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Episode 54 - Twenty Weird Things About Our ADHD
87 Plays1 year ago
Paul and Martin (co-mayors of ADHDville) reveal the top 20 weird things about their ADHD. You will not see any of them coming! Adult ADHD comes with all kids of weird and wonderful side-effects. These aren't symptoms of ADHD as such, you're not gonna get diagnosed based on any of these fun foibles, but enough! Let's dive headfirst into the co-mayors weird skulls bags.
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Put quill to paper and send us an email at: ADHDville@gmail.com
ADHD/Focus music from Martin (AKA Thinking Fish)
Theme music was written by Freddie Philips and played by Martin West. All other music by Martin West.
Please remember: This is an entertainment podcast about ADHD and does not substitute for individualized advice from qualified health professionals.
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Transcript
Reflecting on Robot-Assisted Surgery and Hospital Stay
00:00:00
Speaker
we're back in the room in the freaking room back in the freaky room whoop whoop yeah i mean i'm i'm back in a different room so um yeah you can see crowd i know um anyway welcome back i am back i am back from my operation back out Yeah, so so I was in the hospital about five or six days ago now, went to the hospital, they they removed a lump of my kidney, went in there, spsh washsh it was a it was a robot assisted surgery. Wow. So I don't know what the robot did. I mean,
00:00:44
Speaker
I don't know how much of the workload that they took on. But to yeah, so so i've been ah I do feel like I've just been beaten up. That's that's the that's the general vibe of me. Like like ah like I feel like i was I was royally kicked over. Right. But yeah.
Gratitude for US Healthcare System
00:01:06
Speaker
And we were saying just before we came on, you know, that and i like um Yeah, we were kind of really lucky in the UK with like really good health system and stuff. And, you know, America gets its, gets its knocks, you know, in terms of not having much healthcare system for like people that can't afford it, blah, blah, blah. But as you were saying, you had like the safest hands, like yeah best people, best facilities.
00:01:31
Speaker
Oh yeah, I was like at the second best hospital in the entire USA. So um yeah, i'd I had one of the best surgeons that that that you could possibly have. um He was a typical surgeon in that. I don't know how many surgeons you've kind of dealt with.
00:01:56
Speaker
But the good ones are very like, they have no sense of humor almost. They are like, it's, they're like some sort of like, they're very particular. on They are very like, yeah. they They say there's a lot of narcissism in, um, among surgeons. Right. But yeah, extremely, um, I don't know how to put it.
00:02:23
Speaker
yeah that um I don't know. That kind of work must attract a certain kind of person. right Absolutely. um and but yeah i I don't know whether there's more autistic people.
00:02:38
Speaker
who become surgeons? I don't know, it kind of almost feels like that could be something, you know what I mean? Like that kind of very methodical thinking.
Humor and Friendship with Hospital Staff
00:02:50
Speaker
But so my goal was, as it always is when I go into hospitals, is is to make friends with everyone, even the guy just pushing you around, learn their name, make them laugh, right? Make them laugh because I feel like they're going to treat me better if they like me. We're pushing up the shelf. I know that I'm people pleasing, but I'm people pleasing for me.
00:03:20
Speaker
You know what I mean? Like I'm pleasing them, but I want them to please me because I'm vulnerable. Um, and he was the toughest nut to the, the surgeon was the toughest nut to crack. Correct. Right. Oh yeah. Oh the yeah. That's a tough audience. Right. So said as our nurses, actually nurses, I could, I could make them all laugh. Right.
00:03:44
Speaker
I got them all in the end, but the but the surgeon, i was I was whipping those jokes out. He was not laughing until right at the end, he literally left the room.
00:03:59
Speaker
wow i said And I said, you know, because ah because I said, ah you know, thanks a lot. Thank you hope so much for your free work. And it was just it just disappeared out out out the room. And I said, and i said oh ah i'll i'll care i'll like I'll give you a five-star Yelp review. And then I just heard him laugh. Nice. Outside the room. I was like, yes. Right.
00:04:28
Speaker
But that's the thing. I imagine if you're like me, it wasn't just about okay, the the
00:04:36
Speaker
um like the the the pleasure or the joy or whatever the dopamine in making fun out of a serious situation, but that extra challenge of making him laugh.
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah.
Coping Strategies for Stress
00:04:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that was good. I had something similar when I went for a COVID test in Palermo. It was like four o'clock in the morning and it was all kicking off and people were acting like complete arseholes and ah wanting to be at the front of the queue and demanding to get special treatment and blah, blah, blah. It's all kicking off and quite unpleasant. There was little old me standing outside in the cold in February, even in Palermo, waiting my turn, seeing it all kick off. And I'd had my, they gave me a swab, put a ah swab up my nose and it really hurt. And then I waited five hours
00:05:43
Speaker
What? it Five hours watching ambulances come and go with drugs and blah, blah, blah, all kicking off. And I was like, I don't want to give these people any more trouble than already have. Even though I was like, fucking hell, five hours. I waited for like, do I have COVID? Don't I? Finally, they called my name and I went in.
00:06:05
Speaker
And I said to the guy, the doctor, and I could tell he was really fucking stressed and pissed off and just i had it right out to his eyes, you know, with difficult patients, difficult people. I said, what was my result?
00:06:22
Speaker
I said, what are you talking about? Did you not get it? I said, well, to be honest, I told him that I saw it all kicking off. I didn't want to give you any more problems than you already having. So that was an example of like not, it was me not like joking in that situation. It was me kind of like,
00:06:43
Speaker
making a peace with him, like say, look, I'm one of the good guys. And he like, his reaction was amazing. It's like, okay. He really appreciated it. And he said, I'll go to give you all the tests you need. Just kick back. Don't worry. I'll get to give you all the tests. And he was really cool. right Yeah. All right. Well, with that, with that, welcome on to ADHDville.
00:07:31
Speaker
I like that, that humanly early 80s reference Exactly, now five years later and you've got the world on your feet Success has been so easy for you But don't forget it's me that puts you where you are now All right. Anyway, are you going to introduce de introducece yourself? Yeah, I am. That it was actually relevant because i we're going to talk about lyrics a bit later.
Podcast Introduction and ADHD Theme
00:07:55
Speaker
Hello, my name is Paul Thompson. I was diagnosed with the combined ADHD a year and two days ago, Martin. And I'm Martin Weston. I was diagnosed with with the ADHD combined poo poo platter in 2013.
00:08:10
Speaker
there So, so we should probably tell you by right this point that we're just like two mates who by coincidence after 39 years of friendship discover whether we're to to ADHD is combined. Oh, combined, we're combined.
00:08:28
Speaker
Now it's really important to say this is an entertainment podcast martyred about a adult ADHD and does not substitute for individualized advice for qualified health professionals. No, no, no. So don't take any advice from us. We're just here as a kind of all inclusive ADHD part bench with very, very one, including your double gaggers, your alter egos, your buddy doubles, your chaperones, and even your best buddies. Okay. Still here. Congratulations, you've done well already. Then grab your jet packs, your pedal, those space hoppers, or any other transport tees transportation methods, and let us take you to ADHDville, Martin, an imaginary town that we've created in our minds. You already knew that, I'm not telling you that. Where we like to explore different parts of the A, the D, the H, and the D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D.
00:09:22
Speaker
Indeed, and we start off as always here in the town hall in the mayor's office where we the joint mayors of ADHD will take care of business. ah Hello. Hello Electorate. um I know that there is an election going on here at ADHD well for our for four hours our jobs. This happens every right in the middle of our own election. So there'll be more on that coming up. um But right now. We did try and change the laws. We did try and make it so that we're mayors indefinitely. Yeah, but that would be a big pain democratic.
00:10:01
Speaker
It's that's what they said. Yeah, that's what they said and went went okay. All right, if you want to be like that then um be different Right, so where so the we've got one item on the agenda to today and this one's gonna be a fun one I can tell what It's a fun one.
Top 10 Weird ADHD Traits
00:10:21
Speaker
Look at me, I'm waving my finger around. It's one of those calls. I'm really curious. We generally write our script separately. I'm curious to hear Martin's. Yeah, so am I. So we're going to be talking about our own top 10 weird ADHD things, personally. Getting it down dirty.
00:10:46
Speaker
Right. So my the 10 things I find weird about my own ADHD and we'll go through pause. And where are we going to go and do that, Mr? I think we're going to go to the basement, Martin. Yes, because that's where all the weird things always happen in the basement. Going underground, going underground, underground. Great. If you just push the button for the elevator or for the lift.
00:11:14
Speaker
put ne a yeah think Oh, there we go. Let's get in. Down arrow. All right, down we go.
00:11:25
Speaker
to
00:11:29
Speaker
we do do deduce It's a long way down. It's a long way down. Have you ever made out of you ever been to the um the war war rooms in Westminster, Martin?
00:11:42
Speaker
where I don't think so, no. Okay. How far down is this? Oh, here we go. all right Oil. it get some We need to oil those those wheels a little bit. Those doors. Right. um Speaking of squeaking, um I was talking to my sister-in-law this weekend who listens to our podcast all the time fabulous i know how fabulous is she um ADHD or i wouldn't like to say okay okay um i i mean you know i don't i have no formal diagnosis or anything i don't think there are those but um
00:12:27
Speaker
ah Yes, but she's but she has complained about about my squeaky chair. so um okay Is that why you change roofs? No, because I still have the same chair, so I'm just really conscious um to kind of not move my chair so it doesn't squeak.
00:12:45
Speaker
So I've got to get some WD-40 to spray it so that I can not worry about it. And this will be a cheer, squeak-free episode. OK, lube-free. It is lube. There are many lube brands out there at this moment listening to us. It's a great opportunity to think about sponsoring us.
00:13:12
Speaker
Jump in, jump in. All right, let's crack on. And I've got my top 10 things and you've got top 10 things. So I think what we'll do is it will build up to our number one weirdness and we'll start at number 10 and we'll kind of go back and forth. I guess it all depends on, do you want to go first, Mr. T?
00:13:39
Speaker
OK, do you want to break the ice? In descending order. Well, breaking the ice is actually quite poignant, Marty. It's almost a good segue. Very good. Very good. All right. So first on your on your list is
Selective OCD and ADHD Intersection
00:13:52
Speaker
is what? Sorry, it's called I've called it waterboarding. OK, water in my face.
00:14:00
Speaker
Can't do it. I cannot do it. So you imagine waterboarding is like a famous classic yeah torture. Imagine for me, that'd be like three fold. I cannot, I'm in the shower. For me to put my face under the shower is an effort, a big one. Right. It's a sensory issue. Yeah. And I think I've heard it before from other ADHD-ers actually.
00:14:29
Speaker
Yeah, I have the same thing. Do you? i have to say You're right. so So I go swimming, which is obviously, there is a big chance that I will get water on my face because my face is near a large volume of water and I'm in it. um So I avoid swimming anywhere near any splashy people. You can get people who swim and splash a lot. So I'm like, nope. So I swim with all the really old people or in that area, if I can, where they are just doing like a nice casual
00:15:11
Speaker
ah a casual breaststroke and not really causing much of a ripple at all. And I just joined them. And I'm another old guy doing very slow, non-splashy swimming. Yeah. So that's quite that's quite an easy one. An easy one to kind of like dip our toe in the water quite literally. How about you Marty? What's your your first one? My number 10, I think I'm going to lose a lot of the audience at this point.
00:15:40
Speaker
okay there They're all going to hate me because my weird number 10 weird ADHD thing is is I have no problem sleeping.
00:15:53
Speaker
So ah you know how normally with ADHD, it's quite common to go to bed and then suddenly your mind is racing with a load of stuff and you and you can't sleep. i know And that certainly does happen once in a while, rarely though.
00:16:10
Speaker
Mostly, and I'm going to brag a little, I'm sorry, but I can go to bed at, I don't know, say I go to bed at 10, I can be asleep in five minutes and then not wake up for like eight hours. I can get a solid night. I'm exactly the same.
00:16:28
Speaker
I remember when I first looked into ADHD, it was like, oh, most ADHDs I struggled to sleep. I thought, oh shit, maybe I don't have ADHD. That was like the one thing I thought, hmm, no, I sleep like a, like a log.
00:16:43
Speaker
yeah i don't know why really um well i'm grateful that i do because actually if i struggled there i think my day would be odd would be a nightmare and i think that's probably one of the reasons why i have i need eight hours yeah I need eight hours. But yeah, I'm really grateful that I do get to sleep because it would make my ADHD way worse. I feel my God. Yeah. All right. Number nine.
00:17:15
Speaker
Number nine, I've got, I've got here, I've called it selective OCD, Martin. Okay. But it's really selective. It's like, if I'm in a bar or pub or a restaurant and someone, ah a waiter brings me over ah a white glass or a beer and they put it on a beer mat, that beer or that glass has to be bag in the middle of the beer mat.
00:17:44
Speaker
Oh, bang in the middle. and And, and it's really specific because there's, I don't have ADHD and pretty much anything else. Right. Right. That is really like specific. And I started to really notice it. Right. Even if, even if, if like the table is organized at a restaurant in a certain way, I always have to move things around.
00:18:12
Speaker
Okay. I'll always like move where the set the the center of the table, what's it called? The centerpiece or the flowers or the bottle of water. I always have to move it in different place to where they put it.
00:18:27
Speaker
Right. So it's like a very restaurant related, it's very specific to like a restaurant um situation or bar. So you have like a coaster in front of you. and Someone brings you a beer, puts it down. You notice that it's off center. Yeah. And you just go, right. No, I'm going to put it in and then you take a swig and then when you put it down, you make sure that it's dead center again. Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:53
Speaker
And by the way, Paul note is I've got a really good sense of. Something being centered or aligned, like a really precise, right? I can see, you know, yeah. Yeah. You can, you can basically just bang on. Yeah. Because we both do graphic design I've done for years. So you can.
00:19:20
Speaker
you You know where centre is, like you've you've got this audio yeah this real kind of eye for it. Yeah, exactly. That's interesting. I like that. All right. have Have you got any like OCD kind of like things? Well, I don't know. Let's just carry on up the list, shall
Anxiety and Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria
00:19:41
Speaker
we? See if anything comes up. um Number nine, ah feeling like I'm in trouble.
00:19:48
Speaker
When everyone, when anyone says my name, like, Oh, right. It doesn't matter what it is. Like if I hear the word Martin, I'm like, Oh no, I'm in trouble. That's it. What the hell has gone wrong? What has gone wrong now? Oh, Jesus Christ. Let me go and see what this is. You know, and I have an impending dread about whatever is coming up.
00:20:14
Speaker
Yeah, every time. OK. Especially if it's a boss, you know, like that that that classic thing of like, oh, can I see you in my in my office after after work? I'm like, oh, God, what is it now? I'm doomed. They're going to kick me out. I'm dead. what yes What's going wrong?
00:20:35
Speaker
that just So it's the RSD, the rejection sensitivity dysphoria kicks in, I just assume. Yeah, um bad yeah totally with your nap, totally with your nap. This is a really, really funny thing. There's a Prince record.
00:20:55
Speaker
where there's in the background there's a bit where there's this noise that goes oh and it sounds exactly like my dad calling me from the bottom of the stairs when i was a kid and i still do this don't like what exactly bang on yeah yeah oh that is bad all right all right no number eight number eight what'd you get i've got words, Martin. This is like, I'm really curious to see if anyone else out there in our ADHD community has got this. I can never remember a single song beyond the chorus or sometimes only half the chorus if it's a long chorus.
00:21:44
Speaker
right like even when i when i used to go to see your group martin and you'd play like you're you're like you're like um when you played at the the pub pub gigs and everyone wanted you to play hey dude right Oh yeah. ah Even Hey Jude is like, basically in in the UK, it's like singing the freaking anthem, right? I only know, I can only ever remember the chorus. Sometimes not even the whole chorus of even Hey Jude. I would go, Hey Jude. And then that's it blank. Nothing. And then you just wait silently until... Yeah.
00:22:27
Speaker
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. Exactly. Exactly. So it's the big blank section in the song. It was some of my favourite songs, you know, like ah that really, like...
00:22:42
Speaker
Yeah, yeah no I am the same. Are you? like like i can I can do the first verse and the chorus usually. like the first So that section. ah I just think don't bother writing a different second verse or third verse because I don't remember it. so Just write one verse and a chorus and just repeat it. Make it easy on me.
00:23:06
Speaker
Like Sting when he wrote doo doo doo da da da is all I want to say to you.
Sensory Issues with Showering
00:23:12
Speaker
That's the pretty much the whole song. Sting is helping me out. Appreciate it. He's helping you out, Paul. He knows that you struggle and me as well. He speaks highly of us as well, I've heard. He does. He does. He loves us. Do you have that too? You're a musician. You sing songs. You perform songs.
00:23:34
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. But I couldn't be a lead singer. Like if I was a lead singer and I had to like sing a whole bunch of songs. No, no, that that I would. But I think it is an ADHD. I know that Jim Carey, who has ADHD, he can't remember scripts. So he has big boards with the scripts written ah behind the cameras for him. Right.
00:24:03
Speaker
Yeah, he's and he's an interesting character, per actor, because um I was reading an interview with him a while back. And the big question is, who is Jim Carrey, right? Because he plays all these character parts right from the mask and and Ace Ventura pet detective and all of that long. And He says there is no Andy. There is no, what's his name again? Jesus, I've forgotten. ah Jim Carrey. He says that there is no Jim Carrey. It is literally, it's almost like a blank nothingness. And then he he he can put on a character, but he he says outside of that, there is,
00:24:52
Speaker
He is just an empty, empty shell of nothing. I think he's had a ah lot of therapy. A lot. I had to deal with that. Yeah. It was a girlfriend or an ex-wife said, someone asked her, you know, what's he like at home? She said, you won't believe this, but he's exactly the same at home.
00:25:17
Speaker
Right. Oh, wow. Can No, I can't. OK. All right. Number eight for me is I hate showers. Showering. Showers. Really? Hate it. So like my first one with the water in the face. Yeah. But for you, it's the whole thing. The whole thing. whole The whole thing. So right my problem with showers is is ah it's a lot of transitions and ADHD people don't like trend transition. So well what I mean is is ah is that you have to kind of get up there. You have to take off all your clothes. You have to kind of get in the shower. You have to adjust the temperature till you get it right. And then that's uncomfortable because you've got like water splashing on you, which isn't good.
00:26:13
Speaker
Which isn't good. Then you've got to like do the shower. Then you've got to get out, which is cold. Then you're cold. And I hate that. Yeah. And then you could dry yourself down um and and you don't ever feel the same as when you went in. You know, like when you get into the shower, you kind of feel like generally, you're kind of warmish and you get in and then when you come out, even after you dry yourself down, I feel like I've just been beaten up by a bunch of water droplets. Okay, ah think I think I'm the same. I'm pretty much the same. Just as you were talking about this, it came to mind.
00:26:52
Speaker
i I without realizing, I i i found my own um um um hack for the same thing. the transition My hack is i I bought myself a really, really, really good toweling bathrobe, like the best that you could buy.
00:27:13
Speaker
All right. So there's a reward. Oh, you just put that into the shower, hug, get like a really good one, you know? Yeah. And it's got really nice. Yeah. It's like, it's not like the worst for me. The worst thing for me is like a really cheap, shitty bathrobe. Oh yeah. No more. And not those microfiber shit. Bathrobes like no, no, come on. Fluffy.
00:27:38
Speaker
why heavy they were heavy Yeah, barthros yeah, be heavy like you're gonna put it on go. Oh, I can feel the weight here Or a really good quality towel a big one, right? Yeah, yeah big fluffy big ass towels. I'll tell you how bad it is it it was I I used to In my way back I used to fake me having a shower so that I wouldn't have a shower. So what I mean is I would make it look like I had a shower.
00:28:15
Speaker
when I hadn't. So I turn on the water, I just yeah just let let it run for a while and then I get the water, I splash it around the floor a bit, splash it up the walls a bit, move the soap, get the soap wet a bit. I mean all of that made it look like I set up the scene, like I'd had a shower. So if someone came in, they'd get, oh yeah, Marty had a shower and I hadn't.
00:28:39
Speaker
I did a shower too, I just, just that. It's really funny. The more you we're talking about this now, the more I realized that I ah do things to help me with the shower, the whole shower routine. Like I i rented an apartment in Palermo and I said, okay, I'll take the apartment, but um on a condition that you um put in a new shower,
00:29:07
Speaker
She said, why? She said, I don't like plastic showers. I want a new shower and I want a bigger one and it's got to be glass and I want a proper shower head. Yeah. And she did it, bless her. Oh, what? She just remodeled the bathroom just just for you. Well, just replace the shower. Right. he doesn't like a shower if like if i've got to have a If I have a shower, I want it to be like,
00:29:36
Speaker
I like a good shower. A good shower to me is like luxury, but not one of those like ponzi ones where like two drips come out. Good for you Paul. Or get all worse, that the the the um the temperature is is really hard to control. So you can like control the temperature light with that like increments or oh yeah oh yeah yeah no like if you've got shoddy plumbing shower equipment where you just you just nudge that temperature thing like by literally just touching it with a couple of atoms of your own finger and then it goes from cold to scalding hot and you're like yeah fuck this
00:30:26
Speaker
Or worse, when we went to Cuba, we were in Pindar del Rio region. We went to that Casa Particular and they had they had a shower and literally by the shower they had to bare electrical wires, do you remember?
00:30:44
Speaker
Yeah, it's so freaky shower, right? So basically how the sister worked was the water came in it went into a like a metal Cylinder and then there are some electrical wires going into the cylinder. So I guess there was a heating element in there Yeah, so then and it's almost like a kettle element, right? Just just in there and then that that that would be plugged in their wires like the ba wires yeah so bear wise and and and what's even more mental is i think we even used it did we use it we did yeah there we go yeah yeah how stupid are we we went okay fair enough i might die sure don't you don't shower in the middle of a middle of the cuban countryside where to go all right number seven
00:31:33
Speaker
Number seven, still on the words theme, Martin, but slightly different. I've got certain words or in some cases certain famous people that I can never ever remember, right? And they're two really specific ones, right? ah so Famous people. And I had to write them down otherwise I would have forgotten them clearly, right? Jeffy Rush, bless him.
00:32:00
Speaker
Oh, Geoffrey Rush from ah the Pirates of the Caribbean yeah films. yeah Yes. Yeah. Love him. yeah I can never remember his name. Even worse than Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth. Colin Firth. Isn't he in ah Love i Actually? He was in King's Speech.
00:32:23
Speaker
all right yeah yeah and Kingsman is that him as well yeah yeah yeah yeah Caulifers all right I can't remember his name but also yeah so and there are some words as well like self-sabotage And I use it a lot because it's something that I've ah got a history with. I do, i yes. I've got, I've done, I've doing, even. So you like, what so you see them something like, ah all right, yeah. I've got like a mental block with these kind of things and it's like, it's so annoying. I'm sure I have, a you know, the thing is, I know I do the same thing, but I don't have these words written down, so I can't remember what the hell they are. Okay.
00:33:09
Speaker
ah don I can't remember the words that I forget. um All right. My number seven is I'm often late. Actually, it's less so now, but I never miss a flight. Like I can weirdly be late for all kinds of stuff, but a flight is like, no, I will be there.
00:33:36
Speaker
I'm not, I'm not risking nothing. I'm going to be there. Um, because it's important, I guess, because if you miss a flight, then it becomes a real headache. But, and um, yeah, I've never missed a, oh, no, I've missed one, one flight. I've missed one flight in my life. I've missed one as well. I missed one. Yeah, no, meat for me either. I had a terrible hangover.
00:34:06
Speaker
Yeah, I missed it. And yeah, the only one, I'm usually like the first one that, you know, when the gate comes up, I'm usually the first one to sit there, read my book, listen to a podcast, whatever. Okay. So I had a friend who came to stay at our house for a little bit just before she was going to go and get onto a flight from New York to Africa. I think it was. She was going to go work there.
00:34:35
Speaker
And she asked me, okay, well, what time do I have to leave this house so I could be at JFK but to catch this flight? And I said, okay, right, well, you you have to leave at 9 a.m., all right, or whatever it was. And she thought I was stupid, right? She went, no, no, no. And then she left at 10.30 or something, right? And then she missed her flight.
00:35:02
Speaker
why don And she she came back and she ended up staying at our house for like a month. Wow. or All because she missed her flight. Wow. See, there was another reason why when I was like first thinking it about, do I have a DHD or not?
00:35:22
Speaker
And a lot of people have problems with punctuality.
00:35:29
Speaker
um I don't. I'm always on time, always. But I've now come to realize that it's just part of my coping mechanism because is for me it's about I have enough problems, chaos to deal with in my head. I don't want me being anxious about arriving on time to increase it any more than it needs to be. So I'm always like on bang on time or really early. Just right. Yeah. Yeah. It's just a coping mechanism for your stress. Yeah. Yeah. ah Also people pleasing, big time people, a lot, a lot of people please. I don't want to let people down.
00:36:12
Speaker
Absolutely. All right. Number six. Yes. I've got the swerve, calling this the swerve, Martin. This is quite a a popular one. and Generally quite a good thing, but generally, like I'm really good, like physical, um hand-eye coordination.
00:36:31
Speaker
And so when I first heard about this a few months ago, I was like, oh, blimey, that's what I do. It's when you're walking around your apartment or the office or whatever, around your kitchen island, and you've got like a hipswerve when you go around it.
00:36:45
Speaker
all right and apparently really common just kind of like fluidly move through your yeah through your ah apartment by but that for me that's a generic thing i like really nimble i would never it's very rare that i would fall over you know right i'm just not i'm the opposite of clumsy if you like oh right so you're yeah you're a a a very a a graceful a gazelle yes exactly ballerina what gazelle is obviously because there's a thompson's gazelle right there is actually a breed a breed of gazelle martin yeah it is also a hotel chain which is i i stayed at the thompson hotel when i have my kidney surgery did you
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah. And i I didn't take a picture of me at the front where it said Thompson house Hotel. i I forgot to, but yeah. Okay. All right. and so your number Number six.
00:37:52
Speaker
Six. All right. I weirdly hoard specific products that I think are going to are going to be scarce.
ADHD and Hoarding Tendencies
00:38:06
Speaker
So really okay so I know that hoarding, that is funny because if you have ADHD, you' you're more likely to be a hoarder of things. I mean, I'm looking at the room behind you, I'm thinking, yeah, there's some hoarding tendencies going on. um So specifically, currently,
00:38:32
Speaker
every year ah um in the winter time I have I make hot pots every you know every week usually and that's like a big Japanese kind of dish you get a big bowl and you get loads of like stuff and you just like cook it in you know just cook it at the table um and there's a sauce that I buy for it um that I get at the the Japanese store.
00:39:03
Speaker
um And then when the COVID thing happened, for some reason, that source wasn't on the shelves. It was like everything else seemed to be there, but that one product and from that pot and it it was like that for about two years. right And then every time I saw it or they had one or two, I was just like, I would just get them. So I ended up with on the back shelves behind me, like loads of these bottles of hot pot sauce, but loads of them, loads of them back there. I'm hoarding them. And then annoyingly,
00:39:46
Speaker
my sister-in-law who was over, she was like, she was like inquiring about what what was in this bottle of hot pot sauce. Because I hadn't actually ever looked. And it was like, oh God, it's full of shit. like It's just shit she she ingredient after shit ingredient. And we were like, yeah, I can't eat eat this. So like, even though I'd hoarded,
00:40:14
Speaker
Um, many bottles. Is it been like a vice? Almost like, cause you probably knew it wasn't like the most natural product in the world. I have a thing about, even if I'm like going through a a phase where I'm trying to eat well, I cannot resist, um, like, uh, there are type of crisp, like cheesy puffy crisps. Hmm.
00:40:39
Speaker
and I can hold cheese puff crisps. Do you have those in the States? Yeah. I'm sure we bloody well invented them. right yeah of course uh yeah and i'm i'm i'm just looking at your room and you are a little bit of a hoarder of things i've got loads of perks and little things i'm not sure if it's hoarding i like i like clutter i like busy especially where i'm working or creating or stuff i can't work in like uh at the opposite end of the
00:41:15
Speaker
of the measure would be like a minimalist, right? Okay. I like, I like stuff around me. Right. So what, in fact, what you could see behind me is actually on all four walls of this, of my studio. Hmm. Yeah. All right. I like clutter. Yeah. All right. All right. Number, number five. Are you sure it's number five? I think I'm at number nine, Martin. Oh, nine?
00:41:45
Speaker
No, we've only done one. We've done ten. or Five, six, seven. Oh, no, you're right. No, sorry, you're right. Yeah. Okay. I've got, oh, this is an interesting one. um I think very common in the ADHD community.
00:42:01
Speaker
um Skin defects. Oh, well. Right. Okay. Common in the ADHD community, like picking and slight blah, blah, blah. Oh yeah. ah I'm going to, I'm going to ramp up this discussion and just say that I realized. Yeah.
00:42:22
Speaker
Quite recently, when I found out it was a common thing in ADHD community, I realized that I have a sixth sense of where that fucking defect is. And I will go there with my finger hand or nail and find it almost like, like freaky precision. Find it wherever it has to be in my body. It's like, I'll go there. It's not like I have to like.
00:42:46
Speaker
scratch around or feel around for it, I could just go there and it's like, but it's there. Like an innate sense of where that freaking blemish is. Wow.
00:42:58
Speaker
That's impressive. And finding it, you find that blame, make sure that imperfections like, oh, especially if you've got like, you've had like you fell over and you've got a nice crust ah to pick out. Oh, yes.
00:43:15
Speaker
I can pick out a crust for like, and the satisfaction is like, oh, right yeah all right let's first time i've said that out loud by the way just so yeah i know i mean you know know you don't like that skin picking no skin yeah skin picking is a bit of a a the ADHD thing camping yeah Yeah, i've got I've got some nice scars on my tummy. I'm just trying to ignore those cause like cause cause i cause i because the nurse warned me, don't don't be picking those. Oh, right.
00:43:58
Speaker
You're like a dog, you have to have like a little, you have to have a little plastic crown fixed around your head. Just don't need like... Yes, I money need a cone. I need a big plastic cone around my head. Yeah. Right, now number five for me is, um weird thing about ADHD is I can't hold more than two instructions in my head at any one time.
Cognitive Challenges with ADHD
00:44:23
Speaker
Right. so yes If someone says, ah can you get the milk out of the fridge and put some toast on? That's fine. But if you add another instruction onto that, the whole thing, will I will only remember but two of those and it could be any of those two. So I can i can reliably do hold two instructions, but not three.
00:44:54
Speaker
Yes. Like if, if I said off to the supermarket, get three items, I'll forget one of them. Right. Unless it's written down. Right. Yeah. Yeah. but so it say It's only three, you know.
00:45:07
Speaker
right but you know like it's that thing of like you know when you used to get lost or you know when you do you get lost or whatever and you ask someone oh how do you get to say this pub and okay go down the left turn turn turn left then it's second on the right and then it's your way down there and you go past the farm and then it's and can only i can only remember the first two things and after that blur yeah Yeah, I'm already thinking after the first two instructions, I'm already thinking, okay, I'll take the left and I'll take the right and then I'll ask someone else. Damn right, Steve. I'll just do the first two instructions and then I'll get the next two from the next person.
00:45:49
Speaker
yeah it's complete sense to me I'll tell you a funny story. Actually, it turned out not to be very funny, but I was coming back from Venice last weekend. I'm not going to be sad. I was really, really tired. I had friends as well in the car, and I was driving from the station back home, right? go on then And um it was ah wasn't my car, so I wasn't very familiar with it. I was tired, et cetera, et cetera. It was dark. It was raining.
00:46:16
Speaker
okay um i had two different people blurting out instructions to me for what i mean ah direction to take okay and i had to stop the car yeah and i said pick sorry guys pick one i can only deal with one of you right yeah yeah it was all right and yeah yeah anyway okay yeah you know that was a good that was a good ending I was expecting a sad ending where you took two instructions and then you crashed. No, but it's not bad because one of the people got really upset with me. ah well she took it She took it as an offence. She said I was only trying to help you and she went off one. now Anyway, anyway.
00:47:05
Speaker
um um All right. well right no All right. So that's not my number five. So number four for me is similar to yours. Blast one, Martin combinations of numbers.
00:47:18
Speaker
I'll give you something really specific here. With my eye, I do a lot of photography, right? Okay. And, and I, by necessity, I have to be pretty much a point and shoot kind of photographer. Because if someone says, Oh, so Paul, ah you know, what's your focal length? What's your aperture? What's your ISO and your, your, ah your exposure time, right? Mm hmm.
00:47:45
Speaker
Or if someone says, oh, I shot this photograph with a focal length of 23.0, aperture of F's over 11, ISO 640, exposure time of 1 over 3200. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. But not only can I not hear it and take it on, I can't do it.
00:48:05
Speaker
Right. Right. Oh, I see. When I take a photo, it's ah pretty much, I set it up for myself and I am pretty much 99% just focused on the composition of the photo. End of. I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't be thinking, Oh, what kind of exposure have I got? Blah, blah, blah. No.
00:48:30
Speaker
beyond one number or two maximum. It's just blur. It's just like a mess in my head. All right. Yeah. So kind of similar to your last one, really.
Sensory Regulation with Heavy Clothing
00:48:41
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Well, my number four is, uh, wearing heavy clothes to, uh, wearing heavy clothes, regardless of what the weather is outside. So,
00:48:57
Speaker
sometimes i'llll I'll put on a nice kind of big hoodie and then I'll get like, it's really hot today. You don't need that today. And ah and i'm and I'm wearing it because I feel anxious and I kind of want that weight. You know, we're talking about heavy bathrobes. It's kind of the the same thing. yeah i'll I'll sometimes just want to wear stuff that makes me feel comfortable.
00:49:27
Speaker
emotionally, even if it makes me uncomfortable temperature wise, like I could be roasting away like a bloody jacket potato inside my warm clothing, but I'll do it because it makes me feel calmer.
00:49:48
Speaker
yeah ah could I can remember but walking home from school Walking home from school, you know those big parker jackets that we used to have? yeah you know the ah big And used to have like a big fluffy hood that you could zip all the way up, almost like South Park Kenny style. right we like have a have a little So I used to zip my my coat all the way up. I could walk home like that.
00:50:15
Speaker
even when it was like warm. I just felt like I needed to cocoon myself. Coincidentally, yesterday, for the first time this year, I put a jumper on and I really liked it. I really liked that feeling. I look forward fashion-wise when it comes to autumn and winter, because you put heavier stuff on. Yeah. Yeah. I like wearing jeans.
00:50:42
Speaker
And when the weather gets warm and it starts heating up, everyone goes, why don't you just wear shorts? Just what the hell are you doing? and and i'm And I'm the last person in the United States of America ah to transition into shorts. I i ah colo go along with the idea of like they say about, I think it's not just you. It's like English people in general. Someone said that English people can't wear shorts. They just look like someone stole their trousers.
00:51:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, once I'm in the shorts, fine. I'll just be short. So I'm alone, but, but, but now, but but now though though the weather's cooling down. I'm like, yeah, I'm lacking. I can walk and wait sweaters jumpers. I can put long, long trousers on.
00:51:34
Speaker
yeah pantaloons all right oh you killed martin ah if i were only scottish i would um number three stop mr thompson the top three weird things I walked,
00:51:53
Speaker
i walk I can't, I find it really difficult to walk in a straight line, which really irritates both my partner and my son. Walk along the street and I generally lean into them. And then you can force them out into the road. Shepherding. Oh, it's a wall.
00:52:17
Speaker
right into a wall is it just gradually moving closer to them exactly and my son he calls me pop pop you're doing it again you're doing it again do we do it walk in your own lane walk in your own lane Jesus Christ it's not a chicane
00:52:36
Speaker
we know we're We're not some sort of chariot race, some Roman chariots where you just try to barge me off the course. No. Still your rails. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Oh, blimey, that is funny. ah i You know what? I have been accused that before. Not very often, though, but it has happened where someone says, can can just you just go over there a bit? You're just forcing me out into the road.
00:53:02
Speaker
Well, until yesterday, I thought I only did it with Tom until I mentioned to my girlfriend last night about it. She'd do that all the time with me. You kidding me? All the time.
00:53:16
Speaker
a See, that's why it's important to to have your I know because because we're going to talk about ADHD awareness right in that up and coming episode um where if you talk about your things that your ADHD, you suddenly realize that from the feedback that that you're way more ADHD than you thought you were.
00:53:43
Speaker
I think it was the first episode of the podcast we did. We took it about ADHD was like oozing out of us. And yeah, the more podcasts we do, the more we talk about it, we just like freaking oozing out of me for Christ's sake. I know, right. My number three is in hotels, I weirdly always remember the room number.
00:54:12
Speaker
even if I don't have to. Right. So for some reason, I'll look at the room number once. They'll say, oh, yeah you're in room 319, right? I'll just look at it once. And that's all online I will remember it, even though if someone then asks me, um what hotel are you in? I don't know.
00:54:38
Speaker
I couldn't name you the hotel I was in but I can remember the net the number of the room yeah and I don't have to because if i if I forgot I could just go up to the front desk and I'd say this is who I am here's my ID what's my room number and they'll say it's room number 319 so I don't have to remember it it's not a requirement but yet I do Nice. I don't know why. I always do. It reminds me that there's a film, isn't there? It's actually really good with John Cusack. There's a famous hotel room in umme where is New York or Boston that is haunted. Okay.
00:55:24
Speaker
And people that anyone that stayed in there for more than like four or five hours suddenly had suicidal instincts they didn't know they had. And people, a couple of people died, threw themselves out of the windows. And it's a fucking scary film. Apparently it's a true story. right And it's based on ah this ah specific room number of a specific specific hotel. Any hope? Okay.
00:55:51
Speaker
Um, so then my penultimate in my top 10 called his tuck me up, but not too much.
Sleep Challenges Post-Surgery
00:56:00
Speaker
Right. Uh, a couple of things like bed, bed, bed, uh, sleeping routines. Um, if I'm sleeping with either of my, like, I dunno, my, um,
00:56:14
Speaker
with a pajama or boxer shorts, I like to sleep with a hand tucked under the elastic. Okay. But at the same time, I have to have at least one foot out of the bed clothes. It's weird how having... Hanging over the bed. Right. How you can regulate your internal temperature so much just by having a foot out. Yeah. Like it's like night and day. Night and day. I have to dangle. All right. I have to dangle, Martin.
00:56:50
Speaker
Right. Maybe that's the secret. I don't know. It isn't really, but I was just like thinking, it Oh yeah, maybe that's the secret to kind of how you, how you fall fall asleep. It's just like everything's perfectly set up. Right. But and I know that if you struggle to fall asleep, you can set yourself up perfectly and it was still making a difference. Right. and that's that's in interesting i Yeah. Yeah. There are certain, yeah.
00:57:21
Speaker
Yeah, i'm i'm I'm struggling with sleep at the moment because apparently um it's quite common post-op to um have insomnia. So I've been currently sleeping up to about 2 a.m. and then waking up and then I can't get back to sleep to about 5 a.m. So that's been happening a lot. So um that's not been much fun.
00:57:49
Speaker
Yeah, i'm I'm not good the day after, if I've not had my eight hours, I'm not good. I know people afraid of my sheep, sheep on average has four hours, average four hours.
00:58:03
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah. I mean, ah one of our one of our regular podcast listeners, um Alexandra, who listens to her, who are in and on TikTok in Greece. um Yeah. She was saying that. Wow. Wow. OK. Yeah. um All right. Number two. Oh, that's my number two is. Yeah.
00:58:32
Speaker
um I always carry an an emotional support drink.
Emotional Support Drinks
00:58:39
Speaker
OK. Waving one around the camera now. um So. And that was especially true when I when I worked in offices. I would always have a drink I would take with me from my desk.
00:58:59
Speaker
I would basically make a coffee and I'd just drink it really slowly um until you know for about half a day and then I'd make one again and I'd carry it around from from a meeting to a meeting. um right Just to kind of calm myself down. I'd have to have a pen or a pencil and if I didn't have it, it would ah I'd feel it.
00:59:28
Speaker
Mm hmm. You'd feel exposed, comfort, exposed. Exactly. Yeah. I know. You'd be agitated. And I would, I would say, you know, like, I have this hearing. Yeah. despite Some people have emotional support dogs. I have an emotional, I also have ah an emotional support dog, but I have an emotional support drink.
00:59:52
Speaker
of so For some people, it's like a cigarette. You know, cups are really, and um what's the word? yeah
01:00:03
Speaker
um Ceremonial almost, so yeah. Okay. um no Number one. Number one. not I've put it as number one.
01:00:14
Speaker
because I think it's really niche and I'd be fascinated here if you or anyone else in Oculus 2 has had anything like this. It's very specific and niche. and Okay. When I drink out of a bottle, a cold drink, I count the gulps as they go down. Oh yeah. And it's usually um, nine.
01:00:48
Speaker
Oh, nine. Oh, so you have a specific amount? Not eight, not ten. And i it's bigger than me. it's it's It's not something I can control. It's not something I can control. ah Yeah, but if I drink out of ah a glass or a mug or something, no. Out of a bottle, like an orange juice or something like that.
01:01:16
Speaker
or water I count I always count the gulps. I can kind of relate to that in the far as there's a part of my brain that when I'm drinking starts to think I'm not breathing now so i'm starting to die at this point even though i'm drinking i am dying if it if i carry on drinking i will just die right so there's a little bit of an alarm a bit of a panic goes on that has to kind of like make sure that i'm not
01:01:54
Speaker
that I don't, that I don't forget to not drink or something like that. I don't, I think that, it feels like an irrational thought somehow. Like it doesn't make sense. But yeah. I could sometimes, I've got a thing with hydration. I think I'd be in a hot country on holiday or whatever. I've forgotten for the last three days to buy water and I could go to the supermarket to buy water and I would come out without water.
01:02:26
Speaker
Bizarre. It's the silent killer. Okay. Oh, that's lovely. Drum roll, mate. Drum roll. What's your number one? All right. This one's, again, weirdly specific, right? Right.
Sensitivity to Artificial Sounds
01:02:43
Speaker
It's something that irritates me. It's a sound that irritates me.
01:02:50
Speaker
You know, every time, so this is a ah very common trope in movies and TVs. when the actor or when it comes up to a microphone and starts talking, they always put a bit of microphone background squeal, feedback, sound, just as they're talking. And you'll hit right every time they will do it. Can you give an example?
01:03:22
Speaker
so if you're watching a film, right? And then there's, maybe there's a party or something mean like a sort of a, maybe there's a sort of ending ah a marriage thing going on, right? A marriage ceremony. And there's ah there's a stage and there's a microphone and some character gets up and gets to the microphone and goes up to it to kind of do a speech.
01:03:48
Speaker
And there's always a feedback squeal that they put in over the top like a You know that feedback sound I got it. I got it. Oh Yes, and it's every single time right like and you'll notice it I will now that I put it in your head and you see something and then someone comes up to a microphone starts talking you go oh yeah there's that there's that feedback screen that reminds me of it and again and again and I find it irritating
01:04:24
Speaker
Right. It's a kind of a similar thing or not. I don't know. I can't stand when people put background noises or music in a series or a documentary or film and it has no fucking sense to be there at all. All it does is just irritate the hell out of me. Why is it there?
01:04:51
Speaker
Or they're trying to, just because they're they're bad ah bad writers or bad directors, and the only way they could create a sense of drama is by putting dramatic music in that's just like really grating and makes no sense. And then once you hear it, you can't hear anything else.
01:05:09
Speaker
And the rule of the field, whatever it is, is ruined. It's ruined. You spent five years filming these exotic penguins, but you put this stupid soundtrack over it and now, yes, I don't give a crap. Well, some people that you say that some people get irritated by that because they BBC when they do nature programs.
01:05:30
Speaker
They exaggerate the sounds of everything. And for some people that's really irritating, it's like not natural sounds. but they They enhance it just to make it more dramatic.
01:05:43
Speaker
Okay. All right. Yeah. Well, there you go. That was our top 10 weird things about ADHD. That was a good one. That was good fun. I enjoyed that. It does remind me of the thing that we do with our podcast that I think is particular is that ADHD is not always about the big things.
01:06:07
Speaker
Like, you know, the ones that like, you know, the really big ADHD indicate, you know, that indicators of signs. It's sometimes the little things, like everyday stuff. Yeah. There's a lot of that. There's a lot of that. All right. Let's get back in the elevator and we'll go back up and we'll, and we'll, and we'll work ourselves out of this whole, whole episode. Yeah. All right. Here we go.
01:06:38
Speaker
who It was gonna be stuffy down there slight smell of of you know, don't Yeah, there's weird stuff happens down in this I You know if as mares We spend our money on the pub on the public right on public stuff exactly I mean, I've also got a couple of hands a curing down there.
01:07:01
Speaker
Oh, have you? All right. Yeah. Nice. All right. All right. Well, let's just quickly do the posting because I do have one posting that I can read out.
01:07:17
Speaker
so um that and So your feedback is vital to us, Martin, and and listeners. We read all of your comments. We might read yours out on a future podcast, a bit like the one that Martin's, I think, has teed up for us. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I was talking to a Alexandra but again. I talked about her earlier. And she says, yeah, it's so much fun listening to to you guys.
01:07:44
Speaker
with a little heart, smiley face. Nice. So we appreciate the listen. We do. We do. He thinks we're funny. So that's nice. It's nice. Yeah, so get in the comments, drop us a line, tell us what your weird ADHD thing is. um Yeah. And I'm pretty sure this is going to be a topic that we can come back to because I kind of feel like Oh, god, yeah. it was I've got some stuff as I didn't put in. Yeah, so do I. Yeah, okay. So ah let's return and then um if you have one yourself, put it in the comments and then we'll get to it for the next episode. like Don't make us feel like we're the only freaks in this.
01:08:31
Speaker
right you know right Back us up. um All right, so it just leaves me to say that ADHDville is delivered every Tuesday to all purveyors of fine
Listener Feedback and Engagement
01:08:45
Speaker
podcasts. Please subscribe to subscribe to the pod and raise us most weird. And feel free to correspond at will in the comments. But wait, there's more if you wish to see our beautiful, beautiful faces, then sally forth to the YouTubes and the TikToks.
01:09:03
Speaker
And you can also pick up a quill and email us at ADHDville at gmail.com. But in the meantime, be fucking kind to yourself. And I beseech you, fellow ADHDers, don't let thyself, sons of the house, come hither and get the flesh.
01:09:25
Speaker
There. There, says the mayor. That's that.