Question about Hygiene Taking Long Time as Executive Functio

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breaks0
Velociraptor
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27 Jul 2019, 4:21 pm

So I have a bit of an embarrassing issue to bring up, but this is as good a place as any I guess and I wasn't sure what other board if any to put this on. And before I ask it let me note that besides having HFA I also have ADHD. So I have an issue w/taking what most people (I believe including ASD people) consider to be a rather long time doing hygiene related tasks like showering, shaving and brushing my teeth. Each of these activities takes me on average I'd say 25-30 minutes to complete. I also take a long time washing my hands, probably 3 or 4 mins on average. I've been told I'm also slow using the toilet, but I don't think that's as serious an issue as the cleaning/grooming habits I'm describing. In terms of the latter, I have tried a few time to do these things quicker and I used to be able to do them much faster (in college I could take a shower in 5-10 minutes). But I think a combination of aging, anxiety and maybe other factors have made these symptoms of mine more pronounced over time.

What I'm wondering is whether this might or likely is a symptom of executive functioning issues (I have plenty of others related to attention regulation and organization for example) and would these likely be symptoms of my ASD, ADHD or possibly could I have OCD too? I've never been tested for the latter, though my psychiatrist who tested me for ADHD once said to me "you'd only need the highest dosage of your anti-anxiety medication if you had OCD" and I do have prominent anxiety. Which leads me to think that she doesn't believe I have it, though I could certainly ask to get tested, but is it worth doing so?

For now i'm mainly asking for feedback as to what this issue might be a symptom of rather than a solution, though I guess those are welcome to. Thanks!



jimmy m
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27 Jul 2019, 7:07 pm

I don't know if I can answer your question but I will try. Normally I minimize the time I spend in the morning getting ready for work. Hygiene tasks are divided between morning and evening. I only brush my teeth at night. I do not take showers but rather baths and those are evening tasks. So my morning routines are short and I can complete all 20 or so of them within about 30 minutes total and that includes making and eating breakfast. In general, I follow a very precise pattern to these tasks. It is like a script that I follow each morning, everything in the right order.

So in my case the process is quick and efficient. This is primarily due to a repetitious pattern and secondly when I perform these functions, I focus on rushing through them.


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