People say I’m an extremely patient person. But you know what? I’m not. Things annoy me. Lots of things- just ask my husband. And if you think I’m just a good natured sort of gal, always smiling and engaging, you might be surprised to know that I’m most likely totally distracted and annoyed by:
- The sticky glob on the floor that my unfortunate foot just stepped on.
- Hearing someone talking on their cell phone while I’m trying to hear what you’re saying.
- Having to wait in line.
- Hearing mouth breathing over the phone by the computer tech guy.
- Smelling the perfume on some gal coming towards me… a block away.
- The tiny irregularity of my newly crowned molar that my tongue can’t seem to leave alone.
- The driver ahead of me going 30 in a 50-mph zone.
- The food stain on your chin that I cannot stop staring at.
- Mosquito bites.
……….and the list goes on. And on and on and on. And it drives me crazy.
I was reading a thread on Facebook the other day where a woman posted how she goes bonkers when she hears mouth noises. Smack. Smack. Chew. Chew. And you know what? I totally get it.
But why is this? My experience is that these irritating annoyances are very commonly seen in people with ADHD. Of course, we are a distracted bunch and it makes sense that such things would drive us off course (and want us to drive over a cliff).
Could there be more to it? Is it that we simply notice more things than others? Then why is this called Attention DEFICIT? Is it that we’re wired to feel and experience things more strongly and thus, we react too strongly?
Is it being impulsive and not being patient enough to just let things slide?
Or is it all of the above?
What drives you over the edge? And how do you deal with it? Please share in the Comment Section below.
I hate when restaurants play radio stations and I can hear the annoying commercials while I’m trying to have a conversation, or when the music doesn’t fit the cuisine like heavy metal in a Japanese restaurant. I hate breathing fumes from idling buses/cars/trucks and the noise. I hate seeing tags sticking out and I want to fix them even on strangers. I hate TV in dr waiting rooms, blank ugly walls in exam rooms & pictures hung too high on walls. I hate overhead lights
Lisa- that’s interesting. All of those things bother me as well!
Indeed, knowing what we now know about ADD, “attention deficit” does appear to be misleading.
Recent brain scans show some interesting new discoveries: http://www.akidjustlikeme.com/id92.htm
“The striatum, frontal lobes and posterior periventricular region are thought to be important for controlling and directing what we attend to. As well as having complex connections with each other, these three regions are richly interconnected with the sensory cortices, the regions of the brain that receive sensations. They act as a gate, allowing important information to register but filtering out the noise of interfering information which may prevent us from focusing on relevant messages. Because these ‘gates’ are under-functioning in ADHD they are unable to filter out the hundreds of important stimuli that arrive every minute. This constant, unchecked bombardment shows up in the sensory cortices. They become flooded with incoming messages and can be seen on the SPECT scan as high blood flow to the areas that receive vision and sound, the occupital and temporal lobes.”
So, yes, your speculation that we notice more things than other people seems to be quite accurate. And apparently we’re the only ones being “bombarded” with these signals. No wonder we get so annoyed.
Wow, can I relate!! I am sooooooo easily annoyed at not just myself but many many things around me!!!! Like just trying to post this, and I couldnt log in because I dont know my correct username and password, then when I submitted for a new password, I realized why I didnt have any idea what my password was! It was more confusing the the roadmap of my brain!I also have found myself being a mother to 5 children, but two are grown, THANK GOD!!! I get so annoyed at the nonstop mom requests, especially the questions about finding their personal property!! I can barely keep my stuff together, keeping a house seems insurmountable!! Also let me tell you how much LISTS ANNOY ME!!! Yes told they could help me, but I seriously DESPISE LISTS!!! I try to make them, only to lose them, leave them behind, or find them 6 months later when no longer needed!! I try to stumble my way through life, which also ANNOYS ME!!! Can’t I ever get it together??!! Right now I am annoyed at being so ANNOYED!!! GEEZ!!! I think I need to do some pushups!!!!