As you go about your busy day, please take a few moments to reflect upon yourself. “…Yeah, yeah, you know you make me wanna shout…”
Listening & hearing are important. But what to do when the ADHD brain says “No Thank You…” when you need it the most?
We wonder often, does ADHD affect hearing & Comprehension?
We’ve got some steps on how to improve listening, communication, & more.
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Can ADHD affect hearing?
✅ Today: “Can you hear me now?” I think many of you will remember this commercial from Verizon: their famous “Can You Hear Me Now?” commercials.
Those commercials were some of the most effective ads in normalizing cell phone adoption during the early 2000s. They worked because dropped calls & bad cell reception were some of the hallmarks of the early days of cell phone service.
Here’s a twist: “Can you hear me now?” is one of the most common & significant hallmarks of ADHD!
If you’re one of those persons who have a hard time understanding or comprehending conversations, I’ve got a tip for you
what does adhd sound like?
✅ Not being able to fully comprehend conversations is a huge sign of ADHD. The ADHD brain generally doesn’t have good working memory.
And, it’s working memory that’s responsible for you holding on to pieces of information that you’ve just received.
So, when you’re talking to someone on a detailed boring topic, your brain is likely to ‘zone out.’ The end result is that the other person may feel that you’re not listening to them.
“Can you hear me now?” This really becomes a big issue!
Dealing with the “Can you hear me now Syndrome,” is somewhat easy. You’ve got to address a couple of things:
- Determine if you need medicines to strengthen your working memory.
- Controlling the anxiety that comes from conversations.
Steps to take:
First, you’ll have to talk to your healthcare team and figure out if you have working memory deficits. And if you do: medicines and therapies can improve your deficits.
Second, try to understand that feeling anxiety is actually a result of the ADHD brain’s past experiences.
Many times, a sense of panic results, because you know that you’re going to forget what’s being said–and instead of focusing on the details, your brain ends up panicking.
This causes you to lose your place in the conversation. And, the end result is the same: “Can you hear me now?”
- You can overcome this anxiety by visualizing the conversation.
- Make a movie out of the conversation in your head.
- You can ask the person to slow to perhaps speak clearly.
- You can ask them to explain things to you without adding a lot of tangents to the conversation.
Identifying and understanding this issue for the ADHD brain can really strengthen its success in work & personal relationships.
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Does poor mental health affect work and personal performance?
✅ Ben Simmons is an NBA basketball player. He makes almost $12 million a year. But, now, his job & money are at risk.
Why?
Well, Ben’s having a mental health crisis. And, his team and coach are having a hard time dealing with the issue. Simmons and his team are caught in a cycle of blaming.
The obvious statement here is, of course, that having lots of money does not always protect somebody from the claws of bad mental health.
But, another issue, I’d like you to think about, is the following. Oftentimes when we’re experiencing physical injuries, just like Ben Simmons’ ailing back — we’re not able to quickly return to a normal life IF our mental health situation has not also been properly addressed.
A physical injury can have a delayed recovery if the mental health situation is not addressed. And, mental health can deteriorate, if the physical injury is not addressed.
Be aware of this paradox. We’ve got to work on both the mental and the physical at the same time.
What is a Common Mental Health Myth?
✅ We understand that showering once or twice a month, generally, is not a good thing. We know this. We don’t need to be convinced of the benefits of good physical hygiene. But, for some reason, we’re ok with not cleaning our mental health burden. This has got to stop.
Bad mental health habits can build on us like grime. And scrubbing off this grime once or twice a month on those days of “self-care” can actually become a bad habit.
Steps to Take:
Instead of taking a passive path towards self-care–it’s time to tackle this actively.
Ask yourself daily–
- Did I have a good day?
- Did someone anger me?
- Did I explode on the wrong person?
- Did I handle some conversation the wrong way?
Just asking these simple questions will prioritize your mental health.
Consider the above steps as a part of your daily mental-health shower.
Embrace Action…
✅ I’ve got two videos below that really illustrate how the ADHD brain tends to have its own plans.
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Be Well!
Reviewed & written by Dr. Puja, DO November 4, 2021