ADHD memes

Ten? That's rookie numbers

When you're growing up and most of your (and your cousins') birthday parties are keggers because it's nice out and the adults want to party... and it was a common occurrence to wake up on the weekend to have one or more people you may or may not know passed out in the living room... and you have to clear space on the kitchen table to eat breakfast without knocking over any cans, bottles, or ashtrays.

And then you're older and find out about the other drugs that were being abused by various adults. And eventually siblings and cousins. And you think "man I'm glad I'm not like that."

And then you're yet older, at the end of your rope, learning to recognize your own mental illnesses, and seeing those indicators in others.

And then you're even older and those adults start dying in their 50s and 60s, and some of the other adults are finally being self-reflective and open about what they were dealing with internally and it's like a game of bingo and your card keeps "winning."

I went back to my mother
I said I'm crazy ma, help me
She said, I know how it feels son
Cause it runs in the family

- The Who, The Real Me

And then you realize that the years the drugs and alcohol took off of their lives still applies to you, just in the form of chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. And, somehow, you feel some relief. You understand why they turned to substances. And so you sit through the funerals, listen to people say "it was too soon," and say your goodbyes, knowing it won't be long until next time. You know that one day it will be your turn. But in the meantime, there's a hamster wheel that needs to spin because line go up. This is life. This is death. This is existence.

Tick tock.

I absolutely agree, although I wonder if it's sorta like "hypervigilance". Vigilance and keen observation are fantastic!

But there's also a point where it interferes with your life because it's freaking exhausting and you just can't...stop...noticing...every...little...thing...

Maybe that's what they mean, assuming in good faith they're not being all 1984 about it...

Although it does feel like the mental health "industry" trend of pushing the onus on the individual who, may simply be reacting normally to a completely chaotic, absurd, often bleak environment.

Exactly why I say this all the time now. Thank you, Archer.

For me, it's that we were told that we live in a society with rules, but then people with money and power routinely break those rules. It's incredibly frustrating and confusing trying to understand and navigate multiple rule systems when only one system is written down, but the unwritten one is being followed.

It makes me irate seeing people lie just enough to steal money from those around them, but not enough to go to jail. Most NT people don't have the time/energy to care, but it's like a hot poker in my side knowing that someone is "breaking the rules" and getting away with it.