intensity

Assessing the true price of the deep dive

~ Helen White ~ Leave a comment

If you are extremely prone to taking deep dives, the time comes for asking: What is the true price of doing this in terms of its impact on self-care; is it all worth it? What do I gain from this latest obsession? Is my self-care repeatedly suffering, coming second-best to my latest fixation? Have I succeeded in traumatising myself in the name of a few inches of increased knowledge? What did I lose, in terms of blissful ignorance or humanising innocence, when I opened up that latest can of worms? Should I continue or just drop it now, like a hot potato, to reclaim my peace of mind? Can I break this trend of pushing myself too hard, too relentlessly, without first assessing the value of what I am doing or whether my nervous system would rather be doing something else or even has the reserves to cope? Can I allow that it’s not always a waste of time to be less driven or intense? Can I guide my inbuilt intensity into more benign practices that generate joy and not so much discontent, fear and trauma? Can I actually learn to steer this neurodivergent vehicle of mine instead of running it off the rails?

Studying yourself under pressure as an exercise in enhanced self-awareness

~ Helen White ~ 4 Comments

How do you shape-sort your life, what unusual things motivate you, where do you get your particular kicks, how and with whom (not!) do you like to work; conversely, what gets your back up, scrambles your processes or burns you out? There's nothing like noticing your behaviour under pressure to learn about your particular version of neurodiversity, all the better to work to your unique strengths in future!

Moving towards your best post-burnout autistic life

~ Helen White ~ 2 Comments

Longing to find "your place" in the world, to reclaim your energy from the need to mask, to set parameters around exposures to sensory, social and other factors that detract from quality of life and to be fully unapologetically autistically yourself. What would your best post-burnout autistic life look like and how good would it make you feel?

The peaks and the perils of hyperfocus: a seasonal perspective

~ Helen White ~ Leave a comment

Exploring the trials and tribulations of Christmas as an autistic-ADHD adult prone to hyperfocus; and how this one trait alone can be the source of stress and burnout, yet still so much you can do better, including self-compassion, once you realise and work with the trait.

Low air pressure = increased body pressure and chronic pain

~ Helen White ~ Leave a comment

Exploring some of the links I have personally made between low barometric pressure and increased pain (also ADHD, intensity and sensitivity). Considering a non-linear approach to all of these areas (how linear are your symptoms, really), do changes in air pressure play a part?

Like Icarus: rewriting the narrative of what someone with ADHD needs to thrive

~ Helen White ~ 2 Comments

What you or I need to recover our health, to maintain it and truly thrive may be completely different, even polar opposite to what someone else needs. Considering the potential relationship between ADHD and a chronic (as in, long perpetuated) state of poor health.

High-functioning

~ Helen White ~ 2 Comments

High-functioning autism is often missed or misunderstood, not least because those with it so often overcompensate for their traits. The term has also been phased out in "official" quarters and yet it still applies to just so many people, not least those who have reached midlife undiagnosed (and especially women). Tackling this controversial topic on behalf of those of us who still fall between the cracks, with a link to some useful resources to help you find your way.

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria

~ Helen White ~ Leave a comment

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria is debilitating, devastating, isolating and often quite unbearable and yet nobody that has not experienced it for themselves can imagine what it truly feels like on the inside; there is no point of reference for anyone that isn't wired that way since it is the product of particular genetics plus epigenetics combined with a lifetime of trauma. As a common experience of both autism and ADHD and something I experience myself, this important topic has been on my list of most daunting things to cover for quite some time...here goes.

“Let me share an example from my life” (neurodivergence in the context of relating)

~ Helen White ~ 4 Comments

Nurodivergents and neurotypicals are sometimes poles apart in their communication styles but imagine if we could just try to meet on some common ground whilst accepting those differences (that last part is key…nobody should be required to change themselves). Isn’t this exactly where the best hopes of humanity lie, as in, meeting across the so-called impossible divide?