Now, I'm going to preface this by saying that I haven't been formally diagnosed by a psychiatrist so I'm not sure if I actually have ADHD or not, but I was a very hyperactive child and had poor time management and was very disorganised for most of my life, so I do present with a lot of ADHD symptoms.

The weird thing is when I'm on holiday all my symptoms disappear. I know this because I recently came back from a holiday in China.

When I'm travelling, I feel alert, energetic, motivated and my memory works great. I'm also more organised, disciplined and have better time management (obviously because of the time constraints to see/do things, and also missing booked transport would suck). Also, my appetite is great and I eat normal, regular meals.

But as soon as I come back home all my symptoms return and in fact get worse. I have worse appetite (and therefore less energy), brain fog (due to lack of nutrients), and zero motivation to do anything. I end up doomscrolling my phone all day because I'm so freaking bored.

This got me thinking. Is it really an ADHD problem or a lack of stimulation problem? As overcrowded and noisy China was, I felt completely at ease and enjoyed the "buzz" of being surrounded by people and commercial activity all the time. I did get tired of it and needed breaks from it, but as soon as I came back from my trip I felt like I was having withdrawal symptoms and craved more of the "buzz". I can't help thinking if I lived in China I probably wouldn't have any ADHD symptoms at all. It's almost like my brain was built to handle an overstimulating environment.

Also, as an interesting aside, I travelled around Europe a few years ago and I remember enjoying being in larger, more crowded cities like London and Paris (because they were more "challenging" to navigate). On the other hand, smaller, quieter cities like Amsterdam left me feeling bored out of my brains.

Now, I can't afford to just travel all the time and I have to still live a normal life, so what can I do to make my home environment more stimulating? The peace and quiet, while bearable after a while, leaves me feeling lethargic and unmotivated. I eat less and have less energy and worse cognitive function, which isn't a good thing. I can't help thinking that if I was in a more stimulating environment I'd be able to function more like a normal person.