HI! I’m new here, but not new to ADHD. I also have Anxiety/ Depression…some OCD tendencies, hoarding tendencies, skin picking disorder, and some PTSD. What can I say, I’m a little bit of everything. LOL I live with my dog Caesar ( LhasaPoo) and my cat Mah-Zick ( which means mischief-maker in Yiddish- and was my Yiddish name growing up) go-figure… I’m 62, retired from teaching, but still interact with many 2500+ of my former students on FB. Not bragging, I just want you all to know that I have the mind and energy of a young person. So don’t be afraid to reach out. I’m pretty knowledgeable about stuff and love to help…
Well sometimes… This quarantine has really brought out my depression at times… I am an extrovert and really miss human interaction. Yes, zoom and messenger and facetime are great… but I enjoy face to face interaction.
I want to become an active part of the community, so I hope you will reach out and accept my comments… Take care!! Sharon @Modsupport @Quinn
I see you know how to t@g people, Sharon! Thanks for alerting me to your post. @Quinn , where are you?
Let’s get some discussion started here! It’s been way too quiet for far too long, don’t you think?
Seenie from ModSupport
Hi TeachShare,
I’m 67 and i live with 1 human housemate and i dog housemate named CJ who is a mixed breed. I was dxed with ADHD at 37 and ASD at 57.
I thought i 'd introduce some topics as these things keep swirling around my head.
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Aging and ADHD I have always had memories issues. What isn’t very interesting refuses to stick and i must be mega careful that important things do not get missed. Now my memory is even worse. I’m sure there are more. What happens when we go into nursing homes? Yeah they remember our pills and meals but can we really communicate why we do or don’t have a problem with a way of doing something or??
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Being a woman seems to mean going along with what is. I know i’m still learning what I prefer rather than what i am told i prefer. We are good at creative solutions. Not everyone wishes us to be creative. There is usually a bit more tolerance of difference in men than women.
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I have some real problem with some people who may or may not be trying to force me to go there way. Once my back is up it is hard to let go of the resistance i feel. I didn’t understand that this is common with ADHD. yes there are people who are controlling and yes I can be controlling ( often i know why). How can i disable that button long enough so I can make an intelligence choices rather than emotional ones?
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How do I keep my imagination and curiosity at bay while i get into project. I NEED to write a letter to my daughter and i am just blank. I am frustrated that i can’t sit still long enough to get started. Sometimes i trick myself but telling myself something else is important so i can think that i am procrastinating on that one and hence do the task i really want done.
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what other issues do we have today? Feel free to dump in a few and we will see if any of them take. I’m off to see if I can convince myself it is OK to write that letter.
Nora
Well hello @TeachShar @newnoz and @Seenie. For some reason, I did not receive email notifications so I will have to check into my settings. Yes this community has been far too quiet.
Nora, what kind of mixed breed is your dog? We have only had mixed breeds until our current dog, Jake, who is a vizsla. Right now I am varmint sitting for a huge Malamut named Kato and three cats: Phoenix, Harrison and Jocko. And I am not a huge cat fan, but they kind of grow on you. As does their cat hair.
I too find I have memory issues. I think it’s a normal part of aging. I use reminders and calendars and notes and send emails to myself. I also think our brains get so overloaded that as we age, the brain finally refuses to store uninteresting things lol.
That’s interesting what you say about resistance being common with ADHD. I also find I can be, well, stubborn, but I do find I mellow as I age. There are a lot of good books and audiobooks out there that can help one improve on something they want to improve on. For me, it was worrying, and being a type A personality. I read a lot and I listened to a lot of mp3s or audiobooks about this at night; it’s amazing how much the subconscious stores.
You mentioned you have a daughter? Adult, teen, or child? I find starting a project the hardest but once I get going, then it usually flows. I think this is very common with ADHD. I have found that setting a time limit for starting the task and then rewarding myself after works very well; like, I am going to spend half an hour starting this letter to …, I won’t try to make it perfect first crack and maybe just jot points down to take off some of the pressure, and then after half an hour, I will stop and go for a walk with my dog, or read a book, or do a puzzle. Often, I end up working longer than the half hour, but psychologically, the time limit thing works.
And since it’s a few days later, did you write the letter?
@TeachShar, I do have anxiety as well, definitely OCD tendencies, no hoarding but I do pick skin as a habit. Started biting my nails at the age of 40. I have to look up LhasaPoo.
I’m 54, retired as well (but long ago from teaching, later, it was social work). I would have been really depressed with this social isolation but luckily we have had a few friends who also isolated, so we isolated together. Especially in March, that was essential for my mental health. But now that the weather is getting nicer here, it is getting easier.
Where does everyone live?
Quinn
Hello everyone! Nice to see all you three relative newbies here, and wow, you sure have brought up a lot of issues that you, as well as many other people with add/adhd, have.
I think we should see whether there are a few more folks who’d like to join in this conversation! Isolation and restrictions are really hard for all of us, but for people with attention deficits they must be extra difficult.
I’m putting this post “out there” amongst our members. C’mon everyone, say hello or (even better) tell us how you’re coping with the restrictions of the pandemic.
Seenie from ModSupport
PS If you haven’t been on your support site for a while, and you can’t remember how to log on or remember your password do this:
- Go to lifewithadd.org:
- Your user name is the email address this message came to
- Click on “Forgot my Password” even if you remember it.
- Follow the on-screen prompt and go check your email (inbox or spam)
You’ll be back in! Looking forward to hearing from you again.
cc: @trust_level_0
Just curious
If i wasn’t logged in I don’t know if i could read this.
Oh well
Mysteries
Nora
My memory was ALWAYS bad. Now it’s amazing what i can forget. I used to get in trouble all the time. No one knew why I did’nt do stuff and they sometimes assumed they could punish me into it.
At 68 there’s not a lot of change likely to happen. I read all the time. All sorts of stuff.
My oldest child will be 50 in July.
Right now i am trying to get that letter written and see where i am? LOL
Nora
Keep us posted on that letter. Right now I am trying to motivate myself to do something I don’t want to do. But first, more coffee.
Quinn
Not so mysterious, N. 
Our sites are open to the public for read-only purposes. Anyone can see the posts, but nothing about the poster. (If you think about it, it has to be that way because otherwise nobody would ever find the community!) Posting and messaging is a member-only facility. And that is also why we ask a lot of questions when people join up: we want this community to be populated with genuine patients who want to give as well as get support. That’s a bit of a rare thing in cyberspace. 
That’s also why it’s so important to have a very opaque screen name here, and especially not to use your real-life name. I often suggest that members “vaguify” their location to a fairly large region. It helps if other members know approximately where you are (because where you live tells them something about health care and resources that may be available to you) but stating your town is probably not a great idea.
When you are logged in, there are also some nifty tricks that you can do. One is you can click on a member’s avatar, and see their profile. You can then click on “message” and send them a message. You can t@g them to catch their attention. But these things only work when you are logged in.
Try clicking on @Quinn’s or @TeachShar’s avatars!
Have a great day!
Seenie
Hi Sharon! This is Sharon, from ModSupport. I was looking at some posts, and realized that you’re in Pennsylvania. I’m in New York, and I’m definitely appreciating that the quarantine is slowly lifting here, and of course, better weather is here.
I wanted to see how you were doing now, and if you find that the restrictions starting to be lifted is helping you out as well.
Sharon from ModSupport