Disability & Decision Fatigue

Tools to help with indecision

Photo by Niklas Hamann on Unsplash

In a previous post I spoke about the link between ADHD and indecision. If you missed it you can read here. But today I want to talk about something I struggle with a lot as an AuDHDer: decision fatigue.

What is decision fatigue?

We all have to make hundreds of decisions each and every day. Those can be smaller decisions like choosing what to wear or what to eat for breakfast or more difficult ones like choosing how to respond to an emergency. Decision fatigue is a state of mental overload that impacts our ability to make further decisions and can lead to stress, anxiety and burnout. Someone experiencing decision fatigue might feel tired, have brain fog, feel more irritable than usual, find it hard to focus on tasks or lack interest in things that you usually enjoy.

“By the time the average person goes to bed, they’ve made over 35,000 decisions and all of those decisions take time and energy, and certainly can deplete us.”¹

Dr. MacLean, Psychiatrist.

Having to make these decisions day in, day out can become mentally taxing for anyone. For the majority of people those smaller decisions are made subconsciously or at least without much second-guessing or stress. However, for many disabled people who are already running on a low battery, even those small decisions can feel like mammoth, energy-draining demands.

When the brain becomes exhausted from making constant decisions it will look for shortcuts. There are four main ways our brain does this: procrastination, impulsivity, avoidance and indecision. Which I think is fascinating considering at least 3 of these are ADHD traits. So when we pair decision fatigue with an ADHD brain it is likely going to feel magnified.

Anyone can experience decision fatigue but in this post I will be talking about it from the perspective of a chronically ill, autistic ADHDer. So, if that’s you, grab your journal and take notes!