Hygiene with ADHD

[u/Extreme_Foundation66]

Hi to all my ADHD friends!

I have ADHD and I have my whole life struggled with my hygiene.

I hate to talk about this but the few times I have done it with my friends with ADHD I feel less alone so I hope this will have the same effect. I also wanna say that I would appreciate if you kept your judgements and negative comments to yourself (since I’ve also experienced that when talking about this)

First of all, I absolutely hate to shower. It has so many steps, I hate the feeling of water on my body and I really struggle to start. This makes it harder for me to workout cause the thought of taking a shower is so overwhelming.

I also struggle with steps like brushing my teeth and remembering steps in my routine!

Also other weekly things like shaving, cutting my nails!

Please tell me that I’m not alone and if you’re having any advice or anything I would appreciate it! I’m really embarrassed about it!

Update: I’m genuinely so thankful for every single comment under this post! I’ve never felt this seen and understood before. I’m so proud of everyone that has shared their stories and I wish you all the best ❤️

[u/CatMiao7]

I wish I could upvote this post a thousand times. I'm going on a week without showering. (I can't believe I'm admitting this for the whole Reddit community to see lol). My problem is very similar to yours. It's all the steps that are involved that make it seem overwhelming and thinking about it just adds more stress. I have long, naturally curly hair. I love the length but I hate the curls so even if I can talk myself showering, it's dreading having to apply products to my hair, then spending 30-45 minutes blow drying and flat ironing it.

My therapist had a really good idea. She said to buy a shower cap. It'll keep the hair dry so you can focus on just cleaning your body, then pick another night to wash your hair. I'm lucky that my hair isn't oily and can go a week without washing.

I fully intend to try this. Only I keep forgetting to order a damn shower cap off Amazon lol. Someone earlier mentioned listening to music. Pick your favorite genre, sing out loud, and wiggle your butt. It helps make the steps go by faster.

And last thing. I always make sure my Adderall has kicked in before I even THINK about it. Yeah, I should probably shower tonight, too. lol

[u/Extreme_Foundation66 → u/CatMiao7]

Aww girl I’m so sorry !! But I’m proud of you for sharing that. I also have curly thick long hair and as I wrote to someone else, I used to constantly discuss this with people as a teenager since people always told me that they were jealous my curls…. Life would be so much easier without them! take care of yourself and remind yourself that you are enough

[u/CatMiao7 → u/Extreme_Foundation66]

I HAVE THAT SWEATSHIRT!!! ❤️❤️ Yeah, let the straight haired people hate on us for the curls. Maybe if they had curls for just one night, and woke up the next morning looking like an 80's big hair rock band member, they'd think twice.

[u/Extreme_Foundation66 → u/CatMiao7]

For reaaal! As someone who used to have “straight” hair before puberty hit. It is easier 🩷