The &*$V&$#c Frustration Zone

Have ADHD?  You know how damaging frustration is.  It tears your insides to tiny pieces- as you watch current media minimize real frustration into a cuddly furry moment with an idiot stuffed kangaroo icon.

If you're an ADHDer, frustration is a searing pain- and anger your only defense.

To others, ADHDers look out of control.  We're treated that way too.  We aren't.  Depending on the thing that has beat us to crap, we just need someone to understand what has tossed us off balance.

This isn't going to happen, in general.  ADHDers are generally not accepted by the mainstream.  WE need to control ourselves, the world that is driving us to madness is just fine.

Well sht.

Frustration can have a hundred etiologies.  Many ADHDers- like me- are sensitive to sound.  I recall a time that I became hugely over sensitive to the horrific noise emanating from the neighbor's townhouse.  I ended up bruised all over because I couldn't deal with the sound and couldn't make it stop.  Hubby thought I was being ridiculous.

He learned and that was good.  My neighbors still consider abusive sound acceptable.  I have learned to hide in the garage.  If you read this blog, you know that my husband died in 2010.  My neighbors- aware of the difficulty their noise produces, continue to be oblivious.

*sigh*

Along with sound, we can be sensitive to vibration.  Things that don't "feel" right are often problematic.    To our detriment, this can include railroad crossings where a blast from the conductor's horn can be jarring.

What has this all to do with frustration?  Simple, really.  Frustration exhibits as anger or anxiety.  If you are like me, you have learned that anger is a no-no.  Therefore anxiety is what is left.  NOT pretty.  Truthfully, quite ugly.

ADHDers live in the frustration zone way too often.  While I don't have solutions, I have suggestions.

I believe in "Stuffed Animal Tossing".  I participated in this while with a former contract.  When I found myself wanting to KILL my business partner, I threw every stuffed animal I owned at the closest available wall.  Soon, my co-workers could tell exactly who I was on the phone with based on the stuffed animal carnage.

I engage in therapeutic "China Tossing".  Every thrift store or garage sale will yield cheap breakables that will cost little but will provide a balm on the soul.  Simply create a safe space, don the safety glasses, and shatter stuff!

At the end, you will spend a ton of time insuring that you have cleared out the detritus of your frustration... but you will feel better than you would if you had b*tch-slapped another human being- even if you REALLY, REALLY wanted to- and they deserved it.

Living with ADHD means that most people will never understand the "busy" of your brain.  Just an unfortunate fact.

Want to find others that live in your brain?  Check out http://adhdcommunity.boards.net/