Due to a certain situation I’m living at work (for about two months now) I’ve basically given up tending to all the other stuff in my life and it’s really starting to impact my relationships, my mental health and my job itself.
I feel so overwhelmed about all the stuff I still need to do I’m starting to have meltdowns everytime something new pops up (even something as small as a friend’s birthday).
Just yesterday I managed to tackle one of the things I’ve been procrastinating and felt no satisfaction whatsoever due to the huge amount of things that still need to be done and situations that need to be addressed.
I feel I’m only able to handle one “crisis” at a time, and the moment there are two going on, everything else becomes one.
I also can’t stop thinking about this whole situation, it’s like my brain is constantly active but in the end I can’t manage to get me to do anything. It’s exhausting.
Does it happen to you too? How do you deal with that?
Edit: thanks to everyone who took time to reply and give honest advice. I’ll read all the messages at the end of my shift
Have you talked about this with your in-real-life persons? Or are you making a brave face while crumbling inside? Maybe it’s time to open up not just online but to someone who is in this with you - and especially the people affected by your struggle. More often than not the opening up already eases some of the load, and often people around you can offer different kinds of support.
If your day hasn’t hours enough to handle everything there’s probably too much. Is there anything you really don’t have to do?
ADHD, like ASD, seem to both have this magnetic force that keep one locked to the current activity, which in your case seems to be ‘thinking about the issues’. Your imminent quest is to break the magnetic force of ‘activity A - thinking about the issues’ and shift towards ‘activity B’ - doing the things that solve the issues’. When trying to make this shift I find myself scared of not having thought about the issues enough - but when I act it always sorts out well, way better than if I had remained paralyzed.
Set up proper resting hours. In these resting hours there’s two modes: one where you enjoy activities that completely force the problems out of your mind, and another where the problems you have to solve are permitted to lightly float in your mind while you enjoy doing something else. You need a bit of both, find out which activities and ratios work best for you. Going outdoors, physical activities, arts, crafts, gaming, … are some activities that could be helpful in breaking the mindlock. Sometimes it’s helpful to do something unusual. For example, take a reeeally long walk. Or participate in a soap making workshop. This helps to break the strongly ingrained brain patterns that won’t let you out of the rumination thought mill.
Deinitely dying inside while tryng to look normal. The problem is, this mainly affects my job, and even though there are people I feel comfortable talking to, it’s still a workplace and I do not like exposing myself in it. I feel like the more you let others know you, the more weapons they have against you (I’m talking about the boss especially).
I really think the “fake it until you make it” approach is the only one viable in a workplace that is not perfectly morally aligned with you. I’m probably just overthinking, but it’s a chance I’m not really willing to take.
Thanks for all the advice, it’s much appreciated