brain hole
noun. The several-hour-long state of (typically ADHD-induced) hyperfocus, in which it feels like no time is passing but suddenly it’s 10pm and you haven’t made dinner yet.
Example, “Its 7pm. We should decide what time we want to do dinner before we fall down another…. brain hole.”
Tag: time blindness
Time blindness is the weirdest aspect of executive dysfunction and so weird as an experience to live with.
It’s like you see the clock, the clock says 3pm, you look at the clock again and it’s 3:02, then 3:05, and then you look again and it’s 8pm and WHAT THE FUCK.
You don’t even need hyperfocus. But hyperfocus is like the Warp Speed:tm: version cause when that hits, it’s 3pm and then it’s the next day and why is the sun rising and when did i last eat and oh god i need to use the bathroom. And oh, also, you’re EXHAUSTED.
The act of your brain tunnel visioning on something drains you (but that’s another topic).Time blindness is…. having the general knowledge that today is Wednesday, and you need to do something on Thursday. Thursday is logically tomorrow, but the mysterious void of time is like ‘that’s like next week or something.’
It’s knowing you have to do something in three weeks on the 21st. And as the days creep closer, the 21st is stuck in a constant state of still being 3 weeks away, despite the fact it’s now tomorrow.
It’s wild. ADHD is literally living in a constant state of “There is Now. And there is Later.” and there’s no in between; no dates, no times; no hours, weeks, or months. It’s just Now and Later, and oh god why is is X o’clock already!?
Holy shit someone actually described my relationship with time wtf.
This was something I thought everyone experienced in my prediagnosis state, until I wrote about it in a short story and a teacher told me it was bad writing because ‘time doesn’t do that’.