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this is me trying is just making my desire to write a book about a traumatized, twice-exceptional kid with ADHD EVEN STRONGER???? HOW!!! #thisismetrying #folklore 
Like...the degree to which I can link every SINGLE LYRIC to one or another symptom/comorbidity if ADHD......ridiculous.
You know what? Let’s go. This is a thread! Lyric by lyric.
Trigger warning for difficult mental health stuff probably!
Trigger warning for difficult mental health stuff probably!
“I've been having a hard time adjusting // I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting”
Okay first of all, executive dysfunction often makes change and transitions really, REALLY difficult for people with ADHD. The changes that can be hardest on us often involve growing up.
Okay first of all, executive dysfunction often makes change and transitions really, REALLY difficult for people with ADHD. The changes that can be hardest on us often involve growing up.
As a woman with ADHD I *felt* people around me become less and less tolerate of my ADHD over time because it’s often seen as a struggle that everyone deals with and just naturally outgrow.
I was undiagnosed as an adolescent, and not “outgrowing” my ADHD struggles was traumatic.
I was undiagnosed as an adolescent, and not “outgrowing” my ADHD struggles was traumatic.
“I didn't know if you'd care if I came back / / I have a lot of regrets about that”
I’m sorry, did someone say REJECTION SENSITIVITY DYSPHORIA?!?
Underestimating your importance to others? Obsessing over past mistakes or perceived failures to the point that it‘s debilitating.
I’m sorry, did someone say REJECTION SENSITIVITY DYSPHORIA?!?
Underestimating your importance to others? Obsessing over past mistakes or perceived failures to the point that it‘s debilitating.
Never have I see this feeling so succinctly articulated in a song. Like.....wow. I feel SEEN. Anyway...
CW: depression and suicide
“Pulled the car off the road to the lookout / /Could've followed my fears all the way down.”
Okay, I don’t think I’m reading too much into things by saying that this imagery is very dark and evokes suicidal ideation. Two major ADHD comorbidities.
“Pulled the car off the road to the lookout / /Could've followed my fears all the way down.”
Okay, I don’t think I’m reading too much into things by saying that this imagery is very dark and evokes suicidal ideation. Two major ADHD comorbidities.
Emotional dysregulation is one of the most impactful AND least talked about aspects of ADHD but it’s on full display here.
“I just wanted you to know that this is me trying / / I just wanted you to know that this is me trying”
I just.....the number of times I’ve said some version of this to the people I love....I’m emotional just thinking about it.
I just.....the number of times I’ve said some version of this to the people I love....I’m emotional just thinking about it.
I feel this constant need to reaffirm with my loved ones that they’re still okay with accepting me and my brokenness. This compulsion to reaffirm that “no, really, I’m trying. It may not look like it, it may not be good enough l, but this is me trying.”
Ouch. Ouch @taylorswift13
Ouch. Ouch @taylorswift13
“They told me all of my cages were mental / / So I got wasted like all my potential”
Okay SO much to unpack here.
First off, “you have so much potential” is something people with ADHD hear so much from teachers and parents and bosses that it’s become a meme. A sad, sad meme.
Okay SO much to unpack here.
First off, “you have so much potential” is something people with ADHD hear so much from teachers and parents and bosses that it’s become a meme. A sad, sad meme.
We spend our whole lives hearing neurotypicals tell us it’s all just a matter of buckling down and getting focused. That if we just tried hard enough, our problems would be solved. “All [our] cages are mental” after all...
Another note about the double entendre in “I got wasted like all my potential”:
Substance abuse is hugely comirbid with ADHD. Self-medicating, especially as a teenager and especially when undiagnosed, is a HUGE HUGE HUGE problem for people in our community.
Substance abuse is hugely comirbid with ADHD. Self-medicating, especially as a teenager and especially when undiagnosed, is a HUGE HUGE HUGE problem for people in our community.
Someone I love very much dealt with addiction as a teen and was undiagnosed for ADHD at the time and...yeah. It’s a massive thing that, again, no one seems to talk about??? Anyway...
“And my words shoot to kill when I'm mad / / I have a lot of regrets about that.”
Emotional reactivity and dysregulation??? Impulsive verbal shots followed by intense remorse and regret???
The tea is scalding. #ADHD
Emotional reactivity and dysregulation??? Impulsive verbal shots followed by intense remorse and regret???
The tea is scalding. #ADHD
“I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere / /
Fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here”
Okay, hot take? But the “gifted kid in middle/high school who burns out in college” trope exists primarily because twice exceptional ADHD/ND kids are under diagnosed.
Fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here”
Okay, hot take? But the “gifted kid in middle/high school who burns out in college” trope exists primarily because twice exceptional ADHD/ND kids are under diagnosed.
you can be academically gifted and still disabledthis should not be a stunning concept I masked my ADHD with my anxiety and did my best to use my skills and hyperfixations to “make up for” my forgetfulness and my lack of focus. I was ahead and behind simultaneously.
....until all my coping mechanisms were disrupted by college and I failed a class and had a mental breakdown...which lead to my butt in the waiting room of the mental health office...and a diagnosis
“Pouring out my heart to a stranger / /
But I didn't pour the whiskey”
Like....can you say addiction therapy??? A young adult seeking help for the problems that have come crashing down on them with age??? That have been mounting and building all their life???
But I didn't pour the whiskey”
Like....can you say addiction therapy??? A young adult seeking help for the problems that have come crashing down on them with age??? That have been mounting and building all their life???
“And it's hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound / / It's hard to be anywhere these days when all I want is you”
The emotional dysregulation!!! The social burnout!!! The masking!!! The intense feelings of attachment to those who make us feel safe!!!
The emotional dysregulation!!! The social burnout!!! The masking!!! The intense feelings of attachment to those who make us feel safe!!!
You're a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town
The hyperfixation!!! The constant replay of past events that have intense emotional significance!!! The obsessive looping thoughts and nostalgia!!!
The hyperfixation!!! The constant replay of past events that have intense emotional significance!!! The obsessive looping thoughts and nostalgia!!!
“At least I'm trying“
And what a hopeful ending. Our speaker is opening up to the idea that trying might just be enough. If you have #ADHD, you know how hard it can be to get there
And what a hopeful ending. Our speaker is opening up to the idea that trying might just be enough. If you have #ADHD, you know how hard it can be to get there
