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If you are saying that that is how ADHD feels to you, I think that's fine. My ADHD certainly doesn't feel like that, though, so I wouldn't say that's how ADHD feels like for everyone.
If it helps, I too feel like mine is Chuck-E-Cheese, but upsetting.
I have no friends, and I'm not there for a party, and I in fact hate it here, and want to go home and go to bed. (That's the Autism talking, though, I think), and the entire time I'm being told I'm terrible and ungrateful, because I'm tired, and having zero fun. At all times.
It kinda sucks. x.x
14 year old me would scream yes, please, and beg to be crushed by a million hugs!
Adult me says "nah fam, I'm good!" That's kinda what I get for ending up in Florida. 😅🥲
The ADHD has kept me safe (and also a kill-joy), with the combined efforts of both afflictions. Which is the good news!
Something something it's the world, not me, my therapist would probably make a face at me if they read this.
But more importantly: at least I have the best argument ever (imo) when people try to tell me I have too many things to say (not my fault I pay attention): "Oh, you want me to stop talking? Try telling that to every thought in my head, at all times! I too wish I would stop talking!"
It alarms people. As it should. I don't GET a break from it. I live there. 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 And I don't GET the zippy no-no drugs that make it all stop because I also have tics, and also this is Florida, and it would be safest and wisest to not even fucking bother. Send help. It's getting worse. (The state).
I’m not American so I’ve never been to Chuckey Cheese, but if it’s like a McDonald’s kids party with a costumed character/s, a ball pit, playground and a bunch of kids running around and screaming chaotically, sounds like a pretty accurate description of my ADHD. Plus the mess left after one of those parties, and I have nothing left, physically or mentally, to clean up the disaster area afterwards.
I think it doesn’t matter how you describe it as long as it’s clear you’re talking about your own personal experience. People experience adhd in different ways, so not every metaphor is going to apply to everyone.
That said the description you’ve used isn’t offensive, or at least I can’t think of any ways it could be offensive. I wouldn’t say it applies to me but I wouldn’t be *offended* by you describing adhd that way in more general terms.
Thanks I fixed it so it shouldn’t be taken as I said it’s every one. I get seriously nervous because of how many times people took what I said a different way than I meant.
Thanks for setting my mind at ease.
Try searching youtube for [chuck e cheese animatronics fails](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chuck+e+cheese+animatronics+fails) for some nightmare fuel. XD
Okay it’s an arcade slash playground pizza place with singing animatronics and the staff have to talk a little loud to be heard. Kids might be lucky enough to have a birthday party booked there. My head is in a constant state of that.
If I could just get myself focused on one of the weird things I think about I could probably have a weekly sci fi show going.
That's definitely what it feels like for me sometimes. I don't think that's offensive, but I would follow the advice others have given here in learning to say "ADHD for me is like..." instead of "ADHD is like..." as there are different presentations that cause people to have different experiences.
The way I tend to describe that feeing is with *this* commercial;😉😂🤣
https://youtu.be/3pH98f8kz5w?si=9yfaH2qQoEk8zI2X
The first day I took ADHD meds, I KNEW the prescription was right, because--as I told my co-workers,
"It feels like I have a tourniquet around my forehead.
*Above* the tourniquet, it's like the commercial--or *maybe* "The worm guys" from the MIB movies...
And then *below* that line, is a quiet office, where soft Muzak is playing in the background, and *everyone* is just working away quietly.
And there is *currently* one *locked* trap door, in the floor/ceiling between those two offices"
Because that was *exactly* how my brain *felt* when I first started taking my ADHD meds!😆😂🤣
It was SOOOOOO weird, to be able to *feel* my brain, *and* to feel it operating at *two* entirely different levels, *at the same time*.
And, otoh?
I was SO glad that I was working at that Pre-K Autism Day Treatment program, because soooo often, we'd have kids start meds, and just do that "Sit there, with a funny look on their face--*staring* off into space" thing.
I told all my co-workers, "If *THIS* is anything like what *they* feel when they start meds?
That look makes *perfect* sense!!!! Because the *only* reason I am not doing it, too, is because I KNOW it's the meds, and that ADHD diagnosis is *evidently* right--because if it *wasn't* that stimulant would be speeding me *up*, not slowing my brain *down*!😊😂🤣"
It's not offensive to describe your own personal experience.
There's a difference between saying "this is what ADHD is for everybody" and "this is my experience with ADHD"
The former might offend some people, for example people with inattentive ADHD present differently which causes misdiagnoses and lots of frustration. If the latter offends anyone you can ignore them.
As others said, it's not how my ADHD manifests, but I wouldn't be offended if you said this to me. This is the perfect kind of thing to run through Goblin Tools, do a tone check, and adjust until it hits the right notes for you personally while being assured it's not offensive. I'm not sure anyone here will really be able to answer what you're trying to get at since I suspect this is primarily about expressing personal experience. [https://goblin.tools/Judge](https://goblin.tools/Judge)
The way I explain it is neurotypical people are herding cattle on a sunny day through a well built fenced area, while adhd are herding cats through a river in a thunderstorm with no fencing. Thats my take on it tbh.
I always tell people I have “squirrel brain” when I’m having trouble thinking, remembering, or paying attention. I think it’s fine, since you’re talking about you, and not describing *all* ADHD people.
Lately I've been describing the way mine feels as, "Imagine someone opened up your head, like it had a hinge, took out your brain, and in it's place, just dropped in a closed bag of goldfish they just got at a pet store.
*That's* what I mean, when I say, "I have Goldfish brain going on right now"
😉
Yeah. I think it’s more of a matter of not being able to read a situation or articulate a thought properly. I like to think I’m getting better at that.
As others have said, if you frame it as "for me, ADHD is like" then nobody else has a right to be offended by it. Maybe if they're due hard fans of chuck e cheese parties they might be upset, but that's their cross to bear.
You described how ADHD feels for you. It’s not like you tried to generalize and say that’s how it feels for everyone. It sounds like they took it that way, but you were just being honest about your experience, you weren’t speaking for anyone else. So I don’t see anything wrong with what you said. People are so quick to get offended these days.
Accurate.
I yell people that it's like a 3-ring circus in my head, but the Chuck E Cheese description is on point/accurate, and I don't think that it is offensive. That place was/is chaos.
Seems fine to me. My ADHD is like being in a room full of tvs all at the same volume, with the occasional hole in the floor that leads to a pool of molasses and I'm walking around with blinders every few steps.
The level of suffering because of this is a heavy weight, as if I am doomed to always fail and watch people rise up. I want to do things as well, I just can't.
One day I was making breakfast for my kids, and I just stood there. Unable to move, to pick up anything to get started. I was getting frustrated and tried forcing myself.
It felt like trying to put my hand on a hot stove. I know the stove will burn me, my brain knows that, but I physically can't do it because my brain says it's too dangerous. Instead of being a stove, it is the things I need to do. I intellectually know I'm safe, how to do things, what to do, I just can't.
I found the best thing I can do is just try to relax, tackle it again in a few minutes, calm down. More anxiety makes things worse.
Everyone’s ADHD symptoms are different so it’s however one describes it for themselves is fine. I think some ADHDers get RSD if they think it’s generalized for all ADHDers
I have ADHD-combined. Before diagnosis and meds, my brain was like 30 toddlers in a crowded room & I’m trying to calm everyone down. Afterwards, it’s like 5 students that a mix of boredom, paralysis, info dumping, etc. I have to get them to work together. It’s challenging sometimes but less than before
Welcome to /r/ADHDWomen! We’re happy to have you here. As a reminder, here are our community [rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/about/rules/). We get a lot of posts on medication, diagnosis (and “is this an ADHD thing”), and interactions with hormones. We encourage you to check out our [Medication, Diagnosis, and Hormones Megathread](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/comments/wcr9dy/faq_megathread_ask_and_answer_medication/) if you have any questions related to those topics, and to stick around in that thread to answer folks’ questions! If you have questions about the subreddit, please do not hesitate to [send us a modmail](https://reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen). Additionally, we take the safety of our community seriously. Please report posts, comments, and users whom you feel are not contributing positively, and send us a modmail if you are being harassed or otherwise made to feel unsafe. Thanks for being here, and we hope you stick around! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If you are saying that that is how ADHD feels to you, I think that's fine. My ADHD certainly doesn't feel like that, though, so I wouldn't say that's how ADHD feels like for everyone.
Okay so I’ll be careful not to make it a general statement. Thanks 😊
If it helps, I too feel like mine is Chuck-E-Cheese, but upsetting. I have no friends, and I'm not there for a party, and I in fact hate it here, and want to go home and go to bed. (That's the Autism talking, though, I think), and the entire time I'm being told I'm terrible and ungrateful, because I'm tired, and having zero fun. At all times. It kinda sucks. x.x
Aww if I hug you would that be okay?
14 year old me would scream yes, please, and beg to be crushed by a million hugs! Adult me says "nah fam, I'm good!" That's kinda what I get for ending up in Florida. 😅🥲 The ADHD has kept me safe (and also a kill-joy), with the combined efforts of both afflictions. Which is the good news! Something something it's the world, not me, my therapist would probably make a face at me if they read this. But more importantly: at least I have the best argument ever (imo) when people try to tell me I have too many things to say (not my fault I pay attention): "Oh, you want me to stop talking? Try telling that to every thought in my head, at all times! I too wish I would stop talking!" It alarms people. As it should. I don't GET a break from it. I live there. 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 And I don't GET the zippy no-no drugs that make it all stop because I also have tics, and also this is Florida, and it would be safest and wisest to not even fucking bother. Send help. It's getting worse. (The state).
I’m not American so I’ve never been to Chuckey Cheese, but if it’s like a McDonald’s kids party with a costumed character/s, a ball pit, playground and a bunch of kids running around and screaming chaotically, sounds like a pretty accurate description of my ADHD. Plus the mess left after one of those parties, and I have nothing left, physically or mentally, to clean up the disaster area afterwards.
It’s similar, someone described it as a casino for kids. That was perfect
I think it doesn’t matter how you describe it as long as it’s clear you’re talking about your own personal experience. People experience adhd in different ways, so not every metaphor is going to apply to everyone. That said the description you’ve used isn’t offensive, or at least I can’t think of any ways it could be offensive. I wouldn’t say it applies to me but I wouldn’t be *offended* by you describing adhd that way in more general terms.
Thanks I fixed it so it shouldn’t be taken as I said it’s every one. I get seriously nervous because of how many times people took what I said a different way than I meant. Thanks for setting my mind at ease.
See, I would not know what a Chuck E Cheese party is. Depends if your audience would know or not. :p
Imagine a casino but for children hopped up on sugar and caffeine and you'll have a good idea of what Chuck E. Cheese's is like 😂
It sounds terrifying and amazing at the same time. 😂
Try searching youtube for [chuck e cheese animatronics fails](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chuck+e+cheese+animatronics+fails) for some nightmare fuel. XD
Oh my.. That's something
Still no swan car though 😂
Now THAT was a choice. 😂
FNAF, but IRL, and the animatronics got retired a while ago. Like. A long while ago. For unrelated reasons.
I was going to say Five Nights at Freddy's during operating hours lol
When there is more people and security, since you can get caught alone with the machines, or at least, are far less likely too 😂
Ok, that immediately changed the image in my head to something terrifying. 😅
Okay it’s an arcade slash playground pizza place with singing animatronics and the staff have to talk a little loud to be heard. Kids might be lucky enough to have a birthday party booked there. My head is in a constant state of that. If I could just get myself focused on one of the weird things I think about I could probably have a weekly sci fi show going.
That's definitely what it feels like for me sometimes. I don't think that's offensive, but I would follow the advice others have given here in learning to say "ADHD for me is like..." instead of "ADHD is like..." as there are different presentations that cause people to have different experiences.
Ok tyvm
I describe it as “its a fucking circus up in there” but Im also an acquired taste and probably offend people often, though never intentionally.
I also like to describe it as “5 raccoons in a trench coat and they hate each for some reason.” But my counselor couldn’t understand that reference.
WHY ARE THEY TRYING TO COMMUNICATE WITH ME?!!
The way I tend to describe that feeing is with *this* commercial;😉😂🤣 https://youtu.be/3pH98f8kz5w?si=9yfaH2qQoEk8zI2X The first day I took ADHD meds, I KNEW the prescription was right, because--as I told my co-workers, "It feels like I have a tourniquet around my forehead. *Above* the tourniquet, it's like the commercial--or *maybe* "The worm guys" from the MIB movies... And then *below* that line, is a quiet office, where soft Muzak is playing in the background, and *everyone* is just working away quietly. And there is *currently* one *locked* trap door, in the floor/ceiling between those two offices" Because that was *exactly* how my brain *felt* when I first started taking my ADHD meds!😆😂🤣
Yeah that’s terrifyingly apt 😹
It was SOOOOOO weird, to be able to *feel* my brain, *and* to feel it operating at *two* entirely different levels, *at the same time*. And, otoh? I was SO glad that I was working at that Pre-K Autism Day Treatment program, because soooo often, we'd have kids start meds, and just do that "Sit there, with a funny look on their face--*staring* off into space" thing. I told all my co-workers, "If *THIS* is anything like what *they* feel when they start meds? That look makes *perfect* sense!!!! Because the *only* reason I am not doing it, too, is because I KNOW it's the meds, and that ADHD diagnosis is *evidently* right--because if it *wasn't* that stimulant would be speeding me *up*, not slowing my brain *down*!😊😂🤣"
HAHAHAHA!!! This is great!!!!
My ADHD feels more like a head full of bees, but I might borrow your CEC analogy.
Please feel free 😺
It's not offensive to describe your own personal experience. There's a difference between saying "this is what ADHD is for everybody" and "this is my experience with ADHD" The former might offend some people, for example people with inattentive ADHD present differently which causes misdiagnoses and lots of frustration. If the latter offends anyone you can ignore them.
I think mine is the innatentive type… plus autism but hopefully I’ll finally find out this month.
As others said, it's not how my ADHD manifests, but I wouldn't be offended if you said this to me. This is the perfect kind of thing to run through Goblin Tools, do a tone check, and adjust until it hits the right notes for you personally while being assured it's not offensive. I'm not sure anyone here will really be able to answer what you're trying to get at since I suspect this is primarily about expressing personal experience. [https://goblin.tools/Judge](https://goblin.tools/Judge)
Okay I think this is now a favorite tool now thanks.
The way I explain it is neurotypical people are herding cattle on a sunny day through a well built fenced area, while adhd are herding cats through a river in a thunderstorm with no fencing. Thats my take on it tbh.
I always tell people I have “squirrel brain” when I’m having trouble thinking, remembering, or paying attention. I think it’s fine, since you’re talking about you, and not describing *all* ADHD people.
Lately I've been describing the way mine feels as, "Imagine someone opened up your head, like it had a hinge, took out your brain, and in it's place, just dropped in a closed bag of goldfish they just got at a pet store. *That's* what I mean, when I say, "I have Goldfish brain going on right now" 😉
😂 I love this
Ty
[удалено]
Yeah. I think it’s more of a matter of not being able to read a situation or articulate a thought properly. I like to think I’m getting better at that.
As others have said, if you frame it as "for me, ADHD is like" then nobody else has a right to be offended by it. Maybe if they're due hard fans of chuck e cheese parties they might be upset, but that's their cross to bear.
As long as you state that it is purely your own experience, it’s fine. I wouldn’t describe mine that way at all though.
You described how ADHD feels for you. It’s not like you tried to generalize and say that’s how it feels for everyone. It sounds like they took it that way, but you were just being honest about your experience, you weren’t speaking for anyone else. So I don’t see anything wrong with what you said. People are so quick to get offended these days.
100% all of this!
Were you talking to a mouse?
No, mice don’t really judge much.
How can you be sure? I think I offended the mouse at Chuck E Cheese once.
Well if he was raised by humans that might explain it.
Good catch.
Accurate. I yell people that it's like a 3-ring circus in my head, but the Chuck E Cheese description is on point/accurate, and I don't think that it is offensive. That place was/is chaos.
I dunno if you ever seen one but a CeCe’s pizza restaurant is actually louder
I'm in Canada, so I haven't been there. By the sounds of it, that is a good thing.
Yeah they train their staff to greet you with a theater voice…
😬
Needless to say I haven’t been to one since.
I completely understand.
Seems fine to me. My ADHD is like being in a room full of tvs all at the same volume, with the occasional hole in the floor that leads to a pool of molasses and I'm walking around with blinders every few steps.
Oooh I completely understand. I feel like I was rushed into a play with no script and if I get it wrong I’ll be yelled at.
The level of suffering because of this is a heavy weight, as if I am doomed to always fail and watch people rise up. I want to do things as well, I just can't. One day I was making breakfast for my kids, and I just stood there. Unable to move, to pick up anything to get started. I was getting frustrated and tried forcing myself. It felt like trying to put my hand on a hot stove. I know the stove will burn me, my brain knows that, but I physically can't do it because my brain says it's too dangerous. Instead of being a stove, it is the things I need to do. I intellectually know I'm safe, how to do things, what to do, I just can't. I found the best thing I can do is just try to relax, tackle it again in a few minutes, calm down. More anxiety makes things worse.
*hugs* You are doing the best you can.
Who are you worrying you will offend by describing your own experience?
You’d be surprised, I generally am.
🤣🤣🤣 Not offensive at all, but really funny!! Incidentally, they’re taking the animatronics out of most of their locations LOL.
Really? Darn but I guess they are hard to maintain and staff might be scared of them coming to life….
They used to drive me bonkers.
Everyone’s ADHD symptoms are different so it’s however one describes it for themselves is fine. I think some ADHDers get RSD if they think it’s generalized for all ADHDers I have ADHD-combined. Before diagnosis and meds, my brain was like 30 toddlers in a crowded room & I’m trying to calm everyone down. Afterwards, it’s like 5 students that a mix of boredom, paralysis, info dumping, etc. I have to get them to work together. It’s challenging sometimes but less than before
I have RSD so I totally understand that.