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people with adhd need to be motivated meme

People With ADHD Are Not Motivated By Rewards

Updated Apr 18, 2021 at 04:27AM EDT by andcallmeshirley.

Added Apr 15, 2021 at 11:58AM EDT by Adam.

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About

People With ADHD Are Not Motivated By Rewards refers to a snowclone that developed in parody of a tweet by @siderealmaven which posited that people with ADHD "are not motivated by rewards" but by "the joy they get out of doing things" and that it's hard for people with ADHD to do something they don't want to do, even if it's for money or another survival need. The tweet was criticized by some for infantilizing people with ADHD and turned into a snowclone in which people substituted "people with ADHD" for other types of people and the motivations they have.

Origin

On April 13th, 2021, Twitter user @realsidemaven[1] posted, "People w/ ADHD are not motivated by rewards. They are motivated by the joy they get out of doing things. It's very hard for ADHD people to force themselves to do work they don't enjoy, even if the reward is money or something they need. They need to feel good about what they do," gaining over 17,000 retweets and 89,000 likes (shown below).


my tweets arent about you @siderealmaven ... People w/ ADHD are not motivated by rewards. They are motivated by the joy they get out of doing things. It's very hard for ADHD people to force themselves to do work they don't enjoy, even if the reward is money or something they need. They need to feel good about what they do. 4:38 PM · Apr 13, 2021 · Twitter Web App

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While many people in the replies to @realsidemaven agreed with her assessment and offered their own experiences with ADHD, the tweet was criticized by some for arguably infantilizing people with ADHD. User @Boringstein[2] quote-tweeted the tweet adding, "please fucking stop already I just need vyvanse that's all," gaining over 50 retweets and 1,200 likes (shown below, left). User @flowrmeadow[3] tweeted, "everyone got prescribed adhd meds cuz theyre bad at working from home and now its like twitter's new zodiac sign smh" (shown below, right).


Hey it's me Tredt @Boringstein ... please f------ stop already I just need vyvanse that's all my tweets arent about you @siderealmaven · Apr 13 People w/ ADHD are not motivated by rewards. They are motivated by the joy they get out of doing things. It's very hard for ADHD people to force themselves to do work they don't enjoy, even if the reward is money or something they need. They need to feel good about what they do. Show this thread 3:01 PM · Apr 14, 2021 · Twitter for Android dub bossman ... @flowrmeadow everyone got prescribed adhd meds cuz theyre bad at working from home and now its like twitter's new zodiac sign smh my tweets arent about you @siderealmaven · Apr 13 People w/ ADHD are not motivated by rewards. They are motivated by the joy they get out of doing things. It's very hard for ADHD people to force themselves to do work they don't enjoy, even if the reward is money or something they need. They need to feel good about what they do. Show this thread 5:43 PM · Apr 14, 2021 · Twitter Web App

The criticism led to snowclone parodies of the tweet. User @Nikostratis[4] tweeted, "people with ADHD are not motivated by rewards, we are motivated by a unending need for revenge on the crime family that stole our '69 Mustang and killed our dog even though we were 'retired,'" gaining over 80 likes (shown below, left). User @GarbageApe[5] tweeted, "Gamers are not motivated by rewards. They are motivated by the joy they get out of doing things. It's very hard for gamers to force themselves to do work they don't enjoy, even if the reward is money or something they need. They need to feel good about what they do," gaining over 320 likes (shown below, right).


Niko Stratis @nikostratis people with ADHD are not motivated by rewards, we are motivated by a unending need for revenge on the crime family that stole our '69 Mustang and killed our dog even though we were "retired" 5:20 PM · Apr 14, 2021 · Twitter Web App Garbage Ape @GarbageApe ... Gamers are not motivated by rewards. They are motivated by the joy they get out of doing things. It's very hard for gamers to force themselves to do work they don't enjoy, even if the reward is money or something they need. They need to feel good about what they do. 2:55 PM · Apr 14, 2021 · Twitter for iPhone

Various Examples


An American Online ... @mattmangels Replying to @punished_stu People w/ IBS are not motivated by rewards. They are motivated by the joy they get out of doing things. It's very hard for IBS people to force themselves to do work they don't enjoy, even if the reward is money or something they need. They need to feel good about what they do. 2:39 AM · Apr 15, 2021 · Twitter Web App Chirasul ... @chirasul People w/ ADHD are not motivated by rewards. They see no end goal, only the present moment. ADHD releases you from the bounds of time and space. Having ADHD releases you from the laws of physics. ADHD will turn your bones into flubber and allows you to shoot bricks from your eyes calm until i freak out then its pretty bad @calmandfunny ... People w/ ADHD are not motivated by rewards. They are motivated by shiny baubles and most reflective or metallic objects. They enjoy fidget spinners, especially the ones that cost a bit extra and light up.They chew on wires and cords and also run on their big wheel for enrichment 7:43 PM · Apr 14, 2021 · Twitter for Android Sa'am ... @BOnerDude People w/ ADHD are not motivated by the 3 ghosts of Christmas.They are motivated by the joy they get out of atonement for their trespasses. It's hard for ADHD people to see their misdeeds. Despite the wealth they have they pulled out of their fellow man are there no work houses slim riggins @rigginsslim ... people with ADHD are not motivated by rewards they are motivated by the Home Depot music 4:40 PM · Apr 14, 2021 · Twitter for iPhone superdeep borehole @veryeva ... Replying to @veryeva people with ADHD are NOT motivated by sweet potato fries. they are motivated by regular tater tots. i'm a person with ADHD so this is true about all of them. 4:04 PM · Apr 14, 2021 · Twitter Web App

Search Interest

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External References

[1] Twitter – @realsidemaven

[2] Twitter – boringstein

[3] Twitter – flowrmeadow

[4] Twitter – nikostratis

[5] Twitter – GarbageApe

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Top Comments

Dr. Cave Johnson
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Dr. Cave Johnson

It's not as absolute as that, as someone with ADHD, but it does hit the nail on the head when speaking to a specific example of how ADHD brains are different from Neurotypical brains. So many people think that putting some abstract reward at the end of a task I don't enjoy doing will always make me want to do it more. However, the ADHD brain is explicitly wired to think almost exclusively in the immediate term when it comes to rewards. Since we lack dopamine receptors, we're less sensitive to the mechanisms our brains use to make rewarding things feel rewarding, and the rest of our brain is thus constantly seeking out new stimulus to compensate for the lack of dopamine. As such, doing stuff I don't enjoy isn't just not enjoyable, it can be actually, physically painful. Boredom isn't just not fun, it can feel suffocating. This is why things that are intrinsically fun to do are so much better for ADHD brains because we have a constant stream of dopamine rather than having to endure a constant sense of psychological strangulation for an abstract reward sometime later.

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