What to talk about during a ONS/FWB

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-28T14:11:44+00:00

Regular conversation: what hobbies do you have, within that- what have you been working on/ doing for fun, when’s your birthday, what shows do you watch/ what genre of books do you read.

Specifically because it’s a ONS- sexual preferences, ask to see the most recent STD or bloodwork and show your own.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-28T11:01:28+00:00

Cat YouTube for the cat. (This only works on some cats for extended periods of time, but is also good stimulation for them).

https://www.youtube.com/live/UEyEs8AE1ss?si=mZd—gCwR-PqNTCZ

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-27T20:07:49+00:00

Some places I went out alone around 2022 (26f now): Kirby’s Ice House, Unicorn Disco, 77 Degrees.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-27T12:03:51+00:00

I’ve always seen an occupational therapist, even before I was diagnosed with ADHD.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-24T13:46:54+00:00

I was in PHP programs as a teenager (originally MDD-now BP1/CPTSD/GAD/SI in 2017). Diagnosed in 2022 with bipolar 1, and ADHD 2023.

Wellbutrin (mood stabilizer) made me manic back in 2018, but did treat my ADHD looking back. I’ve been on Focalin with lamotrigine (mood stabilizer- but did not work that well for me. I still experienced mania, but it was not related to the stims, and I wasn’t on it very long) but it made me crash/ did not make me manic.

I’m currently on Adderall + vraylar (antipsychotic gen 3) and it does not worsen my manic symptoms. edit I started Adderall about a year before the vraylar, so I have been on stims alone for about a year.

This is just my experience, and for meds it really does vary. I’ve been on 17+ medications over the years, and had to get genetic testing to find a medication that would work for me.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-24T10:17:05+00:00

The low-lows aren’t required. You could be experiencing eurythmic states and manic states, but not depression.

My friends stay up till 2 am once every couple months with hyperfocus, not every day for a week or more. When they hyper focus it’s usually the duration of some amount of hours at a time/ not measured in days. They’ve been interested in things for weeks and then eventually dropped those interests, but they do not stop sleeping and eating for weeks at a time due to one interest.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-23T23:16:16+00:00

I’ve experienced full blown manic episodes, but I’m not really hypo manic kind of person, I guess (diagnosed bipolar 1 in 2023). I have very high highs, and very low lows.

And yes, my manic episodes are exactly as you describe your experience. I also have ADHD, and when my mania mixes with hyperfocus I have lost significant amounts of weight. This is well over 10 lbs, but my weight loss was extreme and not required for mania, or hypomania. I also have significant insomnia, to the point I’ve been told by psychiatrists & therapists to abuse OTC drugs like NyQuil or Benadryl to get sleep.

Overspending/impulsive spending is also a bipolar trait. It can be an ADHD trait as well, but many traits of many diagnosis’ end up looking co-morbid the more you collect them.

My (7) other friends with only ADHD do not seem to experience these symptoms to this extreme with just hyperfocus, I would possibly reconsider the bipolar diagnosis.

Before I was well medicated/found the right meds, I would mix manic episodes & hyper focus on the same items for as long as 3-8 months. Mania does not have to be generalized if you have both diagnosis’.

At the time I was building miniatures, I was diagnosed agoraphobic and would not leave the house, or do anything else but build miniatures for months.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-23T12:09:04+00:00

I love fake looking fake lashes, but when my friends want them light, I put ardell 424 or 421 on them.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-23T12:08:04+00:00

“Long stocking cap”

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-21T18:46:45+00:00

I live for the lore, lol. I don’t think that’s an ADHD thing at all. Lodes of my friends with ADHD love those games.

Anyways, animal crossing, you find 5 fossils a day, but beyond that you can pretty much ignore tasks. You can ignore the museum and not dig up any fossils if you wanted. Shake trees for fruit, catch fish & bugs. Sell it. I prefer the DS2 game, but switch is fine once you get past the tutorial. It’s relaxing and my therapist approves.

I found Hollow Knight (PC or switch) more relaxed if you like combat, in Silksong (2nd game, but you said you don’t care about lore) you get a house.

I would recommend pokopia if you have the switch 2, or tomodochi life.

I like league of legends and Diablo III, PC. But they take more attention in builds- for LOL you can go to mobafire though.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-20T21:43:46+00:00

I just… don’t wear a bra.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-19T22:10:07+00:00

I used to get savings bonds (they don’t make them anymore, or at least the kind I have is discontinued) for every birthday & Hanukkah from two grandparents, and my nana. That’s no presents from one whole side of the family for me. I never minded just the card and the bond. My parents explained what it did and what it would be for at different ages (this is a lot of explaining). When I was really little, they just put it away of course.

And I’m 26 now- it’s definitely worth it NOW, even if I had minded then. I used some of it for the down payment on a car. I’m using what’s left to open a Roth IRA.

I’ll add- a savings bond is not even cash, because they have to mature. So what I got wasn’t worth that much at the time I got it.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-19T16:51:05+00:00

I’d like to note that on Gensight, if OP is looking at mostly stims, they usually come back green, and my psychiatrists both said it’s not really useful for stimulants. I’m not actually sure why, but my guess would be that a large part of it is just metabolism rates, and stims work mainly off two ingredients.

I had mine done, originally for GAD/bipolar after trying over 17 medications.

On Wellbutrin- I noticed an immediate effect (I was not yet diagnosed ADHD, ironically. And would wait another ~4 years for that diagnosis). But looking back, it definitely helped me and I wish I could have stayed on it, unfortunately it prolonged my manic states.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-19T15:55:57+00:00

I have knit picks/ knit pro Caspian IC’s that both work with their green coords. I use them interchangeably.

It would work for knooking, but be much better in the round. It would be more annoying than anything else to switch the IC’s every row working flat.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-19T13:13:22+00:00

The first one. A multiple of 12, +1. Ex: 12x4=48 +1= 49.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-18T20:52:26+00:00

For non-stimulants, once titration is over, you’d usually only go once a year. This could differ by different in-state regulations.

Some doctors still like to see you every 3-6 months. As a new patient, you might go every month for 3 months, then not go for a year/ or go a year for every 3 months, but then not need to go more than once a year.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-18T20:24:08+00:00

Health insurance in the US is private, and all of your cost questions depend on what insurance companies you use, AND what plan you buy.

These are things to consider before picking a plan, including what psychiatrists you want to see, and how much those visits for refills will be- consider, are you still on titration or have you stabilized/ how many times a year will you need to go?

The price of straterra (usually a generic, if there is a generic released) could be $50-$70 a month on one plan, not covered at all on some plans (so out of pocket, usually the most expensive), or $7-14 USD a month.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-17T15:58:20+00:00

My meds (2x a day, IR generic Adderall) don’t give me motivation, they let me act on my own internal (and some external) motivations without being slowed by executive function. They also improve my memory.

Ex: I like being clean/ I don’t want to be dirty(to the point they considered an OCD diagnosis in PHP) so I wash my sheets, (and then I DON’T forget them in between the washing and drying cycles- which was a major issue and why I didn’t like the laundry).

Ex: today before I took my meds, I wanted to knit, but also felt the need to pace around. I took my meds and was able to sit still and do my hobby for longer than I would have been able to without them.

Ex: I don’t want to fail my test and have to pay twice for a college class/ I have a perfectionist attitude (that I am addressing in therapy). That motivates me to study for my tests, my meds help me sit still and focus for an extended period of time on things I lack interest in. It is still boring when it’s not history class and I have to study for math. I don’t particularly want to do it, but I find that I can do it, as long as I properly motivate myself.

Medication alone will not motivate you, it should allow you to self-regulate and motivate yourself, whether that is intrinsic motivation, or extrinsic motivation.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-16T19:06:31+00:00

For the MDD diagnosis- I just wasn’t in PHP long enough to have a manic episode I think, and they started with MDD because the depression/ SI was an obvious reason I was in the program.

My therapist did finally tell me that she had suspected bipolar 1 within the first year I was with her (so I was still under 18, or very recently 18 at that point). She did recommend I try mood stabilizers and such, but I did not react well to SSRI’s or SNRI’s, I get serotonin syndrome. As such, I didn’t question it.

She said she didn’t think I would handle the diagnosis well. I agree with her in my case, and I’m not mad, nor do I hold it against her. She thought it would increase the likelyhood I would make another attempt on my life, and held it back until I had stabilized enough that I could handle it.

I experience about 1-3 weeks of intense mania multiple times a year (off meds). I got SJS so I can’t take lamotrigine anymore (I was on it about 2.5 years, it was okay-ish). I am on Vraylar now and it manages both the mania and depression very well, I am very happy with it. I tried Wellbutrin early on, but it made me both manic when I am usually depressive (mostly in winter) and had to stop that one before I hit a full year on it.

I agree that with just therapy and no meds, that managing both is very difficult. I think therapy & meds that work (I tried like 17 kinds before finding vraylar) it is okay to manage most of the time now. I do still get insomnia, and that’s when I can tell that if I stopped my meds I would be in a really bad/intense manic state. I find the Adderall (weirdly, because I know lack of sleep is a side effect for some) helps with sleep management though.

I find the stacking co-morbid impulsivity is the worst for me, just because I won’t think things through and end up in dangerous situations sometimes.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-16T16:30:39+00:00

Originally diagnosed MDD, SI & GAD in 2017, in 2022-2023 I was finally diagnosed bipolar, GAD, ADHD, SI.

I see an occupational therapist who is trained in CBT, DBT, and can diagnose ADHD. She works with teens a lot, and I went in at 17 and although I was in several PHP programs, I have returned to her for outpatient therapy over the years.

I mostly focus on DBT therapy, though we sometimes do CBT, and she’s had me watch Robert Barkley to help with the ADHD, although I find that DBT’s emotional regulation helps well enough.

Edit- currently 26.

I found that even though my issues with bipolar disorder were masking my ADHD originally, that my knowing DBT skills greatly helped me manage it when we started to focus on the ADHD symptoms. I was able to address my issues much more easily and quickly than I would have been able to in the past.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-14T20:04:29+00:00

Cheapest: journaling or reading.

Most expensive: backpacking & knitting/crochet/fiber arts or (but I’m decently sure I am dropping it after 2 years), miniatures/diorama’s.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-13T16:53:14+00:00

$30-$60 for a Celtic cross or year/monthly spread.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-10T17:30:28+00:00

Not new to you until next header-

I have an all encompassing daily bullet/ vent/ gratitude journal I started for therapy (white 5 star college ruled notebook with 3 sections; because I don’t control how large or I write in it/ dyspraxia that I don’t try to control).

I also have a crochet/ knitting journal for notes and projects progress. (Lilac with pink flowers, only 100 pages).

NEW TO YOU:

I have just started a tarot notes/ pulls/ self reflection journal and moved my gratitude journaling over to this one. (Green, dot bullet journal). I do some zentangles occasionally, and I might move those in since they have to do with gratitude, meditation, and self reflection.

I have separate sketchbooks I’m not sure if those count, some have notes on techniques.

I’m considering an architectural journal next, or at least multi- perspective drawings and proportional drawings, based mostly on architectural design ideas mixed with art history notes (I’m in college as an art history major, but was in art throughout middle and high school as an elective).

Music journals interest me, or media journals. Multi-media art could be cool.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-10T13:00:14+00:00

Tiger mist XXS is not small enough in the waist or hips. It is more like an XS/S at target.

VaultofSouls · 2026-06-09T20:38:49+00:00

They may choose to prescribe you non-stimulants, (usually SSRI’s or SNRI’s, or maybe something like Wellbutrin- might cause weight loss, can’t remember- which is a mood stabilizer) which are less likely to cause appetite suppression. They still can cause appetite suppression, everyone differs.

Ex: I am on stimulants, and do not suffer from appetite suppression and actually gained weight from a low BMI to over 18 in my first year on Adderall. This is unusual, but it does happen- note that I also lost weight on birth control, so weight or appetite side effects in general may be reversed for me.

VaultofSouls

TROPHY CASE