Come again? What is it doing to the gut biome? Disrupting the normal functioning? Artificial sweeteners are a very broad category so which ones are we talking about? Aspartame specifically or others? Is Stevia aka erythritol on the table here or what? I am genuinely curious because I am A. Interested in nutrition and the effects of processed foods on the human body, but also because I’m a biology major and want to know more about stuff like this for research purposes…

Literally came here to say plastic. That’s the one.

Bro, not everybody is a morning person. I appreciate you sharing what works for you, but for one if OP does in fact have ADHD, that comes with insomnia sometimes so it is unlikely they’ll be getting up early, and if they do, they won’t want to do jumping jacks or take a morning shower regardless of the temp. Also, breakfast is hit or miss too because people with ADHD also have symptoms of depression and anxiety so they’re stomachs won’t be prepared for that probably.

Don’t overthink it. That helps me. Obviously match your phrasing to the situation like if it needs to be formal, be formal, but if not then just write it out and send it.

If I am trying to get things done (write emails) do important research, ya know that kind of thing, I sprinkle in the things I want to do like procrastinate on lemmy, look up random shit, eat a snack, and then get back to the work at hand

This is kinda random advice and I dunno if it will help, but if you want to increase your pain tolerance try doing a polar bear swim. Just make sure you have someone with you, you have somewhere warm to retreat to a towels and fresh dry clothes and that you do it in a temperature tjat isn’t too overwhelmingly cold. Like 40 or 50 degrees probably is the limit for it if you have never done it before because if it is too cold you can go into shock and get hypothermia, but yeah. If you want to start slower just dunk your hand into a bucket of ice water. Over time you will get used to it and will be able to do it for longer periods.

When I was super down in different times of my life, I would sleep in my work clothes that way I would wake up and be on time for work. So yeah… this can be pretty effective.

This is covered in a lot or depression literature, where you need to literally rewire your brain to defeat the attempt to reach homeostasis, which has become a depressed state. Little positive actions and thoughts that eventually rewire the neural pathways and create new ones little by little. If you want to learn more about that, the technical side made very understandable by a psychologist and neuroscientist who specializes in depression and anxiety, you should check out “The Upward Spiral”. It’s really good and i highly recommend it. It has helped me start the healing and coping process.

So I don’t know you or how much you make, but if you’re an American and you make under a certain amount a year, Healthcare through the ACA can be very affordable. You will have to take time and look because it is convoluted as hell, but if you decide to, prioritize mental health services coverage and you can find some Silver plans that offer really affordable therapy. Mine is Bluecross Blue Shield and I pay $89 a month, but my therapy is free with no caps on how often i can go.

Hope this helps.

Yep. Each time you perform the same action, say the same words, think the same thoughts the connection of the neural pathways responsible for those things are strengthened. It is why depression and anxiety and other mental issues are so hard to reverse. It is possible though. I urge anyone who thinks they have depression to look up a book called “The Upward Spiral.” It is co-written by a neuroscientist and a psychologist and was really eye opening for me on the inner workings of the brain when it comes to depression and anxiety and has helped me at least start on a path to making myself better.

Photography helped me with this, and I know not everyone is creative, but editing photos personally helped me find some wonder. You can do so much with perspective and change an image into something completely different with just the right modifications… Anyway. The world is shifty and we have all been in it too long and are Hella jaded. You just have to find novel things, even if it is harder for our brains to view that way, we can even trick our brains by doing mundane things in a new way. Like for instance instead of shaving in the shower or bathroom, go outside into nature, bring a mirror and shave there. I remember Michio Kaku saying something like this and the added bonus is it will make your life feel longer too, since it is adding novelty, your brain doesn’t just go into autopilot.

My therapist said to me the other day that anxiety is the brain’s survival mechanism and depression is “Safe mode.” It’s so hard in the modern world for most people to find the in between because there is so much to give us anxiety and make us feel like we are in danger and so of course since the body always seeks homeostasis, depression is sure to follow. It’s like an up and down Rollercoaster with no end.

I used to think it was foolish to be disconnected from the news and current events, but now I think the opposite is true.

This makes a lot of sense to me. I am trying to link it to survival and evolution, but can’t pin anything down off the top of my head. I’m going to continue mulling it over though.

Good bot

Thank you for posting this OP, and thank you for your reply to OP!

I literally just got back from my therapist (3rd visit) and he basically said the same stuff you’re saying about neurodivergence of this kind only becoming a problem when we’re forced to follow the rules of an artificial construct we call “modern civilization.” Thanks for your post. I’ve long suspected I could have ADHD (was diagnosed with ADD as a child) , but of course, ADD doesn’t really exist, and I suppose the research on things like this was more or less in its infancy, so I took prescrived children’s speed for a while, it made me worse. Yes, Ritalin is methamphetamine, and anyway. I started therapy to work on identifying my problems and I never mentioned ADHD, but he said all my complaints about my own behavior points towards it. My job is in the food service industry and it has been for many years, so the chaos of that could have masked some of the stronger “symptoms”, and I imagine if I had an open ended career I would be in trouble with my lack of focus and constant procrastination.

Do you mind giving me more details on how you do your to-do list and the table? I would like to try something like it because I think it might help.

Thanks again for your reply to OP. and thanks again to OP for the post and hang in there. Adaptability is humanities greatest strength…

I’ve had almost zero issues with Liftoff other than switching the global sorting in the general settings causing duplicate posts from communities in the current instance I was in, but other than that it is fast, not bad looking and straightforward.