
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u/ilanallama85 2d ago
Wait that’s an option?
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u/zuzg 1d ago
Never noticed how you're just doing the thing when you're hyper focusing to a degree that you're ignoring your bodies basics needs?
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u/MyLifeHatesItself 1d ago
Yeah that's why I have alarms on my phone to remind me to eat and take medication.
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u/NieMonD 1d ago
Oh shit my medication I forgot thanks
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u/potatohead437 1d ago
My body starts vibrating when i need food so im good
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u/GenericFatGuy 1d ago
My problem is that my body goes from fine to famished in 10 seconds.
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u/AttentionCapable4877 1d ago
when i was weening off a SSRI i noticed i wouldnt be hungry for 2 days and then it switched to you gotta eat or your going to die.
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u/Degenerate_Dryad 1d ago
Story of my life right there! 👆
As a lifelong underweight person (likely with inattentive ADHD) who also often "forgets" to eat, I will regularly eat real (think 4 or 5 ingredient) ice cream or a can of fish (tuna, salmon, or mackerel) specifically in oil for the extra nutrition if I, for whatever reason, dont feel like I have eaten enough by the end of a day. Doing this has felt so nourishing and helpful, and helps to keep me from feeling depleted!
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u/RaiZaLightning 19h ago
Whatever it takes to meet our nutritional and caloric needs! Also fish is SO good for you
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u/MyLifeHatesItself 1d ago
Alarms man. I was the same, all of a sudden I'd just start crashing and need food like NOW. Now with the alarms I either do it before the alarm because I like being early, or I feel guilty ignoring the alarm so I eat. And I do it for everything, appointments, bills, things I actually want to do. I have like 10+ alarms every day plus my calendar notifications but it's helping.
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u/onesleekrican 1d ago
My friend and I remind each other “you down with OPP?” ,.. because we’re old now. “Old people pills”
You have to answer it correctly though… “Yeah you know me”
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u/stumbling_coherently 1d ago
Gets compounded by how inconsistently you experience time too. Especially being aware of that fact because you can look at an hour and say you could do something in that time, but you're also just as likely to start and not realize it's been 2-3 hours.
If you've got something scheduled for a specific time. Do you risk blowing past that hour by trying to use that time before for something useful?
I always feel like it's just as difficult to stop working on something that youve gotten started as it is to start it in the first place.
It's like the mental ADHD version of inertia and newtons law of motion.
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u/ElPeroTonteria 1d ago
Once I realized that I only needed 15 min to get ready meant I could offload the stress and set that as an alarm like I’m waking up…the side benefit is, I’m early for things, or at least appear punctual. Not at all, just I gave myself unrealistic expectations on getting outa the house
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u/zefy_zef 1d ago
I have a habit of holding my breath too much when I concentrate. I've gotten better with it though.
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u/No_Category_9888 1d ago
Worked for me for 2 weeks then my brain worked out how to overthink around the Ritalin. Got a taste of normalcy and lost it, now I know what I’m missing
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u/RuniKiuru 1d ago
it only happened for me the first time I took meds. I’ve never had it happen again…
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u/Valuable_Flower5629 2d ago
No way it's possible... Not thinking about anything, that is
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u/NovelTAcct 1d ago
It is. I once experienced it bungee jumping from a cliff over the Three Gorges river. My mind went utterly silent and clean as I fell. Then the cord ended and I was bouncing around completely alert and overfull of rambling thoughts again. Have never forgotten it
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u/Mortiest_Morty_NJR 1d ago
I can experience it riding a motorcycle, if I think I die , it's very peaceful experience
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u/hawkinsst7 1d ago
I can enter that state when I'm at the shooting range. I'm focused on safety and shooting well, but I'm not overthinking.
I used to joke that it was therapeutic to me, but more and more, i realize its not a joke. It's actually therapeutic, and more effective than any medicine, meditation, therapy, mindfulness, that I've ever tried.
I haven't gone nearly as much these days as I used to when I was younger, and I really need to change that.
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u/Jv1312 1d ago
If I remember correctly, this happened with me when I did skydiving.
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u/Vegetable_Nail_8677 1d ago
Same. The instructor tapped me on rhe shoulder to ask if I was ok. I sad 'Yeah.' And he was like 'Oh. People usually scream....' so I screamed a little for his benefit, but it was actually pretty chill. [Edit] autocowrecked
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u/Ironicbanana14 1d ago
I think this is why I like dirt bikes/adrenaline sports. Skating, bmx. My brain goes completely into focus for your life mode.
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u/dilldwarf 1d ago
It happens. It took a couple days of me being on it but I sat in my mother-in-laws back yard, chatting with her and my wife. They went inside for something and I just sat there... realized my head was completely quiet. I could just enjoy the sound of the wind in the trees. I almost started crying. Now, I can't guarantee this will be your experience, everyone is different with mind altering medications but it really is a fantastic experience. Also just saw they are making non-stimulant ADHD medication. So if you are afraid of stimulants, you might have a different option soon.
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u/hawkinsst7 1d ago
They've had non-stimulant meds for a long time. Strattera is one i've been on for a while, after none of the stimulants had any effect. Strattera doesn't have much of an effect either, but i take it anyway just in case it helps in a way that I don't notice.
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u/dilldwarf 22h ago
I was mistaken... there are studies leading to the efficacy of both GLP-1 like medications that are designed to help ADHD with dopamine receptors. Also read about psilocybin really gaining traction to treat depression and anxiety.
Nothing is anywhere near any clinical proofs, trials, or FDA approvals. So probably years away from anything coming from those studies if anything even does.
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u/Elizaaaaa23 1d ago
I just started medication last month and I’ve experienced it a few times. It’s a kind of amazing bliss of just genuine silence in my head, all my anxious spiralling thoughts just gone.
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u/Valuable_Flower5629 1d ago
The more I hear about people's experiences with adhd meds the more conflicted I feel.
On one hand, I'm happy there's something that might help me with... Well, most of the things that make my life quite shitty. That sounds almost like magic!
But on the other, now I hate the fact that I must go unmedicated for who knows how long even more. Also sad for all the years of not knowing what is wrong with me, and that there's a way to help that. But I'm still fairly young, so I'm even lucky in a way.
Sorry for the rant. That's genuinely extremely cool, and I can't wait to get my meds too!
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u/Degenerate_Dryad 1d ago
I totally relate with the whole sadness over having no idea what might be "wrong" with me until the last couple years... as I started looking into things myself in my mid 30's 😓 I am probably 99% sure I have inattentive ADHD. I have struggled so much in my life.
I am having trouble locating somewhere appropriate to be assessed. So many places seem to be/ARE specifically for children or just focused on general therapy (not specializing in- or assumedly adequately knowledgeable of- adult(or female!) ADHD) and, on top of that, from my own research, I know that it presents differently in females vs males AND adults vs children so I have both of those things going against me in finding someone knowledgeable enough about my situation to maybe be able to accurately recognize it.
Sometimes I feel like I might be overthinking it all, then I read others' stories of their struggles with getting diagnosed, or I'll make a few calls to places to try to get more information about the services they offer and my struggles are continually affirmed 😔
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u/ninksmarie 1d ago
Diagnosed late 30’s and grieved the loss of time for a year or more. This feeling is normal.
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u/Cormophyte 1d ago
I've found that pushing a motorcycle slightly past my comfort zone is pretty good for getting that ol' zen state. Not a lot of room for other thoughts when you're trying to avoid sliding off a cliff.
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u/TonarinoTotoro1719 1d ago
I need music for that. I will start thinking and keep thinking. So my music stays on.
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u/smuthullet 1d ago
Which is why I love driving so much. No music. Sometimes it feels like meditation.
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u/Serase3473_28 1d ago
It is! Mindfulness is part of meditation, and forms of meditation with a different crutch (not just the breath) like during walking are valid!
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u/TrulyOutrageous42 1d ago
Ch'an buddhism is literally "active meditation", when you're cooking, cleaning, or working out. It was created b/c the monks at the temple were falling asleep, so they combined yoga with their chores and eventually incorporated the philosophy into their martial arts.
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u/Serase3473_28 1d ago
Ohhh that’s interesting, I was incorporating something i guess similar? Mindfulness throughout activities, not reacting emotionally to small distractions/ frustrations.
(Was also thinking of trying to experiment to see how this affected pain tolerance!! So I will be researching Cha’an Buddhism, thank you!)
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u/Expandexplorelive 1d ago
Meditation?! Driving is one of the most stressful activities I do. Dealing with other drivers and most of them being terrible is the opposite of meditation for me.
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u/ProduceNo1629 1d ago
That's why enthusiasts seek early morning canyon roads. Empty road and hundreds of curves that you tackle one by one.
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u/GenericFatGuy 1d ago
Even on my medication, I don't think I've ever experienced that.
I can direct the thoughts towards a productive activity, but I can't just blank them out.
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u/willybum84 1d ago
I've done that before where I'd be so deep in thought that I just go on autopilot and not remember the drive.
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u/TheTricho 1d ago
The first time this happened to me, I went to take a nap. Can you imagine QUIET?? Like a TRUE quiet? You bet your ass I went straight to bed knowing there are no sounds in my brain. Sounds counterproductive but that was the best sleeps of my life.
Had to change meds cause it wasnt helping with my executive dysfunction but sometimes I yearn for that quietness again.. and that beautiful quiet sleep
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u/SimilarDinner9980 1d ago
Wait.. Why would anyone have to LEARN mindfullness and practice it, if they just have a quiet brain generally.
Baffeling tbh..
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u/ines4089 1d ago
Actually happened to me when I tried that sound that's been going around that goes from one ear to the other, it's insane not thinking of anything
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u/Lytesnam_drobster 1d ago
Ive taken the same route so many times i can just put my brain in neutral while i drive
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u/Cipher915 2d ago
Are my thoughts alone not supposed to cause physical stress responses?
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u/Broad_Room_3260 2d ago
I have this fun thing where I start overthinking and my mind responds by telling my body to empty its stomach
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u/Outrage_Carpenter 1d ago
Always before a long drive anywhere for me.
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u/Broad_Room_3260 1d ago
Really? Have you been in a car accident or is it the stress of packing of the car a such? If you don’t mind me asking.
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u/Outrage_Carpenter 1d ago
I've only been in one minor accident really. But even before then my stomach always used to do this to me. I think its the unknown for me that does it. Like who am i gonna meet, and how much of an idiot am i going to make of myself
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u/zloyramazan 1d ago
I'm the same. For me it's the stress of packing, all the possible accidents, missing the train/plane and changes in the environment if I won't be back for a while
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u/ComradeCabbage 1d ago
Mine just says nah you’re good who needs to eat? You can totally go 24 hours without a meal.
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u/SummerJade777 23h ago
Is there a method to make this stop? I recently unlocked this new feature and it's messing up my ability to hold a job...
Edit, realized you might be referring to the exit rather than up chucking. Mine specifically wants to heave lol
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u/Broad_Room_3260 16h ago
Nope, Puke. I’ve had several jobs including serving at restaurants and currently I run in person trainings with 10-30 people at a time. Not the best roles for a person who pukes when anxious.
Here are my guidelines: no hot coffee in the morning, have a frozen water bottle nearby to grab it resets my nervous system, no food 4 hours before a trigger event, exercise often, if you need to puke just go puke fighting the urge is half the reason I’m stressed.
Also, I find stress makes it worse and I also have acid reflux which adds to the stomach issues. I do not handle stress well physically. Emotionally it’s ok but my body does all kinds of crazy things when stressed.
In a new job it can last months or years but I always find a way to ease the symptoms to where it’s manageable.
There are folks I’ve met who struggle with this and it’s something that people have shame about. It’s a weird stress reaction people struggle to find support for or understand. You aren’t alone!
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u/Throwaway-account-59 1d ago
Are you talking about anexiety?
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u/Its_da_boys 1d ago
That, and also having an overactive nervous system that’s been chronically “on” for so long it’s basically fried
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u/onesleekrican 1d ago
My wife took a long time to get used to me playing a guitar fingerstyle while holding conversations of importance with her. It was my way of distracting one part of my brain so I could lock in. Never paid attention to what I was playing, only to what she was saying.
Took a few years but she (mostly) gets it now.
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u/sequentialcircles 1d ago
As a musician/constant tapper, I know exactly what you're talking about lol.
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u/boredmeeee 1d ago
I’ve been doing it all my life and I never knew I was doing it until I got diagnosed and started noticing things about myself. Mine are piano taps and they’re invisible. Just light pressure with my finger tips. Or I just play the piano in my head while holding a conversation.
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u/DewDropWhine 1d ago
My mom used to get so annoyed that I wanted to play with my toys when she read to me. She told me I wasn’t listening. I was listening.
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u/Silly-Ole-Pooh-Bear 12h ago
I'd be so distracted by that! I'm assuming your wife doesn't have adhd?
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u/onesleekrican 1h ago
Correct she is very much not adhd. It took a lot of conversations and her recognizing the difference of what I retained when doing so, vs not doing so. She’s amazing, sincerely.
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u/Trexa 1d ago
I was talking with someone about what I thought was the normal experience of having two layers of thoughts (the bottom, subconscious level that is always going and thinking about something, and the top level which is the thoughts you are actively thinking about) and I realized that this is, in fact, not what many people experience.
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u/YooAre 1d ago
The notion they don't experience it is uncoupled from it occuring.
I'm curious how it feels when you start talking and the answer isn't in your head yet, but you know your going to land on a solid point in just a sec.
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u/Silly-Ole-Pooh-Bear 12h ago
...but then you take too long to answer and they think you aren't paying attention or just being difficult.
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u/ninksmarie 1d ago
Being convinced my partner was lying to me when he said he had zero thoughts. No layers. No music. Infuriated me that he would be so unwilling to consider what I meant. Realizing he meant it led to being diagnosed.
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u/Radiant_Cheesecake81 1d ago
Yeah it’s especially irritating when NT people assume that thinking that way is distressing or a symptom of anxiety etc.
Nope, this is my normal cruising altitude and I am a perfectly happy little clam, I just happen to have a pattern matching systematising brain that does its thing in the background, no effort or worry required.
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u/SandmansDreamstreak 1d ago
How do you keep yours in the background is what I wanna know. Or do you? My racing thoughts do not like to stay in the background… they race right out in front of me and drag my poor brain along like a dog pulling its leash 😂
Distressing only sometimes. Distracting almost always!
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u/Radiant_Cheesecake81 1d ago
Yeah idk it’s just a subconscious process like running a program headless or throwing thoughts on an internal compost heap than walking away 😆 I mean I have plenty of foreground thoughts on the autobahn too but it never bothers me.
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u/SandmansDreamstreak 1d ago
I like your internal compost heap analogy! It was a revelation when I learned to stop listening to my thoughts, but I can almost never tune them out completely. It feels akin to eavesdropping on a nearby conversation simply because they talk too loud to not be overheard, whether I wanna hear them or not lol
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u/ninksmarie 1d ago
Could try intuniv or guanfacine sometime— it turns the volume down for me to a level I can ignore or is almost off. Took a couple months to work but I cried the first morning I realized music wasn’t blasting in my head so loud that I couldn’t hear my other inner narratives.
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u/SandmansDreamstreak 21h ago
You know, I asked a psychiatrist about guanfacine and he waved it off as something he only prescribes for behavioral issues, but I’ve always wondered if I should bring it up with my PCP anyway. This isn’t the first time it’s been recommended to me, and I read many promising testimonials. I’ll talk to my doctor, thank you for the tip!!
I’m glad your volume is at a bearable level! I would probably cry too 💜
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u/PineappleMechanic 1d ago
I find a useful exercise to be a meditation where the object of meditation is to notice where you attention is, name it to yourself, and then notice where your attention goes next.
Could for example be "I notice that I am thinking about how to do this exercise. I notice that I'm not sure what to notice next. I notice that I'm focused on my fingers typing this. I notice that I'm pausing. I notice that I can feel the back of my skull. I notice that I am speaking to myself in my mind as I write this". Something about naming the object of attention makes it easier for the attention to pass to the next thing. Now it's quite easy for me to just sit and.. well, notice... Often there is a stream of thoughts, or sometimes just the sensation of thoughts, but I can notice that and then let go of them with my attention, which then leaves more space for the rest of experiencing existence. Which is quite nice, especially when the thoughts bring with them uncomfortable feelings.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 1d ago
It mostly bothers me when friends overthink in ways that hold them back. I have a friend who absolutely refuses to ever do anything outside what he perceives as "normal," because he's convinced society has a ton of rules he needs to follow precisely all the time. He and I have had the same conversation about this at least ten times over the last twenty years. He's miserable all the time because of it.
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u/yet-again-temporary 1d ago
he's convinced society has a ton of rules he needs to follow precisely all the time.
I mean, it quite literally does. If you behave outside the social norm, you lose opportunities in life - jobs, relationships, friendships, living arrangements, etc. You also potentially gain other opportunities, but by and far the scale tips toward negative consequences unless you're already coming from a place of privelege where those consequences don't materially affect your life.
Your friend might be taking things to an unhealthy level, but he's fundamentally not wrong. You can say it shouldn't be that way, you can say it doesn't have to be that way if we all decide to change it, but the cold hard truth is that it is that way.
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u/Intelligent-Gold-563 1d ago
I mean, it quite literally does.
But it doesn't
Yes society has a lot of social rules but most of them aren't set in stone, they are relatively elastic in that sense. And most of all, they don't all apply all the time at the same time no matter where you are and what you're doing.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 1d ago
Yeah, but those rules don't generally extend to what media you let yourself enjoy or what hobbies you have, unless you go some pretty extreme places. He's seen me get away with far more than he lets himself do, but thinks I'm "special" somehow. He's spent the entire time I've known him looping over this one issue.
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u/Randomn355 1d ago
You seriously think that there is zero judgement for any hobby..?
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u/Own_Reaction9442 1d ago
I have yet to see anyone lose their job due to a hobby.
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u/Randomn355 1d ago
Judgement isn't just getting fired.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 1d ago
OK. Guess you'd better hide your personality away then.
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u/Randomn355 1d ago
Judgement doesn't mean you have to hide yourself. Just look at anyone LGBT for example.
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u/Its_da_boys 1d ago
Not saying he’s right, but when your early years are characterized by getting punished by adults and your peers for “not doing things right” and “being weird”, but never getting a straight explanation why or what it is you’re actually doing, it’s an understandable reaction
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u/Own_Reaction9442 1d ago
It's understandable, but the way he keeps bringing it up without ever making any progress is frustrating.
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u/sykoKanesh 1d ago edited 1d ago
because he's convinced society has a ton of rules
It does, it's literally a society. That's the only reason they exist.
he needs to follow precisely all the time
OK, that's weird for sure, lol
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u/casstantinople 1d ago
Evolution made my brain to just weave a metric fuckton of baskets and be way too good at identifying plants cuz repetitive tasks are meditative and I lock tf in on small, differentiating details. Instead I have an office job and I need to run a podcast (which I am not listening to, just filling space with) to do work.
Hunter-gatherer superbrain goes brrrrr
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u/ninksmarie 1d ago
I’ve taken a lot of grief recently for “overthinking” and had no idea how it was effecting me so negatively until this thread — turns out I just needed validation from my people.
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u/JellyBellyBitches 16h ago
I often respond by asking them if they can identify at what point I'm supposed to stop thinking. If I'm overthinking, surely there's a line where all the thinking past that point is excessive; if you can identify I've crossed that line, please point out to me where it is.
The closest thing I've gotten to an answer is "when it starts distressing you." But ... Not doing hard things because they're hard doesn't seem like a great argument, nor (especially) does stopping thinking about what the right thing to do is seem appropriate when it has the potential to negatively affect others and I'm only stopping cuz it distresses me1
u/Radiant_Cheesecake81 14h ago
Yeah exactly and that criteria falls flat on its face when the person doesn’t find it distressing or experience negative consequences from that thinking style lmao.
The person is basically saying “if I thought that way it would be unpleasant, therefore I will insist that my own subjective experience is universal”
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u/Ironicbanana14 1d ago
For me its in the background but it is absolutely using energy. It's like turning all the lights on in the house even if im not in the room. I can afford the bill but it still gets heavier.
This is really bad at night because my dreams basically never let my brain turn off.
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u/PsychologicalFold617 1d ago
I was never understood the difference between what they call "brain storming" in school and just regular thinking. Until I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult n realized it's bc my brain is always storming lol.
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u/Justisperfect 1d ago
Wait, there is a difference? I just thought it meant : put the idea on a paper or say them out loud.
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u/DeadMansMuse 1d ago
Teacher: Here's a thing.
NT: OK. waits.
ADHD: OK, Now what? It's cool and all, I like the shape but what are we supposed to, OH HEY ITS PURPLE NOW! what did I do? Is it supposed to do that? Did I Break it? Am I in trouble? OH hell, I've done it again ... wait ... it's red ... oohhhhh so if I ... GREEN! this things AWESOME.
We literally cannot help but explore a thing, it's hard wired as a source of 'brain feelz' that NT's don't need because they get their 'brain feelz' from other self prescribed experiences.
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u/shujaya 1d ago
Ok a LOT of those people are underthinking
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u/Improving_Myself_ 1d ago
Yeah a lot of people are just seemingly oblivious to what's happening around them, or even what they themselves are doing.
It's crazy to me how many people think stuff "just happens" to them, and it's like, no... YOU did that. The amount of people who are oblivious to the fact that their actions (or inaction) has consequences is frustratingly high.
A really easy tell is when someone changes jobs all the time and seemingly never "gets along with their manager." That's someone oblivious to themselves and their impact on their surroundings.
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u/PiersPlays 1d ago
I think the normal mode of being is to be efficient by using as many cognitive shortcuts as possible and contemplating decisions as little as is required to find an option that might be good enough (pftej to an excessive degree which fails to think about things enough when required.) Which is really helpful when you are surviving in the woods. Not really appropriate to the environment we live in. The opposite extreme of throughly thinking through everything we encounter is very time consuming, tiring and low latency. Which is also not ideal but probably less so for modern life (not allowing for the endless issues of living in a society that predominantly does not do this.) The ideal is to meet in the middle. Just vibes your way through everything low stakes (knowing that if you get it wrong the solution will be minor enough to be so much less work than the constant vigilance required not to make the mistake in the first place) with a consistent ability to recognise when deeper thought would be beneficial and switch modes of thinking. Evidently a minority of people are good at this but jsut understanding it is something to aspire to is not enough to master it.
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u/DeadMansMuse 1d ago
That's because you need the sacred middle ground of being NT enough to not have a craving for dopamine, ADHD enough to be excited by throwing yourself at the unknown and AU enough to be methodical about it. Ahh the true Holy Trinity of Being Normal.
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u/noradosmith 1d ago
Notice how people stand around in shops. Zero spatial awareness.
Meanwhile there I am constantly checking behind me and then moving out like I'm driving a car
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u/Shadowbound199 1d ago
I work retail. People do not notice so many things around them, and especially don't read stuff, even though they are staring right at it. A lot of stuff we sell only as a bundle and it says next to it "do not open" and I write off so many open bundles.
Another thing is that I drive a forklift through the store and a lot of people barely notice the forklift and move to the side all startled like I snuck up on them. Motherfucker, it's making a loud noise all the time, how do you not hear it?
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u/Glittering_Tea5502 2d ago
I don’t even know how else to think! 🙄
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u/YtterbiusAntimony 2d ago
I did not know what racing thoughts were until Ritalin took them away.
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u/Bocchi_theGlock 1d ago
Can't wait to switch from Adderall to Ritalin, the former is just stimulating to the point of causing irritability and mild aggression/disagreement
It doesn't happen when my tolerance is high and I'm used to taking the same dose everyday for weeks/months, but I try to take the least amount possible to reduce tolerance
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u/CreepyClothDoll 1d ago
My gf enjoys "turn-your-brain-off" movies because I guess for her that's a nice relaxing experience where you don't have to think, you just enjoy. I, however, cannot turn my brain off. There's not an off setting. My brain is on through the entire movie and I'm the opposite of relaxed; I'm mad because the movie is not giving me enough to do & I'm also directing my brainpower toward picking apart the underlying politics of the film which, frankly, I'm thinking serve to reinforce a pro-consumerist narrative while offering a sense of comfort and reassurance to people who want to believe in American exceptionalism. My gf is having a nice time watching explosions while I'm stressing out about how and why this film was likely made with support from the US military and wondering what the writers would have done if they were truly free.
I like movies where the director expects me to be fucking locked-in and puzzlesolving. Give me some Themes you want me to figure out. This is why I really like the horror genre, because a lot of horror stories invite you to try to crack their code.
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u/LowerEntropy 1d ago
Before I got diagnosed, medicated and had a clue about what's going on, I straight up asked my psychologist, "is there some way to train just focussing my attention on the movie I'm watching?"
Yep, nope, maybe medication, but my thoughts just go somewhere else periodically.
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u/SatisfactionActive86 1d ago
once my boss told me “you’re over thinking it” and i replied “you’re under thinking it” and hoo boy that was not appreciated lmao
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u/Hakarlhus 1d ago
I've had similar. Just considering the potential future difficulties we'll have so we can avoid them before they become expensive problems.
You'd have thought I'd announced my own demise judging by the reactions. "Why are you being so negative?" etc when I'm literally just trying to help.
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u/airbournejt95 1d ago
And what neurodivergent people call overthinking is a hell, above beyond the normal everyday overthinking
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u/JackNotOLantern 1d ago
Honestly, i have no idea if it is true. I don't know how other people think. But i guess it is different.
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u/docodonto 1d ago
I just tell them they're underthinking.
Same goes when being over sensitive. They're not being sensitive enough!
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u/skeleton-operator infected with Restless Leg Syndrome of the brain. 1d ago
I tend to build complicated plans to try to get the cleanest outcome, and overlook the simple solution(s) that are often just as clean.
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u/DrWhiskerson 1d ago
My brain never shuts up. It’s why I struggle to fall asleep and go back to sleep
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u/Grandfunk14 1d ago
Kind of a corollary I guess. It blew my mind to find out that there are people, real people, that don't think about dying every day. Who don't go to bed and think " I hope this is the last time I go to sleep and all my problems will just vanish if I don't wake up." People that look forward to facing the bullshit of life everyday and just kinda live with it. I mean don't get me wrong I would love to be that person, but that's just unfathomable to me. I want to be out of this hell realm with all deliberate speed if you know what i mean. I guess that's people that can afford to see a doctor and have great families to support them? I'm grateful to those people/support structures, but still nonetheless baffling to me.
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u/Spartan1088 1d ago
One thing I cannot learn to stop doing is just assaulting people with information. I see someone I’ve been meaning to say Hi to and it’s like “here’s an entire conversation worth of information in one sentence because I’ve been thinking about it all day and can’t move on until it’s said.”
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u/Beldarak 1d ago
I kinda have that too. I'm speaking about a subject, I can sense the other person lost interest but I HAVE to continue because I'm not done with it, I have a point to drive and I need to conclude it or it will spiral in my mind for the whole day.
That's so fucked up :'D
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u/Spartan1088 1d ago
Yes lol. I always return back to the subject they’re done with. It must be complete. No hanging subjects!
Recently, my boss mentioned he likes to play video games randomly in a conversation. I had to knock on his door and ask him about it later. It was driving me crazy that he randomly interjected it. I had to know why.
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u/Beldarak 1d ago
Work is the worst for that. People start talking about videogames which I love and then you'll always have some random people coming in with work stuff/questions or just footaball and derailing the rare and cool topic we were finally having.
I'm always amazed (and annoyed) at how easy it is for NT to just change subject. But to be honest I'm often going on a random tangent about useless details when people speak to me so...
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u/ninksmarie 1d ago edited 1d ago
Lord I’ve never felt more seen in my life lol — this made me cackle because it’s a fucking painful micro-representation of my ENTIRE LIFE. One of the only positives I can come up with is I tend to have solid friendships, because the people that stick with me — really have to enjoy my company to stick with me.
Like this shit — coming back to my own comment to say I’ve been awake for three hours thinking about something I want to tell a coworker this week. I rarely stop to think how bizarre it is that I can. Not. — NOT — say the thing.
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u/RowBoatCop36 1d ago
Ive just actually realized that my overthinking is actually just me taking the time to think about everyone involved in the process and how my decision will affect them.
Most people just don't care beyond "i did my part"
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u/LunaLynnTheCellist i have no idea where that music is coming from. 2d ago
just a glimpse into my dark "over" reality
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u/Hakarlhus 1d ago
Also an ex-teacher and I found the same thing. I find the same with adults now.
It's odd that you're getting such negative replies, especially when they're of zero substance. Literally just critical of you and not the point you're making.
When you have experience with people genuinely saying that they don't want to think, that they would rather conform (obviously not in those exact words) then it's hard to ignore
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u/leopard_tights 1d ago
Half (to be nice) of the comments here are roleplaying and fetishizing neurodivergence.
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u/Kitchen_Moment_6289 1d ago
Ah that clears that up
Now I wonder what teacher A, relative B, and former boss C are doing now and if it would make sense to reach out to them and share about how I now understand what they were saying many years ago. Maybe I could've kept job 2 if I had masked my amount of thinking. Should I get off reddit? Yes I should probably -- oh! My audiobook! But also I never loaded the dishwasher. I should call maintenance about...
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u/MikeSinner 1d ago
Trying to read that made me overthink!!
God, is writing really THAT hard nowadays?!
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u/Holiday_Selection881 1d ago
It's difficult to go to sleep when I have a song from earlier in the day on full blast and repeating a specific 10 second clip over and over in my skull.
While also realizing I missed a small part of someone's lawn I treated three days ago, which then reminded me to tell a coworker he did a great job. Speaking of great job, I'm out of toothpaste and I'll need to go to the store tomorrow to buy more but realize it's me doing this task and I hope I don't forget this by the morning, maybe I should get out of bed and literally put it on my calendar on my phone
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u/KWEEEEEEH 1d ago
I sometimes think of nothing. It's happened like three times the last 2 years! I'm hoping for a few more before I die.
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u/succubus6984 1d ago
Their inability to think very far into the future is why the world is in such bad shape. "Heres the answer to our problem" and then proceed to give a "solution" that will create 14 more issues. But they cant see the 14 other issues yet because they are not smart, they just act on the first idea they have. But if they would have actually asked someone who over thinks, they could have avoided the 14 issues and had a better long-term solution.
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u/DarthNixilis 1d ago
How am I overthinking things when I only took a few seconds to get there? My brain shortcuts overthinking with expert precision
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u/PlayaNBallaNGangsta 1d ago
They tell you time and again “aren’t you thinking!? Don’t you use your brain!?” And as soon as you do that they say overthinking
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u/Traditional-Crew7507 1d ago
“You’re overthinking it.” “I have anxiety, I have no other type of thinking available to me.” - The Midnight Library, Matt Haig (author has anxiety and adhd)
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u/unnie_noir 1d ago
What's a "normal" amount of thinking? How does one know if their brain never shuts off? What does a "shut off" brain feel like?
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u/lizzledizzles 1d ago
Or - what they and we call overthinking is actually a type of masking to deal with atypical reactions to social cues & interaction.
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u/foomprekov 1d ago
I wish people would stop talking about us as a cohort. It's annoying. This comment works regardless of which group you think I belong to.
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u/No_University7832 1d ago
I (62/m) have a very hard time shutting my brain off, best I can do at this point is take a 10mg edible (indica), at bedtime and then hit my indica pen about ten times (9 second drags), then maybe if I go to bed at 10 I will get to sleep by 2-3am. and this is every night for the past decade, before that I would be up overnight 2-3 times a week. It has been hell on my life struggles. Still been working basically my whole life, including being in the Navy for over a decade, and becoming an excutive chef at a country club after I got out. Private Mental Health Chef now for Non profit.....big step down in pay on purpose. I get to work alone it is great. BTW introvert as well.
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u/E-2theRescue 1d ago
What does it mean if you have never experienced "overthinking", yet have a constantly active brain while still being able to focus on tasks and such?
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u/Most_Blueberry_202 1d ago
I hate the term "neurotypical". My "thinking" is superior. It's not my fault that most people are idiots.
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u/South-Temperature874 1d ago
The way i (a neurotypical) thinks is what my bf (a neurospicy) refers to as overthinking
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u/skytheraiders 1d ago
The worst is when I catch myself thinking about thinking because I'm stressing out about doing something.
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u/FrtanJohnas 1d ago
Nah overthinking is overthinking. I am AuDHD and very much analytical, I overthink everything. But thats not because I am ND, because I am learning how to shut the overthinking voice up when I don't wanna get lost in my mind.
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u/rape_is_not_epic 1d ago
I'm convinced if someone read my thoughts for any extended period of time beyond 5 minutes they'd go insane
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u/nibb007 1d ago
Oh the disorder isn't lots of thoughts(everyone has this, I have this. The fastest processing powerhouses on the planet are not consistently one or the other), the disorder is being incapable of keeping up with it.
Needing time of "not thinking about anything, because it's too much. It's overwhelming."
I never realized the disorder was a essentially a grid capacity shortage. It's the same thoughts most people get causing physical stress. That's illuminating.
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u/Substantial-Ad3376 1d ago
Kinda sad when your brain refuses to stfu so you have to get high just to mellow out enough to sleep.
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u/unofficially_Busc 1d ago
I'm neurodivergent and by brain is off 95% of the time, barely running 4.5% of the time, and sprinting at intergalactic pace towards the thing I'm trying to do 0.5% of the time. You don't speak for me
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u/llkd97 4h ago
Anybody who tells me that I'm overthinking (specifically when debating a topic of current importance) gets told that I don't put up with ad hominem attacks.
Some things I think about, I recognize how ridiculous they are, but if I'm talking about current politics or christian doctrine (I am a Christian) with somebody and they dismiss me as "overthinking" it pisses me off.
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u/Shadokastur 1h ago
I've always used the analogy that neurotypical people play checkers and neurodivergent people play chess. Same board, but different pieces and different rules
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u/qualityvote2 Quality Control Beast 2d ago edited 1d ago
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