Thread by @Saraheboon

When I received my ADHD diagnosis, I was surprised to be diagnosed with combined ADHD as I thought I was only inattentive.

As I did more research into ADHD, I found out that hyperactivity can present subtly.

Here are seven ways I experience ‘quiet’ hyperactive ADHD

1. I am always fiddling! – I constantly need to fiddle with objects from blue tac to bits of paper. If I don’t fidget, I cannot concentrate. I don’t know why; it’s just the way my nervous system works.

2. Doodling- If I have a piece of paper and pen, chances are I’ll be doodling to help with my concentration instead fiddling with a random object. I did it in school all the time! But I had to be careful of staff seeing me doodling in case they thought I was “Not concentrating!”

3. Changing my body position – No matter if I’m standing, sitting or lying down on my bed, I have to alter my position every few minutes. I can’t help it, and I am always looking for ways I can feel more comfortable.

4.I understand the concept and fairness of waiting your turn, but It can be hard to control my impulses when waiting in line or having to wait to say something. My irritability can build quickly but nobody can see the mental effort it takes to wait in line.

5. My hyperactivity does not only impact my actions but thoughts too. I can bounce around many different thoughts or ideas at lightning speed to the point I lose track of what I was initially thinking about. I feel this impacts my ability to structure my ideas on paper too.

6. My mind struggles to switch off. When people say just relax, I ask myself how? As it’s challenging to relax and forget everything. It affects my sleep too, and it can take hours sometimes to fall asleep.

7. I have the urge to chew. I often need to chew on something to help maintain my focus. This can also extend to biting lips, picking at nails and spots etc. I just need to do something physical to get the dopamine boost!

If you enjoyed this thread and want to say thanks, I would be forever grateful if you could buy me a coffee (or tea in my case). ko-fi.com/saraheboon

I wrote this thread as a blog post on my site. I go into a bit more detail so please feel free to read the whole article too!

autisticallysarah.wordpress.com/2021/01/23/qui…