Dusty Chipura Profile picture
Aug 2, 2021 21 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Good morning! Here’s your Mon morning #ADHD basics thread:

ADHD causes an inability to “feel” time. It is said that people with ADHD have a short “time horizon”; that we can’t see very far into the future. Since we struggle both to measure time (as in, how long something takes)
And to feel the future, it can complicate a lot of things. Some examples:

- chronic lateness due to not knowing how long things actually take (like getting ready, driving somewhere etc)
- overbooking /busying oneself due to not being able to accurately judge how much time things will take up in the schedule

- not being able to work consistently toward a goal because it feels too far away and it’s in the “not-now”

- not managing time well in the moment
(Ie, I only have half an hour for lunch but I spend 25 minutes fiddling with something in the kitchen because it doesn’t feel like time is passing)
ADHDers conceptualize time in two ways: now/not now. Anything NOW demands our attention, is urgent, is stimulating, can be attended to

Anything in the NOT NOW is basically never/I don’t know when it is and I’ll probably forget
So, projects with fuzzy / far away deadlines (“just get this to me when you can”), things that someone asked you to do “later when you have time”, or tasks you think you’ll return to (like cleaning up after eating) all go into the nebulous Not-Now Land
Things come back from Not Now Land only occasionally and only in a few ways.

1. they suddenly become urgent (have you finished that report that is due today?)

2. They become interesting (I just saw a show about fly fishing & I remember I bought that rod and reel 8 months ago)
Or 3. You plan for them, put them in a real, feel-able future that you are aware of and you remind yourself that they exist.

Guess which one ADHDers are bad at?
It’s actually a lot if you think about it. I need to put said event or task into a time in the future and I already need to know what Future Dusty, who is a creature of great impulse, will be doing at that time
If I don’t have some kind of method of tracking future events and tasks like a calendar or planner, I can’t do that. But as many an ADHDer knows, HAVING a calendar and REMEMBERING THE CALENDAR EXISTS AND TO CHECK IT are very different things
If I can remember to put the thing in the calendar and remember to check the calendar, I also have to be cognizant of the date and time in the moment. Like, I can know that tomorrow is Tuesday and that I have a dentist appointment on Tuesday but if I don’t remember that
Tuesday is Tuesday when I wake up, I can still forget.

This one is so hard to explain. It’s like, I remember that I have an appointment Tuesday. And I know that today is Tuesday. But my brain doesn’t put those facts together somehow? It’s weird.
So there’s the “in-the-moment” forgetting that can happen. For this reason, keeping your calendar and planner game strong is both important and very challenging.
Another way to think about “now/not now” thinking is “black and white” thinking. Another way to think about “black and white” thinking is “all or nothing” thinking. Many people with ADHD are all or nothing thinkers and this extends to tasks and gets mixed up with time
Most ADHDers, without coaching or therapy, are pretty rigid thinkers, especially about tasks. We don’t want to start them unless we can finish them (perfectionism). And since we can’t “feel” time and we don’t know how long a task might take, we are paralyzed to start it.
Conversely this can look like starting tasks and getting really behind because you under-estimated how long it would take.

“Hey what time should we leave for the movies?”
“Come over in 20 minutes! I’m just doing the dishes and getting ready!”
[proceeds to take 30 min doing
Dishes and then another 20 getting ready and the person waiting on you is very annoyed]
It can be really distressing when you think you can get like, five things done but you only get one done because it took WAY LONGER than you anticipated yet the next time you go to get things done you still underestimate. ADHDers get locked into a cycle of not learning from
Past mistakes/behaviours so we keep making them and not understanding why.

It can be distressing to be SO SURE you budgeting enough time to get somewhere/finish on time and still be late.
It’s like, imagine time is 3D, it has volume or weight. And when we want to make a plan or plan a task, we have a box and we need to fill that box with the appropriate amount of objects, which have volume and weight.

Except we see in 2D.
We know there’s room in the box but how much? We know the objects take up some of the room but how much? Know how many objects you can fit in a 2D box without knowing the size of the objects is impossible. Ladies, gents and NB folks, I give you “managing time and tasks with ADHD”

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More from @dustychipura

Jun 27
I'm an #ADHD coach, I've only ever taken dexedrine & methylphenidate (ritalin), and I've been on #vyvanse for a week. Here are my impressions of it:
DISCLAIMER: I'd been off all meds for over a month before getting on vyvanse so plz keep in mind the difference between no meds & vyvanse is pretty noticeable for me atm. You may not have the same outcomes.
All people metabolize different medications differently and it HAS only been a week, so I wanted to share but I am in no way stating that you will have these same outcomes on vyvanse.
Read 22 tweets
May 6
tw: suicide and financial difficulties with #ADHD
hey, are you an adult with ADHD? Have you completely mucked up your finances, and you feel super embarrassed and like the only person in the world who can't get a handle on things like debt, forgetting about financial obligations, paying bills late & impulse spending? Guess what!
YOU'RE NOT ALONE!!!!

Turns out like, MOST of us have, or have had, a lot of financial challenges. We just don't *talk* about it.
Read 7 tweets
Apr 21
#ADHD can be impacted by hormonal cycles for women and those with menstrual cycles. Estrogen and dopamine are linked, so when estrogen is high, the dopamine is flowing (I’m speaking in layperson’s terms of course, don’t @ me). It’s highest when you ovulate mid-cycle.
So like the first two weeks of anyone’s cycle are usually when they have more “self-discipline”, or willpower, or executive function, or what have you… following through on tasks, routines and habits are easier. Emotional regulation is easier.
After ovulation, your estrogen starts to crash and you’ll notice an uptick in ADHD challenges. Usually this will peak RIGHT before you get your period.
Read 7 tweets
Feb 21
In the wake of a medication shortage, strategies and techniques to manage your #adhd become even more vital (and harder to implement, it’s a catch-22, I know!).

Here are some of my most foundational non-medication #ADHD management techniques:

🧵
1. Your brain is an organ and like other organs, will behave better with adequate sleep, nutrition and hydration. To that, for the ADHD brain, we can add “get vigorous body movement”, “have some fun”, and “practice presence”. Again - easier said than done, I know. Stick with me.
Vigorous body movement = could be dancing around your kitchen to your fave songs or jumping on a trampoline, just get your heart rate up for like 15 mins, cause it boosts dopamine

Fun = your brain NEEDS PLAY TIME. ADHD brains need a high level of stimulation. It’s medicine.
Read 15 tweets
Feb 13
Hello. Would you like a hilarious #adhd story? I’ve got one.

My car randomly broke down the other night and I had a hair appointment today. My housemates picked up my kid from school and I ubered home.

Upon arriving home, it was sunny and everyone was in the yard doing work.
“How fun!” I said to myself, “I’ll join in and finally cut up that big ass pile of branches in the front yard that fell during the last windstorm”.
I was feeling energetic and peaceful - everyone was home, it was sunny, nothing on the agenda… the stage was set for a perfect afternoon!
Read 17 tweets
Dec 14, 2023
We don’t talk enough about the connection between sleep apnea & men’s health, especially as it relates to #ADHD.
While women can suffer from sleep apnea, it’s like a 3:1 or 5:1 ratio for men:women affected by it. So, it’s more prevalent in men. It’s *also* comorbid with ADHD, meaning you’re more at risk for OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) if you have ADHD.
Here’s the thing - ADHD is also associated with emotional dysregulation, irritability and explosive anger. You know what makes you real irritable, angry and dysregulated? Not ever having had a good sleep in your life.
Read 21 tweets

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