this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2026
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ADHD memes
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I'm not expert, but a very cheap way to tell is to drink a cup of coffee late at night. If despite the caffeine she can easily go to sleep that's a strong indicator. Stimulants have sort of the opposite effect on people with ADHD.
That's a misrepresentation.
Unmedicated ADHD people have a stimulation deficit and the reason why they're hyperactive, either mentally or physically, is because their brains are struggling to become stimulated enough.
Regarding coffee: this is the unmedicated ADHDer's friend. It can calm people down. But others, like me, who have a formal diagnosis, are heavily affected by caffeine and it will keep me up.
Meanwhile, my partner does not have ADHD and she can drink coffee and sleep fine.
I definitely have both ADHD and caffeine makes my symptoms worse. Even a single cup of coffee will have my eye twitching and I'll be anxious. The other day I accidentally drank two mugs of caffeinated coffee and I kept feeling like there was a being standing behind me all day at work just out of sight even though I was in an empty room.
It also makes it impossible to focus on anything. I'll be clenching my jaw racing from a painting to a sewing project to violin practice to work and then I'll be out in the yard gardening and back inside trying to organize a shelf. That time with the two mugs I also couldn't stop obsessing over growing bonsai trees as an investment opportunity, and how I'd setup an automatic watering system for the 200+ bonsai I was going to start from cuttings from a tree in my yard. Good times
I've found a significantly atypical response to caffeine is a massive indicator of ADHD. It's not 100%, but well passed 80%, based on my completely anecdotal experiences.