I was diagnosed with adhd as a young child, and still very often forget stuff. My short term memory can be terrible and I often immediately lose a thought or forget an idea after just a couple of seconds.

However, I’m often able to recall an idea by going back to what I was doing, which is something I never hear other people with adhd talk about. Sometimes all it takes is going back to the visual that triggered the thought or reading back a couple of sentences. This usually doesn’t take longer than ~10 seconds. Other times I have to retrace my thought process, which can occasionally take up to a minute… If it takes any longer, then the thought is likely to be lost forever and I always feel terrible when it happens. At times I randomly remember something days later, even though it had felt like the thought was truly lost forever.

Is this common among folks with adhd? I only ever hear people talking about forgetting, and never about remembering.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1323 hours ago

    This is why I use a list and I judiciously refuse to let people force things onto the list. It’s my list and if it becomes cluttered with crap I will not look at it and just make a new one (i.e. your boss telling you “X is your top priority but you’re going to need to do Y first because of a client deadline but the X ticket should be at the top of the column” fucking end me - I’ve had conversations like this and it makes me want to check my wall for studs so I can safely drive my head through the drywall).

    My memory is absolutely rubbish, I have good friends I never think about until I’m with them and then I love every moment. When I’m with my family I have to deal with constant guilt over someone says “Do you remember Sandra who played flute in the band with you?” … and I smile and nod with no clue who Sandra is. I assume these are pretty common experiences since it seems to be quite a frequent expression of ADHD.

    • @PolyPigOP
      link
      English
      215 hours ago

      The second paragraph is especially relatable for me… All the friendships I have lost and would’ve lost if some friends hadn’t put so much effort into keeping in touch with me :(