A woman sitting by the window with a sad expression, hugging herself. The weather outside is grey and gloomy. The image has a winter depression (or seasonal affective disorder) feel.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) – How to Survive It?

Mental health
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Every year, when autumn approaches, I’m watching every day of the summer that goes by, and I’m afraid. I feel like I’m slowly moving towards a deep, dark hole that I won’t be able to crawl from for half a year. That I will not really be alive during that time. This time every year, I feel like I’m dying a little bit. Then the winter comes, my mood and energy levels fall, and I feel like I’m crawling during the gray, gray days. My motivation and willpower disappear down the drain. I can’t seem to do anything productive. Instead, I just lie down and read or endlessly scroll Facebook. I count the days until the return of spring. Many of you probably know this battle. But while winter blues SUCK, they are ways to make this time of the year at least a little easier.

Older woman reading a book about autism

What I Want My Mum to Know About Autism

Autism, Neurodivergence

Dear mum, 

I know you are confused about my recent autistic diagnosis. It’s difficult to adjust your view of someone you have known all their life – I know because it was difficult to adjust my view of myself. It took me some time and I understand that it will take you some time as well. But now I embrace my autistic identity and I would like you to understand it better.

Woman washing dishes while colorful soap bubbles float around her

5 Simple ADHD Hacks for Getting Chores Done

ADHD, Neurodivergence
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When you have ADHD, it can be insanely hard to get anything done, ever. That goes for keeping your house clean and organized too. It can be hard when you need to adult every day, but your brain just won’t have it. So I found some methods to work with the quirks my brain has. I adapt my daily tasks according to what I know about myself and it shows some results. I hope some of this will help you too.

5 Supplements That Can Help Your ADHD Symptoms… and One That Can Mess With Your Meds

5 Supplements That Can Help Your ADHD Symptoms… and One That Can Mess With Your Meds

Neurodivergence, ADHD

For quite some time, I have been gathering tips about natural supplements to help manage ADHD. I have lurked in ADHD Facebook groups, and from time to time, someone would come up with an ADHD supplement that helped them greatly. I paid attention and added it to my list if other people said it helped them too. I looked for the best supplements for ADHD on Reddit as well. I googled. I put the information together bit by bit. Here is a list of the most often mentioned ADHD supplements for adults and children.

5 Counterintuitive Decluttering Hacks for People With ADHD

5 Counterintuitive Decluttering Hacks for People With ADHD

Neurodivergence, ADHD

If you tried decluttering at all, you are probably familiar with the famous technique “Set your timer for 15 minutes and go!”

It works for a variety of reasons. One of them is that it lowers the bar for beginning, and sets a doable goal. Another is that it gives you a corrected timeframe — if you are time-blind, you can feel like the tasks you can do in 15 minutes take an hour, so you may be pleasantly surprised by how short a time it really takes. Yet another advantage can be that it gives you a deadline, allowing you to race against the clock, making it into a competition with yourself.

A close up of a young woman's face. She has red hearts on her face and is smiling subtly.

Gamified Self-Care: It Really Works (Especially if You Are a Woman With ADHD)

Neurodivergence, ADHD
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If you have ADHD like me, you are probably on the endless pursuit of things that would give you a bit more dopamine. Checking things off a list can be one of the ways. But what if you took it one step further and made it a game where you can earn things? Instant dopamine!

When I discovered Finch, I was skeptical at first. But with so many recommendations all over the internet, I decided to give it a try. And soon I was hooked.

5+1 Ways to Create Dopamine for Your ADHD Brain and Get Things Done

5+1 Ways to Create Dopamine for Your ADHD Brain and Get Things Done

Neurodivergence, ADHD

You are sitting on your couch, scrolling through Facebook. You know you need to get up and start working, but you simply can’t. It’s like your brain has taken on a life of its own, refusing to let you get up and begin. “Why can’t I just DO it?” you ask yourself, again and again. You feel guilty. You feel self-loathing. You call yourself lazy. But even so, you can’t get up and start.

And it isn’t your fault.

I’m Tired of Being Told to Find My Neurodivergent Superpower

I’m Tired of Being Told to Find My Neurodivergent Superpower

Neurodivergence, AuDHD

Yes, autism and ADHD are a part of my personality, a part of being myself. And thus, there are both good and bad sides to them. But I think that reducing the good parts into one “superpower” (preferably one that can be turned into income), is brutally oversimplifying the matter — and creating a sense of pressure. A sense that you are not good enough. That you are somehow failing in neurodiverging. And as you probably felt that you were failing basic peopleing before that, what’s left? You don’t need that kind of shame.

You Make Negative Feelings Worse When You Try to Stop Them. Do This Instead.

You Make Negative Feelings Worse When You Try to Stop Them. Do This Instead.

Mental health

My therapist often repeats one sentence to me. I believe I would be able to recite it even if someone woke me up at midnight. (Don’t try to wake me up at midnight, though. At least if you value your life.)

The sentence is: “You create what you focus on.”

Let me explain. When we experience something unpleasant, we want more than anything for it to just go away. If you experience pain, you concentrate on the fact of how much you want the pain to stop existing. If you have mental health problems, you often think about how you can make them easier to bear, how to make them go away.

If You Are Autistic with ADHD, You Are a Study in Contradictions

If You Are Autistic with ADHD, You Are a Study in Contradictions

Neurodivergence, AuDHD
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Ever since I remember, I have always wanted two completely opposite things at the same time — both with equally great passion. To go out with friends and to be alone, to travel and to stay at the places I know, to attend various events, and to stay at home and read. Whatever I decided, there was a part of me that was always unsettled. As an adult, I realized that other people around me aren’t such a mess of contradictory desires. But it was only after watching this video by Yo Samdy Sam that it dawned on me — this is happening to me because the “autistic part” of me and the “ADHD part” always want — or need — completely different things.