Hi all
It's quite common for people with adhd (and autism) to have problems with executive functioning and working memory. Which can influence a bunch of things like being able to follow steps, remembering where you left things, being able to follow a conversation, concentrating on some task, etc...
I've been diagnosed for both (autism more recently) and got to know that based on the tests of my assessment that my working memory is quite heavily impaired, but the rest of my mind works quite normal.
In day to day life, this can be rather bothersome, but I usually find some way to deal with it. But when sick, or when I had a bad sleep, suddenly I become almost incapable of basic tasks. Unable to prepare food, make appointments, or work in any way.
It's quite normal that this impacts your working memory in a negative way. (Even for neurotypicals, it's the same). But there seems to be this threshold where things become almost impossible. Where you start forgetting things you have to do only moments later.
I'm looking for ways to cope with these moments. Obviously when sick, you need rest, and eat enough. So I'm not looking to force myself to be able to work while sick. But sometimes it's so bad that I even forget to rest, forget how to cook, forget how to order food online, forget how to take care of myself. Which usually results in me being sick and worse off for a much longer time.
Things I've found that help me:
- Meditation (Incredibly difficult when sick, but every bit seems to help)
- Medication (ADHD meds seem to help a bit, if I'm using them at the moment, I seem to feel much better, even when it's mostly physical discomfort. )
- Committing skills/knowledge to long-term memory (This is difficult because usually it requires extra time and calm moments where you can focus on it. It helped me a lot for cooking. Practicing the basics makes it much easier to get cooking even if I feel terrible)
Any other suggestions as to what might be good ways to improve working memory and make sure that I stay functional to make sure I can take care of myself?
Cook up a huge pot of soup and then put it in meal-sized containers in the freezer. Don't touch them unless things get real bad, then defrost one and eat it.
I did this when I knew I'd been exposed to covid. 3 days later I was sick AF, my brain was complete mush yet I was nomming on soup.
Thanks. Any good recipes you recommend?
I'm sure there's lots on youtube. Basically just chop up lots of vegetables and then boil them in chicken stock until soft enough to mash. Pumpkin, potatoes, leeks, diced bacon ends to start with but whatever's in the fridge. Once it's in your bowl grate cheese on top and dip buttered toast into it.
That sounds pretty good actually.
I also find that online, there are so many 'recipes' which ask for specific ingredients and spices. But when I don't have one of those ingredients, I'm not good at substituting (definitely not when sick and not thinking straight)
Instead, I would like to have some guidelines for cooking. Where they just show you some general steps, like 1. grab 3 vegetables from your and cook them in a pot in this way. Then fry a protein in this way. And boom, there is a meal.
I'm getting better at this already, but improvising can be difficult sometimes when you have to think too much.