ADHD memes

I want to tell people this sometimes, but I figure they'll just think I'm mansplaining mansplaining.

You forgot about the part of option 2 where you realize midway through explaining that the other person either understood and you misread the situation, or they just don't care, but now you've gotten too far into the explanation and you just have to power through even though literally every fiber of your being is telling you to shut up

... wait

that's a thing, sure, but at least personally most of the time it's neither of these, it's "i have so much knowledge of this topic lodged inside my brain that it's fighting to escape and i have a profound need to talk about it to others, and there is no greater joy in life than having a person ask follow-up questions"

Option 3: I work in IT. I see on a daily basis people with bachelor's and PHDs doing some of the stupidest shit. I assume no one knows fuck all.

Them: "My camera for teams isn't working please help!"

Me: Flicks open the webcam cover and smiles trying not to make them feel too bad😅

As the goto "Tech Support person" in my friend group, this really strikes a nerve. I really hope I haven't come off as a know-it-all. Trying to explain any kind of broad subject feels like playing pinball with all the thoughts in my brain while trying not to let the conversation flow sink into the gutter.

I feel for me it’s more like:

A problem is presented to me that I haven’t encountered before but I feel like I’m expected to help. So I start talking while my brain works its way through all possible scenarios leading to me rambling on until I maybe possibly arrive at a conclusion which will hopefully make the whole thing make sense in the end.

Of course later, once the situation has long resolved, my brain will have completed a few other calculations subconsciously and I will know for sure that I was an idiot and you, the person I tried to help, will probably think so too. 😆

Is bolding every other word an ADHD thing or some zoomer thing

Oh man this hits hard.

I've been working on a project at work lately and everything I explain to people about it (namely people above my boss), I feel like I have to give like 5 years of backstory first.

I feel called out.

Isn't mansplaining just being condescending?

My dad does the opposite of mansplaining, he explains things using terminology and concepts that are way above my level of understanding and gets frustrated when I ask too many clarifying questions or when I struggle to catch on.

It fucked with me pretty bad growing up and in an effort not to put other people through that I tend to assume people know little about esoteric subjects I'm talking about and try to explain things in a way the general layperson would understand. If they let on that they seem familiar with the subject then I adjust but I do often worry I'm coming off as being condescending :⁠-⁠\

I am so repetitive when explaining things or telling stories, it is awful.

Hm, I think it is probably a bit more nuanced than that. Sure, insecurity with rejection plays a huge role. So does having having a brain that orders information in a neurodivergent way, be it more jumbled up, associative or more structured.

I often need to know everything about a certain topic until I feel like I understand it. And it has to follow logic. If you only give me single bits, I will be confused. So when explaining stuff to other people, I try to convey as much information as I can because that's what I would need as well. This might easily be confused with mansplaining or with being pedantic. I point out logical fallacies when I spot them because my brain gets confused otherwise. Some people might also misread this as power play. But usually my insecurity speaks for itself I guess because if you are outwardly insecure it will fail as power play (e.g. mansplaining).

Another aspect of neurodivergent oversharing is getting obsessed with a special interest that then everything revolves around and you want to only talk about this topic. I guess it is a state where the brain is so focused on this one thing that the outside world just isn't as relevant. This might also be confused with mansplaining, but is probably more likely to be read as socially awkward? Although both have in common that the other person is seen as somewhat irrelevant and unknowing.

usually when i'm getting into some really nerdy shit, i tend to explain the ever living hell out of it, because shits complicated as fuck.

I could ask whether the other party knows it, but let's be real, i'm enjoying myself too much to ask lmao. Just tell me to stop and i will.

One great habit to get into is when you have something like this that can be mistaken for something rude you can just preemptively apologize for it. “I’m neurodivergent and have a tendency to overexplain” doesn’t make it not frustrating but it does make me not think you’re assuming I know fuck all. I also like using “I don’t know how much you know about x” it makes it very clear I understand you may be more knowledgeable than me on this

I'm autistic and I feel this.

I feel attacked

Third option: Neurotypical comms major

….oh