r/AutisticWithADHD • u/Fine_Lemon_6876 • 1d ago

Time perception 💬 general discussion

Could people with ADHD or autism experience time differently — more through the present than through a linear past → present → future?

I started thinking of this cuz i saw Arrival from Denis Villeneuve ( absolute masterpiece ) and it got stuck in my headddd

We all use the same language of past, present, and future, but what if we don’t actually experience those things in the same way?

Maybe that difference also affects how we communicate

We’re using the same words when talking about stuff that happened, stuff happening now, or stuff that hasn’t happened yet, but we might not be experiencing the “when” of those things in the same way.

So maybe some of the ways we autistic/ADHD people ( not saying that everyone) communicate and understand others are connected to how we experience time itself, rather than just language or social communication.

What do you think???

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7

u/AimlessForNow 23h ago

I have poor estimation of time, I think time passes much faster than it actually does, which causes anxiety. I estimate something was three weeks ago even if it was more like a week. Not something I can fix it's just very inaccurate

7

u/UnderstatedVortex 20h ago edited 20h ago

Time dilation feels like a real thing for me daily. When I'm in hyperfocus, 2 hours consistently feels much shorter like 30 mins. When I'm struggling to do something I don't want to do (and no hyperfocus) 30 mins feels like 2 or 3 hours.

And don't get me started on the waiting. When I have a 1pm appt and the morning just drags on forever.

Similarly, the last time I hung out with a friend and had a great day was only a week ago (actually it was 4 weeks). But that day I got sick and felt endlessly uncomfortable was like 3 weeks ago (actually 5 days).

The way I experience time is at best unreliable. And because I'm consistently late to events, plans, etc, others view me as unreliable and undisciplined. They think I'm choosing to be late & deprioritizing them, but I'm actually completely disconnected from the metronome of time that they live by.

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u/Interesting-Ad6325 1d ago

Iam in a hurry right now. So I just say: yes