Lived Experience Forum

[Jynx]

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@creative_writer wrote:
 I know there will always be haters, but they don’t matter.

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Yessss love this attitude, good on you! My fav Dr Seuss quote is, 'Be whoyou areand say whatyoufeel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind' and this sums that up perfectly! 

I am hearing in your words that you do have compassion and understanding for this teacher and his position, but that it is also affecting your learning, which is indeed very tricky. Hopefully it won't impact you too heavily. 

Yeah, I feel that. It's hard to feel so trapped by our modern systems, and all the oppression and suffering perpetuated by them. I wish I had something encouraging or inspiring to say, but it really is just horrible, crappy, and disappointing as heck. It's so, so okay to be angry at the world rn. 

[creative_writer]

@Jynx I see suffering on social media and news all the time. It’s hard to escape. Not only that, many uni students are starting to feel unsafe too. Nobody should feel unsafe for being who they are

[Jynx]

@creative_writer 💯 👏 Absolutely! Seems the world is becoming a more and more divisive and unsafe place. 

Have you found any other ND peeps at uni or anywhere? I've found that it does really help to have folks around who you can relate to and who speak the same language (as in, I've always felt that conversations are far easier with other ND folk. Less subtext, more wordplay 😝)

[creative_writer]

@Jynx it does seem that way. I haven’t been at uni recently, but hearing that some of the girls have been more anxious lately just shows us the reality of life.

Yes I have found ND peeps in my course. I feel like ND give off a unique vibe, it becomes second nature for some of us to naturally identify ND traits in each other and be drawn to it. Once I found myself intrigued by a professor, then it hit me that I was drawn to her ND traits. Don’t know if she was ND, but definitely had traits. She was really smart, and perhaps had special interests 🙂

[Jynx]

@creative_writer yep I feel that haha once I started to research my own ND traits I started to realise just how many people in my life are ND! I've even had friends who decided to seek out diagnosis after I started talking openly about my ADHD (and posting lots of ADHD memes, lol).

[creative_writer]

@Jynx I feel like once you’re aware of your own traits, other people’s traits become more obvious. I see ND traits in my family now.

I don’t know if this a ND thing, do you ever feel like you have to do everything all at once to the point to the point it gets overwhelming. Like I’ll get period with uni where I feel like I urgently need to get through all tasks rn. Even replying to messages sometimes feels like a lot

[Jynx]

@creative_writer oh absolutely. A friend of mine with ADHD informed me that it's a part of our executive dysfunction - difficulty prioritising. I get super overloaded when there's too many tasks to remember to do, and I get stuck in analysis paralysis, unable to decide where I need to direct my energy first.  

With social stuff too, I have reduced a lot of my anxiety by training myself to ignore the little red notification numbers on my phone. I used to get the urge to have NO notifications which meant I'd open messages straight away; however, I often didn't have the energy to reply so I'd say 'Oh I'll reply later' but then of course, I would forget. Now, I've learned just how forgetful my ADHD makes me, so I only open messages if I'm ready to reply to them. I get little bursts of social energy like once a week or so, and my friends now know not to expect immediate replies from me. It's really helped alleviate that anxious feeling of being socially available all the time.

Found some stuff about this if you're curious: 

How to prioritise tasks w ADHD

3 reasons prioritising is so hard w ADHD brain

10 prioritisation traps keep ADHD brain stuck

[creative_writer]

@Jynx I never realised it could be part of ND until recently. I always felt like I’ve been on the go with ticking boxes and feeling as though I had to do it immediately rather than being okay with spacing it out, and it does get overwhelming very often.

I don’t really feel pressure to respond to messages immediately anymore. I don’t think anybody in this day and age can with so much always going on.

I’ll have a look at those resources, hopefully I remember to. People often give me resources but then I forget it exists, it’s not good

[Jynx]

@creative_writer aye that's a mood, forgetting stuff. I forget things so frequently, I'm just grateful to have this diagnosis and the language to explain, so that folks no longer take it personally if I forget something that's important to them. 

You could set an alarm in your phone as a reminder. I often have about 30 odd alarms set at any given time 😅

[creative_writer]

@Jynx I did get an organiser notebook recently because it looked pretty. Don’t know if I’ll use it or resort to my phone. Notebooks are handy, but when you remember to take it with you and use it 😅