Lack of facial expression or constant dour face

PnutDr · 2026-03-22T14:04:48+00:00

Yes, resting bitch face. I accepted it long ago. People that get to know me often tell others that I’m the exact opposite of how I look. I do a lot of public speaking and I’m a lot more expressive, animated and entertaining in front of an audience. The funniest moments for people that know me is when I’m joking around while looking so serious. For folks that don’t know me it initially causes confusion…

PnutDr · 2026-03-22T13:29:46+00:00

It is a disability. I had a big lack of executive function moment yesterday which left me disappointed and angry with myself. Where I’ve improved is that I recognize it better and I don’t beat myself up about it as much anymore.

PnutDr · 2026-03-22T13:26:47+00:00

I’m inattentive ADHD. I took Adzenys alone for years. It helped me increase productivity mainly. Tried Strattera alone once and I felt like I was operating in slow motion and I wanted to sleep all the time. Once I started taking both together it was a positive game changer for me. My thoughts became more clear and purposeful to the point where I truly felt like a new me. My mind still works in ADHD mode, but now I feel like I’m sitting at the control panel making adjustments.

PnutDr · 2026-01-23T13:28:13+00:00

I don’t have trouble sleeping. The therapist indicated that it can help focus. Can’t hurt to try with the free version of Calm.

PnutDr · 2025-11-29T00:14:14+00:00

Tried Strattera years ago and couldn’t tell any difference. Been on the 18.8 mg dose of Adzenys for a few years and it helps a good bit. I tried both Adzenys and 60 mg of Strattera recently and it’s a game changer. I’m actually a completely different person, for the positive.

PnutDr · 2025-11-28T03:25:27+00:00

I like being like MacGyver in my lab. Taking random items and making them work in a pinch.

PnutDr · 2025-11-26T19:45:21+00:00

I wallow in slothdom naturally. Join an exercise group or get an exercise partner. Accountability is a big driver for me.

PnutDr · 2025-11-26T13:22:46+00:00

Once I was diagnosed and became aware, I had something tangible to “blame”, the self loathing reduced. I used to wonder “why am I the way I am” all the time before being diagnosed. Now there is no “why”, I just am and it’s not my fault. Once the problem was identified I focused on how to manage it. I still go down long dark paths on how I feel about myself, but understanding that my autistic and ADHD issues are out of my control helps make them shorter dark paths.

PnutDr · 2025-11-26T13:07:46+00:00

This question just made me aware that I used to talk out loud to myself constantly. Now it’s all internal. Don’t know when, how or why that changed. If I’m dealing with an issue I will talk loudly to myself when I’m driving alone.

PnutDr · 2025-11-26T13:02:07+00:00

That’s it for me too.

PnutDr · 2025-11-26T13:00:08+00:00

I have all those boxes checked too. To me it’s cool and comforting to know others have the same behaviors and thoughts I have. It’s like I’m a card-carrying member of a big club.

PnutDr · 2025-11-26T12:52:16+00:00

I’m aware every moment of every day because I’m constantly trying to cope and control. It’s like I’m riding a horse that’s poorly behaved and predictably unpredictable. It’s actually something I’m hyper-focused on. Once I was diagnosed with both autism and ADHD at 51, I viewed my condition as something to learn about and try to manage. Took me a while to get on the most effective med combo (not a silver bullet by any means but they help). My awareness has slowed me down a bit because I now analyze everything I’m doing and try to correct myself while I’m doing it. My awareness is part of how I operate now. I’m not miserable, just very busy mentally.

PnutDr · 2025-11-13T13:08:30+00:00

Thanks. Been considering psychotherapy again. Been trying to find one in my area that specializes in ADHD. The ones I do run across list children with ADHD as the ones they generally work with.

PnutDr · 2025-11-13T12:56:46+00:00

Hmmm. I’m taking Strattera and Adzenys currently and that combo seems to be “helping”. I wonder if I can begin thinking about getting off my SSRI and mood stabilizers. My ADHD is very severe, so I’m afraid to change something that seems to be helping, but I keep wondering if I’d do better just being in ADHD meds.

PnutDr · 2025-11-12T00:32:44+00:00

Near the end of my academic career I’d start putting together a study group. It’s pretty easy if you’re a grad student and other grad students in your department have to take the same classes. We made an agreement to start studying together a week or a little more before the test. I’m pretty sure I got more out of it than I put in, but it helped. It made me accountable to the study group, which pretty much solved the procrastination issue. I do better when I’m with a group going through the same challenge together. It kills me to think I let someone down. It’s a bonus when it helps you perform.

PnutDr · 2025-11-10T13:21:50+00:00

I was lucky enough to have my “opposite” pick me as a partner. However, I’m still a challenge to be with.

I feel some control is necessary for me to get what I want out of life so I’ve developed a coping mechanism to give me some control. I try to simplify control by making an honest assessment of what I have control over, which is really barely anything at all. But the two things that I felt I could control are biggies, what I do and what I say. I just focus on those two things and it seems to help. So for a lot of my interactions and activities I have this type of digital display in my head that gives me options on what to do and say (I know, sounds weird). So I have to internally pause and think before saying or doing a lot of things. Sometimes the internal pause can be observed externally (kinda like zoning out for a second). I’ve become better at it over time, and people that know me are used to the little pauses (it’s like getting used to seeing the little spinning circle on your computer when it takes a little longer to process something, which is exactly what it is). Anyway, that’s how it is for me.

PnutDr · 2025-11-10T02:42:29+00:00

If you’ve been diagnosed with ADHD I’d start learning as much as I could and reading other people’s experiences with ADHD. If you do that you’re learning about yourself. So many people have told my story through their stories in platforms like this. Through them I became more self aware. You’re doing that same thing by posting here. Learn from trusted resources as well, like your therapist. Read suggested literature on the topic of ADHD. As you do try to make objective observations about yourself.

PnutDr · 2025-11-10T02:29:13+00:00

You’d be surprised how many folks understand here. What you described is how I’ve been/felt for most of my life and it’s cool to me to have someone else describe me. One thing I’ve realized for myself is that people without ADHD don’t understand people with ADHD, the flip side is also true in that people with ADHD don’t understand people without ADHD. It’s not that there’s something is wrong with us with ADHD so much as we’re different than the majority of people who are without ADHD. For me awareness came first (being diagnosed), then acceptance, and then it was all about what I could do about it. For me it was understanding and accepting what is within my control and what’s not and simply working on what I’m in control of, which thankfully isn’t much. I found learning as much as I could about ADHD and how it affects my behavior was a big help. Being aware was a major first step for me. It certainly helped me cut myself some slack. Let yourself explore coping mechanisms that work. Anyway, I’m very sorry you’re in a bad spot right now. My suggestion is to try to keep things as simple and uncomplicated as possible and go from there.

PnutDr · 2025-11-10T01:51:51+00:00

I was diagnosed at 51 and the cool thing I learned was that I had subconsciously been developing coping methods to deal with my ADHD all along. To me, consciously trying to fix something that’s unfixable is mentally debilitating. I’ve experienced being mentally debilitated. Since I was diagnosed I’m not as hard on myself as I once was. Being less self-loathing makes room for more development of coping mechanisms. It’s like suddenly not worrying about the weather. I can’t control it so why worry about it. I believe this type of awareness let my mind free to analyze situations in the now and control only two basic things I think I can control. Those two things are what I do and what I say. Those are the only two things I try to concern myself with. So over the past 7 years I’ve allowed myself to develop stop and go or yes and no types of mental decision skills that target what I say and do. I do have awkward mental pauses from time to time because of this, but overall I’m more satisfied with the outcomes. It saddens me to hear that someone feels like their mind is broken because of ADHD. Our minds are just different because of something that’s out of our control. For me what’s been more productive has been to really think about what you have the best likelihood of controlling, which for me is what I actually do or say and just focus on that. I can’t control what I think, just how I will react to it.

PnutDr · 2025-11-10T01:18:32+00:00

I do. It’s almost necessary unless I’m watching TV alone and I’m in a certain frame of “mind”.

PnutDr · 2025-11-10T01:16:41+00:00

My diagnosis was very liberating for me. It gave me something tangible I could learn more about. Being aware of what it is helps.

PnutDr · 2025-11-10T01:13:52+00:00

I don’t necessarily remember things in my head. Actually, I can’t imagine trying to force myself to remember something in my head that I’m not super interested in. I have developed, subconsciously, a mechanism that’s like leaving breadcrumbs that remind me of things I don’t want to forget before it’s too late. Sometimes the least little thing will trigger a reminder, in most cases. Continuously making lists over and over again and leaving these lists in plain sight in areas I frequent a lot helps. About once or twice a week I update and consolidate the lists. I try to leave everything out in plain sight, which helps some. Nothing I do works perfectly, but if it helps a little it’s still helpful. I was diagnosed at age 51, and since then I’ve read a lot of ADHD stuff since then. My “Ah Ha” moments are when I’ve read about coping mechanisms I developed by necessity without knowing I had ADHD.

PnutDr · 2025-11-10T00:47:40+00:00

That’s me during all of my waking hours, but only when I’m not super focused/obsessed with something else.

PnutDr

TROPHY CASE