Why We Miss Social Cues - Now I know Why

Adderall can help you to become a "Social Butterfly" instead of a "Bull in a China Shop".

Now that I'm taking Adderall, I'm more aware of the feelings of others.
I see the look in their eyes that says, "I don't feel like talking" or "I'm busy and stressed."
I pick up on the little "glint of emotion" in their eyes that I missed before.

Why?

In my opinion it's very simple. My brain didnt work fast enough to process the info.

NOW, since my brain is kicked up a notch, it registers 3 crucial things in nano seconds:

1) What my eyes see ( Facial Expression)

2)It then sends that image ,or facial expression ,to an emotional , gut instinct, part of my brain
and body. A signal is created , kind of a chemical, adrenaline, or warning feeling.

3) Then, my mind is aware of that guy emotion or feeling, and is able to think,
"I feel that warning, I'd better make an adjustment!"

Before Adderall:
I would be looking at someone's face, but not really feel what I was seeing. All I could manage was to process was what was going on in my mind. That is easy, I have close proximity to my own thoughts. They're already spinning away.

I wasn't thinking fast enough to do the above steps of processing images, through my "Gut Instinct" . This made me look selfish and self centered. I've gotten in trouble all my life for interrupting, and barging into scenes, "Talking Away".

Why is it so hard to change mental gears and read others emotions?
It's like listening to a radio station .. it's easy to keep on listening to the station you have dialed in .. but, if someone asked you to switch stations , you'd have to think and reach over to change the station. That is what interpreting social situations is like for an ADD person. The brain doesn't have the "Energy or Spark" to change channels and feel what the eyes are seeing. It stays focused on inward thoughts, despite being surrounded by outside people, events, and cues.

It's like "Living in our own little world". Sound like a form of autism doesn't it?

Full LOOP thinking-
Adderall adds the spark that allows brain impulses and thoughts, to make a full loop from the eyes, to the instincts, back to "executive brain" that make decisions about appropriate behavior and speech. It allows subtle, "Manners and Social Graces" a chance to be felt and used.

It helps you to be calm, cool, collected. You learn to watch and size up people and situations. Your more aware.

It allows you to be aware of the "Bad Guys" and bad behavior.
What' s cool about this new ability to process feelings, is I'm more aware of my own emotions, and how others make me feel, which allows me more of a chance process bad treatment, or subtle put downs, glances, or tones of voice and sarcasm that used to fly by me till later, when I'd realize "Hey that guy was rude, why didn't I pick up on it? Duh" Then I'd be mad at myself.
I'd then wish I could go back and set him straight!! By then it was tooo late. Dang it!

This frustration and self disgust, is what causes eating disorders,alcohol abuse, cutting in those with ADD . You feel disrespected and dumb so you want to escape the bad feelings. I know, cause I used to binge eat over this stuff. I learned , it's best to reenact what happened and practice being more aware , and think "Next time I'll handle it better" A form of hypnosis where you relive it successfully. (It can take 30 seconds to re-do a scene and move on). Then forgive yourself and person who was rude.

I prefer to Move on - Be Peaceful - Feel Joy

Contents:

Subjects in this blog or will soon be added:

Adderall works for me

I love adderall! Adderal loves me.

Adderall helped my ADD

Adderall helped my brain injury

The eye brain connection and Adderall

How it connected my instincts to my brain

Adderall improves speech -It gave me my voice - I can now say what I feel. watch out world.

Adderall improved my sense of humor and timing. I suddenly can tell jokes! Adderall helps me to connect things together and then verbally state them. I can make poeple laugh for the first time!

Adderall can help people with autism & shyness - (That's my opinion)

I'm more connected to my feelings & instincts

The subconscious and my emotions, the wise counselor can now be heard:

My gut feeling is now connected to my brain - I can now say to my self, "What am I thinking about this situation, and then how does it make me feel?" Then I can wait, while I process my gut feeling , then my brain interprets it. Then I take action. It's a new process. Before my brain would rattle way ahead of my gut instinct, leaving it behind, as it whispered its warnings , never to be heard by my speedy, disorganized brain.

Now when people are rude, I'm aware of it - and the words that I need to defend myself are there - ready to be flung. My family is adjusting. Some, who had developed a habit of walking on me, because I allowed it, cant handle the change.. so for now, we don't talk.

I Can Focus On Boring Tasks

Adderall Benefits:

1)It improved my ability to focus on tedious paper work .

2) It created a sense of, I can handle it. I'm smart, my brain is clicking, and it's just paperwork.

3) It seems that my eyes have changed, and how they see and lock into whats in front of me.

I Became the Tax Tamer:
The first day that I took Adderall, I suddenly decided, I should jump in, and get my tax stuff organized. I had put it off for a year...regretting it, to the point that I was fearing it.

I suddenly felt smarter than the pile of messy papers. I thought, "I can handle it..let's just do it".

As time has gone by, I'm amazed by how I have staying power for paper work. 2-3 hours can go by, and I'm still engaged. It helps me to complete tasks that are repetitious and dull.

The Eye to the Brain Connection-
My eyes seem more locked into what's in front of me. The key improvement with Adderall, is my eyes seem to be connected to the processing portion of my brain. Before, it seemed that a line was cut between the two. I'd look at things, but nothing happened in my head to relate to what I was seeing. That's when I'd feel that I was lost in a FOG. It was horrible. Like having plastic over my brain. I havnt felt that since.

Omega 3 and Brain Fog:
Omega 3's also help eliminate the foggy feeling. I noticed when it starts coming on, I'll pop a few Omega's, maybe 6 per day, for 3 days , and the fog is lifted. I need to take it every day!!!

Before Adderal:
I had trouble staying with it. It could feel like torture.
I've caused many problems and heart aches in my life due to my fear of paper work
and procrastinating. It's ruined my life in many ways and hurt my reputation.
This type of confession , is why I've kept my name hidden. It's embarrassing as heck.
Makes me feel like a loser. That's why I'm so grateful for Adderall.
Now I have to change my habits, take responsibility for what I've neglected.
Hopefully, I can regain trust with people that I've disappointed. But many things are just gone, ruined due to me dropping the ball.

I'm Able to Break Away from Hyper Focus

How Adderall Helps:

When I'm working on a project, I'm able to say , "It's time to stop" - and I do.
It's still hard but now, it's much easier.


Before Adderall
When I'm working on the computer or on projects I find myself unable to break away from a project. I feel like I can't change channels or think of anything else besides that project

Facial Expressions Are Easier to Process

How Adderral Helped:

1) Made me aware of the emotion behind the facial expression of others
I could feel a vibe in my gut that matched what I was seeing.

2) Helped me to have better timing when engaging with people.
Became more aware if they were ready to talk.

3) Increased a feeling of intimacy with people

How It Happened:
I was at a grocery store and was very unusually aware of the checkers facial expression.

The best way to describe it is, I could see the tiny muscles that made the small facial expressions,and my emotions were linked to them.. so it was easy to know that I needed to wait to talk to her.

Before Adderall: I would be too distracted to notice facial expressions and I often interrupted people making them angry.

Administrative "Self Talk" Becomes More Clear

It is the voice of ourselves



Key Points:

Adderall Improvements:

1)Self talk streams in more clearly

2)Planning or thoughts of the future come easily

3) The stream of thought is calm, deliberate.

4) Can be felt happening in the "Front" of the brain

What is self talk
According to a book I read about A.D.D. ,the lack of "Self Talk", is common for people that have ADD. The inner voice, hat directs and guides, interprets the environment, and acts as a companion, is not clear, or loud enough, for people with ADD.

I totally agree. When I read that, I suddenly realized that my "Self Talk" is like a mumble and I don't pay attention to it,leaving my thoughts to bounce around randomly, with out direction. I realized I've been ignoring or missing the voice that wanted to warn me about the mistakes I've made and the signals I've missed.But I didn't know it was speaking, I couldn't hear it, there was too much static from other thoughts and feelings.


Adderall Turned Up the Volume and Eliminated the Static-
I took Adderall for the first time on a Wednesday and then Thursday morning, I woke up and started thinking about the busy day ahead. After a few minutes, I realized my brain was acting different. It was firing faster and stronger, yet I was perfectly calm. For the first time, I could easily think of the future. I was shocked at how I was projecting and categorizing my list of "Things to Do" in my head with out having to write things down.


My Brain Felt Tuned Up
The new stream of thought, felt like switching from an old cluncky truck to a Porsche. It's hard to describe the difference of the cars but you sure can feel it.

How I Used to Think: Mornings are usually filled with negative,slow,"I don't want to get up" mumblings that are so sleepy and lazy that I struggle to not fall back to sleep.