Alex Partridge > Quotes

“The most frustrating thing about living with ADHD is when someone witnesses a shutdown and calls me lazy. I get it, it might look like laziness when I’m lying on the sofa, doom-scrolling social media, but the truth is, I’m in a state of decision paralysis and overwhelm.”
― Alex Partridge, Now It All Makes Sense: How An ADHD Diagnosis Brought Clarity to My Life

“The frustration is compounded because people think ADHD means we should all be physically hyperactive (and sometimes we can be – remember that time when we did a week’s worth of stuff in an afternoon?), but most of the time it’s internalized, it’s in my mind, and it causes me huge overwhelm, so please don’t call me lazy. It isn’t a choice.”
― Alex Partridge, Now It All Makes Sense: How An ADHD Diagnosis Brought Clarity to My Life

“Our natural empathy and drive to make others happy create a powerful source of motivation because we associate the outcome of a task with how someone else is going to feel.”
― Alex Partridge, Now It All Makes Sense: How An ADHD Diagnosis Brought Clarity to My Life

“In the evening, sit on the end of your bed and close your eyes. Think deeply about the day that’s just passed. Ask yourself the following questions: What happened today that brought me joy? What happened today that made me anxious? What tasks did I enjoy? What tasks frustrated me? Write down your answers.”
― Alex Partridge, Now It All Makes Sense: How An ADHD Diagnosis Brought Clarity to My Life

“We feel this urgency to act straight away because we’re subconsciously worried about forgetting the thought. You can bypass this urgency by writing the thought down. I always have a blank piece of paper nearby. If I’m working and a random thought enters my mind, I pick up my pen immediately and write it down. I park it for later. This enables me to stay focused on what I’m doing.”
― Alex Partridge, Now It All Makes Sense: How An ADHD Diagnosis Brought Clarity to My Life

“3 (PART 1): ACCOUNTABILITY IS OUR BEST FRIEND”
― Alex Partridge, Now It All Makes Sense: How An ADHD Diagnosis Brought Clarity to My Life

“a world with no understanding of ADHD and one that required every child to act the same way.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“3 (PART 2): BODY-DOUBLE YOUR WAY TO THE FINISH LINE”
― Alex Partridge, Now It All Makes Sense: How An ADHD Diagnosis Brought Clarity to My Life

“literally just met that person and I dumped all my demons on them like they were my therapist.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“You’re travelling back in time, metaphorically putting your arms around yourself and whispering into your own ear, ‘Don’t listen to those 20,000 criticisms. You don’t need to change who you are, because you’re not broken, just different. You are enough.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“But I know it exists because I can feel it, and I know the feeling is real because people witness my response to it and call me ‘too sensitive’.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“The mask’s job is to hide our true self, a version of us that we believe is useless, so we massively overcompensate.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“People-pleasing abusers are easy to spot because you will rarely hear anything from them unless they are asking you for something.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“neurodiversity?”
― Alex Partridge, Now It All Makes Sense - How An ADHD Diagnosis Changed My Life: The Sunday Times Bestseller from the Founder of LadBible and UniLad

“Those 20,000 early criticisms, unfortunately, have made us believe that everything is our fault and we can’t do anything right.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“there is an explanation for the part of you that harbours the most shame, the part of you that makes you feel truly different.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“If you always avoid confrontation, you also avoid being loyal to your values.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“You’re feeling such overwhelming emotion because that tiny comment reminded your nervous system of those 20,000 negative comments you received when you were a child.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“They adapt and change who they are in order to be accepted by the pack. They copy behaviour and mirror personalities.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“it can create someone who overcompensates and becomes extremely extroverted, the life and soul of the party, in an attempt to conceal any vulnerability.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“I’m sorry for hiding you. I’m no longer ashamed of who you are – it wasn’t your fault. You deserve happiness. You deserve to be seen by the world; the world deserves to see you.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“they will always adopt an agreeable position, even with complete strangers, and even when the consequences of this position put them at risk.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“Adopting an agreeable position and taking on someone else’s opinion”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“RSD has a need for external validation and approval that is much stronger than any internal warning system that’s trying to alert them that they’re in danger.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“The emotional response is seldom proportionate to the comment or event that triggers the reaction.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“Before my ADHD diagnosis, I had no idea how much I was burying my inner child under layers of masks. Once diagnosed, I finally realized how much effort I was putting into concealing my inner child, my core, a place full of shame.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“If someone cancels dinner plans at the last minute, RSD will make you reply with ‘No worries!’, even though ‘Sure, that’s a shame – I do need to tell you that I have just spent money on a taxi getting to the restaurant, so cancelling last minute is disrespectful of my time’ is what someone without RSD might say.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“This heartbreaking exposure to critical feedback makes us feel like we don’t belong, as though we are not accepted as we are, and ultimately that we are broken.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“RSD amplifies people-pleasing.”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria

“If we’re going to be roped into being an unpaid therapist, we’re damn sure we’re going to be the best unpaid therapist the world has ever known!”
― Alex Partridge, Why Does Everybody Hate Me?: Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria