I’m autistic, so I don’t know if this applies with adhd, but for me it’s not a choice (sensory processing disorder means, for me anyway, not being able to not be alert and aware of literally everything going on around me), and if it was, it wouldn’t be about “warding off harm” in some abstract way, it’s more about trying to be prepared for every possible outcome, because being caught unprepared would cause even more anxiety…
Aren’t brains fun? 🙄
I relate to this so much. Throw in trauma and my nervous system is running on overdrive.
Literally nearly edited in “throw in trauma” after mentioning SPD, but left it…
Hello fellow hyper vigilant person… 😬💜
This behavior is why I’m good at my job
Blessing and a curse, I get paid for my judgement but it comes from the same place of anxiety and desperation to be prepared for anything.
My superpower is thinking of, and building contingencies for, every single possible problem except the ones that actually happen. I’m like a shitty useless batman.
The illusion of control, even with its misplaced guilt, is easier to process than the chaotic truth that no one is in control. Everyone is making it up as they go and pretending there’s a plan. Even when there is a plan, it invariably falls apart when you attempt to implement it in reality. Too many variables. Too much chaos.
You turn away from the chaos by creating a fictitious order in your head, then blame yourself when reality happens instead of fiction.
Oh hey thats me.
My anxiety isnt too bad if im doing something ive done before. In new situations that I haven’t gone through is when my brain kicks it up and starts playing out what could happen and how we would deal with it.
