Last time I started talking about this subject, of how people with ADHD are more sensitive to feedback. And it goes either way. If it’s good, we get really excited. If it’s bad, we sink to the depths. This also affects how we hear compliments. Recently, while looking at an Aura Frame of rolling pictures, some said, “You must really enjoy watching these, knowing you’ve lost so much weight.”

Normally someone would take that as a compliment on how your weight management plan has been successful. But all I heard was, “Man, you were pretty big there for a while.” And I started thinking about that and how I’m STILL not happy with my weight, even though I’ve lost twenty-five pounds.

I recognized it as a compliment. I knew the good intention behind the complement. But it sent me into a spiral for a while until I could recognize it for what it was. Even now, though, it still hurts a bit.

So that’s another thing that I’ve learned and am working on. It’s been helpful to know about it, and to recognize what’s going on. If I see it, then I can take a beat and turn the story around in my head and not react to it. It’s a process, one that I’ve got a lot of work to do yet. But I’m slowly making progress.