ATTENTION Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) episodes aren’t a complicated concept; it’s simple stuff that happens to me because I have it.
There are a lot of quirky attributes that people with ADHD have, and I guess everyone, in general, has their quirks. Anyway, here are some of mine that are direct results of my condition.
I’m always losing stuff or forgetting things…sometimes in my hand
I remember a few days ago I was having a full-on panic attack because I thought someone had snuck into our house and stolen my phone. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I was at the point of going hysterical when I found it in the deep freeze…I’d forgotten that I had put it there because it was over-heating. But then again, now it was a little too cool. The week before, I had lost my phone in my hand and spent a good ten minutes searching for it while holding it. Yes, seriously.
I Jump and Cartwheel for No Reason Whatsoever
ADHD doesn’t mean just being attention deficit, but hyperactive as well. In other words, I have moments where I have a tremendous burst of energy that I don’t know what to do with. When I’m at home I jump…literally jump. There’s no plausible way to explain this to anyone who does not go through hyperactive episodes. I’ve been doing that since I was ten years old.
When I was younger, I would run up and down the stairs. And when we lived in a bungalow with a long hallway, I would run up and down the hallway. I stopped running up and down places when once I was running and a rat was running across the hall at the same time, and I accidentally stepped on it and jumped to the moon. The rat died, and I felt bad and also traumatised, so jumping stuck with me.
With jumping, I’d never been at risk of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) come after my butt. But there’s no way to explain why I’m jumping to people so often I have to fall back on the “I’m exercising” excuse. It doesn’t make people question your sanity when they think that jumping is your attempt at a thigh gap. Which makes me wonder what sanity really is because doing jump-jacks to get legs like SpongeBob SquarePants is normal but jumping to relief excess amounts of energy is “weird”.
When I’m in public, sometimes I cartwheel when I’m hyperactive. I’m not trying to show off that I can cartwheel…okay actually I am, but I’m also going through a hyperactive episode.
My Mind Works on Overdrive At Night When I Want to Sleep
Sometimes it takes me six hours to get to sleep because a thousand ideas are running through my mind like a full-length movie. And they won’t let me sleep until it’s time for me to wake up and be productive and then my brain is like “nope, we’re sleeping now”. This isn’t normal insomnia and I got a tip that before I sleep I should drink something with caffeine because it has the opposite effect on an ADHD brain and helps us to calm down and concentrate enough to fall asleep. Believe it or not, your brain does need to concentrate somewhat in order to fall asleep.
ADHD episodes are pretty unpredictable and can be sometimes triggered by things that are happening within the vicinity. Sometimes I’m hyperactive and need to jump for no reason and sometimes it’s because I’m listening to some really good music or watching a really good movie and it stimulates my brain to the point of hyperactivity. So far I’ve learned how to navigate around them and if you ever see me doing cartwheels on the street then just clap for me and give me validation, I’m going through something.
Tanatswa Taruvinga is a quintessential Gen Zer. She doesn’t like to define herself, she just is, so if you really want to get to know her follow her on Twitter and Instagram @tanatswaforever. She tries to be as real and unfiltered as possible. Also, check out her creative blog wotsonyourmind.wordpress.com
Picture Credit: Brett Clouser on Unsplash
