this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2025
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AuDHD

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Almost two years have passed since my initial "Hold on, could I have ADHD too?" moment (for reference: I'm 27). Turns out I do not only have severe ADHD, but Asperger's too. I've had a suspicion before that I might be autistic but it's kinda funny how the doctor dropped this on me before I even had a chance to ask.

Anyway, I've finally gotten meds (Kinecteen) that I've been on for the past four weeks. My hopes were high and the first couple of days even seemed immensely promising. On the first day alone I was able to get done what I usually needed two whole weeks for. Suddenly I could switch between tasks without getting upset, I could hold conversations without my mind drifting away mid-sentence, go on a trip without all the usual sensory overload, heck, even my social anxiety felt a little less severe than usual.

Somehow though, most of this enthusiasm eventually vanished. Work still sucks ass (9-to-5 corpo job in an open-plan office, ugh), I already resigned but have to survive another three months. Leaving the apartment is still a hurdle, my anxiety is bad enough but my pollen allergy certainly doesn't help the situation. Then there's this huge pile of things that I want/should/need to do that has accumulated over months and years of paralysis. A little gullibly I thought this pile would magically vanish once I get on medication. Well, it somehow doesn't.

What I find most depressing of all though is that I just don't know what to do with my free time. Out of habit I often turn to cannabis (vaporizing, not smoking) and put myself in front of my PC, but ultimately only to work off more tasks. Back then I used to play a whole lot of video games but I just can't get in the mood anymore. Tried some, but nothing stuck. I feel the urge to go outside, but there are just too many stimuli for it to feel actually calming. I'd like to get myself a motorcycle again but I never managed to build up savings.

To improve my general mood I'm really trying to devote some downtime to do relaxing activities but I just can't think of any. Everything seems to me like just another tedious task that I have to get done. I'm very thankful for my loving girlfriend and our cat who both give me some solace, but of course I am still worried about how my condition will affect the relationship in the years to come.

What are your experiences with medication? Does it just take time to find oneself anew?

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[–] Vinny_93@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I don't have an answer to your question, sorry. But as I was reading your story I just recognized so many different things. When I was about your age I was about to finish college but I was also just hitting the weed every day as soon as my schedule cleared up for it. Blissful moments would be spent with my closest friends, having beers until early morning and smoking a lot, playing video games, doing my music production...

Now I do my corpo job from home every day and my free time is spent trying to get rid of the unrest of doing nothing. So I try to surpress that by watching screens or doing housework so that I at least feel like I accomplished something.

I've been sidelined from work for a while to see if I could work on myself and that's what I do now. Medication is very much a last ditch effort for me and I'm not there yet.

But I find my most enjoyable moments in life are 'gezelligheid', a Dutch word that exists in no other main language which just means having a nice time with your favorite people and just enjoying moments together. In my case, a big part of it is drinking fancy beers and nice wine and eating good food. I can feel my body is telling me to make healthier choices but it is completely contrary to me living a happy life.

As far as idle time goes, my therapist today advised to acknowledge the unrest and just notice it being there without adding any judgment, so in a way de-fusing yourself from your emotions in such a moment. I'm half excited to try it if I need it but I'm also a little skeptical because mindfulness has never really done much for me.

I think it's important to find out why you feel awful in these moments.

But I feel your pain. All my earlier hobbies just feel empty and shallow. Somehow I crave new contacts, new people in my life. But I don't really dare to go out into the world to find them. I've joined a tennis club and a political party, just to see what I can get from it. But I'm in no rush, I will take it as it comes.

And for your reference, I am also happy with my girl and our three cats. I think we have a lot in common!

[–] Isa@feddit.org 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

A little off-topic response, if allowed:

But I find my most enjoyable moments in life are 'gezelligheid', a Dutch word that exists in no other main language which just means having a nice time with your favorite people and just enjoying moments together.

There exists a German word "Geselligkeit", which, you won't guess, means … 😉

Good luck nevertheless to you, your girl, and the three cats. 🙂

[–] Vinny_93@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Is it auf Hochdeutsch or some Saxon dialect close to the Dutch border? I can imagine there's some overlap in language.

[–] Isa@feddit.org 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 52 minutes ago)

Definitely Hochdeutsch. It's comes from Gesellschaft (group of persons) and is, I think, related to Geselle (fellow). I am not quite sure, what the dutch term precisely means, but Geselligkeit means … err the ability to joyfully hang out together? Well, something like that.

Edit …

[–] Azzu@lemm.ee 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In my humble opinion, ADHD meds aren't really amazing. They're there so we can survive in a world where we "need to get shit done", i.e. be productive for capitalism.

If theoretically you didn't have to work, would you really "need" the meds? What does it really matter if those tasks you're talking about take 2 weeks to do, if you have 2 weeks to spare?

In the end, what you're asking here is the age old human question of, what is the meaning of life? Because you're asking what to do with your time on Earth. And so naturally, no one can answer you. Meds or no meds, what you do with your time you have in this life is for you alone to figure out.

[–] Azzu@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago

But again, in my opinion, if you don't know what you enjoy or what you're passionate about, just do stuff that vaguely interests you anyway. I'm sure you've had a passing thought of "that seems kinda interesting, but on second thought, naah". Just convert that "naah" into a "yea". Maybe it does really suck, but maybe you'll find something amazing for you to do. Once you actually do something and get involved with it, it may actually become more interesting than it seemed at the start.