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Based on this tumblr post (image desc. below), I use 'minced filled pumpkins' or 
as a shorthand for sensory/mental stimulation.
Why enrichment is important, especially for #NeurodiverseSquad
#teamADHD #ActuallyAutistic & people with alexithymia or anhedonia:
a thread
as a shorthand for sensory/mental stimulation.Why enrichment is important, especially for #NeurodiverseSquad
#teamADHD #ActuallyAutistic & people with alexithymia or anhedonia:
a thread
[image description 1/2]
tumblr user whitegirlblog:
Do you ever cycle through the same 4 apps on your phone over and over again and feel like a tiger pacing its cage at the zoo
tumblr user whitegirlblog:
Do you ever cycle through the same 4 apps on your phone over and over again and feel like a tiger pacing its cage at the zoo
[image description 2/2]
tumblr user teratomarty:
If you’re doing this, it is because you, like the tiger, need enrichment and variety in your life. May I suggest cramming just a whole bunch of raw hamburger into a pumpkin and rolling it around your enclosure?
tumblr user teratomarty:
If you’re doing this, it is because you, like the tiger, need enrichment and variety in your life. May I suggest cramming just a whole bunch of raw hamburger into a pumpkin and rolling it around your enclosure?
In lockdown, difficult/unrewarding/unpleasant/tedious/stressful responsibilities & expectations may be stacking up faster than you can clear them. Access to recreation is limited and the size of your enclosure has shrunk dramatically.
Without sufficient enrichment pumpkins you might start engaging in self/destructive behavior like clawing up the furniture or squabbling with anyone nearby out of unbearable boredom & lack of stimulation.
(I had 6 bubble teas delivered once because I was so starved for novelty)
(I had 6 bubble teas delivered once because I was so starved for novelty)
The sweet spot is having just enough mince-filled pumpkins to fulfill your sensory/dopamine/satisfaction/recreation/novelty needs.
Sometimes a brief change of scenery like a walk around the block can do wonders.
Sometimes a brief change of scenery like a walk around the block can do wonders.
Being overstimulated is when the pumpkins are being rapidly shot out of a cannon at you, and they're smacking you in the face.
Being overwhelmed is when you are given the keys to a warehouse full of pumpkins, and told you must carve all of them, immediately. You fall to your knees and cry in despair.
Burnout is when you are sitting in the warehouse, quietly carving out one pumpkin after another. If you look behind you, at the mountain of pumpkins, you will cry.
Your capacity is overburdened, but you're scraping by.
Your capacity is overburdened, but you're scraping by.
You're brittle while burnt-out.
When someone walks in and tries to add just one more pumpkin to the pile, you snap.
You are flooded with a desire to use this last pumpkin to do violence. Or cry. Or both.
When someone walks in and tries to add just one more pumpkin to the pile, you snap.
You are flooded with a desire to use this last pumpkin to do violence. Or cry. Or both.
Depression+burnout is when you fixate all your attention on the pumpkin in front of you, facing a wall, turned away from everything. One pumpkin after another. You haven't showered in days. You barely sleep. Your world shrinks down to the pumpkin in your hands.
If you stop carving for more than a few minutes at a time you feel as if your lungs are filling up with seeds, and you'll drown.
When you're severely depressed+burnt out seeking help can be almost impossible.
When you're severely depressed+burnt out seeking help can be almost impossible.
In lockdown it's vital we learn to recognize our need for variety, boundaries, & the limitations of the expectations we put on ourselves, & have put on us. To create the best pumpkin/carving/mince ratio.
Self care is being a kind & considerate zookeeper to yourself./thread.
Self care is being a kind & considerate zookeeper to yourself.
/thread.
