ADHD memes

Less caffeine, less alcohol, sleep hygiene, less news cycle (I swore I wouldn’t get sucked into the trump bullshit, but when he’s making EOs that directly impact me…).

Moving my caffeine away from my medication (shifting meds 45 min later).

L-theanine, magnesium, B-complex.

Honestly though, caffeine and alcohol are bad. I didn’t have much caffeine, but the alcohol was a bit of a binge habit. None during week, but weekends were well above the national guidelines.

In my late 20s I was so anxiety-ridden I worried about carrying my food tray through the cafeteria in case I might get dizzy and pass out, even though that never happened. I thought a sudden heart attack was always right around the corner. Then I signed up for a community college acting class two nights a week. I forced myself to jump in with both feet and participate. The anxiety faded away almost immediately. I became a hardcore theatre guy - doing extra scenes, building sets for the actual production that was going on, learning how to do lighting, etc. I ended up having major parts in two plays and was part of more than 20 productions over the next 7 years.

I had friends, went to parties, threw my own parties, dated a lot, and because it turned out I was pretty decent at acting I became one of the actual cool people. Other students wanted to do scenes with me. People sought me out. Complete reversal of my teenage nerdy introvert past. I had a second adolescence and felt like I finally finished growing up and became my real self. My favorite role turned out to be stage manager, which taught me I could be responsible enough to handle having kids and being a dad. Getting together with my wife was a direct result of my theatre activity.

I'm sure theatre isn't everybody's cup of tea, but it worked out so well for me I HIGHLY recommend trying it out. Even if you don't get immersed like I did, the acting exercises and learning the whole process are a very good substitute for meds or therapy (which I've also done, so it's a legit comparison).

Anger and overdosing caffeine

Kickboxing

Here, these may help some others:

• https://insighttimer.com/blog/halt-technique/

• https://depts.washington.edu/fammed/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Katers-selfcare_printable.pdf

• https://cursosdepsicologia.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/THEDIA1.pdf

• https://www.lpft.nhs.uk/young-people/lincolnshire/about-us/whats-new/grounding-activity

• https://www.worry-tree.com/

The skill is learning how to identify these loops, how they are triggered and how to get out. The easiest way to get out of them is distracting your central nervous system. You can do this with those methods above, going for a walk or holding ice for 30 seconds. Things that recenter you out of your head into your body. Over time you will learn the triggers as you get better at stopping the loop. HALT is my best friend these days.

I quit most algorithm based social media.

Uh

Well, i probably don't recommend this, but a concussion I had a few weeks ago seems to have really helped

Running.

Anxiety is horrible with ADD and chasing negative thoughts.

Running helps me to focus and practice the mindfulness that they keep saying is good for anxiety but for people with focus issues is damn near impossible to realize.

Mindfulness, breathing exercises, strenuous activity (I hike a few miles every week) and creative pursuits (as of 5 months ago I'm a full time artist and my anxiety has dropped to nearly 0 Oh, and learn to identify "skinner boxes" and limit your engagement with them, eliminating the dopamine dripfeed can help a ton for dealing with anxiety when you're disconnected from it.

Hanging out with friends that are just as "non-punctual" as myself.

Accepting and embracing the fact that I'm very spontaneous in decision making.

Accepting that I am how I am and that my friends accept and like me that way.

Also, realising that this question was not about adhd in general and more about anxiety, but it's too late to rewrite everything. Sorry! I'm one of the lucky one who doesn't have anxiety on the bingo card...

Having taken high-dose medication, I understand that anxiety sucks, but I don't really have tricks to share against it...

Box breathing, meditative mantras, using my anxiety journal

Stoicism

Prepping. I've found some comfort in aquiring things and skills necessary to hopefully survive through various plausible scenarios. This initially started because of climate change but with current politics, I've tried to expand on those ideas. I'm not trying to go full doomsday crazy with it but I'll be a few steps ahead of the general population as things continue to get worse.

Meditation. Classic stuff. Hindu and Buddhist monks have figured it out thousands of years ago.

Exposition and cognitive behavioral therapy works well too. The more you expose yourself to anxiety inducing situations, the less of a problem it becomes. You simply get better at accepting these emotions and your mind also learns that there’s no real reason to be anxious about sth.

Repeating a lot of what's already been said here, but I'll list what's worked for me so far. Strenous exercise, lifting zone 2 cardio for an extensive period of time. Spending time in nature hiking/camping/going for walks in the park or around the neighborhood. Journaling has been a huge help for me personally, just helping me keep track of things I've done keeps me from feeling anxious about getting enough accomplished, and to get troubling thoughts off my chest. Prayer/Meditation/"Ritual activity", whatever you want to call it, bullshit or not, it helps calm the mind.

Maintaining paper notebooks and almanacs and a giant crazy-wall of Post-Its is very fruitful and calming.

Talking to others about the things I'm anxious about, not just before or after the fact but also while I'm anxious about something.

Reminding myself it's ok to be me, it's ok to feel anxious and that I didn't choose to be anxious and am not to blame for my anxiety.

Taking moments during the day to just breathe, follow a guided meditation or write down my thoughts. It makes me feel calm which makes the anxiety much more bearable.

Internal Family Systems therapy and meditation.

Digging/hauling/lifting/mixing in the garden until my mind quiets. I have learned to stop before reaching the point of exhaustion when the anxiety actually returns and ramps up higher. I now have all the annual garden space I can manage by myself 10-15 hours a week, but I'm adding more space. Also therapy, venlafaxine and buspirone.

Sūdoku

https://gitlab.com/opensudoku/opensudoku