Mental health club!

[Keke They/he]

2 hours ago, BlueWildRye said:

Does autism count lol

It does! The etc can mean anything related to mental health issues or sparkles!

Edited January 18, 2025 by Thee insane

[lilmage99 She/Her]

1 hour ago, Dragonheir said:

Yeah, that pretty much conclusively sums up my thoughts. I could definitely use some ideas from people who've figured out executive functioning with the aforementioned ADHD - autism paradox. 

I'm about to be 26 and I feel like I'll never figure it out. I just have no clue how to even begin teaching myself discipline or if that will even help. I have ADHD and I'm Autistic, it's rough. Recently had to stop taking my ADHD meds too bc I can't find a subscriber in my area  

[Block he/him]

36 minutes ago, Thee insane said:

It does! The etc can mean anything related to mental health issues or sparkles!

Does that apply to addiction too?

[Keke They/he]

Just now, Block said:

Does that apply to addiction too?

YES! 

[Block he/him]

2 minutes ago, Thee insane said:

YES! 

cool

[Keke They/he]

Just now, Block said:

cool

[MirkerLurker she/her]

3 minutes ago, Block said:

Does that apply to addiction too?

Absolutely!

As we gain more people here, we'll start to collect more people with shared issues, and be able to commiserate, offer support from a place of experience, etc. But even if there's something brought up that no one has personal experience with, we're all here to support everyone, whether with shared experience or just a listening and supportive ear.

7 minutes ago, lilmage99 said:

I'm about to be 26 and I feel like I'll never figure it out. I just have no clue how to even begin teaching myself discipline or if that will even help. I have ADHD and I'm Autistic, it's rough. Recently had to stop taking my ADHD meds too bc I can't find a subscriber in my area  

Oof, dropping meds can be rough from what I'm told. 
 

On the executive function side of things, I only have the autism side, not the adhd side, which surprised me, because I share a number of symptoms - most notably that meme of "Wait, you guys function?" So this may not apply in the slightest - feel free to disregard any and all advice that doesn't work for you!
For me, having a smart device that yells at me when I'm supposed to do things helps with some parts. Also cycling through tasks - have a list of tasks that need to be done, but float through them as the whims hit. In the middle of one, lose interest, pick up a different task and do that for a bit till I get bored and float to another, or back to the first - I try to limit it to 6-10 tasks at a time so that I do get some things completed or accomplished. That doesn't work if you don't have a flexible schedule or the ability to choose which tasks you do when though.
Dragonheir, are there specific things that you struggle with? "Executive function" has such a broad range of influence, it's hard to give ideas that help with all of it. (Assuming that you would like ideas given - it seems like you are asking for some, but if not, feel free to tell me to stop offering them! I won't be offended. I like clear, direct communication.)

[KnightSkye Reforged They/Them]

1 hour ago, Dragonheir said:

Yeah, that pretty much conclusively sums up my thoughts. I could definitely use some ideas from people who've figured out executive functioning with the aforementioned ADHD - autism paradox. 

no ideas here, but sympathy!

[Lord Stormer]

Take me in too. I'm 23 with (unfortunately) debilitating OCD. Felt the signs in 2009 but since 2013 life has slowed down to a near halt. Can't do so much things. Is this a place to really talk, cause I don't know anyone like myself irl.

[Keke They/he]

59 minutes ago, Lord Stormer said:

Take me in too. I'm 23 with (unfortunately) debilitating OCD. Felt the signs in 2009 but since 2013 life has slowed down to a near halt. Can't do so much things. Is this a place to really talk, cause I don't know anyone like myself irl.

Come on in! You can say a n y t h I n g jn here. We are all here to help each other

[Through the Living Heir he/him]

14 hours ago, MirkerLurker said:

Dragonheir, are there specific things that you struggle with? "Executive function" has such a broad range of influence, it's hard to give ideas that help with all of it. (Assuming that you would like ideas given - it seems like you are asking for some, but if not, feel free to tell me to stop offering them! I won't be offended. I like clear, direct communication.)

Yeah, I’m hoping to both give and receive advice, because I expect people to have figured out different things. I think my main problem is procrastination and poor organization - mindless work that I need to do sort of naturally gets ignored in favor of less important but more interesting tasks. 
Triggering or at least encouraging hyperfocus could be helpful. I’ve tried things like timers and breaks, but implementing the strategies isn’t routine, so after a couple days I simply forget to do the things that had been making me productive. 

[Through The Living Glass She/They]

3 hours ago, Lord Stormer said:

Take me in too. I'm 23 with (unfortunately) debilitating OCD. Felt the signs in 2009 but since 2013 life has slowed down to a near halt. Can't do so much things. Is this a place to really talk, cause I don't know anyone like myself irl.

Hey there . . .

I have OCD, too. 

It's not debilitating . . . for the most part, but it's pretty bad.

*hug*

What kinds of things are you struggling with- if you're comfortable saying?

Edited January 18, 2025 by Through The Living Glass

[MirkerLurker she/her]

8 hours ago, Dragonheir said:

Yeah, I’m hoping to both give and receive advice, because I expect people to have figured out different things. I think my main problem is procrastination and poor organization - mindless work that I need to do sort of naturally gets ignored in favor of less important but more interesting tasks. 
Triggering or at least encouraging hyperfocus could be helpful. I’ve tried things like timers and breaks, but implementing the strategies isn’t routine, so after a couple days I simply forget to do the things that had been making me productive. 

"but implementing the strategies isn't routine, so after a couple days I simply forget to do the things that had been making me productive"

Sooo much yes on that. I feel like I've tried a hundred different "life hack" tips or "organize your time" tricks, all of which make things better for a brief window of time, but then I just...stop doing them. I forget to do things, or it feels like too much work (depression makes things with lots of "buttons" so to speak, lots of steps, feel exhausting or insurmountable), and then once I've stopped, I never pick it back up again. 

Not sure if I have a ton of tips, and you've probably already tried a number of things, so again, disregard what isn't helpful! These are things that sometimes help for me.
For mindless tasks: Audiobooks, music, TV - something extra that I can have on, either in the background or as something I'm paying active attention to, sometimes makes mindless chores easier, as I don't go out of my mind bored and uninterested. I may not enjoy what I'm doing with my hands, but I like what I'm listening to, and doing the boring thing with my hands lets me trick my brain into justifying "wasting" time watching tv or listening to something. Doesn't always work, and I'll go through periods of listening to something almost all the time, and then periods of "too much overstimulation, can't have anything on", but it's a trick that sometimes works.
For procrastination: I'm not sure I have anything helpful here. Some days I can kick myself into starting tasks by making up "rules" like "no internet/reading/games/etc until I finish 'x' task", and other days that does absolutely nothing at all.
And I'm pretty sure "guilt-trip/shame yourself into functioning" isn't promoted as a healthy method of functioning. ...It is explicitly not, actually. My therapist keeps telling me to work on changing my negative internal voice to a positive one. So uh, don't do that one? (except it often works, which reinforces doing it, so it's a hard habit to break)

[Lord Stormer]

12 hours ago, Through The Living Glass said:

Hey there . . .

I have OCD, too. 

It's not debilitating . . . for the most part, but it's pretty bad.

*hug*

What kinds of things are you struggling with- if you're comfortable saying?

The complusions are the worst. Like now I'm scared to go anywhere because if I have the wrong thoughts while touching things, I got the obsession to "clean" those objects. You know what I mean.

I want to just say that the advices people told me has not worked. My strategy now is writing down words and convincing myself to percieve objects and my mind the right way. Relax and believe that thoughts are shadows of my mind (not the world), then ward them off by imagining them evaporate. Despite that, my mind has this wager "what if you are wrong?" and so it has been challenging. Then there are those hated topics that the more I try to get rid, the more it haunts.

I'm beginning to hate suggestions that I should take up activities like sport. It doesn't click like how the Stormlight Archive envisions Kaladin is able to drive off memories and depression by simply doing duty. I crave badly to get exercise, but it had the opposite effect. When I try to run or swim, compulsions and intrusive thoughts intensify, and my head ended up overwhelmed. Can't focus.

[Block he/him]

9 hours ago, Lord Stormer said:

The complusions are the worst. Like now I'm scared to go anywhere because if I have the wrong thoughts while touching things, I got the obsession to "clean" those objects. You know what I mean.

I want to just say that the advices people told me has not worked. My strategy now is writing down words and convincing myself to percieve objects and my mind the right way. Relax and believe that thoughts are shadows of my mind (not the world), then ward them off by imagining them evaporate. Despite that, my mind has this wager "what if you are wrong?" and so it has been challenging. Then there are those hated topics that the more I try to get rid, the more it haunts.

I'm beginning to hate suggestions that I should take up activities like sport. It doesn't click like how the Stormlight Archive envisions Kaladin is able to drive off memories and depression by simply doing duty. I crave badly to get exercise, but it had the opposite effect. When I try to run or swim, compulsions and intrusive thoughts intensify, and my head ended up overwhelmed. Can't focus.

Whenever I go somewhere and have to touch stuff, the only thing I’ve found to do is just not to think about what I’m doing, or else I get super stressed about it and, like you said, want to “clean” it.

I’ve tried similar things to the evaporating thoughts, and it’s seemed to help a little, but it sounds like it’s a lot worse for you, sorry.

I’ve never had someone suggest sports to me, but I would probably have about the same problem with it as you do.

[Through The Living Glass She/They]

12 hours ago, Lord Stormer said:

The complusions are the worst. Like now I'm scared to go anywhere because if I have the wrong thoughts while touching things, I got the obsession to "clean" those objects. You know what I mean.

I want to just say that the advices people told me has not worked. My strategy now is writing down words and convincing myself to percieve objects and my mind the right way. Relax and believe that thoughts are shadows of my mind (not the world), then ward them off by imagining them evaporate. Despite that, my mind has this wager "what if you are wrong?" and so it has been challenging. Then there are those hated topics that the more I try to get rid, the more it haunts.

I'm beginning to hate suggestions that I should take up activities like sport. It doesn't click like how the Stormlight Archive envisions Kaladin is able to drive off memories and depression by simply doing duty. I crave badly to get exercise, but it had the opposite effect. When I try to run or swim, compulsions and intrusive thoughts intensify, and my head ended up overwhelmed. Can't focus.

*hug*

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. 

I've gone through a lot of different things similar to your "evaporating" strategy. For a while, I just imagined gathering the thoughts I didn't want to think about into a little grain of sand and throwing it across the room or something. Then it became, like, spikes, and now it's a mix of the spikes and red mist that just evaporates away.

Idk.

It's hard, but you know that already.

I feel like I can't be active at all- I get super self-conscious and it doesn't take my mind off of anything and just makes it worse, so . . . yeah. And it's so hard to focus on anything most of the time. *hug*

2 hours ago, Block said:

Whenever I go somewhere and have to touch stuff, the only thing I’ve found to do is just not to think about what I’m doing, or else I get super stressed about it and, like you said, want to “clean” it.

I’ve tried similar things to the evaporating thoughts, and it’s seemed to help a little, but it sounds like it’s a lot worse for you, sorry.

I’ve never had someone suggest sports to me, but I would probably have about the same problem with it as you do.

 

[KnightSkye Reforged They/Them]

Anyone else have those conversations with people, where the nicest thing you can do at the end of the conversation is to put on a Hoid-like smile and say, "thank you for reminding me of the faith I have in humanity." And walking away so the foolishness doesn't infect you?

 

That being asked, no, dear mother, I am not choosing to be dour this fine evening, I feel like chull dung, and that does not need to be attempted to be rectified by going to my humble chambers to, and I quoth, "think about my attitude, and change it." thank ye. I shall endeavor not to consider the hollowness of my soul at the preasent, without thine fine intervention.

Edited January 20, 2025 by KnightSkye

[Through The Living Glass She/They]

40 minutes ago, KnightSkye said:

Anyone else have those conversations with people, where the nicest thing you can do at the end of the conversation is to put on a Hoid-like smile and say, "thank you for reminding me of the faith I have in humanity." And walking away so the foolishness doesn't infect you?

 

That being asked, no, dear mother, I am not choosing to be dour this fine evening, I feel like chill dung, and that does not need to be attempted to be rectified by going to my humble chambers to, and I quoth, "think about my attitude, and change it." thank ye. I shall endeavor not to consider the hollowness of my soul at the preasent, without thine fine intervention.

YES OH MY GOSH

Edited January 20, 2025 by Through The Living Glass

[Bird Furious she/her/un/important]

58 minutes ago, KnightSkye said:

Anyone else have those conversations with people, where the nicest thing you can do at the end of the conversation is to put on a Hoid-like smile and say, "thank you for reminding me of the faith I have in humanity." And walking away so the foolishness doesn't infect you?

 

That being asked, no, dear mother, I am not choosing to be dour this fine evening, I feel like chill dung, and that does not need to be attempted to be rectified by going to my humble chambers to, and I quoth, "think about my attitude, and change it." thank ye. I shall endeavor not to consider the hollowness of my soul at the preasent, without thine fine intervention.

Oh my scudding chasms, the number of times my mother has---------

Augh 

*hugs*

[KnightSkye Reforged They/Them]

*hugs back* Thank you.

[Through The Living Glass She/They]

3 minutes ago, Halcyon The Only said:

Oh my scudding chasms, the number of times my mother has---------

Augh 

*hugs*

same

*hugs*

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

*joins the hugs*

[KnightSkye Reforged They/Them]

*gladly accepts the hugs* 

[Block he/him]

*adds ginger hugs*

[Gatessal]

Sure, I get how tough it can be to deal with OCD. I don't have it, but I've lived with pretty intense anxiety, and it's been a journey trying to find routines that work. Therapy was a game-changer, and staying active helped more than I'd expected. Little strategies like journaling my thoughts or using grounding techniques added up over time.

When stress stacks up, I've found that vaping helped me transition from smoking during tough times without adding more guilt or health worries. Nexus Smoke has a good variety if you're into that and looking for a safer alternative.

Edited January 23, 2025 by Gatessal