this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2023
182 points (94.6% liked)

ADHD

9748 readers
566 users here now

A casual community for people with ADHD

Values:

Acceptance, Openness, Understanding, Equality, Reciprocity.

Rules:

Encouraged:

Relevant Lemmy communities:

Autism

ADHD Memes

Bipolar Disorder

Therapy

Mental Health

Neurodivergent Life Hacks

lemmy.world/c/adhd will happily promote other ND communities as long as said communities demonstrate that they share our values.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

The impulsivity is bad, wasted so much money and time. The hyperfocus, when on the wrong task, has cost me hours in that day. The poor planning / time management has landed me in a world of hurt more times than I care to admit. The low tolerance for distractions / hot temper has caused me to hurt those whom I love most in this world. The inability to properly direct my focus on a task has caused me to lose sight of, and therefore miss, deadlines.

That's all bad.

But the worst part for me? The part that doctors don't seem to even attempt to address (except for direct symptom management, which barely work)? Emotional mirroring. If you're depressed and I'm with you, guess what happens to me? Today sucked. Depression is an unrelenting bitch, and I hate her with every fiber of my being.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Kiosade@lemmy.ca 23 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Wait… you’re telling me emotional mirroring is an ADHD thing all this time?? I thought I just kind of had it. Didn’t know it was related to ADHD.

[–] Dunstabzugshaubitze@feddit.de 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Emotional mirrorring in general is something all humans experience. What is often linked to adhd are emotional regulation issues, so maybe we could experience mirrored emotions in a different intensity than someone without a simmiliar condition.

[–] Kiosade@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago

That makes sense. I do tend to take on people’s moods pretty quickly and strongly. I thought it was just me “being sensitive” but this has me rethinking things…

[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Came to ask the same ... I've spoke to others about this we've just talked it up to being more hardwired for empathy in a certain way.

First I've heard this is an ADHD or even ND thing (I'm not diagnosed or anything BTW).

For me, this rings very true. Like to the point that it's one of my main difficulties with dealing with people. For being productive, I need either severe loneliness or a tight group of the "right people" all on the same wavelength. Otherwise I'm absorbing others' moods and even habits and outlooks.

[–] Kiosade@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

Exactly, I thought it was an empathy thing, but if it’s an ADHD thing that’s interesting.

And yeah I feel the same about the work space. Hell I work from home most of the time, but I’m always texting one of my coworkers to talk about various things. I’ve noticed the past year or two that he’s really got a chip on his shoulder, and talks shit about some of our coworkers he’s frustrated with. So I end up going along with it more often than not, but I’ve been realizing i don’t ALWAYS feel the same way about these people, and that his mood often bums me out. It’s one of many reasons I’m trying to find a new job.

My doctor said it was a symptom of some forms of ADHD. She said an official name for it, but I don't remember it. She described it as 'emotional mirroring', and it made so much sense. I've been dealing with it for years, thinking it was normal for everyone. At least I know I do this now, and can try to regulate. Just couldn't seem to be able to yesterday.