ADHD Simulator - What It Feels Like To Have ADHD

This is a video I made that portrays how completing tasks with ADHD feels. It is my way of explaining WHY it's so difficult to complete tasks from the beginning to the end.

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[Miss_Eldritch]

For those without ADHD that might be a bit confused, it's not voices in your head it's just the split train of thought. So the voices represent every thought being processed at the same time

[livliv]

This is one of the few "what's it's actually like to have ADHD" videos I've seen that aren't people just being "oh I was doing that and then I saw a butterfly" or just randomly shifting focus to something random out of nowhere. I like the fact it shows the struggle of actually trying to put effort into executing daily tasks and setting reminders (the sticky notes) but failing at things when you realize you left stuff to pile up and you need a certain step or like a clean space to execute your next task and they're all chained together untill you realize they all pile into an entire house of undone things and before you realize it it's time to go back to bed, you haven't done anything yet you're insanely tired.

[ericfelice]

She forgot her first task, to get something to eat…. As someone with a lifetime of ADHD, this is very accurate !

[effigy]

Love that you acknowledged the insane amount of negative self talk that comes along with it. I’m hypercritical of myself partially bc I was the scapegoat of the family, but seeing this made me feel less alone in how my inner monologue tears me apart over the smallest things. The “of course you forgot, you’re so forgetful, you always mess up, you can’t do things correctly” voice is so exhausting to battle with.

[jf]

In case anybody without adhd is wondering, those "extra voices" (at least in my experience) aren't the same thing as audio hallucinations, like hearing voices in disorders like schizophrenia. For me, at least, it's more like my mind is moving so fast, I can literally carry on multiple inner dialogues, more or less at the same time, or close together, typically in the "background" for the most part, with one main one being my actual inner thoughts, as opposed to my meanderings and preoccupations. I also have OCD, so I often find myself commenting on my own odd mannerisms and quirks, in a very annoying marriage of the two disorders. The voices are still mine, as in sound like my main inner dialogue, and I associate them with myself, and technically have a semblance of control over them (Except they sorta happen, whether I want them to or not, bc racing mind). So, they aren't hallucinations, for that reason.

[cmay]

I love that she never DID find her keys. So true. Now just imagine this five minutes before it's time for you to go to work, and add in some panic induced adrenaline because you know you're already on notice for lateness. 😬

[lovelasnow]

This is eerily similar to my thought process and why I can never get anything done

The only difference I have is stopping and staring at something forget what I was doing and then leave the room

[shorya_jain]

A way I have learnt to tackle this issue is whenever you realise you're stuck in a loop, JUST STAND STILL!! Stand still between each task and don't move until you're clear what your next task is.
This method really helped me.

Also, LET EVERYTHING GO AND EAT FIRST.

[ashyboo]

The especially relatable part for me is that after all that, she didn't actually start the dishwasher and didn't end up eating. Damn you really got this spot on.

[TheActualAqua]

I love how she COMPLETELY forgot that she wanted to eat something. this is crazy accurate lol

[OmarGoshTV]

This is my brain 😢 thanks for making me feel like I’m not alone.

[Decipherity]

I too am in tears watching this, I can't even explain how deep it cuts. It's a constant battle and a thankless struggle because who is going to praise an adult for "just" getting through a day, right? But they don't know that each day is like this... Thank you so much.

[bri]

The only part you forgot was the giving up because you’re suddenly REALLY overwhelmed. Lol.

[digsindirt]

This is a great simulator. I showed it to my husband and he’s horrified. He finally understands what our son lives on a daily basis. I think what shocked him the most was hearing the “noise” - the constant brain dialogue/feedback, both positive and negative.

[angelicaannegreen]

This is why it is so hard to stay on task with ADHD. You remember things you were meant to do whilst trying to figure out what needs doing now. This video demonstrates it very well. If you have depression or anxiety or PTSD in addition to ADHD the mental process is so overwhelming that you feel like you are spiraling into mental and emotional breakdown.

[mydoglucy]

I genuinely thought everyone felt like this… this is spot on minute to minute in my brain but I never realized this was ADHD and not just how everyone’s inner monologue and task completion went, just assumed everyone else were better at managing their shit. Thank you for sharing and producing ADHD content! It is helping us all learn and find ways to improve day to day more than any doctor I have seen

[sooticablue]

I’m actually in tears right now, I didn’t realise not everyone’s brain was like this. I truly didn’t know, I thought it was like this for everyone. Only in the last six months due to increased awareness have I started to realise I think I’ve had adhd my whole life. I’m female and 50 and I’ve never understood why I am the way I am, I thought I was just useless lazy. I’ve struggled my whole life like this and I didn’t know. Thank god for increased awareness, I’m going to ask for help now. What a brilliant video.

[Ryneliott]

one of the most accurate things is how the internal monologue gets more and more dejected and upset as you realize the “one task” is much more overwhelming and time-consuming than you thought.
You captured really well how it feels when you’re *trying* to stay on track and motivated while constantly trying to ignore the part of you that’s overwhelmed and upset with yourself because all the obstacles you encountered only exist because past you made yet another mistake.

[ThatTransGuy]

As someone with ADHD, I can confirm this is pretty damn accurate. Except I usually get overwhelmed and then end up doing absolutely none of the stuff I was supposed to do- then a few hours later I’ll be on my phone and I’ll think “wait wasn’t I supposed to be doing something?” And the cycle begins again :, )

[Slashoom]

The biggest problem is our non-existent short term memory bandwidth, which causes keeping all of these seemingly simple tasks que'd up nearly impossible and stressful to to achieve. This is why there is such relief once the tasks are on the actual white board and not the one in our head. The whiteboard in our head gets erased every 10s while simultaneously being written on by what seems like 2-3 other people with different ideas about everything in our field of view. All of this is happening simultaneously with background music. FYI, none of this stops when we have conversations with people.