Commonalities In People With ADHD and Linkybrains
Greetings world! My name is Justin Cale, and I am a self-professed linkybrain. I recently stumbled upon this term while searching through articles on Medium, and my brain exploded into thought. Linkybrain articulated something that I had been trying to put words to for years, yet never could in a constructive way.
After reading every article I could find on the subject, everything in my mind clicked into place. It was all so simple, and made so much sense. How could I not have seen it in this way before?
I realize now that I have been a linkybrain for the whole of my life, and that this new way of describing how my brain worked bore a strong resemblance to something else that I have dealt with for as long as I can remember.
I was a young child, perhaps 5 or 6 years old, when I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Surprisingly enough, my memories from that time are quite clear, at least in some regards.
It was a whirlwind of a time in my life. A time that was filled to the extreme with happiness, sadness, anger, and confusion. To think on it now, my life today some 30 years later, is much the same.
I was what many folks would describe as a “problem child”. I never fit into any of the neat little boxes or standards that the vast majority of society believed that I should have fit into. I rarely did what I was asked or told to do, and I was quite often in trouble with various authority figures.
Interestingly enough though, I never understood why. I can remember thinking about why I did or did not do something that got me into trouble, and never finding an answer. It was all quite confusing.
At some point or another, my parents sought help, and took me to a child psychiatrist. From that point on I can remember being quite thoroughly tested, in a variety of ways. I even had neurological testing, in which I had to go to the hospital and have my brain waves recorded.
While I cannot remember much of what came from that testing, I do remember a result that was key to me at the time. By the time I was in the first, or perhaps the second grade, I had a twelfth grade or above reading comprehension level. It was something that I was incredibly proud of, and I used it as fuel to read and learn about what interested me as often as possible.
Throughout the rest of my younger years, teenage years, and even into young adulthood, these issues persisted. I was inspired by the most random subjects, and had the ability to spend hours upon hours on anything that drew my interest. In contrast, I had a nearly impossible time doing much of anything else. No one ever seemed to understand me, and I quickly realized that in many ways I was much different than my peers.
I became quite self-conscious of this, and it completely changed my life. Outwardly, I quit trying to excel at everything. I stopped discussing things with others that I thought about and found interesting, as they either did not find it interesting at all, or they did not understand the concepts and ideas that I was speaking about as a result of those interests. In essence, I simply quit trying.
Though there is quite a lot more to my story, I would imagine that this view of my younger years is a sufficient explanation, for now anyhow, to illustrate some of my struggles and experiences with ADHD. So where do the lines meet? Where do we go from here?
The word connection is defined as a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else. Linkybrains are all a bit different from one another, which only makes sense, as no two people are exactly the same.
But we also have a varied set of traits and skills that we share. As I was reading through other peoples descriptions of their linkybrains, I instantly made the connection between their explanations, ADHD, and my own life.
The traits of someone with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and one with a linkybrain are very similar, if not outright identical at times. Below, I will list a few traits of each to demonstrate the connection.
Traits of people who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder…
1. Inattention. They often have difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or activities, or are often reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort. They are easily distracted by extraneous stimuli, and forgetful in their daily activities. They tend to hyper-focus on things that interest them, to the exclusion of all else.
2. Impulsivity. They are often “on the go” as if driven by a motor. They often talk excessively, have difficulty waiting their turn, and often interrupt others. They tend to take action without forethought to consequence.
This might seem a meager sample of ADHD traits, but let’s compare them to a few of the traits of a linkybrain. I have pulled the traits listed below from the self-descriptions of two fellow linkybrains, whose stories I have read. You can reference them HERE (Chris), and HERE (Alex).
Traits of people who are self-professed Linkybrains…
Chris Tottman
1. Not giving a crap.
2. High creative output.
3. High ability to offend.
4. Restless — prone to multiple careers, verticals and j curves.
5. Never quite been understood.
6. Never really fitted in with social norms.
7. Obsessive nature.
Alex Dunsdon
1. Sees answers instantly and does not know how he got there. They just appear.
2. He has to work hard at post-rationalizing things, which in turn eats his energy.
3. Has an insane amount of energy, and fidgets more than he previously thought, but hides it well.
4. He is completely non-linear linky. All he ever does is connect things — dots, people, ideas, opportunities…
5. He has to constantly test and learn because the moment he commits something to paper his brain thinks of 40 ways that it could be better.
6. When he is intellectually curious, he becomes obsessed. Very obsessed… until he gets an answer, at which time he instantly gets bored and needs to learn something new.
7. When he is intellectually curious, he is also crazy productive.
Let’s take just a moment to expound upon the connections that I’ve made above. As a person with lifelong ADHD, I can personally attest to deeply experiencing everything that Chris and Alex have mentioned, and this isn’t even a comprehensive list.
I have been aware of a good many of these things for quite some time, but they were always explained to me in a way that I felt I could not well relate to.
To put it simply, Chris Tottman, Alex Dunsdon, and doug_scott (whom has also greatly influenced my thoughts and findings concerning linkybrains, but is not featured here only because this piece is turning into a MONSTER and is already too long. See his writing HERE.) have found a way to articulate what it is like to live this life in a way that is actually understandable to others.
So, here is a list that I feel describes me, my ADHD, and my linkybrain. With this list I hope to espouse the two and show all of you a part of who I am, and how my brain works.
1. My brain never stops processing. Ever. It is constantly looking for ways to make new connections, solve problems, and learn new things. Even in my sleep. This leads to hyper-focusing on whatever I find interesting or important in the moment. It’s a wonderful thing, and a terrible thing at the same time. Concentrating on and completing tasks that I do not take interest in become almost impossible at times.
2. I sometimes seem as if I don’t care about other people and their problems, or that I am not listening to them, and they get offended. Generally this is because I am so focused on whatever it is that has grabbed my attention in the moment. Hyper-focus is just that, a focus so strong that it leads to the exclusion of all else. This is less of a problem for me than it used to be, but only because I’m always trying to be aware of it. I’m not a fan of offending people.
3. I have never really felt as if I was understood. For quite some time, I avoided many conversations with people altogether, because every time I would connect the dots to other things and try to explain it, I would be met with odd and inquisitive looks. I feel as if I am being judged poorly in these situations, which makes me feel a bit self-conscious. Though I no longer withdraw from conversation when these things happen, as they still do fairly often, I still get the urge to.
4. I regularly spend time daydreaming, trying to rationalize the thoughts and actions of other people, as I often don’t understand their motives for doing this or that. Some of the every day concepts and ideals that others have adopted for various reasons completely baffle me. No matter how hard I try to understand them, I never do. At least not on a personal level. As a result, I often feel that I do not “fit in” with societal norms either.
I could go on with the similarities that I have found between myself and other linkybrained people for hours, and I am reasonably sure that I will do so in future writings. For now though, I think I have well demonstrated what I have set out to show you all.
I believe this to be the beginning of much understanding and growth for myself, and think that much can be accomplished in the linkybrain community as we all move further in defining what it is and finding ways to use these skills to become better versions of ourselves. I count myself thankful to be a part of this group, and am excited to see what the future holds.
Additionally, I want to give a shoutout to Aarish Shah for encouraging me to get started again with my writing. Thank you!!!
So what do you think? Have any of you other linkybrains been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD? I’d love to hear thoughts from anyone and everyone. Also, be sure to check out the official #linkybrains website via the link below!
