Ahh, this is one of many things I wish my mom understood.

Nothin’ better than struggling to do things, then getting berated and called “lazy” for not doing the things. Thank goodness for my dad; when he realized that I struggle with phone calls (including very important ones, like with utilities and bill collectors), he had me sit with him as he initiated such a call. He provided a model of what to do and what to say, which I very much needed. Knowing roughly what to expect doesn’t completely take away the anxiety, but it definitely helps.

I still struggle to understand words spoken through a phone, but there’s not much I can do about that (except wear earbuds/headphones so I at least hear through both ears.) But that’s not ADHD, that’s undiagnosed auditory processing issues that may be linked to autism. I also can’t hear people well if others are talking around us, as I’m easily distracted by any speech I hear at all, even in languages I don’t understand.

On the plus side, I can detect and produce novel language sounds in a way that experts claim shouldn’t be possible at my age (over 35.) It’s a fun, useless superpower to be able to tell that somebody spent their childhood traveling around a lot, simply by the way they speak.

Oh no

That’s how I spend my days off, constantly in anxiety a out getting something done then I’m back at work, with a whole new set of anxiety.

It me

…i see myself in this position, good lord

So my wife definitely has this… How can I best support her when this is happening? I’ve just asked her as well, but more opinions/experienced thoughts can’t hurt.

And then anxiety bursts in telling you, you’re just too lazy and try to convince yourself you’re being sick instead, so you lazy fuck can feel better about yourself.