Thank you Nome @NomedaBarbarian

For the visually impaired, the images are a series of Twitter screenshots.

Full transcription of text below images.

Full transcription of text below images.

Full transcription of text below images.

Full transcription of text below images.

@NomedaBarbarian on Twitter:

Thinking about how I’ve been lied to as an #ADHD person about what habits are.

That apparently is not what neurotypical folks get to experience.

Habits are things that they do without thinking.

They don’t have to decide to do them. They don’t have to remember to do them. Things just happen, automatically, because they’ve done them enough for that system to engage and make them automatic.

That system…which I lack.

Every single time I have brushed my teeth, it’s been an active choice. I’ve had to devote thought and attention to it. It’s not a routine, it’s not a habit, it’s something that I know is good to do, and hopefully I can remember to do it.

Every single time I exercise, or floss, or pay my rent, or drink water, or say “bless you” when someone sneezes,

It’s because I’ve had to actively and consciously engage the protocol.

It never gets easier.

Just more familiar.

It’s part of my struggle with my weight–exercise never becomes a habit, and every single time I do it, it is exactly as hard as the first time. It takes exactly as much willpower & thought.

I got lied to about how it would just “turn into a habit”. And blamed, when it didn’t.

Drinking water isn’t a habit. Feeding myself isn’t a habit. Bathing isn’t a habit.

I spend so much more energy, so much more time, so much more labor on just managing to maintain my fucking meat suit.

And now you want me to ALSO do taxes?

ON TIME?

  • Mutelogic@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    54
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’m sorry… What?

    For neurotypicals… Habits are automated processes? Brains have that function built in?

    On some days, it feels like I have to breathe and blink manually.

      • ScrewTheHole@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        15
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yep, and not just that either. It’s like that all the time. Ha it’s are just things you do without thinking, like reaching for your phone or wanting a smoke/drink/snack.

        Now, choosing to set aside a time of day and a routine for something, like exercise, can help ease the barrier to starting that thing. This is sometimes described as a habit, though it is not, psychologically speaking, a habit.

    • buttsbuttsbutts@lemmynsfw.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      21
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      No, neurotypical people have to think about actions before we take them. We aren’t robots. I don’t automatically get up from the couch, make dinner, and then eat it without thinking about it.

      We get distracted and forget things, too. I went to the coffee shop the other day and realized I left my wallet at home.

      My brother has extreme ADHD, and it’s much harder for him to manage everyday things. He might hyper focus on something and forget to eat all day, etc, but we both have to consciously do tasks just the same.

      • Oliper202020@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        If you tell someone to breathe with you, and after inhaling and exhaling a couple times and just tell them that they are now breathing manually they actually just can’t choose to switch back to automatic breathing, so they are stuck manually breathing till they divert their attention with out noticing, it’s funny though