I didn’t expect to see me in a comic, but okay. Thanks for calling me out in front of everyone.
But for real, I will neglect the most basic tasks like urinating or eating. However, if someone is with me, I become extraordinarily productive. It’s so weird. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like I suddenly have all the motivation and energy to do everything in the world. Then, when I’m alone, back to the stagnation or obsession.
Good ol’ fashioned body-doubling can do wonders.
Yes! Imagine a society in which the treatment for AuDHD was to send someone respectful over to your house to sit there doing their own thing while you accomplish your daily tasks 😆
Please do not pet or feed my service human.
This is a problem I have with remote work: in theory it sounds perfect for me, but in practice I don’t get anything (not interesting) done when no-one is around.
I thought that was an ADHD trait… or is this one of those symptoms that can be true for both?
But this explains why my partner will play the same game all day and nothing else, even though she has plans to work on projects and stuff.
That’s me. I will get “stuck” on something for hours and hours and suddenly it’s 12 midnight and I should have been in bed 2 hours ago. I just… Can’t pull myself away from it.
Same. This inertia is the source of all to many 02:something bedtimes and missed mornings. And when I don’t have my idleness structures available, that’s when I go both to and out of bed early.
Sounds a lot like hyper-focus to me too, but like most traits shared by ADHD and Autism, there are probably some subtle differences. Personally I find the inertia terminology to be more representative of my experience.
Sounds a lot like hyper-focus to me too,
No, hyperfocus, for me at least, is more like when you’re reading a good book, or playing a game, and you lose track of time, because, unsurprisingly, you’re focused on the activity.
This is more like knowing that you have to do something but not being able to get the energy to move. Imagine sitting on a comfortable seat in front of the fire in the winter, and you need to walk the dog. You’re already feeling tired and sleepy. Outside is really cold and it’s raining that horrible type of rain that manages to get in everywhere. The dog is lying on a blanket looking very happy, but you know you really should disturb him because he needs a walk, but it won’t hurt to put it off for a little while, maybe just to see if the rain stops.
Now imagine that feeling dialled up to 11, and you’re getting close.
Not so subtle I guess. I’ve experienced both these to varying degrees so I’ve just been lumping them into the same thing.
Yeah I thought so too. Body doubling is similar to what they’re suggesting here and is often recommended for ADHDers.
Any task or activity outside my normal routine takes tremendous mental effort to perform. It can be done and usually turns out to be trivial, but taking that first step can take hours to months. If it’s a new activity, it becomes much easier if I have a friend with me.
Inertia. I hate that word. I’ve been hearing it my entire life from my father, who clearly noticed this trait of mine, but instead of helping me he turned it into a means of piling on guilt and shame. “You have too much inertia.” “You need to stop having so much inertia.” “Why aren’t you fighting the inertia? You said you wanted to do this.”
I hate that word.
Me. I. This.
I be this do thing.
This is why I’m not getting up and getting coffee right now.
This is very relatable for me. I often find my internal voice shouting at my body to either do something or stop doing something, and my body just refuses to cooperate. And then of course I start to feel guilty/ashamed when it becomes clear that I should have done the thing.
I start to feel guilty/ashamed
Which makes it even harder to engage. Once the guilt and anxiety get bad enough, I frantically try to complete the task before seriously upsetting others. It’s never ending cycle of anxiety, guilt, despair, and relief.
Today I learned a thing about myself. It’s probably why I get so locked down, waiting for some scheduled event. Like if I have a thing at 3 pm, I can’t start anything else, cuz I might leave it half done.
Or wanting to start things like a Pathfinder campaign with my kids or game dev. I don’t know how to start.
Huh the finger trick sounds neat. I’ll try to remember that one.
I like to say that mass equals inertia.
So yes, our brains have a lot of inertia, because they have a lot of mass.
I have never been more seen than this comic.
Oh, hah. Funny you should post this right now of all times.
Yes, I get this, a lot. This is the first time I’ve seen it explained this way and given a name. When I start something I can stick with it for a while, even to the point where I don’t eat or sleep or take breaks. I have a very hard time forcing myself to go to bed, or climb out of bed in the morning, even when I want to. Like, this is legitimately something I struggle with.
The reason I say this was funny is because I was just done posting something elsewhere. For context, I’m struggling with a bit of anxiety and depression at the moment, and one of my unhealthy behaviors is to dwell on things in my head. I was lamenting about how it seems that everyone apart from me seems to have this weird ability to just “not think” about things or do something else to distract them.
I wonder if the thing I feel I’m “lacking” is caused by this autistic inertia thing. I know the imagery is problematic, but it kind of feels like this is the missing piece of the puzzle as to why I’m having such a hard time and people’s advice isn’t working. At the very least, it’s almost certainly why I’m having trouble doing the other things people say help depression, like going to bed on time, eating well, exercising, etc.
Or maybe I’m just overanalyzing things, and all of this is just normal depression symptoms. Blegh.
Huh, I think I get a version of this as well, but not as bad. God I’ve HAD that toothbrush conversation with myself before.
Where can I read more about it? I think I have severe issues with that, preventing me from doing even some basic things.
Here’s a link to the research study the comic was based on: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631596/full
Thank you very much
There’s so many times I’ve completed a frustrating task off of this inertia and pretty much that alone. On the bright side it’s gotten be a grade of 110% on a few occasions.
I feel seen.
