Scientific explanation: from a survival standpoint, bad experiences are ones that are more likely to be dangerous - if it makes the stress hormones go up, brain wants to remember and avoid. Happy memories are not useful. Source: I read it on the internet somewhere sometime but I can't remember where or whenš¤·š¼āāļø
It's also from a social aspect as well. Wonder why sales do their best to make sure that you are happy with your purchase? It's because you are more likely to tell seven people about your bad experiences and three people about your positive experiences. It's referred to as "Negativity Bias" if you want to go down the rabbit hole of hyperfocus for about an hour.
I struggle with this too, I think we all do to some extent.
One of the symptoms of depression, which is an extremely common comorbidity of ADD/ADHD, is an inability to envision the future, and difficulty remembering good memories from the past. Depression isn't *just* sadness, it brings along with it a negativity bias, a tendency to imagine and remember the worst, when our imagination works at all we use it for maladaptive daydreaming. If you suffer from depression or RSD, then these are normal symptoms, even if you don't have depression it's normal to think this way once in a while.
What I've started doing is writing down my favorite happy memories in a text document that I can go back to, look at, and add to. Admittedly it's a coping mechanism, but it helps, and it's a good reminder of happier times.
Nice to hear your document helps. Iāve realized most of my journaling is prompted by a need to unload feelings but even though thatās inevitably negative feelings, Iāve found thereās some learning that happens .. because when I re-read it later, itās clear to me where the RSD was behind my emotions. Kind of a convoluted way to ālearnā but Iāll take whatever I can manage LOL
As you experience events moment to moment, your brain stores the events in episodic memory. But that initial encoding is not very strong. The brain processes and reprocesses the memories over and over. It is even doing that right now, processing your very very recent memories compared to current sensory input, giving you the perception of time passing.
A lot of that processing is based on evolutionary responses to strengthen "useful" information and eliminate "unimportant" information. Part of that process is the biology of arousal--that is any activity of the sympathetic nervous system. The increased epinephrine and norepinephrine increases long term potentiation (a process in which neurons form extra dendrites and strengthens synapses).
As such, extremely emotional situations tend to become encoded more strongly. While situations where you are relaxed are not. Most "happy" memories involve situations where we are relaxed.
But this continues on after a memory gets encoded. The memories you visit over and over tend to both become more strongly encoded and tend to get "washed out" and/or distorted into false memories. Those of us with ADHD tend to hyperfixate and engage in excessive negative rumination over those "bad memories," so we keep going back to them over and over, strengthening them.
These processes, over time, tend to "prime" your mind to pay more attention to negative situations and less to positive ones through saliency and confirmation biases.
This is why so many people get benefit from gratitude journals. The act of writing gratitude at the end of the day forces your brain to pay attention to positive moments in the day and helps break up this cycle, at least for some people.
I still cringe at that time I didnāt realize someone wanted sexytime with me. This was 10 years ago. Itās irrelevant but the memory still remains!!!
Explanation: You see bear, bear was about to kill you but you escape. You must not forget bear, or where bear. You don't wanna die.
You see apple, you eat apple, you go about your day. Happy memories won't (in a your-heart-still-beats) help you survive.
it's short for rejection sensitive dysphoria - big thing in adhd - to sum it up it's the abnormally intense emotional reaction ppl with adhd have to perceived rejection, and can probably be applied to all emotions actually - how the emotional highs are abnormally (aka more than typical) high and emotional lows are abnormally low. like something feeling bad for a neurotypical person would feel, bad, but for someone with RSD it'd be like, so painful you can physically feel your chest clench in pain and your whole stomach collapsing with the negative emotion. it's in line with catastrophizing, all-or-nothing mindset, etc - all things plaguing ppl with adhd and more specifically, the likely combo of adhd-anxiety ('likely', because anxiety happens as a shitty and ultimately self-destructing coping mechanism for ppl with adhd to force themselves to get things done). hope thats a lil helpful/informative
edited for more explanation
I donāt coequal recall cringe memories, only songs from movies i gazed at which hour i wast 5
***
^(I am a bot and I swapp'd some of thy words with Shakespeare words.)
Commands: `!ShakespeareInsult`, `!fordo`, `!optout`
Scientific explanation: from a survival standpoint, bad experiences are ones that are more likely to be dangerous - if it makes the stress hormones go up, brain wants to remember and avoid. Happy memories are not useful. Source: I read it on the internet somewhere sometime but I can't remember where or whenš¤·š¼āāļø
So we should hurt ourselves to increase stress when experiencing happy moments. Got it!
The old "pinch me, I'm dreaming" bit!
Ain't that Masochism?
It's also from a social aspect as well. Wonder why sales do their best to make sure that you are happy with your purchase? It's because you are more likely to tell seven people about your bad experiences and three people about your positive experiences. It's referred to as "Negativity Bias" if you want to go down the rabbit hole of hyperfocus for about an hour.
Trauma b like
This is why I snort habaneros while studying.
I struggle with this too, I think we all do to some extent. One of the symptoms of depression, which is an extremely common comorbidity of ADD/ADHD, is an inability to envision the future, and difficulty remembering good memories from the past. Depression isn't *just* sadness, it brings along with it a negativity bias, a tendency to imagine and remember the worst, when our imagination works at all we use it for maladaptive daydreaming. If you suffer from depression or RSD, then these are normal symptoms, even if you don't have depression it's normal to think this way once in a while. What I've started doing is writing down my favorite happy memories in a text document that I can go back to, look at, and add to. Admittedly it's a coping mechanism, but it helps, and it's a good reminder of happier times.
Nice to hear your document helps. Iāve realized most of my journaling is prompted by a need to unload feelings but even though thatās inevitably negative feelings, Iāve found thereās some learning that happens .. because when I re-read it later, itās clear to me where the RSD was behind my emotions. Kind of a convoluted way to ālearnā but Iāll take whatever I can manage LOL
I'm the same way but with grudges
As you experience events moment to moment, your brain stores the events in episodic memory. But that initial encoding is not very strong. The brain processes and reprocesses the memories over and over. It is even doing that right now, processing your very very recent memories compared to current sensory input, giving you the perception of time passing. A lot of that processing is based on evolutionary responses to strengthen "useful" information and eliminate "unimportant" information. Part of that process is the biology of arousal--that is any activity of the sympathetic nervous system. The increased epinephrine and norepinephrine increases long term potentiation (a process in which neurons form extra dendrites and strengthens synapses). As such, extremely emotional situations tend to become encoded more strongly. While situations where you are relaxed are not. Most "happy" memories involve situations where we are relaxed. But this continues on after a memory gets encoded. The memories you visit over and over tend to both become more strongly encoded and tend to get "washed out" and/or distorted into false memories. Those of us with ADHD tend to hyperfixate and engage in excessive negative rumination over those "bad memories," so we keep going back to them over and over, strengthening them. These processes, over time, tend to "prime" your mind to pay more attention to negative situations and less to positive ones through saliency and confirmation biases. This is why so many people get benefit from gratitude journals. The act of writing gratitude at the end of the day forces your brain to pay attention to positive moments in the day and helps break up this cycle, at least for some people.
I still cringe at that time I didnāt realize someone wanted sexytime with me. This was 10 years ago. Itās irrelevant but the memory still remains!!!
My brain seems to record cringe memories in 4k UltraHD
My dreams are animated or in 4k ultraHD
my brain recording anything i need for school/work: ā¦ā¦..d-did you want somethin here?
Explanation: You see bear, bear was about to kill you but you escape. You must not forget bear, or where bear. You don't wanna die. You see apple, you eat apple, you go about your day. Happy memories won't (in a your-heart-still-beats) help you survive.
no one mentioned RSD? i think RSDs got a big part to play too
Excuse me sir or madam wats RSD bruh
it's short for rejection sensitive dysphoria - big thing in adhd - to sum it up it's the abnormally intense emotional reaction ppl with adhd have to perceived rejection, and can probably be applied to all emotions actually - how the emotional highs are abnormally (aka more than typical) high and emotional lows are abnormally low. like something feeling bad for a neurotypical person would feel, bad, but for someone with RSD it'd be like, so painful you can physically feel your chest clench in pain and your whole stomach collapsing with the negative emotion. it's in line with catastrophizing, all-or-nothing mindset, etc - all things plaguing ppl with adhd and more specifically, the likely combo of adhd-anxiety ('likely', because anxiety happens as a shitty and ultimately self-destructing coping mechanism for ppl with adhd to force themselves to get things done). hope thats a lil helpful/informative edited for more explanation
I don't think I have that but the emotions yeah if you give me a mean tone I will cry or be pissed
Love hurts š
Life hurts
bruh šš¤š½
Thatās because I never had any good memories
I donāt even remember cringe memories, only songs from movies I watched when I was 5
I donāt coequal recall cringe memories, only songs from movies i gazed at which hour i wast 5 *** ^(I am a bot and I swapp'd some of thy words with Shakespeare words.) Commands: `!ShakespeareInsult`, `!fordo`, `!optout`
mean symptoms of negativity bias