I have been recently diagnosed but I'm not taking any medication (yet).
For years the psychiatrists I've seen said I had depression, obsessive thoughts...
Now a lot of the experiences that I've lived make so much more sense... Struggle to get things done, procrastination, bed rotting, time blindness, obsessing over a crush / date, being hyper sensitive in some situations...
But there's one trait which I'm not sure if it's related to the ADHD or not ! Being a control freak...
I recently went on vacation with my family and it became very clear how I try to control everything.
Another way I think it manifests is that I find myself trying to optimize everything... Expenses, itineraries... When my life as a whole is anything but optimized :)
It's draining
Do any of you experience this ? How do you deal with it ?
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What’s really cool is that you’re recognizing this! Just recognizing it is huge!! What you do with “it” is a journey. The old proverbial three steps forward, two steps back kinda thing
The need to have things "just so" is an autistic trait. The way I deal with it is to control everything I can in my life. Learning to deal with failure involved giving up all sense of self-worth. Not a recommended path.
Not so much a control freak, but I tend to try to optimize everything, yes. I have also switched many different time management and organization systems with the illusion of them improving my quality of life and productivity. Currently doing CBT (for more than 3 months) and I have not yet managed to fully implement none of the CBT techniques despite really trying. But I still think it was worth spending on it
I try to control everything.
As with many things, this can have several causes. A "typical" AD(H)D chain of causation might look like this: I am mentally exhausted. Because of this, my ability to deal with surprises is compromised, and I deal with them in ways that often result in suboptimal outcomes, or even harm. Because of this, surprises feel threatening to me, and I try to avoid them; One method to do that is to try and control my environment.
That sounds like a pretty good description to me. I'd just add that surprises are threatening because they require you to make a decision on the fly rather than with full information and planning (which leads to the suboptimal outcomes).
That might be more in OCPD territory
I do my best to optimize everything also. If I don't I'll feel like I'm losing control and won't know what I'm doing. It's like being in a room with papers floating and I can't catch them. My brain does not like that 😂. I have to do everything I can to avoid it.