I’ve learnt some “hacks” from How to ADHD (both the YouTube channel and the book).

Something that works for me is “bribing” myself. Either with a planner you enjoy filling, a calendar with stickers, or a reward like TV time or music (not food), give yourself a reason to do your activities beyond the activities themselves.

Another one that’s not always possible for me, but works, is getting non-negative external pressure. Deadlines often get people to start, but that’s too much stress, and we don’t want that stress. A similar thing to a deadline without the anxiety is body doubling. It consists of doing your activity while other person or people do theirs, and you can report back in the middle or only at the end. The idea is that you feel like you need to do it because people are counting on it, without it being super stressful. You might feel watched, you might feel their expectatives on you, you might simply want to exchange your results at the end. However it goes, it might work for you. A variant of this is telling your plans to someone important and then you’ll feel like you need to do it so you can tell them how it went.

My emergency remedy (only when I’m unmedicated for ADHD, because I wouldn’t mix it with my medication): caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant, so it has interesting effects on people with ADHD. Depending on age, metabolism, and quantity, it can be relaxing or “quieting”; it can also help with focus; and it can give a boost to productivity. A cup of good coffee and I do the laundry, cook, write back to people, etc. Now, be careful because a) you can become hooked to caffeine and become one of those people that cannot function without it, b) even without an addiction, if you use it too much, your body will get resistant for a time and it will lose its effectivity, c) some cannot tolerate caffeine well, for example, people with cardiopathies or bipolar disorder. I cannot drink it for long without causing havoc in my sleep and mood. Be careful with caffeine.

And those are the strongest for me. I do recommend getting the How to ADHD book, even if you’re not dealing with ADHD but a mood disorder, a difficult time in your life, etc. The tips are helpful nonetheless.

My experience is the opposite. Adolescence was horrible, young adulthood was hard, adulthood has been better. I am taking care of myself and I am happy with my relationships.

1, preferably. 20 if I forget doing the laundry…

I don’t read enough to consider myself a nerd; I’m kind of ignorant. But… I do like nerd topics.

PTSD/C-PTSD too. Trauma can lead to a state of numbness and partial dissociation, like you’re just floating (kind of apathetically) through your own life.

My battery usage says I spend around half my time on TikTok. I also spend some considerable time here on Lemmy and chatting on Discord, Signal, etc. The third place is for reading. Sadly, I spend more time than I would like on shopping apps, and the rest are usually in the ‘< 1%’ (phone settings, e-mails, etc.).

I guess the only healthy suggestion is reading.

Definitely the lunar effect, but that is still under study. There’s a documentary called “The Shark Side of the Moon” which follows a scientist trying to prove a lunar effect on sharks. There’s also some inconclusive evidence of a lunar effect on people with bipolar disorder; the full moon might trigger mania, probably due to excess light during nighttime. Context: >!People with bipolar disorder (known as ‘manic depression’ years ago) are very sensitive to light, substances, and many other things that can trigger manic or depressive episodes for them. The possible mania under the full moon may be a reason behind myths like werewolves and terms like ‘lunatic’.!<

I’ll edit if I find more.

Edit: I found another one which I would easily try or suggest to others if evidence-based therapies have failed.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy in which the person being treated is asked to recall distressing images; the therapist then directs the person in one type of bilateral sensory input, such as side-to-side eye movements or hand tapping. It is included in several guidelines for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some clinical psychologists have argued that the eye movements do not add anything above imagery exposure and characterize its promotion and use as pseudoscience.

The moon haunts you.

*Mexican United States.

Also, it’s not about the name but how that name came to be. Mexican United States (Mexico) are called that way because they’re the region around the mexica territory (today part of Mexico City). They’re not ‘stealing’ the name from anyone.

The United States of America (U.S.A.) are called that way because they were the first independent states in America, the continent’s name: a well known fact at the moment. But today, most American countries are independent, so the people from the United States have been rewriting geography and even history saying there are two continents, that there isn’t a continent named America, etc. Sorry, but many countries and thousands of historical documents tell us that America was and is the name of the continent, and that it is not okay to take it for one country alone.

I imagine the outrage this would cause for centuries if France (just to name some country) tried to pull this off. “United Communities of Europe”, “we are the only Europeans 🇨🇵”, “Europe is a country”, “there’s West Europe and East Europe, the Europes, but that’s it”…

Oh! The first part can be about suicide, you’re right. The second part reminds me of antinatalism, and I think it makes sense for breaking the cycle described.

More like: “It is a bad neverending cycle. Break it”.

You reminded me of something I think no one has mentioned yet:

In philosophy and rhetoric, the principle of charity or charitable interpretation requires interpreting a speaker’s statements in the most rational way possible and, in the case of any argument, considering its best, strongest possible interpretation. In its narrowest sense, the goal of this methodological principle is to avoid attributing irrationality, logical fallacies, or falsehoods to the others’ statements, when a coherent, rational interpretation of the statements is available.

From: Principle of charity.

Applying this, I think we can interpret the *independent thinking" not as thinking without conditioning factors but as what is known as “critical thinking”.

Although some feelings are malleable through thinking, but yeah, others come from (and can only be worked by) different places (including the health of our body).

I don’t understand why the people here who like TikTok aren’t on a Reddit instead.

Reddit is not as leftist as I’d like it to be. Reddit app is garbage while Sync is awesome. I left in solidarity the day they banned third party apps.

I like the idea of decentralized social media and I trust you tech savvy lemmings about its importance, but I also have a weakness for nice communities and TikTok has/had one.

I am not a better human being, but I’m combating my irritability one cause at a time. Firstly, treating physical conditions that cause irritability (as much as money has let me): hormonal issues, sleeping issues, etc. Secondly, addressing psychological and psychiatric problems (I had to learn a lot of these topics because I wasn’t able to afford specialists all the time and it was an interest of mine anyway). Finally, fixing external or environmental causes, e.g. working on changing toxic relationships.

It is still a work in progress, but my life is getting calmer and calmer as I am ticking the boxes in that list. At some point, you get to a place where you can search for your own answers, existentially speaking, and that also helps. Here I mean exploring philosophy and your own ideas; your feelings, your passions, etc.

Be patient. Be compassionate with yourself (and others).

Practicing critical thinking.

Many here have already recommended reading and, particularly, reading philosophy. That’s a great way to practice critical thinking and to practice thinking outside of our comfortable or familiar ways. I’d add not to skip reading about logical fallacies and cognitive biases.

Many good things come from being a little cautious with apparent knowledge. To keep a reasonable doubt is also to keep our curiosity going, to keep asking questions, to imagine different ways, to discover new things, to avoid stagnant beliefs, etc. Critical thinking makes us not only less gullible but also flexible. This is valuable to understand everything, including one another, and perhaps in doing so, giving us better relationships and better societies.

Philosophy and some sciences, but I’m not very knowledgeable. I know people say you don’t need to be an expert in order to enjoy things, and I agree, but then those aren’t special interests either, right? I love my music, but I know few bands. I love singing, but I lack technique. I like horror stuff, but I’m pretty picky. I’d like to be fit and practice sports, but my health is an issue. I like some beauty topics, but I’m not interested in applying them. I enjoy eating, simple food though. Some games are fun, but I mostly repeat the same ones. I like mountains and forests, but just for a day or two. I’d like to read more…

I’m really a master of none.

I just tried the FUTO keyboard and it’s almost perfect, but it doesn’t detect swipe language automatically. Still, it’s a nice option.

That’s not true. NPD diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5-TR (latest version) still contains manipulation efforts and similar behavior. Quote:

A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
3. Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).
4. Requires excessive admiration.
5. Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).
6. Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).
7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.

So… Donald Trump probably meets criteria for a narcissistic personality disorder diagnosis (if he ever agrees to start a “mental health journey”).

And it’s true that many disorders need to cause “clinically significant distress”, but personality disorders can be diagnosed even if they don’t cause distress to the person but causes it to others (e.g. ASPD). The DSM had to consider egosyntonic disorders, after all.

Or “…yet”.

The possibility is there, yes. But I think the best way to prevent it is to talk about NPD in a more medical way and focus on effective treatments. Honestly, I haven’t found anything like “DBT for BPD” or “lithium for BD” for this disorder. It’s very much needed.