Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 37 - What Makes ADHD Symptoms Worse?
82 Plays1 year ago
Paul and Martin (co-Mayors of ADHDville) chat about what makes ADHD worse! Does coffee make it ADHD worse, lack of sleep? We have our lovely neurodivergent audience pitch in with their thoughts too. PLUS, arguably the craziest quiz we've ever done.
See our beautiful faces on YouTube
Put quill to paper and send us an email at: ADHDville@gmail.com
ADHD 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.
Recommended
Transcript
Artist's Journey: First Museum Commission
00:00:00
Speaker
okay back in the room back the room back in the room so yeah i just um i thought i'd tell you martin i have been tell you i've been commissioned for the first time to produce a work of art for a museum holy crap on a stick holy crap a sculpture on a stick that what a sculpture oh
00:00:26
Speaker
One of four artists. Okay. That's amazing. Yeah. I really chuffed about it. One of four. Yeah, one of four artists. Yeah. Holy crap. How? Well, how? Well, because why? Well, I've kind of kind of thanks to the diagnosis, I think I've had like a like a research, like rebirth of like creativity, like off the scalp, just doing loads and loads of stuff. And I had to and I've got a friend in in in Brescia. Brescia, if you don't know, is like just by the Italian lakes.
00:01:06
Speaker
He's an artist, ah very quite a well-known artist as well, and tattoo artist, really cool, really nice guy, Stefano, hello Stefano. And I pro proposed to him that we do it a combined exhibition, a kind of um retrospective of our, of ah what well, I won't give you the title because it's a secret at the moment. So if there's that, but he says, oh yeah, let's do that. And he's really well connected, so we've already got at least one definite gallery space for our combined gallery exhibition. Okay. Wow. Which I've started on. Okay. ah That as well. He also said, Oh, by the way, there's three of three of us, three artists that are doing sculptures for this museum. And do you want to come in?
00:01:58
Speaker
Yeah. All right. So we did a like, um, um, a recce of the, we would visit there went to visit the museum with him and I said, yeah, you can just choose your space at the museum and decide what you want to do in that space and go for it. Do it. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. So I've started on it about an hour before we came on. I was working on it. That's amazing. Yeah. So I'll keep you up to date with that. Anyhow.
00:02:33
Speaker
Oh, wow. On that bombshell. Yeah. Keep us, keep us up to date. That is amazing. Congratulations. you Loving it. have you On that, on that, on that, on that, uh, amazing bit of news. Uh, welcome to, uh, ADHD.
00:03:01
Speaker
Two. Three. Brushing my hand. Oh, and I'm painting my screen with a palette knife. A little bit of pal background there. To shape the background. Here we go. Can you tell what it is here? Glasses in there. Okay. No, I'm Paul
Podcast Introduction: Exploring Adult ADHD
00:03:23
Speaker
Thompson. I was diagnosed with the combined ADH and the deed eight months ago.
00:03:35
Speaker
It's frozen. sad I'm Marty West and I was diagnosed in 2013. So we're just two mates who by coincidence or not after 39 years of friendship then you go on to say go that we're co-ADHDers. Okay. Now it's really important to say this is an entertainment podcast about adult ADHD and does not substitute for individualized advice from qualified health professionals. So don't take any advice from us. No, no, no. We're just here as a kind of all-inclusive ADHD park bench with room for everyone, including your doppelgangers, your egos, your buddy doubles, your chaperones, and your best buddies.
00:04:25
Speaker
pray Okay, still here. they Grab your jetpacks, your pedalos, your space hoppers, or any other but transportation methods. Let us take you to ADHDville, a imaginary town that we've created in our minds. We would like to explore different parts of ADHD.
00:04:55
Speaker
in our minds.
Imaginary ADHDville: Managing Fictional Town
00:05:01
Speaker
Oh, I think that that was a sympathy. Yeah, it was the flaws. Yeah, it was a bit and we start off as always in the town hall in the mayor's office where we the joint mayors of ADHD take care of business.
00:05:21
Speaker
Yeah, it was, a yeah. You were sort of valiantly trying to put a spin on it. All right. ah right So we're in with the agenda. oh I've got my piece of paper. Here we go. Here we go. All right. So I've got three items on on the agenda. One is election news announcement. ah The Second is that it will is that we're going to be doing a today's theme, which is ah what makes our ADHD worse. And the third is is is ah is a quiz following on from the... Absolutely. in From this same theme that we have. So so of a quiz at the end. So that's quite exciting. All right. So election news.
00:06:06
Speaker
and as As we've kind of hinted in the past right Paul, our mayor position is not yeah's an elected role. you know so It's fragile as it should be. right it's we're not We're not like a dictatorship. but No, ADHD is very much a democracy so we we will be having little side episodes about our election campaign campaign like a salad, like a side salad.
00:06:37
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So um that's going to be a little fun, extra episode that we'll probably put out on Thursdays um as a bit of fun. ah Well, it's fun for you, but but obviously for us as the mayors of ADHD, it's very much serious. for we have to win Otherwise, yeah the the podcast ends, or I don't know, does the podcast end if if we're if we're not elected mayor? Oh, God, I hadn't thought of that. I know. I know. So there we go. okay So you have to get your... Even more of a reason for them to reelect us. Just keep the podcast going. Right. Yeah. yeah If they might be the only thing they've elected to force.
00:07:25
Speaker
I know. <unk> yeah It's the only part of our manifesto that's actually worth, you know, considering. Yeah. Okay. So we're going to go on to um to the next item on the agenda, which is today's theme. So we're going to jump in the car. And ah where, where, where, where should we talk? Go, go. I'm glad you asked, but yeah and we're going to go to the spa.
ADHD and Relaxation: Spa Challenges
00:07:51
Speaker
Spa. Yeah, let's go to spa because because we're talking about things that make the ADHD worse. Right. yes So let's go to somewhere where where we can soothe ourselves, make it calm and Zen and make things better.
00:08:08
Speaker
Exactly. All right. Rest is, have you got special music for a spa? Yes. Every, every place in ADHDville has its own theme theme. And we have been to the spa before. Oh, right. Has it got gongs and like, it's, you know, it's very zany. Okay. All right. well Are you a zany kind of guy, Martin? Do you like a spa? I, I, you know what? This is interesting. i I have been to spas many times. so I'd like them.
00:08:47
Speaker
They are, they are a little, they are, they are also challenging, right? Cause, uh, cause you're almost like, uh, you're kind of being proud. Well, if you have a massage, that's a kind of like someone's like oh yeah touching you and that's, that's kind of good, but, but it's difficult for me to kind of like relax in, into. Okay. Um, But if it's like the sort of spa where you're kind of going into like a hot, you know, like those um hot, like I've forgotten the word, you know, those hot places, hot, hot, boxy rooms, sauna. Thank you.
00:09:31
Speaker
Heaty, hotty sauna. Heaty, hotty room. Yeah, that' kind of that's it that's kind of fun. But again, can be a little bit intense. Yes. Oh, God, yeah. I mean, like, if like so where I go swimming, um which I haven't been for for a while, but there is a sauna there. you know, to get the guys going in with with all their kind of nutsacks hanging out and just like, oh, God, it's such a so so challenging to my eyeballs.
00:10:04
Speaker
ah ah Anyway, um yeah, anyway, let's let's get get the car and let's so ah head head to the spa where we guarantee. there There will be no danglies for to us. It's a dangly free zone. Ah, thank God. All right, it stay let's get in.
00:10:35
Speaker
I feel those peeling vibes. Oh, there we go. Yeah, yeah. See how the stress is dropping off you. I had a friend in Italy who went to an Austrian spa with his wife and his mother-in-law and they got there and it was a strictly no clothes
00:11:05
Speaker
So, and there you are. Which you could do yeah with your missus, but with your mother-in-law. Naked. So, he listen change he dropped his cax and went, right, come on then, yeah let's be having you. What happened? What happened, Paul? Well, I don't know after that. No, more than that, I don't know. ah All I know is like the, the you know, the I didn't really care after just like, oh, mother-in-law was naked. Oh, the other point was it was a two day thing. So it was Jesus, you know, whole time. I think in the restaurant, they had robes other than that. All right. Robes other than that. Naked. In that situation, I would have gone, OK, you two, you go on ahead.
00:11:56
Speaker
Do your thing. I'm going to go and I'm going to go, um you know, I don't know, waste paper basket for an hour. I don't know something right anyway. All right. So last week. Yeah. Yes. Last week we actually asked um all of our lovely fine TikTok community to kind of come in with a bunch of questions.
Caffeine and ADHD: Unpredictable Effects
00:12:22
Speaker
So we'll include those in this chest. So yeah if you're if so if you if if you did say something that that made your ADHD worse, then we will mention it right here and now. but Exactly, exactly. And it did I think we were but got the idea from this because we mentioned that um some people they self-medicate with coffee.
00:12:46
Speaker
So they they don't take um whatever ADHD meds at all, self-medicating with coffee. And that just sounds to me completely insane, but it's very personal, like everything else with ADHD, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, cuz Chelsea Lynn on tick-tock did say caffeine is a hit or miss for me It either levels me out or makes me tired and sends my anxiety through the roof Mm-hmm, which I can certainly relate to Yeah um Yeah, if go on then pull
00:13:27
Speaker
Well, I had a your point of view. Yeah. Well, I gave up coffee slowly, but surely, ah leading up to my diagnosis last October um because i wanted to I thought when I do take the meds, I want to know like if whatever effect it has, the ADHD meds have on me. I know that it is the ADHD meds and it's not caffeine or any other substance. So I gave it up and I've only recently Got back into coffee again. Like last week I had a school school lessons to teach and between classes I had ah i had an espresso and I didn't like it. i did not i couldn't ah I can't see how that could be beneficial to anyone. yeah i didn't i like I like the smell and I like the taste of coffee.
00:14:19
Speaker
Love it. I love all right. Love it. And that's it. I don't like these look a buzziness afterwards All right Yeah, yeah, okay. I am ah Yeah, I don't I don't drink coffee anymore. I do love coffee, but yeah ah You know what? Um, if if I'm on my meds and I have coffee that is like a combo poo-poo platter from hell that is not good Whereas the platter, okay yeah Yeah, it's it like a smorgasbord of poop.
00:14:53
Speaker
um Yeah, so if I'm on my meds and have coffee, bad, bad, bad. and If for some reason I didn't have meds, so ah when there was a shortage, ah I would have coffee and then that would help. So it would be OK. I just can't. I can't combine and combine my like Harry both. No, I have to have to be careful. Careful. OK. Yeah, i'll say another one. OK. All right. I've got one here.
00:15:31
Speaker
Should we, should we take it in turn? So, so I read, read out one. So, so perhaps. okay Well, I've got one. lead one I've got one. There was just a really cool one. I really liked this from Leo Connor on Tik TOK. She said dealing with the thing that makes her ADHD worse is dealing with neurotypicals, which I loved. Right. yeah Yeah. So from that, I went off on a tangent as i've ah and so ah I do occasionally. My tangent on that would be like, okay, so um um it's like, do your typicals, they like to pretty much define, you know, the regulations and laws and kind of like
00:16:13
Speaker
but basically what our culture is based on. They also pretty much pretty much defined what intelligence means, right? IQ test is a big bone of contention for me. Freaking stupid IQ test. They are so dumb. So I went down a rabbit hole on this yesterday. Okay. Oh wow. Yeah. they ah Quick facts about IQ tests.
IQ Tests and ADHD: Personal Experiences
00:16:40
Speaker
There are four generally accepted IQ tests um on the market at the moment. okay Various acronyms that we don't want to bother ourselves with. Okay. They are generally accepted. No, not generally. They are only accepted as useful for clinical measurements. They have absolutely no use in anything outside of a clinical ah research program.
00:17:03
Speaker
so in society where no use whatsoever. They generally have considered to be quite um valid in those clinical measurements, valid as a measurement, but they zero reliability, no reliability in anything other than a clinical in a clinical environment. Okay. There was a guy, this is the next point, there was a guy in 1967 who recognized 120 types of intelligence. Okay. Okay. In his mind. Okay. 120. Yeah, exactly. I am stupid in about a hundred of those. he's Right.
00:17:45
Speaker
Right. but i mean And I'll put i' put this a little bit into context in a second. Another thing is, like your IQ generally peaks when you're about 23 years old. All right. And it goes downhill after that. Right. Right. The other thing is IQ, generally recognized IQ tests have absolutely nothing to do with creative or social intelligence. Zero. Okay. That makes sense. Right.
00:18:18
Speaker
So that's what that's but what may made me go down to a rabbit hole. I once had an argument with a guy, well, almost an argument because I didn't reply to him. i There was someone that had put an IQ test on Facebook. I don't know what it was. And I read wrote a note of, you know, a fucking IQ test. It's so ridiculous. He wrote back saying, clearly, you're really dumb because ah that's that's why you don't like IQ tests. I didn't actually reply to him. I would resisted. to him. But it's always something I've fundamentally believed in. It's like, okay, why should we believe in that? ah And also because I, when I was a kid, I just thought I was really stupid, stupid. And it's only like in the last two weeks, I realized that I'm not nice a bit longer than that.
00:19:07
Speaker
Cool. No, it's simply much longer than that. I'm not stupid at all. I just realized, especially after my ADHD diagnosis, that I nowhere near as um um i well. I'm much more intelligent than I gave myself credit for in the past. Lovely. Lovely. That is very nice. So really. Right. Back to Lee. Yeah. Being around neurotypicals means for me is like, if you're around a new neurotypical your ADHD is is highlighted more because
00:19:41
Speaker
they appear to be, you know, calm and ordered and structured and and then it only serves to kind of highlight ah your own unorganization and your own ADHD-ness. It just seems to like highlight it in comparison. So yeah, I would say it doesn't make your ADHD worse. it just it just it's just It just makes it more. It puts in the spotlight. All right, I'm going to go with with with one um because we have a few to get through here, which which is great. So thanks for all of those people. ah wills says Will says work colleagues who think ADHD can be cured and I'm doing it for attention and that.
00:20:32
Speaker
oh adam
00:20:35
Speaker
Yeah, that's I mean, just let's say, yeah, it's just just nasty. And that's just bloody hell. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, that kind of, yeah, we can, we all can have been there with those people. um I haven't actually, I've not yet had that. Well, you've had, you've had this, you've had this, you know, you've been, you know, in the world carrying around for 12, 13 years, right? Your ADHD diagnosis. I've had it for nine months. I've not had to i've never had a bad reaction like that. this many one Put it this way.
00:21:29
Speaker
even before you knew how you had ADHD, ADHD, and the word ADHD wasn't in anyone's mouth, they would still kind of go, oh, Paul's just doing this for attention, or, oh, this is Paul being, being, you know. Oh, okay, wanted to be center of attention, or. Yeah, yeah, so he doesn't necessarily have to be. Or being a victim, Paul being a victim. Oh, Paul, you're just, right. You're just doing doing this yeah thing for a touch or something. That did happen. so Yes. yes is All right, next one. of course cheni I've got... i've got a chat on Terrible with names. I've got Jennifer Bessaw,
00:22:21
Speaker
I think her name is, and her thing that kind of makes her ADHD worse is lack of sleep. which I am totally, absolutely 100,000 million percent behind that. If I have a bad night's sleep, or age especially if I have a few on the trot, I can, I can survive one. But if I have two on on the trot, then I am useless. Like I'm, you know, my executive dis dysfunction becomes who even more dysfunctional and I can't, um but i can't worst yeah.
00:22:58
Speaker
ah worst and useless time when you I'm worse useless. I'm useless. I'm generally quite, what's the word? ah Quite niggly and quite um I can become unpleasant, shall we say. Grumpy, old man. Grumpy, that's the word. ah could be a really crumpy niling there I hate the world. yeah apparently we should have at least seven hours sleep as an ad as adults seven hours is the minimum we should have but quality sleep as well though quality so this is when alcohol comes into it but because by coincidence like three or four weeks ago someone I had read somewhere or heard somewhere
00:23:48
Speaker
alcohol, contrary to popular belief, actually makes our sleep a lot worse. The quality of our sleep is greatly reduced by alcohol. So when people say, oh, I had a bottle of wine, you know, half a bottle of wine before bed, it knocked me out and slept really well. It's not true at all. you Generally, your sleep is quite shallow when you drink alcohol. Right. I think that was Katie MB's comment. She said alcohol or marijuana, marijuana, yeah. make Makes the ADHD worse. Yeah. True. What I found is you should not drink alcohol three hours before going to bed and consuming alcohol before bed can lead to frequent wakings and overall low quality of sleep. All right.
00:24:40
Speaker
Yeah. Whereas Lee um said that her ADHD got worse when she didn't have access to her plants. Right. Yeah. Which I'm sure you could relate to. ah Depends on the plants, of course. Oh, boy. Yes. I might have to turn. When she said plants, she meant that kind those kind of plants. yeah
00:25:11
Speaker
Oh, I didn't get that. There you go. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah. So I've got one of my own to add that actually didn't pop up on, uh, from one of our tick tock, uh, followers, um, hormones.
Hormones and ADHD: Impact on Symptoms
00:25:26
Speaker
Actually, no, it did come up. It did come up from one of our tick tockers. Okay. good About, um, about female hormones and pre-menopausal symptoms. Okay, now we're not going to get into that female hormones because A, no one on listeners' podcast was here from two middle aged men talking about female hormones and B, because there's a lot better information out there.
00:25:59
Speaker
that we're not gonna we can't add to but I will say I will say oh having having had a wife for many many years um I would say that yeah the whole Perry men menopause thing um Oh God, it's made her ADHD worse by right. Yeah, actually, okay. Like this yeah this is a that is that is yeah from from her point point of view, she would she would 1000% agree with that.
00:26:33
Speaker
Yeah. Anyway. sort enough But one thing that's not mentioned is the male menopause, which is called andropause. Or it's also but so so can be called late onset hate hippo-gonadism.
00:26:53
Speaker
Hello. Hypogonadism. um It's worth mentioning because men don't talk about this stuff at all, but it's actually something really, really real. um Our our um and testosterone okay from about the age of 40 reduces by 1% every year. It doesn't sound a lot, but if we get to 57, like me, That's 17% drop off from 17 years ago. And so apparently it can affect you and then affect if you got diagnosed with ADHD, you can be affected by symptoms from menopause like depression,
00:27:43
Speaker
loss loss of libido. erectile dysfunction, irritability, loss of muscle mass and reducibility to exercise, weight gain, lack of energy, difficulty sleeping, tick, poor concentration, Right. So if you've got ADHD and you're like ah our age, you know, you're 40 years so or older, you've already got ADHD symptoms. You also get potentially a kick in the backside in terms ah from from or with difficulty in sleeping and poor concentration, depression and all that all those shenanigans. So it's like blimey.
00:28:29
Speaker
Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot. So all a big major thing that can make your IDs do worse. OK, have you got anything else, Martin? Yeah, well, I mean, I'm just go go let next on my on my list. um ah Yeah, so ah just so as you know, that was Amanda, um who said my ADHD gets worse every few weeks due to hormones and PMDD making my meds not work, depression and rage full. So depression and rage plus self loathing isn't fun.
00:29:06
Speaker
My damn rights. done No, no, it's not. All right. Okay. So here's here's one that to do a little bit of research on so Frederick Yodelster um Who has a fine beard fine beard? He says either either vitamin B or or Zebbound has dialed my ADHD all the way up. I vibrate with ADHD now. So Zebbound, that is a, um it's like a prescribed medication for all kinds of different symptoms um like sort of weight loss um and other related conditions. And then
00:29:58
Speaker
Vitamin steve so B, B12 specifically, um there's been studies that link it um to worsening ADHD. um Oh, really? Yeah, yep, yep, yep. it's ah So vitamin B12 is a key nutrient for nervous ah system health and it helps produce serotonin and and dopamine. um So if you have low levels of B12,
00:30:31
Speaker
um b blip, blip, blip, blip, blip, blip, these levels may be related to hyperactivity um and impulsivity in children with the ADHD. So um so ah yeah, there appears to be like a ah relationship going um on there. um Right, okay. So I'm not taking anything at the moment, I'm not taking ADHD meds, I'm not taking vitamins, nothing, absolutely nothing. all right We should. Yeah, I mean, supplements of some kind, some kind, I think I should be doing.
00:31:09
Speaker
Omega 3 is good. um I take that every every day. um I've got the mushroom one that I'm not taking, obviously. Where is it? Lion's... What's it called? Lion's Bean? main loan is main Yep. Yeah. It's supposed to be good. um I've tried it, but not very good. I'm really bad at taking my meds. I just forget. I have, I have a, a, um, a system for that, which I will do a tick talk about, but, um, okay. But I only do, I like doing, as I've said, I'm addicted. I like doing systems, but rather than just having a system and then kind of going, Hey everyone, here's a system that really works for me. And I've only been using it for like a week.
00:31:56
Speaker
yeah I actually but actually at least have them up for like six months or so just to kind of really road test it out because I find that things can be really, you know, like ah systems for taking meds can work really well for like a week or two or three or even a month and then they fall fall down. Yeah, it's just a sort of placebo effect, you know, because you want it to work so much that, you know, you need false results. Yeah, okay. And we've got Swaggy... Swaggy Mimir 01.
00:32:33
Speaker
um So what makes this person's ADHD worse is medicating other mental illnesses, lol. So that's like... That's not your lol, that's their lol. Right, that's that's a little bit like, um so if you try and medicate, so if you have autism and ADHD, if you try and medicate for one, it can make the other one worse. i would say it It can be quite tricky to kind right and find a balance there. yeah yeah yeah he's Here's one that that that I relate to, probably you as well, from Wissendlema.
00:33:22
Speaker
Again, another fine gentleman with another fine beard. He says that mild stress makes mine worse until it surpasses a point of moderate stress and I snap into the zone.
Stress and ADHD: Finding the Balance
00:33:36
Speaker
But the second it's into severe stress, it's back to worse. right
00:33:45
Speaker
You know like there's this kind of like there's stress and and it and it makes your ADHD worse but then you yeah it's it's almost like going to that deadline mode where you where yeah where you where you suddenly go into a hyper fixation and then you and then you're like you kind of you you can kick along and do some amazing things under a moderate amount of stress. but But then if it gets too stressful, then the wheels kind of wobble and fall off and then you're all over the place.
00:34:18
Speaker
That's me. That's okay. I can remember time. I had a reputation at work for just being really good under stress. Not only good, but even better than I normally was under stress. But I do remember one time, um i was if I'm just doing my job and I'm doing and I'm stressed, I'm fine. if yeah i'm doing but If I'm already under stress with my normal job and and dealing with that and that's okay. If someone adds onto that internal political stress and toxic kind of work cultures, I go completely off the rails. I cannot deal i can deal with it when I think, okay, I i have some possibility of um controlling the outcome.
00:35:16
Speaker
Right. Right. So in that case, you know, keeping the client happy. ah Okay, great. if ah If I feel like someone's, you know, putting a stick between the the the spokes, what's the expression? That is the expression, isn't it? Is that the expression to stick between the spokes? but Okay. Putting a spanner in the in in in works. Yeah, all those go. Because they're playing political games and, you know, just toying and manipulating and whatever. ah Yeah, I lose my shit in those situations.
00:35:50
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, so that's when the, yeah, cause I'm really good in a stressful situation, but if you make it severe stress, if there's add more on, then that's when I kind of like that. Now I fall apart. Yeah. Um, but that's, it sort of leads. Yeah. Sorry. Yep. I was going to say that. Go on then. So that leads on to another comment, which I thought was good, by Hemi Brat. Shift work. Shift work.
Shift Work and ADHD: Importance of Routine
00:36:21
Speaker
um So probably, you know, your sleep patterns and, you know, waking
00:36:27
Speaker
waking day patterns are completely switched around, you know, constantly, maybe. So maybe you're switching shifts, you know, from one week to next or whatever. ah That but also reminds me of, you know, choosing the right job, you know, I'd hate to think of me in a job, in a type of job that I wasn't getting stimulation from. You and I, we worked, as we just said, working very highly stressed, working environments and deadline,
00:36:58
Speaker
um air constant deadlines. So, you know, dopamine left, right and center, and it worked for us. But if you don't have the right job, you have ADHD, I could imagine making it much worse. Right. Cause her comment is shift work is the worst. Getting back, getting stuck on back to back 12, 12, which I guess is 12 hour shifts was also horrendous. So it's, you know, like I find that ADHD works best when I'm in a pattern, I'm in a groove. It's, you know, my days structured, um, um, and, and,
00:37:36
Speaker
you know, like I'm, ah you know, I'm getting up at a certain time and doing certain things in a certain order that that makes everything so much better. But if you've got, if you've got shift work, you're going back to back to 12 hour shifts, then yeah you get tired and then the whole thing goes goes wrong.
Crisis Mode and ADHD: Avoiding Burnout
00:37:53
Speaker
ah which Which is actually her other slightly earlier comment, which is lack of sleep and stress. makes it worse so in crisis mode i'm in the zone but long term depletes me making ADHD worse and autism also right yeah yeah so you know with this kind of crisis mode you can get things done
00:38:18
Speaker
well in in the short term but if you've got if you're going crisis mode to crisis mode to crisis mode that you know that's just that's just uh yeah you just run out of air in the tires you run out of fuel in the tank it just will go just fall off yeah exactly totally okay well i've that's my i don't think i've got anything else i'm just just going down the list just to make sure that we've covered off everyone, which is great, Chelsea, Marianna A. Oh, Marianna A says, staring at TikTok while in front of the computer. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's related to sleep, isn't it? Surely.
00:39:10
Speaker
a lot. you know It's like like a lot of people say, you know keep your phone out of your bedroom. um That's a good thing. Yeah. I mean, because if if you're on TikTok too long, you're actually, as my wife says, you're disassociating. So you're kind of not not dealing with anything. so So things will start to pile up and then your ADHD will kind of get worse. because you're not actually working through anything. Well, they these companies, these are like teams of people that are their sole objective in terms of their job is to you know suck you in, as it were.
00:39:59
Speaker
and they're really good at it, you know. So, you've you know, can imagine for, you know, people that are like um needing, you know, where fix of dopamine, um they'll they'll do it. They'll recognize those kind of people and they're really good at attracting you. So, yeah. Yeah. All right.
Self-care and ADHD: Positive Influences
00:40:19
Speaker
Okay. so alrighty So I have my last word is I guess yeah is yeah, just being aware of what makes your ADHD worse or better is always going to be the key, right? So um yeah if you're thinking, God, I'm really, I'm really bad today. Why is my ADHD so bad?
00:40:45
Speaker
Like it's, it's, ah it's always a good thing to like think back and kind of go, right. Well, you know, how was my sleep? Have I, have I eaten? yeah Have I eaten well? Have I had a, have I eaten? Is it, has it just been, did I have a shit breakfast? What, what, what could be contributing to my ADHD being worse to today? And then just kind of do a bit of date detective work, not in a sort of a, ah without attaching any guilt or blame to yourself for it. It's like, oh okay, I had a bad breakfast. I had bad yeah i i so stayed up too late last night. Yeah. It should just be more of a self-care. Yeah. Okay. Well, you know, yeah. So without ah without putting in too much um you know shame or judgment. Be nice to yourself. Okay. Okay.
00:41:35
Speaker
like Even it could be like the tone that you have in your mind when your thing is like, okay, Paul, what could we do better? you know yeah so like Fucking hell, Paul. What are you doing? Bloody hell. Again, here we are. You're such a loser. What a muppet. Yeah. yeah yeah i From my point of view, i I remember in the past it's related to kind of like personal difficulties I have had in my life as well, um ah but also relates to ADHD. I've sometimes known exactly what I could have done to help myself and I didn't do it. So a lot of the time we know
00:42:18
Speaker
A lot of the time we know you know maybe didn't need our podcasts for the last half an hour telling what's right and wrong. ah lot Most of us know what's good for us and what's not. you know If I want to suddenly feel better, I ah grab my camera and go out for a walk and photograph you know straight photography and it really works 100% every single time. So often we know what we can do to help ourselves and we just don't do it enough enough of it. Yeah. So yeah. Self-care. Self-care. Let's jump into the taxi. We're going to head to post office very quickly. Very quickly. We're going to go back over to the town hall for a fuzzy quiz, which I've been looking forward to. Yeah, right.
00:43:10
Speaker
All right, here we go. and yeah Okay, this is this is your bit, Paul. This is my bit, yeah, I've got, because it, carrying on from, ah you did a quiz, ah you did a quiz for me last week about science, it was really entertaining.
Listener Feedback and Interesting Topics
00:43:29
Speaker
Yeah, we're in the post office and then you i would go your feedback is vital to us. like your feedback It is. It is. But thanks for reminding me. No worries. this your that this um It is. Hang on. Blimey. Hang on. Yeah. um Your feedback is vital to us. ah We read all your comments and we might read yours on the podcast. Not yours, Martin. I mean, talking out and talking to our public. Right. But I did get get one from my friend Seth who says, did I listen to this week's podcast? So that was last week's. So awesome that you got those answers from Paul. Now, here's refer referring to the questions that I asked you about the saint who lived and died in the room behind you right now. um So if you haven't, if you haven't, if you didn't listen to that episode, go back a few.
00:44:28
Speaker
i think it's uh i want to say it's um uh it's about seven episodes back well it all depends on when we put this one out but i will say tell you it's it is uh it's episode 35 okay all right so There we go. All right. Let's jump back into the car and we're going to head towards a a a okay a quiz, which seems to be a very related to to to this current theme.
00:45:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:18
Speaker
I'm really glad that we just so ah really glad that we didn't forget to stop off at the post office.
Catholic Quiz: Humor and History
00:45:25
Speaker
um So, yeah, we've got another quiz, Martin, if you're up for that. I am up for this quiz. It kind of carries on them from the theme of saints. OK, this time we we would take it up a notch in terms of hierarchy. we're go to It's going to be about popes and general Catholic shenanigans. okay I have to point out that I am not actually a ah Catholic.
00:45:54
Speaker
this yeah is We just kind of hear just because because there was a there was a so nearly saint in in the room yeah behind you. but It's just read three metres behind me. shes There's a shrine to her. yeah right it's it's It's literally a shrine. It's a series sparked off this this little so mini in interest. all right Just to prove that I'm not a Catholic, my surname, Thompson, with a P,
00:46:25
Speaker
Yeah. Right. Apparently, before King Henry VIII, Thompson was spelt without the P. Okay. And the P was to to um tell everyone that I was Protestant. Oh, it's what? It's the P stands for Protestant. Protestant. Yeah. So Thompson literally means the son of Tom, who is Protestant. Wow. There is a thing. There's a thing. All right. Anywho, I've got ah a list of things, right? Okay. These are going to give you a list of three facts about poops. And you have to guess which one of the three are made up. Okay. Right. German monks living off nothing but beer during Lent felt guilty because it tasted so good.
00:47:16
Speaker
So they brought beer to when they visited Rome, they brought beer to get the Pope's approval of the practice and not feel so bad about themselves.
Beer, Monks, and Popes: Quirky Tales
00:47:29
Speaker
But on the way down to Rome from Germany, the beer went bad. The Pope tasted it, hated it, and therefore was never allowed for Lent. Wow. That's a story. Right. Says it was too complicated to be false.
00:47:51
Speaker
I know, right. That that is the story. there I love this. i love i love be Hang on. I love the fact that on the way down, they're like, mate, ah perhaps this this beer, brother, has gone bad. And rather than kind of like give up or turn around. yeah No, no, no. right They followed through all the way up to the Pope. And then and Pope was like, OK, well, for poor and a nice cold frosty one out there lads. Yeah. And then, uh, knowing. Right. That it was, it was, it was a disaster. Yeah. I mean, it's just yeah yeah that that's, that's, that's, that's the head. That's like giving your boss, like, yeah I mean, yeah anyway. All right. And the Germans too, you know, renowned for precision.
00:48:46
Speaker
Right. Something went seriously wrong. Something went wrong. Yeah. and Okay. It's probably because they have to cross through Switzerland on the way. Here's something to do with Swiss, scuppered their plans. Anyway, took their own fell in into the beer. va What? Exactly. Oh, the cuckoo. Cuckoos had something to do with it. Okay. Number two, fact number two, true or false? Martin, medieval Pope Gregory the 9th considered dogs to be the incarnation of Satan, leading to a mass killing of those said dogs, come on causing causing the cat population to swell beyond control until it became an epidemic in Rome. OK.
00:49:35
Speaker
OK, so, all right. So, OK, so the dogs controlled the cats, is what we're saying here, that the dogs kept the population of cats down. Down. Yeah. Or did everyone go, OK, well, I want a pet and I'm not allowed a dog, seriously, because it's like Beelzebub. I'll have a cat instead. Yeah. Which honestly, if if I was going to pick one. And cats breed fast. hi Okay. Yeah. All right. All right. I can kind of vaguely stitch that as a logical thought in my head. Okay. Number three. Okay. Some Catholics urge Pope Clement, what would that be? The the the seventh, to ban coffee.
00:50:28
Speaker
calling it the devil's beverage after tasting the beverage however the pope is said to have remarked that drink was so delicious that it could be a sin to to only let disbelievers drink it wow i love my latte he said skinny latte he loves this skinny latte flat top thing um with uh one pump of of syrup yeah And, uh, okay. All right. So I have to work out which one of these three see for stories, beer, beer, dogs, or coffee. And one of them is false is what you're saying. Yeah. So I have to find out. Okay. So I know that, uh, that, uh, that monks did a very good sideline in alcohol. Like, like that was a real money earner for the Belgian monks still do.
00:51:27
Speaker
Yeah, no, that that was like, so so i'm I'm down with that. um it's ah the The third one about coffee, I think, isn't the story of the discovery of coffee is that some monkey dude, monk monkey du some monk dude was was looking after his goat herd or something and and the goats were eating these berries on the ground and going a bit nuts and he's like, what the hell is going on with my goats? They're all going crazy. And then yeah he he discovered coffee.
00:52:04
Speaker
Oh, OK. But I so buy something like like that. But I feel like I believe ah I believe the coffee story. So I'm going to go with this kind of weird sort of dog cat thing has been right, being false. You're right because it wasn't it was dogs that he called the incarnation of Satan it was cats and he had a mass killing of cats that caused the rat population to explode and therefore caused the ah black death epidemic. See that makes way more sense. Yeah that's Dory.
00:52:43
Speaker
Yeah. So the black dance, it was a partly because the the Pope hated cats to the extent that he had a mass killing of them. Oh, right. Okay. A culling. Sorry. Okay. Okay. So you won up, Martin. Congratulations. I won up. Okay. Yeah. Okay. This is a general Catholic kind of tip. Okay. Okay. In the 17th century, right utila A leading Roman Catholic theologian argued that the rings of Saturn were in fact the foreskin of Jesus Christ. Oh, come on. cow that's what i That's what they said.
00:53:24
Speaker
It's like, okay you know what, that hang on, hang on, hang on. hand like Okay. So, all right. So I'm, I'm, I'm interested in these, in the celestial universe, right? Where may God may, may preside. So I, so I, so I go down and get on like, I get on to like medieval Amazon. I order myself a telescope. Yes. And I kind of train it up into the night sky. Right. And I go, Oh my God, that's Jesus's penis. Like, but no justice for skin. Yeah. But I mean, like I'm just zoomed in right there. I mean, it's, it's, it seems weird because you would, you would, you would want to move with me up, right? Jesus.
00:54:16
Speaker
Did his Jesus have his foreskin removed? Did he have ah you know the Jewish? Yes. yes that's he He would have done, wouldn't he? That's why it would might have left Jesus's penis and gone up into space you're right you're as a form of circumcised. just The circumcised foreskin of Jesus would be a more accurate way. Floating around this yeah thousands of miles ah across mass.
00:54:48
Speaker
Well endowed individual then, if you know, if it's that big, you can see it in space. So that's all right your first option. yeah Okay. Two, number two, in the 17th century, a leading Roman Catholic theologian argued the planet of Pluto was actually Jesus's left testicle
00:55:15
Speaker
Least we went to three. In the 17th century, Martin, elitist, Roman, Catholic, theologian, I could at the planet Mars was actually Jesus' right testicle. Which one of the three? okay Four skin, left testicle or right testicle? Man, I mean, just the whole thought of like looking up into space and like Finding Jesus's parts out there. Yeah, not his arm or his eyeball. running it dont No, it's just the kind of the squishy bits. Yeah.
00:55:58
Speaker
Oh God. Well, I mean, like if you're listening to this on the podcast, sad I'd be like, you know course know, what you think about all all of this. um All right. Well, the rule is ah if you find two things in a group of three, then what then it's one of the two things. So see the Mars left or Pluto right. So you you went with number two as the fourth one. So I'm going number three, I'm going Mars was not, Jesus is right, testicle, I can't believe I said that sentence.
00:56:38
Speaker
It's actually two and three are false statements. The correct statement is the correct fact is that a theologian believed that the rig of Saturn was the foreskin of Jesus Christ.
Podcast Humor: Accidental Downloads
00:56:55
Speaker
Not only that, in my research I accidentally clicked on i on an article on the subject and I accidentally, and it's still there, I accidentally downloaded onto my desktop a 268 page PDF um um article about the subject of his foreskin. Wow. It's still there. 268 what? 268 page PDF. Right. right Talking about Jesus's foreskin as Saturn, the rings of Saturn.
00:57:29
Speaker
All right. Well, it, it was a 286 page was PDF until that little bit got chopped, chopped off. Yes, exactly. Well, I am going to give myself that because I was right in that Mars. Yes, you're right. All right. It was so I was. Damn you. That was a, that was a false statement. I gave you a two and three chance of getting it right. Yeah, just yeah, that's been nice. Yeah, you were. weren't you Okay, number three. Number three. Pope's again, Martin. This is the craziest quiz that has ever been quizzed. Pope's again, Martin.
00:58:11
Speaker
Yes. pop benedicckt Pope Pope Benedict the 26th. No, 16th Pope, Pope Benedict the 16th liked to fly his own helicopter as a Pope, but didn't actually know how to drive a car. So that would be just so you know, that would be your German Pope. All right. ah What's his name?
00:58:38
Speaker
who died at that a year ago, so. No idea. yeah All right. So we have a pope. He liked to fly his own helicopter as a pope, but didn't know how to didn't know how to drive. And it would just like fly in like yeah like the intro to MASH 4077. He'd just be like. Hot lips waiting for him. Flying in. um hot lips yeah that refers back to uh an episode we we did uh a way back okay all right number two pope benedict the eighth was made pope three times no less ah but at least one of those three times he sold his his papacy and was the first pope to to resign
00:59:32
Speaker
But not only that, had homosexual orgies in his Rome residence. OK. Right. Number three, Pope Francis was once a nightclub bouncer.
00:59:49
Speaker
All right. OK, well, that was ah reelected three times, number number two. That that that sounds like a kind of a weirdly poepish thing and actually see the nightclub bouncer sounds like a Sounds like a very much like a poppy thing You know because of obviously, you know that they do sometimes have like kind of these kind of very secular pasts All right. Well, I'm gonna go with the fact that I can't imagine
01:00:25
Speaker
I think of the Pope Mobile and I think of like John Paul II right back in the 80s was it? and he He had his like little Pope Mobile vehicle where he was like contained in his plexiglass structure. But I can't imagine a helicopter Pope that that that feels like that's a stretch too too far right because they are quite complicated to fly and it seems weird how ah how would you get to your helicopter
01:00:59
Speaker
Right. You know, in the airport. If you if you don't have a car, it's going to taxi. I like your logic. I'm liking your logic, Martin. yes It just seems like... Just keep going with that. Yeah. Oh, sure. um we You know what? So clearly that's not the right answer, but I'm sticking to it. or i'm Are you? Yeah, I'm yeah um got a some stick to it. No, you're wrong. He actually did fly his own helicopter. Jesus. All right. And Pope Francis was once, the current Pope, was once a nightclub bouncer, I presume in Argentina. Okay. The false statement is but it wasn' a boat it was Pope Benedict the eighth, it was Pope James the ninth who was made Pope three times. but Man. And had homosexual orgies in his Rome residence.
01:01:50
Speaker
ah Fair play to him if that's what he was to do, but Jesus. All right. All right. Well, that was okay. you be One, two to one. Yeah. Yeah. I feel feel good about that. i Take about applause. Take an applause. All right. and Well, in that case, ah that just leaves me to thank you all for listening. ah We love each and every one of you. Come and visit us on TikTok. ah oh Or YouTube.
01:02:22
Speaker
um Covered friends, Facebook, Instagram. But in the meantime, be fucking kind to yourself. I had time to beseech you. Fellow ADHDers know thyself. So to the house, come hither and get the flesh. Yes, do that. As long as not a full skin. If you want to. Yeah, it's not a full skin, yeah.
01:02:48
Speaker
There, says the mayor. That's that.