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Episode 25 - Uh Oh, Sensory Overload !
87 Plays2 years ago
Paul and Martin (co-Mayors of ADHDville) chat about Sensory Overload - you know, when things like lights and sound and even the tags on your clothing drive you insane. But let's look on the bright side... there's another quiz!
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Put quill to paper and send us an email at: ADHDville@gmail.com
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
Introduction and Podcast Setup
00:00:01
Speaker
Here we go. We're off and running, up and running. I was like, I don't know whether this is something that you experienced, Paul, but I was driving back from DC yesterday and that's like a four, five hour
00:00:23
Speaker
drive and it was at night and my ADHD brain quite likes on the one hand it kind of quite likes that motorway freeway long distance driving
00:00:39
Speaker
where you're just kind of like staying in one lane and you're just like making sure you don't miss your exit. And it's kind of quite nice. It's kind of quite calming. But at night, you've got all these lights that are kind of like zooming at you. And I
Welcome to ADHDville
00:00:55
Speaker
find that when I get to my, when we got to the hotel,
00:01:00
Speaker
It was late. I just went to sleep and then all I could see in my head was these lights just flying at me for ages. I was like, God, damn it. Okay. Well, we've got, luckily, Martin, we're going to talk about sensitivities and I've got a bit of a blurb about light sensitivity.
00:01:24
Speaker
Because yeah, there is something in there. There's definitely something in there. There's something in there. All right. Yeah. All right. I get, I get tired. I get kind of tight. I could have tightness in that, in those, I think like everyone does, but apparently ADHD peeps can be more, more sensitive to it.
00:01:46
Speaker
Yeah, I know. And I think that's the subject of our pod today. So without further ado. Beautiful segue. What a beautiful segue. I know. I'm sure we're getting too professional at this game.
00:02:01
Speaker
All right. We are getting, we're getting too professional. Let's, let's just wind it back a bit and just be our normal crap selves. And let's welcome everyone to ADHDville.
00:02:42
Speaker
Hello, I'm Paul Thompson. I was diagnosed with a combined HD, ADH and the D after 56 years of combining loads of other letters from the same alphabet like WT and F. Wow. And I'm Martin Weston. I was diagnosed with ADHD some ooh, but a decade prior to this episode in the
Podcast Structure and Weekly Reflections
00:03:07
Speaker
yonder.
00:03:11
Speaker
So we're just two mates who, by coincidence or not, after 39 years of friendship, discover that we're co-ADHD-ers. Who would have thought it? Now, it's really important to say that this is an entertainment podcast about adult ADHD. It does not substitute for individualized
00:03:30
Speaker
Advice for qualified health professionals. So don't take any advice from us. No, no, no, no, no, don't do that. We're just here to kind of all inclusive ADHD part bench with room for everyone, including your double gangas, your alter egos, your body doubles and your chaperones. Chaperones. Great. Chaperones. Still here. Great. Grab your jet packs.
00:03:54
Speaker
or whatever other mechanical devices you have for transportation. And then it's taken to
Managing ADHD: Personal Stories
00:03:59
Speaker
ADHDville, an imaginary town that we've created in our minds. We like to explore different parts of ADHD. Indeed. And we start off, as always, here at the Town Hall in the Mayor's Office, where we are the joint Mayor's of ADHDville. Take care of business. Business.
00:04:23
Speaker
And I'm just looking at the, let me just rattle some papers, looking at the meeting agenda for this week. And number one, we have the return of the quiz. Yes. Yes. Yeah. A quiz. Yeah. We'll be doing that. It's already a froth of, there's a crowd building up outside.
00:04:51
Speaker
I know the ADHD town square is starting to fill up. I can look out of the window. Postman's turned up, the car mechanic. We might have to bring in extra security. I think I can see Pew Pew. Oh, and here's Barney McGrew.
00:05:16
Speaker
has come along. Oh, well, oh, yeah. Yeah, I can see him. I'm sure we'll see Dibble and Grub following shortly. Yeah, that's that's that's that's a UK deep cut there. Yes. So we've got the so we've got the quiz that we'll do towards the end of the show.
00:05:39
Speaker
Um, and number two is how was your week? Good, bad, or indeed, ugly. Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, mixed bag as ever at the moment, mixed bag mixed bag. Um,
00:05:58
Speaker
Yeah, what have I written here? I've actually, I've had, I'm actually reading out from what I've read, because otherwise I just can't remember it. But yeah, just like that same kind of thing with learning and unlearning. And yeah, kind of like trying as much as I can to take joy and
00:06:18
Speaker
from this learning, having been diagnosed six times eight, nine weeks ago, trying to take joy from it, if you know what I mean. You know, just no, you can't push it along. You might as well just go with it. Go with the flow, try and enjoy it. So that's why I am with it. Yeah. It's a pleasure.
00:06:42
Speaker
Yeah, a typical conversation conversation with girlfriend about it, she's saying like, I don't feel like she said I don't feel like I need to learn anything about ADHD because I've got you. So I said, well, yeah, it's like she's got an open book right in front of her walking around, you know, live. All right, Dolby Dolby surround sound all day and all night.
00:07:07
Speaker
And so I said, yeah, but I've got so much to learn and I've learned. So, you know, I can't do that all by myself. But she said something really nice. She said, look, you're pulled before your diagnosis, you're pulled after it. So whatever.
ADHD Sensitivities: Light, Sound, and Touch
00:07:27
Speaker
It's all good. It's all good.
00:07:29
Speaker
cool yeah it's nice way to put it i thought so i'm i'm guessing uh she's neuro-typical you do think we were i think i think i think she's dipping her toe on the on the on the edge of of it all all right yeah all right okay yeah she's not big on the spectrum she's not like
00:07:55
Speaker
It's not like Elvis on the billboard, you know, it's not like Elvis in Las Vegas. Yeah, she's more like, you know, Perry Como on the outskirts of Las Vegas, you know, on Wednesday nights, on Wednesday nights. Okay. All right. Between six and seven. I was gonna say the early crowd. Yeah. Yeah. Before the trucks come in. Okay, that's fair enough.
00:08:31
Speaker
The French have a word for it. I feel like garbage.
00:08:43
Speaker
or as the Americans say, garbage. I feel like crap a man. It's just been like mentally and physically drained and exhausted. Okay. You know, there's been a lot of
00:09:04
Speaker
I've been doing a lot of, doing a lot of peopling, as they say. Right. Yeah. Exhausting. A lot of driving, a lot of peopling. It's fun. Now I'm just tired. I'm just tired. Must be that bar scene in Into the Wild, you know, where it's like,
00:09:28
Speaker
It's like a farm hand. Have you seen it in the wild? I don't think I have. Oh, I've seen it like 12 times in one of my faves. Anyway, it's like having a discussion with a guy in a bar, it's like, it's going, society, yeah, fucking society, yeah. In a negative way, it's like, yeah. I mean, I mean, I'm in that phase at the moment, it's like, oh, yeah, I'm done with socialising for a bit, you know, put me back in the cupboard.
00:09:56
Speaker
Yeah, right. Yeah, so I'm still managing to kind of get the basics done just like, you know, like food. Right. And getting dressed things. So I'm taking care of the dog. So I think I'm
00:10:17
Speaker
You know, there's a I am dealing with the very, very basics currently. Yeah. All the extra stuff is just going to have to wait until I've managed to amass enough energy to kind of get part of like getting a bit older, you know, you take take our joy from the really the most simple stuff. I had some joy yesterday. My my dog chased a rabbit.
00:10:47
Speaker
Oh, really? Oh, yeah, it was great. He was so happy before. It was like, oh, not the rabbit. Well, he didn't get it. He didn't actually catch it. He was like, all of his instincts kicked in. You know, it's like, all right. It's like, look at me. This was what I was born to do. Right. I'm sitting in my basket, you know. No, no, this is it. You're lovely people, but I want to chase rabbits.
00:11:19
Speaker
You're lovely people. I admire and respect you. However. Yeah. However, those fluffy bunnies, you know, there's no substitute for a fluffy bunny. No, there isn't. All right. And then he had the same theory, but different kind of bunnies, I suspect.
00:11:44
Speaker
Oh, God, yeah. Blimey, what a guy. Anyway, well, let's hop into our mayor's car.
00:11:52
Speaker
And because I believe we're going to be going over to the to the park. Right. And we're going to talk about weird weird sense. So this this this feels like a great place to maybe let your dog out and catch. All right. All right. Well, let's hop in.
00:12:25
Speaker
Just a quick ride up the street. Well, you know, well, everywhere in ADHD really is because it's quite compact. Mine. So it's quite as it as you know, is John Mayer. Yes, that's right. Well, it's like we call it. It's like veil. It could be many, many things, but it's more like a what's it called? Hamlet in English. You call it a hamlet.
00:12:53
Speaker
Yeah. Or, if you put it on, borgou, borgou, which comes from French, I think, of bourgeois. Oh, blimey. Bourgeois, borguesi. Okay. Anyway. So, yeah, anyway, let's talk about some weird sensitivities. We've got, I've got, like, basically, let's hear, like, touch, light, sound. Right, we'll go in there. If, before we
00:13:23
Speaker
Zip off. Let's just kind of, I like to define the thing that we're talking about. We're all on the same page. So I'm just saying, so what we're saying is ADHD, what it is, is sensory overload. And this, this is what happens when an ADHD is hypersensitive to sensory information. So it can be lights.
00:13:52
Speaker
it can be crowsy. I mean, and we'll get into that. And what it does is it causes the brain to experience those sensitivities more intensely than your average bear, right? And it leads to an overstimulation and you have this fight or flight response.
00:14:17
Speaker
And you kind of get your thing where it starts for anxious and anxiety and has all kinds of different, you know, you start, you can't focus on stuff, you feel a bit ill. I mean, you get restless, you can have panic attacks. I mean, and it can lead to all kinds of things. That's generally what we're chatting about. It doesn't necessarily have to be
00:14:46
Speaker
Well, I sometimes I like to think defining something is actually define what it's not either doesn't always have to be a phobia, you know, like people like serious phobias. It's with all of these things. And it is a phobia is based around fear, the distinction. Whereas what we're mostly talking about is just hypersensitivity. Yep. Now anxiety
Musical Sensitivities: Steel Drums and Bagpipes
00:15:12
Speaker
you get from
00:15:14
Speaker
being overstimulated. Absolutely. And there's all kinds of weird ones, right? I mean, I know that I have a bunch. My wife has a bunch. You have a bunch because you've talked about loud conversations in restaurants.
00:15:37
Speaker
Yeah, I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts. Yeah, I've talked a lot about the sound and the restaurant thing and yeah, bad acoustics and small spaces and lots of people and lots of noise drives me insane. Yeah, but I'm not going to go too much about that because I've whifted on about it quite a lot.
00:16:03
Speaker
But I mean, it just the sound thing, does that resonate for you? No pun intended. Absolutely. Absolutely. So and also from my wife as well. So there are certain sounds and I think that's probably one reason why I became a musician is because I was just kind of quite
00:16:29
Speaker
that was something that I was very sensitive to. So I can listen to something.
00:16:36
Speaker
and some sounds will just really grate on me. I mean, I think everyone can appreciate the normal stuff like chalkboard sounds and other kind of things that you get. But also you can hear it in music and sounds. Sometimes it's things like
00:17:03
Speaker
repetitive sounds like so the sound of an of an air conditioner some could be fine and then others has this weird resonant thing going on with it and it's just it's just like
00:17:17
Speaker
It's just like, you know what, I find really, I cannot, I have real difficulty with the sounds of, you know, those steel steel drums that you kind of get in like caribbean music and that kind of thing. It is like someone firing ball bearings at my skull. Really? Yeah. It is like I have to run away, run away. My brain just
00:17:48
Speaker
says no. Okay, we're gonna, I think we've got it coming up, actually, we're gonna do a podcast on ADHD and music. I think it's a couple of weeks time, which is interesting, because I just, on the opposite end of that, I love a banjo. It's all about a banjo that makes me just like, feel like in a good place. And not having ball bearings, you know, you know, shocks my head. Right. Yeah, no, no, I mean, like pipes.
00:18:20
Speaker
uh you know what interestingly i saw a little youtube video it was like a it was like an old i think it was 50s maybe earlier than that um and it was a it was a jazz band
00:18:34
Speaker
And then the headline of the video was something like, they said that you couldn't play jazz on bagpipes. And it has a kind of normal classic jazz band. And then she gets up and starts playing the bagpipes. And it sounds really cool. And it sounds really cool in this jazz club context. You're going to have to send me that. That sounds great. I love the bagpipes.
00:19:04
Speaker
When the Queen died, God bless her, and all that sailing her, and the bagpipes, I'm not a royalist at all, but when the bagpipes started, her personal bagpiper
00:19:26
Speaker
I have a personal bagpiper that gets me up at 6.30 in the morning and just there just in case he falls asleep. Okay, nice. Yeah, when he started going, you know, something in his bagpipes, I got really emotional. Oh, yeah, that was a moment. I think he's tuned in to our heritage.
00:19:51
Speaker
you know, living in the UK, being in the States, being in Italy, it's like, oh, it takes you right back into your roots.
00:20:02
Speaker
Yeah. Also, a also we have well, next on my list is is lights, is light. It's actually Martin. Oh, wow. That's that's why we're the same. That's you know what? I was talking to someone who's who one of my friends and he was like,
00:20:31
Speaker
And I've kind of heard this a bit now, you know, right from some of your mates, we look very similar. And we also apparently sound very similar. Yeah. And I think obviously think because I think we've got similar mannerisms, right? Yeah, it's a bit freaky sometimes.
00:20:57
Speaker
it is it is okay so so bright bright lights number number two on the list yeah so i've got until i'm going to tell you a little story martin i had this thing on holiday a few years ago i was in grace and like in august like really really hot and i suddenly at some point i had i was getting it you know turned out every day i was getting severe fatigue
00:21:28
Speaker
like, what the hell is going on? Got back to Italy and I've like asked him around about it and we'd see an optician. And it's apparently it's because of my, this is something particularly that people with ADHD are
00:21:46
Speaker
particularly sensitive to is too much light in your eyes. Especially if you've got blue eyes or grey eyes like me. Me as well. Apparently that's the thing. There you go. And so you can get things from that. You can get like, it's got here, it's got like this. Eye paint, headaches, migraine attacks, dry eyes, chronic fatigue.
00:22:16
Speaker
So my petition said what you need is these really bloody expensive lenses. Oh God. So yeah, it cost me an arm and leg. But apparently, it's really important for people with A, with light coloured eyes, but also people with ADHD. It's worth looking into, apparently.
00:22:42
Speaker
sure,
Textural Sensitivities: Food and Water
00:22:44
Speaker
you know, like if you get that, if you've ever been in a place that has like, has fluorescent lighting, and one is not firing quite right, and does that strobing kind of this and, and he's got that apparently, yeah, he is sensitive to fluorescent and LED light.
00:23:08
Speaker
try and reduce it as much as you can in your house. And if you have to have it, try and reduce reflective surfaces. All right. You know what? So my wife is very sensitive to lighting, right? So she will go around the house and turn, you know, and we'll turn lamps on and lights off and just get the balance right. And then she feels comfortable.
00:23:37
Speaker
Right as you can see like if you're on the YouTube is you can see like my background I've got there's at least you know one two there's at least four lights going on behind me and that's because I
00:23:55
Speaker
I am I I quite like lots of little lights so so as a kid I used to go so every Saturday my parents that they would go down to the shopping mall the shopping center
00:24:13
Speaker
And you go into one of these big stores, you know, in our cases, like, it was like, sort of, uh, uh, Tepanums or over in the States would be like Sears or whatever. Um, and you go to the light section with where all the lamps are. Mm-hmm.
00:24:32
Speaker
And it's just like, and my brain just like, it's like a, just lights up like a fairy wonderland. It's like I'm in my little personal heaven. I just love being like those crystal chandeliers are all in the ceilings. It's just like, like bathed in like, oh, it's beautiful. I've caused you to almost die. Yeah.
00:25:02
Speaker
So, you know, like, so I am very, so I, I like the lights in it. And that's a shame. That's a shame. That's a shame. Apparently, you go against, there's some, I've got some research here, you go completely against that, Martin. In 1976, they showed, they did a research in a school.
00:25:29
Speaker
And that hyperactive behaviours increase quite dramatically, including fidgeting lack of attention amongst ADHD children. Yeah, yeah, I think that's the same with adults as well. You know, like, I don't like a big, bright overhead light.
00:25:48
Speaker
You know, like you've got ceiling lights, you've got a bright one, he just like lights up the whole room. And that just, I mean, my, it just kills my brain to get very anxious. So I don't like a big bright over light light, but I like lamps and little spots of light around me. Right. Okay.
00:26:11
Speaker
So it's still quite, the light levels are quite low still, but you just get these interesting little pockets of the light. And actually quite like the reflections as well. I think just fly in the face of, you know, which is good. Yeah.
00:26:36
Speaker
There's this thing here, but I don't think I'm not sure if this is linked to ADHD, but if you have blue eyes like you and I do, it can often, there's often a link between bad hearing as well, bizarrely, they're actually linked.
00:26:55
Speaker
Hmm, okay. It says here, since the inner ear uses melanin and blue eyes come from a lack of melanin, some researchers hypothesize that there may be a link between eye colour and acquired hearing loss. Okay, great. Looking forward to that then. Yeah. All right. But there's good news. If you have like blue eyes, you'd less like to get cataracts.
00:27:25
Speaker
bonus bonus all right so um should we segue kind of seems you want to taste yes what you mean like um food tastes like smell style yeah smells i've got yeah all right yeah
00:27:51
Speaker
No, smells is another thing, surely. I think it is. It is. It is. Yeah. I was just wondering whether they're similar, whether taste and I think there's a food texture thing, right? Yeah. So that's one. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like I'm checking them boxes, I'm checking them boxes. Yeah. I've got a thing which is things that are, you know, like soft, like, like overboiled vegetables.
00:28:21
Speaker
I've got a big problem with that. What about things like, I'm just thinking about like oysters, for example, not necessarily the taste, but that kind of slimy-ish sort of texture. I had to say with mushrooms for a while, then I found out they're really fucking nice to eat. So quite quickly.
00:28:47
Speaker
Oh wow, really? I'll go over the shroom problem. Yeah, when I was a kid, I hated the shroom because of the texture. Then I found out they're really nice. Oh, and then you just got over the whole texture thing. Oh man, I love a shroom.
00:29:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I do like shrimps. I'm just trying to think of certain textures. If there's any textures of food, I don't think so. I think I'm generally okay. I know that smells. Just on the texture thing.
00:29:22
Speaker
Bizarrely, the opposite of soft is crunchy. That's my go to crisps. Yeah, crisps in American. Chips. And if the chips or the crisps happen to be acidic, therefore, you know, salt and vinegar flavor, vinegar all over those like a nasty rash or I've got a massive weakness for acidity.
00:29:52
Speaker
All right. So when you do buy those Harry bows, are you in the like sour camp?
00:30:03
Speaker
Nice, nice. All right. So that one other which I was just saying earlier, one other sensory thing is smells, which I don't think I particularly have any, you know, so that things so that would be things like particularly strong smells that would affect you like food, cleaning products. I think I think I'm very normal on that one.
00:30:33
Speaker
I've only got one on the smell things. I can't stand... Oh, there's two actually. One is... Well, I don't think if you have this in the States but you're knitting, they use pure alcohol for cleaning. All right. Because it's cheap and it's just really effective and really traditional or whatever. And it's just... Oh, it's horrendous. I really hate that smell. Pure alcohol. It's nasty.
00:31:03
Speaker
And the other one is kind
Crowd Discomfort and Focus Challenges
00:31:06
Speaker
of what it's called, man. There is another one, but it's fairly it's in that kind of ballpark of kind of smells kind of accurate. Yeah. One thing that's one thing that does bother me, like I think it's probably along with light, this is my other one, which is tactile.
00:31:30
Speaker
stimulation so that's how things feel so things like touch materials and touch and yeah
00:31:39
Speaker
Yeah, that's that is that is a big, big one for me. Like, like, like there are so sweaters. I'm just looking at your sweater now on the YouTube. I'm thinking I if I touch that my fingers would would rick rick coil. Really? OK. I'd be like, you know, you've seen this thing. Give it a try.
00:32:09
Speaker
where, no, right, where your, where your teeth it. You know, that, that's, that's what it's like. And even now, just looking at thinking about touching it, it's like my, my fingers are trying to fall back into my arms. Like if they could recoil, you know, like a snail's eye stalks, just like a back inside. You look like a T-Rex at this moment.
00:32:39
Speaker
Yeah, except without the hands, it would just be like a little stubby arm. So my sweaters is kind of rough. I like a really rough kind of coarse sweaters. It's like a Brillo pad. It's like a cleaning pad for your pans. It's like, I like that.
00:33:06
Speaker
I can deal with it. Is this a thing for you? No. I read that it's quite common that people have a problem with, you know, when you've got labels that are in the back, it's like cutting off. I do that.
00:33:33
Speaker
Yeah, if I can feel it, it's coming out. Yeah, for sure. Like your appendix. Not needed vestigial. Not needed. I don't think I've got anything on that. I've got one thing and I think it's I think it comes into this particular category. Water on my face I've got here.
00:33:57
Speaker
Mm hmm. That's a tactile sensation for sure. Yeah, I have a big problem with water on my face. Yeah, I don't. I can't put my head under the shower. I can put my head under the shower but not my face. Right. I'm with you on that. I don't like it. I don't like it. Yeah. Unless I control it. This is quite bizarre. So I can gather it in my hand and like splash it in my face and it's fine.
00:34:26
Speaker
But I have to be in control of that agreement. Yeah, that agreement between you and the HTO.
00:34:34
Speaker
Yeah, so like when I go swimming I don't like it's like all the men pretty much they all do the the the front the classic front crawl right but that basically involves putting your face in the water if you're gonna like go down and then you go up to breathe and yeah, which I cannot do
00:35:00
Speaker
Well, I can, but my whole body just recalls. So I'm just doing this nice, gentle breaststroke. Is that what it's called? When your head's right above the water, you're just like doing a little frog maneuver up the lanes. Yeah, that's the same reason I've never learnt to dive.
00:35:30
Speaker
Right. I'd like to, I'd like to conquer it. It's on my list. I think it was last last year's or this year's list of six, six, two stupid things you do in January. Bucket list. Yeah. Yeah. And to dive. I'd love to do a buck. Yeah. Same problem with the water in the face.
00:35:55
Speaker
Right, because there's a guy who I call Splashy McSplashison. There's this older guy, and his technique is appalling. So he slams his feet and his arms down into the water. It causes huge splashes. I mean, he puts in a lot of effort. A lot of effort goes into it.
00:36:23
Speaker
And I can sympathise with him. What's his name? Okay. Because I've never got the concept of floating. Never got it. I feel like my body, my instinct is like, I need to fight it like hell for water in order not to sink.
00:36:45
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know how to flow. Right. Well, if you relax, then you weirdly float. It's like the more you relax, the more you float. The more you don't, the more you sink to the bottom like a stone. Yeah. I think that's a myth.
00:37:04
Speaker
Anyway, OK, I mean, I have the last one on my list is like is is is crowds and crowded places where there's, you know, like, you know, that's some bus stations and airports and shopping shopping places where it's just a lot.
00:37:32
Speaker
going on. And it's like a lot of sensory input. There's like noise, there's people.
00:37:39
Speaker
is it's quite a general hubbub, if you will, of stuff going on. I mean, so I, I mean, I don't think so so much for me. I mean, it is intense. I mean, it's like, I can only do that kind of environment for a while. Right? Yeah. And then I'm glad to be out. My sense towards that is getting
00:38:10
Speaker
When I was a young guy, it didn't used to bother me at all. Now it really bothers me to be like crowdiest priestess at home and you can't wait to get out. But then if the rewards are good, if you're like in a really good concert, I can look in as I did this summer in amongst them, you know, not in a mosh pit exactly, but close.
00:38:32
Speaker
Um, um, and no problem at all. No problem at all. But yeah, it depends what, if there's a reward for me, if it's like, Oh, I read out, I hate being in queues. Um, and then, yeah. Well, this is kind of a general, different thing. Yeah, it is different. Yeah.
00:38:59
Speaker
But yeah, I don't really have that really, not really. Not really. I mean, I have. So I can remember being at festivals and I've been or even going to concerts, even though the band and I'm
00:39:18
Speaker
If they go on for too long, my brain just starts to shut down after a while. I can only really do about an hour of a band and enjoy it. Maybe an hour and a half.
00:39:35
Speaker
And then I start to slide off because, and I'm kind of going, I love this band. I love this song, but there's so much input that I can only cope for the cope. I mean, I'll enjoy it. I'll enjoy it. I'll love it. I'll be enjoying it. And then after an hour, maybe an hour and a half, my man says, okay, I'm done now. This is, I can't process it. I was at a concert this summer, I would see Neil's farm.
00:40:06
Speaker
in concert. He was really good. I was like towers and towers of computers and keyboards all over the place. And he was really great. But in that situation, I was really, really trying to concentrate on it. And I can get into a semi trance state when I'm really into the music. And I can shut out everything. Nice. I can shut out everything. Yeah.
00:40:36
Speaker
lovely even in it even with italian crowds italian crowds are the worst love you it italian italy peeps in general but the worst people to go to concert with they just talk really loudly over all the music it drives me insane yeah right because that falls into your camp of like yeah like i think you
00:41:01
Speaker
you can deal with things when there's just one thing to focus on, right? Yeah. So so so, yeah, you are sensitive to noise and unlike and a lot of stuff coming at you. But if you can just focus on one thing, then it's okay. But when you start getting multiple conflicting audio inputs into you, then your brain kind of go,
00:41:30
Speaker
I can't cope with tracking, tracking two other things. Yeah, but it also because it really, it also really brings my enjoyment. You know, I because I, I like such, I can get such joy, you know, in that trance-like state that I was describing before. It's
Coping Strategies for Sensory Overload
00:41:48
Speaker
a really nice place to be. I really love being in that. Totally absorbed in something.
00:41:54
Speaker
And so it takes that away from me. It's like, oh, God, really? Why? You know? All right. So do you have anything else on your little list of? I don't know. No. Before I wrap up. No. Let's wrap up. Just don't make too much noise wrapping up. All right.
00:42:18
Speaker
I will. I'll try and do it as AMS is possible. Just quietly do it. So, help. How can we help ourselves with all this overloading stuff?
00:42:35
Speaker
for one thing, obviously, you know, you can avoid situations that you kind of know you feel anxious in. So, you know, if you can avoid them or change them in, in some way. So that's, yeah, I would the noise thing, you know, if you can, I've learned to kind of explain to people that I have particularly problems with, you know, small, confined spaces and
00:43:05
Speaker
kind of reverberating kind of multiple discussions and music and everything on top and I just make the excuse and you know and you know kind of even get a pause or just kind of move away from that yeah.
00:43:21
Speaker
Right, I know that noise cancelling headphones can really help when you're like, you know, going walking around and, you know, yeah, anyway, just to kind of like in airports as well, the crane.
00:43:37
Speaker
Yeah. Have you seen those loop headphones? I think they're called loop headphones, I think, or loop earpiece. But they're kind of like little tiny loops that you put in your ear and it cuts down the amount of
00:43:58
Speaker
noise going on so that you can just focus on one thing. I think there's different varieties for different kinds of audio listening.
00:44:15
Speaker
They're all over the TikToks, I can tell you. So bloop, bloop. Yeah. OK. So I think there's one variety which is about conversations, I think, about like people talking and stuff that might be useful.
00:44:37
Speaker
OK, the accessories things I've got on the light sensitivity, good glasses for filtering, first light, blue light, you know, artificial light in general, good glasses.
00:44:57
Speaker
Yes, I have blue light lenses on these bins, as I say. I've also got these glasses, they're reactor light lenses, so they get darker. And it helps a lot.
00:45:16
Speaker
Hello, it's really good. Yeah, sunglasses help. Things like weighted blankets are quite nice for reducing anxiety. Have you ever tried a weighted blanket? It's one of my favourite sports, virtually.
00:45:44
Speaker
I love, yeah, I love heavy blankets.
00:45:48
Speaker
Yeah, they're great. Love it. Yeah, I like I like a nice, tight fitting hat. Yeah, like, yeah, like one that's kind of like just sort of compresses your head a little, because it may be just a little bit too small for your heed. And it just kind of squishes in a bit. Yeah, that's, that's the thing. I can't stand gloves. And I think this
00:46:15
Speaker
forms into this discussion, can't stand gloves. No, no, no. There you go. So there is a bit of a touch. There is a bit. There is a bit going on. Yeah, I find gloves. Yeah, they I can't buy gloves just like off the Internet. I would have to put my hands in them just to see whether I can deal with it or not. Right.
00:46:44
Speaker
Yeah, you know, then after that, it's just, you know, like meditation and mindfulness in them when you're kind of feeling anxious. Like I
Humorous Quiz on Brain Anatomy
00:46:56
Speaker
remember like I was on a Virgin flight years ago and there was like a little, you know, I was looking down the scrolling of the options of things that you could
00:47:06
Speaker
you could listen to and there was one that was like a a meditative relaxing thing so let me try this right and it was basically a thing where it said right um you're in this
00:47:24
Speaker
Crowded space that you're in and you have to listen to all of the noise that you can hear all around you all the stuff that's kind of causing you anxiety you have to listen to that for a bit just acknowledge that it's all there and then You find a there's a door right next to you and you can you open the door and you go through the door you shut it and then you're
00:47:49
Speaker
and then you're in this place. I know, I chose an A beach. So I just fire myself on this beach. Then you have to imagine the warm sand in your feet and the sound of the waves, and you're looking out into the sea and the palm trees, and then you just try and stay in that space, and you just look around you.
00:48:14
Speaker
And you just trick something. All right. Another sensitivity. You just brought that up. Sound between my toes constantly. Oh, right. You'd be like, no. Can't wait to have the shower in the evening so I can get that sound off.
00:48:35
Speaker
Oh, right. Yeah. There you go. That's me saying I don't have anything like that at all. Yeah, that sand between your toes. Oh, God. So is it like if you're on the beach and that sand between your toes, like it's that moment where you kind of get all this weird?
00:48:54
Speaker
and I feel uncomfortable and I feel stressed and I should be relaxed but now they stand between my toes as a seagull squawking at me. Exactly. While you're meditating.
00:49:08
Speaker
right i'm supposed to be bloody meditating but no propagating me i look to my right smarty so he's fucking meditating yeah i'm i'm i'm in my little zen zone you're just like having a having a having a quiet panic attacking his speedos exactly you're my buddy smugglers yeah okay so anyway yeah so you're meditating you're in the beach you're at the beach
00:49:34
Speaker
Right so but it sounds like that would be bad for you so you can just find some other place to be. Woodlands, Woodlands. I'll go to the Woodlands. It's just like in the woods on a path and just looking around this birds and leaves and it's all kind of nice. And then you
00:49:51
Speaker
Right. And then you just try and stay in that place. Right. You just walk around, you just try and and then every time you're brought out of it for some reason, you're just like, okay, find the door, go back in the door. We used to do that. I'm not sure about you, Marty, but I think we, we, we, but, you know, put by
00:50:14
Speaker
just because to survive commuting to London every day, you you do become skilled at shutting out stuff, you know, without headphones, because you have to you go crazy otherwise, right? Yeah. Yeah, you do. You do gain those kind of skills. Mm hmm.
00:50:37
Speaker
Oh, yeah. All right. So I think that's just about that. So so rather than get in the car to go back to the town hall, I think we'll just walk back and then while we're walking back, we have this you have a quiz. Well, yes, thanks for asking.
00:50:58
Speaker
Mmm. All right. So if we had a jingle we would play it right right now if I should Yeah, just okay, I'm gonna play it now, okay What do you think? Yeah, yeah, I think it works works for me. All right. Great. It's got me just in the right mood. I
00:51:23
Speaker
So what I've got for you Martin, it's a multiple choice. Hooray! Oh, you love those. Yeah, because I think that it was the thalamic gate, which is quite a crucial part of the brain for us, because that's what decides what gets through to the frontal cortex.
00:51:52
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. For us, ADHD is just like two bounces on the door, and they said, oh, your name's not on the list, you can't get in. Right? Right. So ADHD is right. Or if they do let the cynics reluctantly after like three hours in the rain, waiting there. Right. So that got me thinking, right? So it's like a strange name. So we start looking it up. What if there's other some similar names?
00:52:16
Speaker
OK, I've got a I've got a list of things and you've got to guess of this five in each category. You've got to guess which is not part of the brain. Oh, OK. Right. All right. All right. It's not part of the brain. All right. Good. OK, medullary, medullary pyramids.
00:52:44
Speaker
OK, it's one. OK, two. The thalamic gate. The thalamic gate, right? OK, three. The angular bundle. She used to present the nine o'clock news. Oh, no, that's actually a report. The angular bundle for the five dash HT seven receptor. OK, right.
00:53:14
Speaker
Yeah. Five, Sonul of Zinn. Okay. All right. That sounds like Johann Gottfried Zinn, born in 1727.
00:53:26
Speaker
died very young 1759 German anatomic botanist okay but one of those five is not part of the brain do you want me to give you another no no i'm gonna go straight for number five because if he's a famous if he's a famous botanist then what the hell's he doing in the
00:53:49
Speaker
brain area. No, anatomist and botanist. Oh, god damn it. Yeah. All right. All right. Then I'm, then I'm gonna go with the, all right, then I'm gonna change my mind and go with the angular bundle. Okay. I know that it sounds like a bunch of nerves, the nerve endings.
00:54:11
Speaker
It is the angular bundle is the angular bundle. It is a composite fiber tract within the ventral lateral aspect of the lateral ventricle temporal horn in the brain. Oh, all right. So all of Zen that is part of the brain should have stuck with my original. Okay. Okay. Number two. All right. I've got another list.
00:54:40
Speaker
OK. OK. Same thing. OK. Yeah. Arachnoid matter. OK, so that's bad. Arachnoid matter. OK. Superior system. OK, sounds like a good toilet. Broadman areas, 23, 24, 26. Four. Endigo Westphala nucleus.
00:55:07
Speaker
Jesus Christ. Okay. Look, we trapped space. See, I like how this quiz is like
00:55:19
Speaker
a bunch of words that you're having trouble saying. Yeah, exactly. I like that aspect of it. This is trouble. All right. I think spiders probably like a shape. And then, OK, you went five last time. I reckon it's probably like numbers. I can't remember what three was, but
00:55:41
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think it is the Brotman area is 2426
00:55:55
Speaker
Brockman area is 23, 24 and 26 and the sub-general cingulate area of the cerebral cortex of the brain. Jesus. All right. Okay. I'm winning it. By the way, the arachnoid matter is the protective membrane that covers the brain and the spinal cord. It's like a gooey stuff. Oh, okay. That's not part of the brain. It's a little bit of a trout space.
00:56:26
Speaker
All right. It's a part of the lung, creating shaped space encompassed by the lower edge of the left lung. All right. So,
Episode Wrap-Up and Audience Interaction
00:56:41
Speaker
can you imagine all the fun I've had researching this? Can you imagine? Those winter nights must fly by. So last, last on the, you're probably glad to hear,
00:56:56
Speaker
Mm hmm. Are you ready? Yep. One of those, one of these is not part of the brain. Hoping. Okay. Not part of the brain. Okay. Got it. Diagonal band off the brocker. Okay. Fusiform gyrus. All right.
00:57:16
Speaker
sub general sub genital area twenty five some sub genital sub genial genial sub genial area twenty five. Okay. I'm sure it's all the difference, doesn't it? Pronounced it. Oh, yeah. Okay. Number four, trapezoid body. Okay. Okay. Number five, organ of zooker brandle.
00:57:46
Speaker
i'm not oh wait what that sounds like similar one to the first one um i am yes i said i just i would just grab two from the z right you know that that fourth one the angle of what was it
00:58:04
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. One is Diagonal Band Broca. Two is fussy form gyrus. Three is subgenual area of VEN25. Four is trapezoid body. Right. Trapezoid body sounds so, so generic. I'm going with that. It just sounds like a very generic name. We others sound very specific.
00:58:31
Speaker
No, it's part of the brain, it's part of the auditory pathway. If you didn't have that, you wouldn't be able to hear me going through this quiz. For example, the odd one out is, not the odd one out, sorry, the one that's not part of the brain is the organ of Zuckaland. Zuckaland again. Named after Emil Zuckaland.
00:58:55
Speaker
Hungarian anatomist and the chromopharyn body is a part of the chromopharyn body derived from the neural crest located at the
00:59:07
Speaker
before the bifurration of the aorta. It's part of the heart, basically. It's a struggle. Such a... a... Oh, God. Such a... a... a butchering. I think all of our listeners and watchers are thinking, oh, oh, I want to have this one. Oh, oh.
00:59:33
Speaker
Right. Putting their hands up, putting their hands up. Oh, come on, Martin. This one's easy.
00:59:40
Speaker
All right. Well, so I completely failed. All right. So all right. Well, that was good. I think the the the entertainment for me was you trying to pronounce a lot of medical lingo. But we all learned something. We all learned something. We all learned something. We'll take something out of it. Right.
01:00:10
Speaker
All right, so I think we can... All right, so we're supposed to be at the post office, but we've kind of like, we've just walked back to the town hall, but I think we can definitely say that you can do your bit for sure.
01:00:38
Speaker
Your feedback is vital to us, it says here. So we'll be reading all of your comments and we might even read some of them out on our future podcast.
01:00:49
Speaker
You know, it's a win-win situation. Right. I did have some feedback. It was more verbal, which was they really liked the, you know, I had this analogy that was, you know, it was ADHD, you know, coping with it is like taking your ADHD and putting it into the ball pit.
01:01:15
Speaker
to keep it amused while you go and do the boring shopping part. So they liked that. They thought it was nice. That was nice.
01:01:28
Speaker
Yeah. All right. So we're back in the town hall, got up the stairs, passed the accounts department and who aren't speaking to us. Be shunned by our own employees.
01:01:46
Speaker
i know i know i know yeah i think it's something to do with the fact that we've got guests coming up and we're starting to spend some serious cash on you know because when we have guests on i don't know whether anyone knows but they're all they all want you know they all want picking up in their own private jet and they want you know all the trappings and they want all the all the red smarties all the m&m's taken out
01:02:16
Speaker
Yeah. And then you get people like her, what's her name? The amazing female singer, jazz singer, I can't remember her name. But she, apparently she's famous because she was insisted on, she only wanted three things. She wanted to be paid, obviously. But the other thing, the three things she couldn't miss was she wanted champagne, sausage, and cocaine. Nina Simone.
01:02:45
Speaker
all right need some more that was her tickless champagne sausage and cocaine she wouldn't turn up it didn't happen likes a nice a nice juicy banger does yes does nini yeah the mash you know stopped too early
01:03:02
Speaker
All right, so we're kind of back in town hall and I'm just getting my meeting out. Okay, there we go. All right, so the next one, the agenda is for me to tell you that ADHDville gets delivered fresh every Tuesday to all purveyors of fine podcasts. Please subscribe to the pod and rate us most magnificent
01:03:28
Speaker
and feel free to correspond at will in our comments. But wait, there is more. If you wish to see our beautiful, beautiful faces, then there's only four to the YouTube's where we are there. And if you're already on the YouTube's and you you can sell back to to listen to us on on Google podcast. Sorry, Apple.
01:03:57
Speaker
Spotify, Google Play. Right. And if you feel so inclined, you may pick up a quill and email us at adhdville at gmail.com. Yes, yes. Okay. As ever, it's become quite a tradition now, we set each other homework and even if we do or we don't do it anyway,
01:04:26
Speaker
If we set down work, we don't do it. I know. And we haven't done it. I know we haven't. Did we have any? Can't remember. Well, the current professional, which does hurt my brain somewhere, is that we're supposed to be doing portraits. Yeah, there was another one that superseded that.
01:04:55
Speaker
We've already superseded that homework. There's already something else we haven't done that superseded it. I was going to do a big whiteboard version of my to-do list. I was just going to do this in big version. I didn't do that. I didn't do it. I haven't done the portrait either.
01:05:16
Speaker
All right. Yeah. I will say, you know, like just going back a couple of eps where you were saying about if you do rapid blinking of things, remember where they are. So I have been kind of I've been trying to do that.
01:05:39
Speaker
over the last couple of weeks. And what I found is, weirdly, it, at least for me, I don't remember the object.
01:05:51
Speaker
Right. Of the other thing. But I remember the place like the actual area. Right. Right. So so wherever I've done that rapid blinking thing, I can I can remember it was the corner of that table or whatever, or wherever. And I can remember where it is. But I don't remember the thing. Right. I'm looking at it. But at least I kind of think, right, well,
01:06:22
Speaker
It's normally, I remember the thing in my head, but not where it is, right? So I might go, where are my keys? Where are my keys? And the blinking thing did at least kind of go, oh, you were, you were blinking at this, on this table yesterday. So maybe it's there. I think that's maybe, at least in my brain, that's how it worked.
01:06:49
Speaker
I know the object and the blinking just kind of really you know, I just think of areas of my house.
01:07:01
Speaker
Right. And then I can put them to. If it works. If it works, it works. If it works, it works. All right. All right. That just remains for us to like dance our way out. Stage left. And to say, thanks for being here. Check out our show notes.
01:07:27
Speaker
any any links that we may or may not have put in there. Visit us on YouTube, the couple of friends, there's Facebook, Instagram, and the TikToks, which is doing really well. So you can come and find us there. But in the meantime, be kind to yourself. And I'll just say, note themselves, sons of the alms, come here now and get flesh. Indeed.
01:08:00
Speaker
There, says the bear. That's that. That's that. I forgot to load that little bit of sound in.