AuDHD

Accommodating both sides of AuDHD is a must!

~ Helen White ~ Leave a comment

If you are AuDHD and a situation that is meant to be working out for you is actually overwhelming you more than its helping, is too mentally, physically or emotionally stimulating, pressing buttons and resulting in repeated fatigue or symptoms that suggest your triggers are increasing, not backing off then you need to question whether its right for all the various parts of you. It's just so easy to be led off down a path of becoming overstimulated, thinking you can cope because you are ADHD or must push through when you can’t (I believe we AuDHDers really do require more rest and recovery to cope with our complex nervous system), never forgetting, except at our peril, that there is always that other factor to appease…the autistic side!

Life in the gap: coercing an AuDHD brain to work within the energy parameters of ME/CFS

~ Helen White ~ Leave a comment

Learning how to slow down, how to pace or stop everything including your overactive mind may be the biggest achievement of your life with ME/CFS when you are also AuDHD because it is THE hardest thing for you...yet slow down or stop you must. The point is, those spaces and pauses between exertion and overthinking, that very void you always dreaded, may hold the very healing elixir, the antedote, you've probably chased after all these years but getting into this state is always doubly tough for you and takes such persistence and focus...perhaps more effort than all the things you ever filled-up all your days with before.

Stabilising the autonomic nervous system as a first crucial step

~ Helen White ~ Leave a comment

There is no separating the nervous system from the various different aspects of how the body has started to misfire over the years, cumulating in whatever burnout or crash led you to where you now are, however much other provoking factors (such as a virus or accident) might have taken the brunt of the blame because, after all, what makes one person respond to those things differently, more devastating and lastingly, than the next person if its not the nervous system? Post Exertional Malaise is a classic manifestation of this whilst tracking its triggers can teach us such a lot about our personal state of misfiring health.

Considering monotropism

~ Helen White ~ 4 Comments

What is monotropism, can it really explain everything about the autistic experience of life, how does it make life extra hard for those with it (in an allistic world...) yet also, conversely, make taking deep-dives into their interests thrilling, joyful, adventurous and full of flow for those who do this, also what could it look like if they were encouraged to accept and embrace this kind of thinking style, enabling, accommodating, protecting and even appreciating it rather than fighting it or making it wrong?

Why “groups” don’t work for me and other AuDHD friendship foibles

~ Helen White ~ 7 Comments

Exploring the challenges of making friendships as a neurodivergent woman, perhaps late-diagnosed, following years of trials and tribulations trying so hard to find meaningful connections before you "realised" and navigating some of the things that patently don't work for our preferences (for instance isn't "group friendship" an oxymoron?), also learning how and when to safely drop all those masks.

Learning to ADHD pace…the hardest but most powerful thing you will ever do

~ Helen White ~ Leave a comment

The constant play-off between the two sides of AuDHD can be such a challenge to live with as well as such a blessing. Having parts that both provoke and complement each other is precarious in the extreme and not for the faint-hearted. It's also far too simplistic to describe ADHD (or autism for that matter) as a superpower, not to mention dismissive of its many hardships but there can be some perks when it comes to recovering from burnout, ideally before it turns into a chronic state. Exploring how ADHD can throw you a lifeline at times of health crash but also the importance of pacing...before you allow yourself to become burned out yet again!

Learning to pick your hyperfocus

~ Helen White ~ 2 Comments

Hyperfocus run amok, if your neurodovergent brain is prone to it, can lose you a lot the the key moments, a great deal of the colour and richness, of actual life. The need to feel perpetually occupied in your head can be a tyrant when there are no checks in place. Learning to curate what you engage with, and when, as your latest area of hyperfocus can bring some relief and lead to far less mental exhaustion or overwhelm. By picking and choosing lighter topics of engagement, you can feel like you have taken a sort of brain holiday...without actually becoming too bored, which is probably something that you abhor to do.

Neurodivergent behaviours as seen even more clearly under pressure

~ Helen White ~ Leave a comment

I now see how the bizarre dance that some of my more contradictory-seeming neurodivergent traits do together "hots up" at times of extreme emotional or circumstantial stress. Yet its at times like these that its even more important for me to keep them working together...

Why chronic fatigue syndrome is such a painfully inadequate label and considering how ME/CFS may be connected to neurodiversity

~ Helen White ~ 2 Comments

What's in a label and looking at the bigger picture: Considering the importance of using the right descriptor when conveying the seriousness of your condition to yourself and others whilst exploring a possible link between CFS / ME and neurodiversity.