disinhibit

Disinhibition of thought and action is a cornerstone of adhd. For me it’s the disinhibition of thought which has caused most anguish over the years. Action can usually be restrained; thought not so much.

Just having the framework of adhd has helped me so much in reframing. A strong moral compass does not combine well with inappropriate thoughts.

I believe that these thoughts are a feature of evolution. We need random mutations in the gene and we need random mutations in the meme. I think that the adhd volatility is what provides this meme mutation.

It is very easy to focus on the negative (don’t punch the baby, James!) but this is certainly where all acts of human charity, generosity and creativity come from. 

This is why the most tortured individuals are also the most generous.

There’s a correlation between people feeling guilt and doing charity which I had always assumed to be causal; a way to ease the guilt. But now, I think they both might be caused by adhd. I think people might feel guilty about disinhibited thoughts but also be drive to charity by those same thoughts.

These ‘inappropriate thoughts’ are what make someone into a good samaritan instead of someone who sits on their football.

Maybe we need to give ourselves a break on this front.

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Add 20250630: disinhibited thoughts are also an object which the mind interacts with, so can be repulsive or attractive in the same way as external objects. The difference is that you can't remove a thought from your head but you can usually remove an object from your vicinity.