
Balancing Social Life and Work with ADHD
I am probably on the spectrum and I am almost definitely ADHD - Hyperactive.
It is quite normal, on the spectrum or not to have different levels of social tolerance - this is where - as you probably know - introversion and extroversion come into play - and despite popular usage, this doesn't mean an introvert avoids or can't be in social circumstances.
Many of my friends/acquaintances see me as a social butterfly/quite extroverted - and I do have high openness etc but I have a very limited capacity in terms of social battery for quite a lot of 'normal' situations. This is exactly why I have avoided retail and hospitality work and gone for factory work all my life because the anxiety/energy drain of the performative function of those roles is too much for me, and I would probably end up also having issues in those workplaces as you've mentioned. Having worked now broadly with technical types - it is a similar thing for most of them - they are just some dudes in a basement programming because that's what they can 'cope' with.
In environments where I am simply a 'cog' in a machine or part of a process (factory and tech) I function better because I just have to do the work and the social/human component is cooperating with one another to achieve X goal.
Then it's up to HR and management to build the teams so they work well together and for the most part, I have been 'blessed'/now I am experienced enough as an individual to know what to ask or look for in the interview process to know if I am going to want to be a part of that team.
So I would not be hard on yourself in any way for this.
One-on-one with people I vibe with I have an almost unlimited social battery - but usually it has to be active in some way so I like hiking, or walking with people. In small groups, I am okay too if it is with again people I know and get along well with.
I can't do big groups - I can't do being around people who aren't on my wavelength for extended periods. The closest I've come to this is the local group I hang out with once a month at a cafe for 3-5 hours. That will be it for most social interactions for the weekend/week though if I do this - and even then I only manage so well because they are lovely bunch and they find me hysterical/funny - love how self-effacing I am. So getting to be the clown of the group elevates some of the pressure for me.
Leave Balancing Social Life and Work with ADHD to:
Read more #adhd posts
Best Posts From pstalet
We have not curated any of pstalet's posts yet. But you can encourage our curation team to review posts by visiting them regularly and by referring other readers. Because we give priority to frequently read content.