It’s not easy to describe but here goes. If I’m doing something for someone (the dishes, cooking a meal, tidying up, decorating a Xmas tree) and they don’t know I’m doing it, then I hear them approaching (keys in the front door, the sound of someone getting out of bed upstairs) and I get a huge panicky feeling because if they discover me before I’ve finished it and they:

1 - Thank me 2 - Don’t approve of what I’ve done 3 - Try to help me 4 - Change what I’m trying to do like “Oh thanks but there’s a better table cloth in the cupboard. Here lemme get it” 5 - Try to correct what I’m doing

I will lose all motivation and feel immediately depressed cos I missed the big dopamine hit of going “Tadaaa”.

I wonder if there’s a term for that situation?

  • tetrachromacy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    33·
    2 days ago

    How bout this one: The dishes are dirty after a meal. After you eat, you stand up from your table to go do the dishes unprompted. As soon as you stand up, someone else asks you “Hey, can you do the dishes while you’re up?”. Immediately, you are annoyed and become resentful and don’t want to do the dishes… that you were on your way to do already. Sound familiar?

  • naught@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    21·
    2 days ago

    Check out Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). Could be related

    Plus ADHD fucks up ur ability to muster the energy/intention to do tasks, especially ones you don’t want to do already. If I am asked to do something I already intended on doing, it saps the energy from me too.

    • Novamdomum@fedia.ioOP
      9·
      3 days ago

      Oh definitely. In fact it’s maybe dopamine hoarding so I get to experience it all in one go? But I’ve had that panicky feeling of being discovered before I finish a positive task forever.