My thoughts on Shappi Khorsandi's book: Scatterbrain (ADHD awareness & insight post)

Evening all! I hope you're enjoying your week so far. As for me, it's been boring so far. Mainly because I had been stuck at home for 3 days due to having a cold, and not being allowed out.

As of such, I thought about doing some more research on ADHD during the time being. However, what actually prompted me to do some more research on this, was because I specifically wanted to find the link to being a scatterbrain & having ADHD. This was where I had stumbled upon a search result on Google, which consisted of a book on the Amazon website with the very title: "Scatterbrain: How I got off the ADHD rollercoaster" I then immediately thought to myself: "Ah, this must be the right research source I am looking for!"

And sure enough, it certainly didn't disappoint...!

This book turns out to be Comedian, Shappi Khorsandi, talking about her experiences with ADHD. It also turns out that she was undiagnosed with the said condition, and reflects on her own behaviour in the past while being undiagnosed.

(Please do feel free to comment about my picture design!)

Rather than keep using rhetorical questions to form my thoughts, and guide me through what I am going to say, I'll just get stuck in.

I don't know about any of you, (and you may agree or disagree with me on this) but I have always seemed to find ADHD personalities & characteristics highly amusing. And I sincerely do not mean this in an offensive way at all. I think this is because of of the unpredictability that ADHD behaviour brings to oneself. A common example of this would be willing to start something, but unable to get that something finished. Especially within a set timeframe. Like Shappi herself, when she was writing her book, as she highlighted the crazy things she has done when the deadline of her book was looming upon her. This is where the scatterbrain effect gets linked with this type of ADHD behaviour, as it makes you think that you have the capacity of doing so many things while within a set timeframe. But in reality, this just puts you off your primary focus, because you have scattered thoughts/ideas running around in your mind as if each of them are running their own marathon. Again, this is 1 of the reasons why I personally find ADHD amusing. 

Another thing from the book which spoke out to me, was how much focus control there is involved in ADHD focus, (hyper focus) but also the lack of focus on normal focus. It would be stereotypical of people (who do not or have a lack of understanding about ADHD) to label them as "incapable" just because they do not maintain focus like normal people. It has been proven that many people with ADHD ARE very capable of focusing on something, but in their own time. Especially when it comes to something that they are deeply interested in. If this can work for Shappi, then it can work for anyone.

Back onto the scatterbrain topic, having difficulties with controlling your emotions can create scattered thoughts into your mind. Like with most ADHD people, they may experience an overload of excessive thoughts running around in their mind, and they get to a sudden point where they need to blurt how they feel out loud, as this helps them to let of steam inside their mind. Sometimes, these thinking out loud thoughts may become too compulsive for other people around them to hear, as well as being around that ADHD person, so they feel like they are just trying to gain much unnecessary attention as possible. But in reality, that person really cannot help what they are doing.

Caffeine & ADHD

Hello everyone! How are we halfway through the year already!? It literally felt as though everyday from NYD has just flown by.

As the above title states, I will be talking about how caffeine & ADHD work well together. And as luck would have it, this article on WebMD explains EXACTLY that! Obviously, as I intend on maintaining this blog to professional standards, I will be explaining everything into my own words, as I don't want to be lazy by just copying & pasting. This was another article which I have been saving for a long while, (my unforeseen absence period) in case if I'm having trouble thinking of anything creative for me to publish onto my site.

  

Overview: It's not uncommon that people living with ADHD tend to display compulsive behaviour. If we look at drinks for instance, people living with ADHD often crave on caffeine. (Any in the above picture) They have a tendency to crave caffeine, mainly because of the excessive energy effects that comes with it.

It's also not uncommon for people living with ADHD to eat/drink something to help them maintain their focus throughout the day. From what I've gathered in the article, and from a couple of in-person witnesses as well, caffeine is popularly associated with ADHD. This is because that caffeine can become additive, and ADHD folk have been known to create addictive behaviours to anything possible.

Here's my source link if anyone is interested to read through: https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/adhd-caffeine

*This post actually got started on the previous day (28/6/23), but ended up being pushed back to complete today (29/6/23) due to me being out working*

Let's talk about #ADHD

I think I can safely say that I've been keeping my productive self busy during the recent weeks. The variations include work, finishing off the remainder of my coursework & keeping up with my self-care. (Going out walking)

Although, with that said, I have become rather interested in researching the overall subject of #ADHD. But why? Mainly there is a ton of psychology which plays a part in how ADHD operates inside one self's mind. This also includes how they manage their wellbeing.

Not only that, but I am also aware of the amount of misconception there is about having ADHD, as some people tend to view having ADHD as a negative. But let me tell you, that really isn't all about having ADHD. The condition goes way deeper than what some people think. This is why I can gladly say that I've done enough thorough research to be able to piece together enough evidence that I need to make this post. (I'll link my evidences below)

Like I said before, I want to use this post (as well as evidences) to highlight all of the positive aspects of how ADHD works, so it helps everyone to gain a better, as well as a wider picture understanding.

Myths VS Facts:

As mentioned before, some people tend to view ADHD as a means of little - no focus whatsoever. Coming from an aspiring psychologist's view who is keen on the subject, I personally think it is rubbish to be viewing ADHD in that trend, as it's undermining their hidden capabilities in terms of what oneself with ADHD is actually good at. What people should bare in mind in relations to the mentioned myth above, is to understand that oneself with ADHD have a different brain structure. Moreover on that, people with ADHD have a uniquely good level of hyperfocus, which means they're interested on focusing on things that interest them. And if necessary, we could be talking crazy interested in something which makes ADHD individuals want to be active in day in, day out.

Another thing which may annoy those who have got ADHD, is if you was to say to them: "You will need to outgrow it eventually". They would feel offended, as there is no such thing as needing to outgrow ADHD. Instead, there is such a possibility of managing one self's ADHD, as it could be beneficial to help them to work on themselves. This also includes managing their mental health.

https://www.understood.org/en/articles/common-myths-about-adhd  

It's not just the behavioural side:  

What I mean by that, is there is evidence which shows people with ADHD tend to have a creative mind. This evidence has proven people with ADHD to be able to express themselves in a creative manner, as it helps them to unleash their happiness by wanting everyone around them to acknowledge their feelings. Particularly, in a way which makes them feel appreciated to show off their unique talents. Allowing an ADHD individual to show off their hidden creativity, allows them to be open minded in life by thinking that there is nothing which can hold them back in any shape of form. Meaning, they dislike the idea of having barriers to achieving whatever they want to achieve.

https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-creativity-brain-health/  

The ADHD Iceberg:

In case if anyone is interested, I have attached the iconic ADHD Iceberg picture below. Purposely because you can feel free to do your own research on ADHD by looking at its actual factors.

*I actually began working on this post last weekend, but I ended up getting distracted with other stuff going on*