Lived Experience Forum

[Jynx]

Ooh matcha, I tried a matcha latte once and was not really a fan - is it better as an herbal tea you reckon @creative_writer?

Brain fog is a big ol' mood lol - though the meds help a lot with that. I've at times described the feeling of being medicated as 'being able to think in a straight line'. Though your mileage may vary of course! Like you say, we're all so different. 

Aww thanks, me too 🤞

How many assignments left? Learned anything super cool or interesting lately? Yeah placement is fast approaching hey! 

[creative_writer]

@PinkFlamingo goodnight, I hope you sleep well 💖🫂

@Jynx I’ll be honest, I have never tried matcha in a latte form so have no idea what it tastes like. The idea always appeared weird for me. I’ve always had it in tea form, I’ve mixed it with honey and at times with ginger.

Some of the bipolar medication can make one drowsy too. MH issues can also burn one out over time. I don’t think it’s something that can be fully resolved with ADHD meds, maybe one needs time off away from everything. I have 3 assignments to go, haven’t really learnt anything cool lately. Placement starts in less than a month 😅

[Jynx]

@creative_writer mayhaps I will have to try the non-latte version then haha. 

Yeah you're 100% right - in fact I don't think there's anything in the mh world that can be completely solved with meds, and it can lead us astray to believe otherwise.

Time off away from everything sounds like bliss hey! Do you reckon you'll be able to take that time once your degree finishes up? 

Also, I'm off! Nighty night, we can potentially chat more tomorrow 💜

[PinkFlamingo]

Hey there @creative_writer 🙂🌺

I hope your day is starting well after some good rest last night ☺️

I slept less than three hours due to heart issues, but that’s ok - I’ll likely sleep better tonight 🙂

I hope your doing ok today 🌺

[creative_writer]

@Jynx those of us who are ND get overstimulated very easily, I think that extra stress can build up. I think many people in my course are feeling that burn out. I think taking some time away after my course will help. I finish around the end of Nov, got a few good months to go. I also think a lighter second semester will also help, I only have 2.5 units to do, and they all seem okay. This semester was content heavy. I hope you slept well 💖🫂

@PinkFlamingo I slept okay. I hope you are able to get some rest 💖🫂, lack of sleep can really affect someone's MH and physical health. I hope today is kind towards you

[PinkFlamingo]

Thanks so much @creative_writer 🤗🙌🏻🌺💜

yes indeed, lack of sleep isn’t the optimal for health is it🌺

However, I will be alright thank you - I have plenty of heart medicine on hand and I haven’t got a lot of brain hard work to do today, so I’ll be able to rest pretty much as needed today 🙂🌺

I hope your day goes well 🤗🌺

I’ll be on and off here today if you’d like to continue chatting, otherwise take good care and catch you next time ☺️

[Jynx]

How're you travelling today @creative_writer?

Oh yeah, burn out is HUGE amongst my ND friends hey. One of them told me he'd done a bit of research into ND burnout - apparently it's a pattern that ND folks will seemingly be 'doing fine' (aka appearing neurotypical to a degree) and then reach a point where they suddenly just crash and burn. But in reality it wasn't actually sudden, it was a slow buildup compounded by the enormous energy required to constantly mask, the constant overstimulation of our modern world, and having to attend to the myriad of tasks we gotta do as part of this whole 'adulting' business (and yes, I do have a whole rant about how I think 'adulting/adulthood' is a myth, just like 'laziness'... but I digress). So if you do end up burning out supes hard, just remember that whilst we do always have some degree of choice and personal responsibility, we also always ought to factor in our social context and the pressures placed on us all to conform, provide labour, and produce capital. Oh no now I'm headed into anti-capitalism rant territory 😅

I'm glad your next sem will be a lot more chill, nice note to end on! Do you have any thoughts about what you wanna do once you're done? Lil holiday or something? Spend the week in bed? Take yourself out somewhere nice? Definitely a milestone worth celebrating!

[creative_writer]

@PinkFlamingo I hope you were able to take it easy 💖🫂I did some uni stuff, but it’s still a struggle to get through it, I’m getting through it slowly, slowly.

@Jynx I feel like adulting is just hard. There are so many things one needs to juggle with. I don’t think many people see how much it takes of me to get through every single day. It’s absolutely exhausting. I’m so drained and feeling sort of scattered minded. Assignments can really drain you. I’ve done half of one of mine, I do need to look back and tidy it up though. It’s so weird, one of the assignments requires us to write two shorter essays. I’ll need time in bed after it all😅. A holiday doesn’t sound like a bad idea either, will see when the time comes

[Jynx]

Yeah absolutely @creative_writer the amount of menial tasks and daily check boxes is bonkers. Hence the propensity for burnout for ND folks who have a neurotype entirely unsuited to the minutae of it all 😑

Assignments are soooo draining! Sustained concentration, the creativity required to write (even the boring stuff), constant decision-making, and some of the research papers and textbooks are soooo dry and dense... Yeeeesh! I do hope you're proud of the work you're putting into it all, alongside the regular and constant work of adulting and surviving. A holiday would be well-deserved! 

Where would you go? Feel free to give two answers - one for 'if you could go ANYWHERE' and the other for 'what is realistic and affordable' 😝

[creative_writer]

@Jynx it’s so exhausting. I’m just doing what I can before I see my psychiatrist again. I’ve been living off caffeine from matcha, it’s expensive but worth it if it helps a bit. Prefer it over coffee, I barely put any coffee in this morning with breakfast, and my
GERD acted up. I don’t know if I’ll have to cut it altogether, but I like the taste of it with chocolate powder. We also have lots of coffee. I can always use it up with hair rinses if I have to give it up. I had coffee with milk, I wouldn’t drink it without milk , my stomach would cry from black coffee.

One of my assignments does involve a policy change proposal, which will be exciting. I am also interested to see what comes from the scoping review. I don’t find the current assignment I’ve been working on all that interesting. I’ve been doing lots of blabbering on it, and struggled to proof read it today, maybe I’ll need to tell word to read it out loud since I am getting nowhere.

I’ve wanted to visit Japan and Türkiye. It’s also been a while since I’ve seen my relatives in Pakistan, I kind of have mixed feelings, like I want to go but then I don’t want to be asked about marriage. But then who knows, what if I’m in a relationship by then, nobody can say anything then. Where would you like to go?