in Distraction"Tips for Maintaining Personal Hygiene with ADHD: Strategies for Managing Distractions and Keeping a Clean House"

Three years ago, I launched the @domesticblisters TikTok channel aimed at serving a neurodiverse audience. The channel features short videos that offer strategies for accomplishing daily care tasks. Despite the abundance of ADHD-related information on social media, little attention is given to highlighting how challenging basic daily tasks can be for people with ADHD. Tasks such as cleaning, doing dishes, and folding laundry may seem simple, but they tend to paralyze individuals with executive functioning difficulties. Additionally, the shame we feel when we are unable to perform these tasks like our peers exacerbates these difficulties.

Based on my experience, the shame we feel about our executive functioning abilities is often intense when personal hygiene is involved. As individuals with executive functioning differences, it can be difficult to cope with the daily requirements of living. Personal hygiene routines become our shared struggle.

Individuals with ADHD often face challenges trying to establish routines that work. Instead of forcing yourself into neurotypical routines that are bound to fail, try adapting the following four approaches to your daily hygiene rituals:

Keeping good hygiene is essential to your health, so get creative and find what works best for your unique brain.

KC Davis, LPC, is a licensed professional therapist and author of How to Keep House While Drowning.

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