Put your vape and weed behind the snacks you bought that one time that taste like ass in the cabinet you don’t store anything useful in.
Especially with ADHD we are triggered to action by outside stimulus including sight. If you don’t see your weed and it’s inconvenient to get to you’ll be less likely to go for it when you’re bored. You can always make a scheduled “smoking weed” event and pop it into your calendar/alarm to make it a regulated thing.
Alternatively, if it’s really a big issue - then you may just have to get rid of your weed. Addictions are common in people with ADHD so there are some things we just have to abstain from (like, I’d absolutely urge folks with ADHD to never indulge in gambling or heavy drugs… weed is a borderline thing that is much less naturally addictive)
Oh man. First time I went to the casino, I brought $40 and left my wallet in the car on purpose as I didn’t trust myself not to go crazy. Good thinking on my end… By the time I was done spending that amount, I was already scheming ways to go and grab my wallet without the people I was there with seeing me go back to the car. The very few times I went back since were with my wife, and she’s great at recognizing and regulating what I call my “stupid brain”, but it really showed me how I shouldn’t be trusted alone with that shit. I can definitely see it becoming a problem if I ever went alone…
I never understood this one. I have ADHD and autism and I find gambling boring as hell. With maybe the exception of blackjack. Where my autistic brain tries to count cards.
I remember the day I turned 21. I decided to try out a casino. I spent $50 there and promptly left. Maybe I just lucked out and they didn’t hook me with an easy win early on?
I’d much rather spend $50 on a video game that I can entertain myself with for hours.
It’s not a universal trait. Neurotypical folks are susceptible as well. It’s just that ADHD ups the chances of those reward centers lighting up like a Christmas tree.
I’ve never enjoyed casinos. The disorientation of the layouts, lights, and sounds that are designed to keep people time blind and engaged served as an effective deterrent for my overwhelmed senses.
But early in adulthood I very much grew to enjoy the rush of the ebay auction countdown. Looter type games were mostly limited to PC back then so I didn’t get access to them. I only played the lottery sporadically, whether out of boredom when I worked at a place that sold scratch offs, or when the lure of a big prize outweighed the obviousness of setting money on fire.
But then one day one of my favorite game franchises announced a mobile version. I didn’t really use my phone for games because it was mostly microtransaction hell etc. But I had been into Fire Emblem for many years so I figured I’d give it a chance. I vaguely knew what “gacha” meant, and the initial pull did nothing for me. But the game itself was like the perfect pocket version of FE gameplay. So I stuck with it and had fun. But of course, the real game was the slot machine, and the drip feed of the in-game currency to keep the gacha mechanic top of mind.
It wasn’t long before I put a table together to try and figure out what bundle deal gave the best exchange rate for real world money to game tokens. And not long after that I started buying here and there. And once the seal was broken, The Chase began in earnest. Bonus deep depression for the next few months made it that much worse. And it got very bad.
There are those that would argue that gacha/lootbox isn’t gambling, it’s opening a pack of baseball cards. But a pack of baseball cards isn’t tied to visuals, sounds, and timing honed from decades of data to maximize player retention and spend. And when baseball cards are presented that way, say, on someone’s YouTube channel… people watch. Same with Pokémon cards. Magic cards. It’s just people opening packs and reacting. But it gets views. It was part of the madness in 2020 and 2021, when people were bum rushing the card aisle when Target etc opened for the day. It was crazy. And this is all before even mentioning the Kinder Egg phenomenon… where it’s just people opening little toys. And kids will watch. For hours. It’s horrifying.
When it comes down to it, the rush people get from gambling isn’t necessarily from the money. The money is just the rationalization. The rush is from the anticipation. The uncertainty. It’s The Chase. You can make almost anything into a Skinner box. And there are a subset of people who are susceptible to that manipulation, and a line around the corner of ways to take advantage.
Oh yes, totally understood. I’ve seen families destroyed from sports gambling and other, less boisterous forms of it.
If I like anything, it’s scratchers and it’s because they’re soooooo satisfying to “play”. But it’s only something I indulge in occasionally.
Anyways, I tried to get into MMO’s back in the early days with all my friends. I tired of it fairly quickly. I guess the novelty seeking part of my brain overwhelmingly rejects typical “gambling” mechanics. Loot boxes don’t do anything for me and never have.
More recently I’ve grown completely frustrated with franchises like Forza Horizon and their little slot machine / skinner box mechanic. I love racing games, but it made me stop playing.
I can be addicted to things, but it just isn’t gambling for me somehow.
I do resent MMO’s for destroying so many of my friend’s lives though. Weird to lose people to that ecosystem, it’s the video game equivalent to losing someone to an MLM.
Also fuuuuuck, MLMs, almost did the “vector marketing” (cutco cutlery) and “rainbow vacuum” thing - the only thing that saved me was that Youtube had existed for like 5 years by then and there was enough people out there with their stories.
Put your vape and weed behind the snacks you bought that one time that taste like ass in the cabinet you don’t store anything useful in.
Especially with ADHD we are triggered to action by outside stimulus including sight. If you don’t see your weed and it’s inconvenient to get to you’ll be less likely to go for it when you’re bored. You can always make a scheduled “smoking weed” event and pop it into your calendar/alarm to make it a regulated thing.
Alternatively, if it’s really a big issue - then you may just have to get rid of your weed. Addictions are common in people with ADHD so there are some things we just have to abstain from (like, I’d absolutely urge folks with ADHD to never indulge in gambling or heavy drugs… weed is a borderline thing that is much less naturally addictive)
A thousand times this. That was a hard fucking lesson to learn.
I supported myself with Blackjack for a few months. It was fun until it wasn’t fun at all.
Oh man. First time I went to the casino, I brought $40 and left my wallet in the car on purpose as I didn’t trust myself not to go crazy. Good thinking on my end… By the time I was done spending that amount, I was already scheming ways to go and grab my wallet without the people I was there with seeing me go back to the car. The very few times I went back since were with my wife, and she’s great at recognizing and regulating what I call my “stupid brain”, but it really showed me how I shouldn’t be trusted alone with that shit. I can definitely see it becoming a problem if I ever went alone…
I never understood this one. I have ADHD and autism and I find gambling boring as hell. With maybe the exception of blackjack. Where my autistic brain tries to count cards.
I remember the day I turned 21. I decided to try out a casino. I spent $50 there and promptly left. Maybe I just lucked out and they didn’t hook me with an easy win early on?
I’d much rather spend $50 on a video game that I can entertain myself with for hours.
It’s not a universal trait. Neurotypical folks are susceptible as well. It’s just that ADHD ups the chances of those reward centers lighting up like a Christmas tree.
I’ve never enjoyed casinos. The disorientation of the layouts, lights, and sounds that are designed to keep people time blind and engaged served as an effective deterrent for my overwhelmed senses.
But early in adulthood I very much grew to enjoy the rush of the ebay auction countdown. Looter type games were mostly limited to PC back then so I didn’t get access to them. I only played the lottery sporadically, whether out of boredom when I worked at a place that sold scratch offs, or when the lure of a big prize outweighed the obviousness of setting money on fire.
But then one day one of my favorite game franchises announced a mobile version. I didn’t really use my phone for games because it was mostly microtransaction hell etc. But I had been into Fire Emblem for many years so I figured I’d give it a chance. I vaguely knew what “gacha” meant, and the initial pull did nothing for me. But the game itself was like the perfect pocket version of FE gameplay. So I stuck with it and had fun. But of course, the real game was the slot machine, and the drip feed of the in-game currency to keep the gacha mechanic top of mind.
It wasn’t long before I put a table together to try and figure out what bundle deal gave the best exchange rate for real world money to game tokens. And not long after that I started buying here and there. And once the seal was broken, The Chase began in earnest. Bonus deep depression for the next few months made it that much worse. And it got very bad.
There are those that would argue that gacha/lootbox isn’t gambling, it’s opening a pack of baseball cards. But a pack of baseball cards isn’t tied to visuals, sounds, and timing honed from decades of data to maximize player retention and spend. And when baseball cards are presented that way, say, on someone’s YouTube channel… people watch. Same with Pokémon cards. Magic cards. It’s just people opening packs and reacting. But it gets views. It was part of the madness in 2020 and 2021, when people were bum rushing the card aisle when Target etc opened for the day. It was crazy. And this is all before even mentioning the Kinder Egg phenomenon… where it’s just people opening little toys. And kids will watch. For hours. It’s horrifying.
When it comes down to it, the rush people get from gambling isn’t necessarily from the money. The money is just the rationalization. The rush is from the anticipation. The uncertainty. It’s The Chase. You can make almost anything into a Skinner box. And there are a subset of people who are susceptible to that manipulation, and a line around the corner of ways to take advantage.
Oh yes, totally understood. I’ve seen families destroyed from sports gambling and other, less boisterous forms of it.
If I like anything, it’s scratchers and it’s because they’re soooooo satisfying to “play”. But it’s only something I indulge in occasionally.
Anyways, I tried to get into MMO’s back in the early days with all my friends. I tired of it fairly quickly. I guess the novelty seeking part of my brain overwhelmingly rejects typical “gambling” mechanics. Loot boxes don’t do anything for me and never have.
More recently I’ve grown completely frustrated with franchises like Forza Horizon and their little slot machine / skinner box mechanic. I love racing games, but it made me stop playing.
I can be addicted to things, but it just isn’t gambling for me somehow.
I do resent MMO’s for destroying so many of my friend’s lives though. Weird to lose people to that ecosystem, it’s the video game equivalent to losing someone to an MLM.
Also fuuuuuck, MLMs, almost did the “vector marketing” (cutco cutlery) and “rainbow vacuum” thing - the only thing that saved me was that Youtube had existed for like 5 years by then and there was enough people out there with their stories.