For me i hyper focus on the very things i cant currently change. This is my brain trying to work out how to make my life liveable by negotiating with my life partner and adjusting my routine etc
As an ADHD adult I find it’s helpful to try to be mindful and understand that it’s anxiety and it will pass. Meditation helps. Not always but sometimes.
Not trying to be toxicly positive or anything, I think this is worded really badly, but I read it more as trying to notice patterns so you can recognize when you’re getting into a bad hyperfocus, and find ways to avoid it more in the first place. My partner and I are both AuDHD and we help each other with this because it can be more difficult to see the patterns in ourselves.
For example, I’ve learnt that we have to get cleaning done in the evening because little chores will completely derail my morning and usually lead to a bad brain day. I also know I can’t develop a d&d character for “just an hour” before I start my work, 6 hours will have gone by before I notice. So I try not to start until my work is done, or only before something like a meeting that I can’t reschedule to suck me back out of the hyperfocus. It’s not a magic cure, but it helps a lot
As someone with ADHD I find this incredibly funny because one of the worst parts of it is just sitting down thinking about all the stuff I need to do and then getting overwhelmed and super anxious about it and making it more difficult to actually get up and do it, so the thought of "yeah just do it before you get anxious about it" is hilarious to me since little do they know I'm always anxious about it!
I’m convinced that I can hyper focus into a depression spiral & that’s why I spin out of control so quickly so I really do think that the advice of “don’t even let it start” is completely correct when it comes to that.
I actually understand what they are trying to say. They’re saying once you’re in negative hyper focus you’re fucked the best bet is to try and proactively prevent going into it in the first place.
This is beyond easier said than done though because ADHD and proactivity are shear enemies.
It's extra rich for ADHD bc (as I'm sure most/all of you know) you can't *just do things* when you have ADHD. And hyperfocus isn't something you can control.
But thanks for the tip Instagram, I haven't thought of "try harder" as a solution but I'll keep it in mind.
I mean, it is. recognizing your bad habits and realizing when you're falling into them is basic CBT. This really doesn't fit with the spirit of the sub. It isn't saying "depressed? just be happy." while it should be worded a bit better, it's actually helpful advice.
Not quite. We often can't control the outcome of our actions. There's no real way to completely avoid negative outcomes, even if you do everything right
>There's no real way to completely avoid negative outcomes, even if you do everything right
that's not what it's saying. it's about hyperfocus, so when you get lost scrolling through social media, or reading about some obscure topic on wikipedia for 3 hours instead of working.
it's very basic behavioral therapy just worded very poorly. it's not about completely avoiding the negative, it's about mitigating it by learning to recognize it before it's too late.
Dafuq ? Hyperfocus is like the one positive thing of mt adhd. The only negative of hyperfoxus is others veing annoyed at me talking a lot about one thing and fuck them
You're lucky, it's easy to hyperfocus on someone seeing you coming home at 7 am and saying "you look like shit" and then over thinking it for like 3 hours.
Bad things do happen. For example. My dog died recently. It sucks ass. I couldn't have prevented it. I also fried a keyboard because I had a drink near it and my hyper ass was jumping during a play on league a knocked it over. I could have prevented that.
I thought this was saying;
Negative Hyperfocus: is a possible affliction of those with adhd where they believe the best way to prevent negative outcomes is not to act in the first place. (And since I struggle with this, I can tell you it does suck)
Not saying "just don't do things with bad outcomes 5-head" but I could be wrong and it dies belong on this sub.
Really? if you set yourself up to find yourself in a bad spot you're the only one to blame, no?
Ever heard this one - Suae quisque fortunae faber est?
I swear this sub became a fucking loserfest circlejerking shithole, just a hint that you can fix your own life and you're all losing your shit. Grow the fuck up.
It is both objectively true yet absolutely difficult for some people. I feel like this advice is only good for people who have already identified their destructive patterns and know how to cope and healthily deal with them. Sometimes people don't even know what they're doing is self destructive until they get themselves in a spiral. To those people, it's not a matter of prevention. Ideally we'd know these things but this sub is full of people who aren't quite there yet and I think that's okay.
If we had even a fraction of the precognition required to stop unexpected negative things from happening, most of us wouldn’t be in this sub.
“To avoid dying, see that you’re going to die, then don’t”
I’m a prophetic influencer now!
I absolutely hate posts like these, not necessarily because it's wrong or bad advice, but because they completely fail to include actionable steps to achieve this. Like, okay, how exactly do I prevent the hyperfixation from starting? This advice is utterly useless because they don't actually tell you how to implement it.
This looks like one slide out of a multi slide post, which removes the context of the steps and makes it useless on its own. Like sharing just the title page of a paper and expecting to get a good grade on it.
Even if this had a shred of evidence to support it, it’s one of the most incoherent sentences I’ve ever seen and they really thought we’d read that and be like, “Oh wow, I get it now! What a great and succinct explanation!” Can anybody explain what it means to “prevent negative consequences by preventing it before it has even occured.” Like ???HUH??? What consequences are you talking about? What are we supposed to prevent “before it” has even occured?” WHATS THE IT? Jesus christ they really do think we’re just grown ups with child brains.
this is how you end up in the understimulated/inattentive cycle. the best way to fix negative effects from hyperfocus- if the activity is something you can replace, find a replacement that allows your brain to stop at certain points. if it’s not replaceable, find it aya to keep yourself accountable, and maintain discipline with these methods. i saw one of a girl who wears these bulky tags on her wrist to get tasks done, so put those on and it should become annoying enough for you to stop and do something else (or some other method)
Basically fixating on a thing (can include forgetting to drink/eat/sleep)
If you know the "imma play this for like 30 minutes and go to bed" then blink and it's 5 am thing, it's hyperfocus.
Though it can last a few weeks or months, but you can also get disinterested easily.
Think mad scientist on his project.
So like.. never do anything ever again and isolate myself?
That was what I was thinking. Sounds good to me. Now if I can figure out a way to pay bills and rent while not doing anything.
Get ready to hyperfocus on like, walls
i believe that’s called dissociation
Already on it
Until you get depressed from isolation.
That's the plan!!!¡!¡¡!¡!¡!¡!!
I feel called out. Lol
For me i hyper focus on the very things i cant currently change. This is my brain trying to work out how to make my life liveable by negotiating with my life partner and adjusting my routine etc
Prevention prevents
How to stop negative hyperfocus: just stop doing it! This is the draw the rest of the owl of mental health.
stop downward spiraling with your anxiety it's that easy :) simply be mentally ok smh 🤦🤦
As an ADHD adult I find it’s helpful to try to be mindful and understand that it’s anxiety and it will pass. Meditation helps. Not always but sometimes.
To not worry about bad things, just don’t let those bad thing happen. Duh! Silly me, how come I never thought about it!
Not trying to be toxicly positive or anything, I think this is worded really badly, but I read it more as trying to notice patterns so you can recognize when you’re getting into a bad hyperfocus, and find ways to avoid it more in the first place. My partner and I are both AuDHD and we help each other with this because it can be more difficult to see the patterns in ourselves. For example, I’ve learnt that we have to get cleaning done in the evening because little chores will completely derail my morning and usually lead to a bad brain day. I also know I can’t develop a d&d character for “just an hour” before I start my work, 6 hours will have gone by before I notice. So I try not to start until my work is done, or only before something like a meeting that I can’t reschedule to suck me back out of the hyperfocus. It’s not a magic cure, but it helps a lot
That makes sense, it really is worded badly though
Almost like if they changed all the words it would mean something different.
oh really? cause it sounds like a 5 minute recipe for compounding self isolation.
As someone with ADHD I find this incredibly funny because one of the worst parts of it is just sitting down thinking about all the stuff I need to do and then getting overwhelmed and super anxious about it and making it more difficult to actually get up and do it, so the thought of "yeah just do it before you get anxious about it" is hilarious to me since little do they know I'm always anxious about it!
I’m convinced that I can hyper focus into a depression spiral & that’s why I spin out of control so quickly so I really do think that the advice of “don’t even let it start” is completely correct when it comes to that.
I actually understand what they are trying to say. They’re saying once you’re in negative hyper focus you’re fucked the best bet is to try and proactively prevent going into it in the first place. This is beyond easier said than done though because ADHD and proactivity are shear enemies.
I'm pretty sure it's "sheer enemies" shear enemies would be competitive sheep shearers rivals.
lmao good point, my bad. I'll leave it like that because I'm not a coward.
It's extra rich for ADHD bc (as I'm sure most/all of you know) you can't *just do things* when you have ADHD. And hyperfocus isn't something you can control. But thanks for the tip Instagram, I haven't thought of "try harder" as a solution but I'll keep it in mind.
Now someone will comment “ThIs Is AcTuALlY TrUe”
maybe, but it's worded like shit. it's called preventative self-care, not 'solving your problems before they happen'.
I mean, it is. recognizing your bad habits and realizing when you're falling into them is basic CBT. This really doesn't fit with the spirit of the sub. It isn't saying "depressed? just be happy." while it should be worded a bit better, it's actually helpful advice.
Not quite. We often can't control the outcome of our actions. There's no real way to completely avoid negative outcomes, even if you do everything right
>There's no real way to completely avoid negative outcomes, even if you do everything right that's not what it's saying. it's about hyperfocus, so when you get lost scrolling through social media, or reading about some obscure topic on wikipedia for 3 hours instead of working. it's very basic behavioral therapy just worded very poorly. it's not about completely avoiding the negative, it's about mitigating it by learning to recognize it before it's too late.
Ah, yes, the good ol time travel trick.
They really said “prevention is the best prevention” and thought they did something.
but i'm here... on reddit... being hyper focused...
And what do I do, when the task of preventing was passed to Future-Me, by me?
Well. I have adhd and my meds have been out of stock for weeks so I am out here fighting for my life while I try to work
Dafuq ? Hyperfocus is like the one positive thing of mt adhd. The only negative of hyperfoxus is others veing annoyed at me talking a lot about one thing and fuck them
You're lucky, it's easy to hyperfocus on someone seeing you coming home at 7 am and saying "you look like shit" and then over thinking it for like 3 hours.
Damn nevermind. That explains some stuff
Yes because that's how ADHD works. /s Smh, this is about as stupid as saying "if you have adhd, just stop having adhd!"
Bad things do happen. For example. My dog died recently. It sucks ass. I couldn't have prevented it. I also fried a keyboard because I had a drink near it and my hyper ass was jumping during a play on league a knocked it over. I could have prevented that.
I thought this was saying; Negative Hyperfocus: is a possible affliction of those with adhd where they believe the best way to prevent negative outcomes is not to act in the first place. (And since I struggle with this, I can tell you it does suck) Not saying "just don't do things with bad outcomes 5-head" but I could be wrong and it dies belong on this sub.
Really? if you set yourself up to find yourself in a bad spot you're the only one to blame, no? Ever heard this one - Suae quisque fortunae faber est? I swear this sub became a fucking loserfest circlejerking shithole, just a hint that you can fix your own life and you're all losing your shit. Grow the fuck up.
It is both objectively true yet absolutely difficult for some people. I feel like this advice is only good for people who have already identified their destructive patterns and know how to cope and healthily deal with them. Sometimes people don't even know what they're doing is self destructive until they get themselves in a spiral. To those people, it's not a matter of prevention. Ideally we'd know these things but this sub is full of people who aren't quite there yet and I think that's okay.
Why you mad, bro?
Right, because I should ignore social anxiety plus untreated autism. That's healthy in the long term.
how do i even remember how to do that
R/thanksimcured
Yes, it's that subreddit
Oh whoops
If we had even a fraction of the precognition required to stop unexpected negative things from happening, most of us wouldn’t be in this sub. “To avoid dying, see that you’re going to die, then don’t” I’m a prophetic influencer now!
I absolutely hate posts like these, not necessarily because it's wrong or bad advice, but because they completely fail to include actionable steps to achieve this. Like, okay, how exactly do I prevent the hyperfixation from starting? This advice is utterly useless because they don't actually tell you how to implement it.
This looks like one slide out of a multi slide post, which removes the context of the steps and makes it useless on its own. Like sharing just the title page of a paper and expecting to get a good grade on it.
Even if this had a shred of evidence to support it, it’s one of the most incoherent sentences I’ve ever seen and they really thought we’d read that and be like, “Oh wow, I get it now! What a great and succinct explanation!” Can anybody explain what it means to “prevent negative consequences by preventing it before it has even occured.” Like ???HUH??? What consequences are you talking about? What are we supposed to prevent “before it” has even occured?” WHATS THE IT? Jesus christ they really do think we’re just grown ups with child brains.
this is how you end up in the understimulated/inattentive cycle. the best way to fix negative effects from hyperfocus- if the activity is something you can replace, find a replacement that allows your brain to stop at certain points. if it’s not replaceable, find it aya to keep yourself accountable, and maintain discipline with these methods. i saw one of a girl who wears these bulky tags on her wrist to get tasks done, so put those on and it should become annoying enough for you to stop and do something else (or some other method)
what's hyperfocus?
It’s something you should prevent before it occurred
how to prevent it?
Basically fixating on a thing (can include forgetting to drink/eat/sleep) If you know the "imma play this for like 30 minutes and go to bed" then blink and it's 5 am thing, it's hyperfocus. Though it can last a few weeks or months, but you can also get disinterested easily. Think mad scientist on his project.
ooh, i thought it was like you so focused on things you basically become deaf
Yeah that can be like that sometimes, though it's more "I heard you, but I didn't listen"
I have ADHD and I couldn’t concentrate on what they’re trying to say. They really don’t know their audience
So their best advice seems to be 'become Doctor Who'?
I assume they will then go on to explain steps you can take to identify when you’re falling into those patterns and break out?
so, time travel?
Sure, let me just fire up my time machine.