• Diagnoses: ADHD & Anxiety
• Neurodivergent traits:
  • Maladaptive daydreaming/dissociation
  • Mood swings/emotional disregulation
  • Severe RSD/social anxiety
  • Avoidant-Obsessive Attachment Style
  • High-level sensory seeking
  • DSPD
  • Atemporal Processing
  • Struggles with Executive Functioning
  • Self-destructive response to triggers
  • Compulsive listing

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• Regular Self Care:
  • Social
    • Spend time with familiar safe people as often as possible
    • Digital detox when I'm struggling (including staying off Instagram)
  • Sensory
    • Music - all the time
    • Comfy, gender-neutral clothing
    • Soft blankets
    • Stand in the grass / in soil
    • Essential oils
    • Play with fidget toys and slime
    • Take a break from potential sensory triggers, i.e. bright lighting, loud sounds

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• I Know I’m Triggered Or In Need Of Support When:
  • I'm struggling to articulate my needs.
  • I find bright light intense / painful.
  • I'm triggered by changes in my surroundings.
  • My mood and energy levels remain low. I have more dystopian thoughts.
  • I harm myself / think about harming myself.
  • I'm irritable.
  • I'm struggling to stay awake in the afternoon.
  • I feel like I'm being treated unfairly.
  • I make mistakes while driving.
  • I panic when I'm stuck in traffic.
  • I feel overwhelmed by criticism.
  • I'm dissociating more frequently / intensely.
  • I desperately want to be vulnerable / hold someone / be held.
  • I feel bad about everything I do / don't do.
  • I take on too many commitments.
  • I'm struggling to eat and drink.
  • I stay up late binge-watching Netflix every night.

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• Triggers:
  • The News ( in any form, particularly where articles are listed ).
  • All homophobia + transphobia.
  • Conversations about international relations.
  • Silence ( being unable to hear / access human voices ).
  • My own social anxiety and misplaced empathy.
  • Certain conversations around mental health ( where I feel a deep personal connection to what is being said, or mentions of self-harm ).
  • Situations where I can sense another person's distress.
  • Military aircraft.
  • Violence ( any real life or realistic fictional violence, generally only where violence is visual i.e. I rarely have a problem with true crime podcasts & similar ).
  • Ignorance/discrimination passed off as humour ( especially homophobic, transphobic or mental health related ).
  • Street preachers.
  • Sudden changes in brightness or lighting.
  • Sudden, unexpected sounds ( only when I'm already on edge, since I'm usually quite sensory-seeking when it comes to loud noise ).

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