this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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ADHD
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I totally notice this too, and for media that I consume, I do things like…in a rotation? For example:
With games, I will have three titles in rotation at the same time, usually with different gameplay, settings, or story telling. Right now for me that is Baldur’s Gate 3, Catherine Full Body, and Vampire Survivors.
When I notice that I am starting to get a little tired of one game (as in, I am not getting the dopamine hits I was getting when I started it), I’ll rotate over to the next game. Same thing, onto the third game, and then back to the first until I finish one of them. Then I throw another backlog game into the empty rotation spot.
Right now I’m almost at the end of Catherine, so I’ll probably add another visual novel or puzzle game into it’s slot.
Same thing with tv shows, usually I’ll watch a few episodes, watch another show that’s a bit different of a genre, and come back to the first. The novelty keeps my brain entertained and makes my reward centre not drop off.
Thanks! Do you find that you have a hard time picking things back up with this set up? I’m worried that I’ll forget a lot of the stuff that I cared about / strategy if I step away from a game like BG3.
Sorry for the long essay, but I hope it helps a little!
Not at all! I appreciate the thoughtful reply.
Honestly, no! I usually switch over when I start to feel a dip in my hyperfixation on the game, but still have an interest in it (around two or three days of playing in a row). I try really hard to make sure I’m not getting into a dopamine loop, I feel like when I do my enjoyment of games diminishes very quickly when I do.
Most modern games (like BG3) have such good quest logs/journals that I can just look at that and know where I left off. If it’s something like a Dark Souls game, I have a word document on my desktop that I write down what I want to do for next time (location I was going, quest, etc). I’m also not opposed to using guides/Googling if there’s something that I really feel like I’m forgetting.
Don’t feel bad about not finishing a game/book/movie though. It really is a lot to do with ADHD’s dopamine disregulation. We just produce less of it on average, so when we get a hit of it our brains try to squeeze every last drop out of the activity that’s giving us that high as fast as possible, and that can lead to the burnout boredom.
The last paragraph is really important - don't feel pressured to be a completionist in your leisure. Most of your life will give you constant pressure to complete things related to work or school - let your brain enjoy your leisure time and if it wants to move on don't try to force it to stay or stress out about how you'll restart it. In most of life you'll need to learn how to cope and conform to societal expectations around task completion, but it's probably healthy for us to let our brain indulge when we're unwinding.