In the US, first of all.

I've been diagnosed with ADHD, depression, and anxiety. I'm trying to get tested for autism, but I think I might have 1 or 2 autistic traits, and any unofficial test has me on the low end of the spectrum.

One thing I've noticed lately is that I can't put my brain on autopilot. And this has caused severe work impairment.

Like let's say I get a job sorting packages or papers. Most people, when they do this kind of job, they need to focus on what they're doing initially, but after a while, it becomes automatic, and they can do it without thinking about it (to a degree of course).

But for me if I let my mind wander I will literally stop doing the job. So I need to continually focus with 100% effort on what I'm doing. As you can imagine, this becomes an immense mental load, so I often fall way behind other employees at most blue-collar jobs, many times ending up getting fired for underperforming.

That's not to say I don't zone out, because I definitely do. I have an over-active imagination for an adult. It's just that whatever task I'm doing (driving, brushing my teeth, cleaning the house, etc), I have to make an intentional effort to pay attention to what I'm doing.

Thankfully I am in tech, which (by default) engages the brain, but the opportunities for work are slim, so I have to be adaptable to other jobs as well. But obviously with this quirk of my brain, that severely limits my options.

It's hard to really communicate what is going on and how annoying this is. I'm hoping someone else deals with the same thing, or knows how to talk about this.

Thanks for reading.

I was hiking in a wilderness area...a very remote trail without a lot of action, and at one point I heard voices...I swore I heard human voices.

It was up in the mountains, too, so there wasn't much to make noise like that.

Obviously, I know it's my brain hearing trees groaning in the wind and quickly shortcutting to, "must be a human voice!" But it was just eerie.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13583666

The plot summary is as follows:

Secret Service agent Rebecca Carter's world is upended when her husband goes missing in 2002. Two years later, Rebecca and her team are protecting the President during a high-stakes trade deal in China. But their mission is cut short when an assassin appears out of nowhere, kills everyone, and disappears, leaving Rebecca as the lone survivor. In the year 31,462, Xel-Na, a shifter (an individual who can move through time and space at will), receives no word from Thes-Omatz, the deep space research vessel carrying his wife and daughter. Upon launching probes to investigate, he finds everyone either dead or missing. Suspecting a fellow shifter, Xel-Na embarks on a mission to confront the perpetrator. In his quest he soon comes across Rebecca. Together, they face insurmountable odds, all while grappling with the weight of their personal losses. But as they delve deeper into the heart of the conspiracy, they discover that the murderous shifter isn't just after Rebecca, he's after power. And no matter what Xel-Na and Rebecca do, this cunning adversary is always one step ahead of them.

I finished the first draft of the novel, but being out of work I'm not able to fund it myself. I was kinda like, well, nobody's giving me a call, might as well write it.

Would love to hear your thoughts. Do you like it? I have a thick skin, so even if it's crap, go ahead and let a rip.

And before you ask, no, it was not written by AI 😆 (though I did use AI to assist in editing).

If you'd like to fund publication, I would greatly appreciate it. Or if you like and and don't like to give strangers money online, I'd be forever grateful if you share the post on social media.