This episode is sponsored by the Great Courses Plus.
I'll talk more about that at the end of this episode.
Hello Brains.
I have been doing this channel for five years now.
As someone with ADHD, learning about ADHD, teaching people about ADHD...
...I have seen a lot of ADHD memes but not all of them.
So my team put together a bunch of ADHD memes...
...that I may or may not have seen before.
And I'm going to react to them.
I'm actually kind of nervous about this.
I have no idea what I'm walking into or what I've agreed to here.
♪ [ intro music ] ♪
Okay. Here's the first one.
[ laughing ]
Whoever made this is brillia -- okay
"Missing, have you seen us? Important item. ADHD, single player hide-and-seek."
There's so many things about this meme that I love.
I have an extra pair of glasses, in case I need help finding my glasses.
"Instead of calling it a to-do list, I've started writing side-quests at the top...
...to make it seem more fun and interesting and boy has that not worked at all."
Oh! This one! Ah! I feel this one in my soul.
Someone shared this idea of side quests with me...
...and I thought it was the most brilliant thing ever.
And I totally used it for like a week...
...before I was like: "This is still laundry though."
"When you forget to take your ADHD meds...
...something's wrong. I can feel it."
Yes! But you don't feel it until it's too late to take them.
Because otherwise you're going to be up all night.
Because you keep working. It's the worst.
It's so hard having a condition that makes you forget things.
Because then you forget to do the things you need to do to manage your condition.
"Don't you just love how mental disorders are basically buy one, get seven free?"
"I didn't really want the first one. My mom made me buy it."
"Mine's a family heirloom, passed down through generations."
Yeah, this is really accurate though.
ADHD is really genetic.
And it generally comes with a comorbidity.
Anxiety, depression, Autism.
It's fun. ADHD is fun.
"Wednesday to-do. Fold laundry, wash dishes, go shopping, go for a run, clean bathroom."
"It's been one of those days. At least I can cross something off my list."
[ laughing ] Wednesday.
Ah, I love this. This is so brilliant. Who made this?
I like the acceptance in this.
I like the going: "You know what, I still get to cross something off my list."
It's today. I got through Wednesday. It counts.
"Me: I'll do it at six. Time: 6:05...
...me: wow looks like I gotta wait till 7 now."
[ laughing ]
What is it about that? I feel you.
Send me more memes. I love all of these.
These are great. They're making me think, they're making me laugh.
It's fantastic.
"One molecule of Serotonin trying to keep me going throughout the day."
It's trying so hard. Oh, I feel for it.
Now I wanna help out the Serotonin.
Like, get it some buddies.
How do you Serotonin? I'm gonna Google it.
"How-to Serotonin."
Food, exercise, bright lights, supplements.
♪ ♪
"I can't concentrate on this work until I've had a break."
"I can't enjoy this break until I've finished my work."
Oh my gosh! Me! Yes!
I find that ADHD-ers tend to fall in one of two categories.
Why should I start work, because once I start work it will never end.
Because I'm used to procrastinating and once I start work...
...I don't get to stop for 18 hours.
Or I am so anxious, I have to finish the work...
...before I take a break.
Otherwise I will not finish the work.
I'm that one.
"Wow. How did you get like that?"
"Every time my symptoms come up, I do one push-up."
[ laughing ]
I would be so strong!
Who wants to do the ADHD meme push-up challenge with me?
This is a great idea.
Also encourages mindfulness.
[ laughing ]
It doesn't even bother me anymore you guys.
Hang on. How many-- how many emails do I have right now?
2080. I'm actually surprised. That's low.
Oh, that's just that account. Okay.
"My ADHD gives me a hard time remembering what someone just said to me."
"Can-- can you repeat the part of the stuff where you said about all the things?"
This is a working memory issue.
I'm saying this because I didn't know that and I thought I was dumb.
And it's really common in ADHD.
Can I punch a meme?
Is that okay? Like, can I just?
This one makes me angry.
No, everyone doesn't have a little ADHD. No.
Everybody might get distracted or have ADHD symptoms.
But that doesn't mean they have ADHD.
And focusing is not easy.
We can focus on things that are interesting and engaging to our brains.
We can actually hyperfocus on those things.
So a lot of people think you can't have ADHD because you focus on the things you like.
Well, yeah, that's what your brain's interested in.
Focusing on things that you aren't interested in...
...that your brain is not engaged in...
...is like trying to nail jello to the wall.
And I'm not exaggerating.
It's painful.
It's painfull and it's not even possible sometimes.
Without strategies and treatment and support.
It is so hard.
I cannot stress enough: No, everyone does not have a little ADHD...
...and no, focusing is not easy.
And it does not matter how important the thing is.
If it's not engaging to our brain, our brain's not going to focus on it.
Dangit. Apparently if I just want to have fun, I need to read memes that are not about ADHD.
Because I can't not get deep on these things.
"Welcome to Animal Crossing."
Yeah, I loved Animal Crossing!
"I have a consistent income and a house of my very own.
All my friends are here and we all look out for each other.
Everything's great."
[ laughing ]
There's a difference between like, distracting ourselves when we need to...
...and straight up avoidance. Where we're like...
"I am not actually able to make life work for me in the real world.
So I'm gonna do it on this video game."
And I just live here now. We don't want to live there now.
But I get it.
[ laughing ]
"Cinnamon Bun. $1.-- Not actual size."
[ laughing ]
I just wanna know who tried to get mad...
...that the cinnamon roll wasn't the size of a truck?
That they had to be like this is not the actual size.
I like cinnamon rolls so much.
Dani! Ahw! This is Dani Donovan...
...who's a great friend of mine now.
This is her first comic.
And I actually have a copy of it that she signed for me.
I love it so much.
"Start of story, end of story." That is not ADHD storytelling.
"ADHD storytelling: pre-story prologue for context...
...start of story, too many details, semi-related side-story...
...okay back to the main story, something I just now remembered...
...lose train of thought, what was I talking about?...
...realize I've been talking too long, wrap story up and finally get to the point..
...end of story, apologize."
The best thing about being friends with somebody with ADHD...
...is you don't have to apologize.
Oh! "Get overwhelmed by a big task?"
"Break it into steps to make it easier." Yes! Yes!
"Get overwhelmed by all the steps? Get overwhelmed by all the steps."
This is why I don't break it into all the steps.
I break down the first few steps at least.
And if the first step is too big? Break it down.
Okay, so what's the first step of that first step?
And do that.
And some days-- some days that's opening my laptop.
"Where is the thing?"
Oh! I'm exited about this one.
"Carelessly set down. I forgot where."
"Deliberately put in special place. I forgot where."
[ laughing ] Oh my God, yes!
It's almost worse if you deliberately put it in a special place.
Because then it's not one of your normal places.
Oh my God, this is so relatable!
Whoever made this; I want to hug you.
This is fantastic.
I love how many more ADHD memes there are now than when I started.
I used to look up ADHD memes...
...and there are so many of these that I've never seen before.
This is fantastic.
So, if you aren't familiar with the Great Courses Plus...
...it's a subscription service that offers courses...
...from actual professors and experts in their field.
It's great for people with ADHD...
...because there are a lot of courses to choose from on all kinds of different topics.
Whatever you're interested in.
You can watch, pause, skip lessons, come back to them later.
And recently I was really grateful for it.
As a kid, I took piano lessons.
But I quit because I thought my hands were too small.
And I'd never be good.
I also wasn't great about actually practicing.
And I didn't want to waste my parent's money on lessons.
Last week, I impulsively bought a piano.
One of my goals this year is to get in touch with things I like to do.
Whether or not they benefit anyone but me.
A couple of days later, I was wondering if I would regret it.
If I'd actually practice or if I'd just give up on it again.
And it would become just another surface to dump stuff on.
But I found a course on learning piano.
The course is free with my subscription.
So I don't have to worry about how much I'm spending on lessons.
And I'm gonna take it. And I think this time I might actually learn.
If you want to try the Great Courses Plus...
...go to thegreatcoursesplus.com/howtoadhd or click on the description below...
...to start your free trial today.
Just make sure to set a reminder to decide if you'd like to keep it...
...before they bill your card.
This is amazing. I hope you guys had fun.
I had fun. I hope you learned some things.
If these memes seemed relatable, and you want to learn more about ADHD...
...check out our content.
We have a lot of educational content about ADHD.
And how our brains work.
And how to work with them, not against them.
And if you share this episode on social media or with your friends...
...maybe somebody who didn't even realize they had ADHD...
...might find out that that's something they struggle with.
And they can get the support they need and deserve.
So, share this video. Like, subscribe, click all the things...
And I will see you next video.
Bye Brains!
♪ ♪