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Can you sit still?

HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
I legitimately cannot sit or stand still for the life of me. I have to constantly fidget/stim to stay comfortable and focus on anything. The only time I am still is if I'm laying down to go to sleep. I have ASD and ADHD, and am wondering if other people with ASD and/or ADHD have this issue.

Comments

  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
    Also, if I'm making too many posts I can lessen the amount I'm making, I just usually try to copy over posts I make on other ASD forums because I'm interested in peoples input here. Honestly, y'all give me more in-depth input and stay on topic a little better. :P
  • Statest16Statest16 Citizen, Mentor
    I'm better at now but I'm more meds than I used to be.
    Maybe try low dose seroquel it could calm you stay around 100MG
  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
    Statest16 said:
    I'm better at now but I'm more meds than I used to be.
    Maybe try low dose seroquel it could calm you stay around 100MG
    I used to take Ritalin for ADHD as a kid and I can't remember if it made me more still or not. I don't know about how taking an antipsychotic would work, since I've heard they're used for tics and OCD, but I think my issue in the OP is more like just overall, innate restlessness? I dunno.
  • Teach51Teach51 Citizen
    edited October 2021
    My son hated taking Ritalin for ADHD, it took all the vitality out of him though it was miraculous how it improved concentration and academic performance. It turned him into a zombie. He was on the handball team and it took all the fight out of him so I allowed him to stop taking it. It's difficult for him to sit still unless he is doing something, playing a musical instrument or messing with his phone. 

  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
    Teach51 said:
    My son hated taking Ritalin for ADHD, it took all the vitality out of him though it was miraculous how it improved concentration and academic performance. It turned him into a zombie. He was on the handball team and it took all the fight out of him so I allowed him to stop taking it. It's difficult for him to sit still unless he is doing something, playing a musical instrument or messing with his phone. 

    I was pretty hyper as a kid, and after thinking about it more I think Ritalin did make me a bit more chill, though I was so hyper that I don't know if it did much (thinking about the reactions of adults around me and them trying to handle me I'll say it did not lol). I'm sorry to hear that it made your son feel like a zombie. I've heard that before and it sounds so frustrating to have a medicine that works for your focus, but messes with other, equally important aspects of your life such as energy and physical activity.
  • My son's ADHD is debilitating. His inability to be still means he messes with his phone while driving, sends text messages and does many dangerous things. This is who he is though and as a child he told me that the Ritalin changed him into somebody else that he didn't like. That broke my heart and I decided that his school performance was less important than his emotional well being. He is still studying though and he is in his late thirties. When he found his niche he persevered. As a teacher I have learned that with ADHD it is all a matter of motivation, when they really want to achieve something my ADHD students find very creative ways to succeed. 
  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
    Teach51 said:
    My son's ADHD is debilitating. His inability to be still means he messes with his phone while driving, sends text messages and does many dangerous things. This is who he is though and as a child he told me that the Ritalin changed him into somebody else that he didn't like. That broke my heart and I decided that his school performance was less important than his emotional well being. He is still studying though and he is in his late thirties. When he found his niche he persevered. As a teacher I have learned that with ADHD it is all a matter of motivation, when they really want to achieve something my ADHD students find very creative ways to succeed. 
    I can agree that it's debilitating. My ASD has its challenges, but ADHD seems to play on some of those things (like the already present executive functioning issues), and then adds more problems like impulsivity, hyperactivity, etc. Even as an adult and after developing coping skills I can still be very impulsive sometimes, and if I don't consciously stop myself and rethink things I can do questionable, dangerous things without realizing. I honestly think the hyperactivity and impulsivity component of my ADHD is more debilitating than the executive function and attention component, as they just exacerbate the latter issues + bring their own.

    I also found it interesting that after I went into online schooling I did a lot better academically. I was told it'd be harder with my ADHD and that I shouldn't do it, but not being in a regular, overcrowded, distracting school environment actually helped me realize how much I actually enjoyed learning, and after realizing that I found my own motivation to complete my work (and even though I still procrastinated and had issues due to family problems, I think I would have done worse in regular schooling with my ADHD and ASD).
  • Lost_DragonLost_Dragon Citizen, Member
    Personally, the issue for me is not so much that I can't sit still (I can for the most part) it's remaining seated that's the tricky part.  I have a habit of getting my laptop out, sitting down ready to work and then getting the urge to get up and walk off to do something else. 

    However, if I can convince myself to go into work mode then I can stay there and be still. If it's in front of me right away, then I find it trickier to ignore it and go do something else. Working in silence is difficult. I am quite likely to go detouring around the house and procrastinate if I don't have sound around me. This can be instrumental music (lyrics are too distracting), office ambience (faint talking, reshuffling of files and so on) or opening the window and listening to the birds. 

    Motivating myself to work can be tricky if my deadline is not for a while. I tend to leave things till the last minute. The remaining seated part can be tricky when visiting relatives who have been talking for a while, I still care about what they have to say but I do have to fight the urge not to get up and mindlessly walk in circles. People can often tell since I have a habit of tensing my shoulders, squeezing my knees and drumming my feet slightly. I don't mean to. 

    Yet, if I can get in the zone, then I don't always want to leave it. My friends are quite similar. I know people who play films in the background whilst they work as a form of white noise. 
  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
    I get really restless after sitting for a few minutes and need to pace around, too. For me it's like my body is constantly building up energy that I need to burn by moving, and if I don't get up and walk around after awhile it builds up to the point that my brain can't focus on other things. If I'm hyperfocusing I usually can stay still and sit for longer, but I eventually have to get up and pace a bit anyways.

    Music is stimulating and can help when I'm studying or doing something else monotonous, though in most other contexts it just makes me want to pace around more.
  • I read news reports stating that the ADHD kids did much better at home than they did in the classroom, which surprised everybody except those with ADHD. 😃

    I have seen several different kinds of approaches to this problem.  One approach is: who cares if you are sitting down? As long as you are doing the work, I don't care if you walk around the table, gaze at the squirrels, throw spit wads onto the classroom clock. 

    There is also the approach to start with very small amounts of time for sitting down, and then gradually increasing that time after the person has accommodated to the short period of time. This fails most often because the "adult" tries to push it too quickly. 

    My personal suggestion would be to learn a deep breathing exercise, and later move on to yoga or meditation. I use an app called Breathe. All it does is breathe, no other fancy gimmicks. I started with a minute, which is about six breaths, with the count four in and six out. If that it too long for you, just do one or two breaths. 

    For yoga, you only have to hold a pose for 20 seconds. Pick a pose, any pose, and try 20 seconds. Or 10 seconds. 

    When I started these practices, they seemed like a chore. Now they feel pleasant. 
  • I read news reports stating that the ADHD kids did much better at home than they did in the classroom, which surprised everybody except those with ADHD. 😃

    I have seen several different kinds of approaches to this problem.  One approach is: who cares if you are sitting down? As long as you are doing the work, I don't care if you walk around the table, gaze at the squirrels, throw spit wads onto the classroom clock. 

    There is also the approach to start with very small amounts of time for sitting down, and then gradually increasing that time after the person has accommodated to the short period of time. This fails most often because the "adult" tries to push it too quickly. 

    My personal suggestion would be to learn a deep breathing exercise, and later move on to yoga or meditation. I use an app called Breathe. All it does is breathe, no other fancy gimmicks. I started with a minute, which is about six breaths, with the count four in and six out. If that it too long for you, just do one or two breaths. 

    For yoga, you only have to hold a pose for 20 seconds. Pick a pose, any pose, and try 20 seconds. Or 10 seconds. 

    When I started these practices, they seemed like a chore. Now they feel pleasant. 
    Breathing exercises and yoga helped me with this issue too.

    Also self-awareness: when I get restless, I try to understand if it's related to what I'm thinking or feeling - I found some patterns there. Another helpful (to me) exercise was to become more aware of how my emotions manifest or even feel physically: for example, I often tense my neck and jaw when I have intrusive or negative thoughts I don't want to have. Identifying the physical sensation helps me with my horrendous emotional awareness.

    I don't have AD(H)D and anxiety seems to play the biggest role in my case.
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