My Neurodivergent Tax

I’m far from the first person to talk about this, but want to share my experience. Hopefully it can help others.

I first heard about something like this last year. It was probably on a Twitter thread somewhere. You end up spending more money or more time on things because what is ‘normal’ for most people takes you more energy. I don’t remember how it was phrased, but that’s what I took from it. And seeing it from someone else let me allow myself to not feel guilty about it. And this lets me be healthier or happier or both.

So, a list of things I do that contribute to my neurodivergent tax:

• Buy bottled water to put in the fridge. I know it’s more expensive and awful for the environment, but sometimes just the act of pouring myself water and putting in ice is too much. It helps me keep drinking water instead of soda or something else unhealthy.
• Buy pre-prepared food at the grocery store. I’ve taken to buying the prepared chicken that’s already seasoned or stuffed or whatever so I just have to throw it in the oven. It’s much more expensive than just buying chicken and doing it myself, but there’s a much better chance that I actually cook it and eat it.
• A big tax that I pay all the time is throwing out food. Sometimes I buy too much food. Sometimes I just can’t bring myself to eat or prepare the food that I do buy. Sometimes I only have a little bit of something before I get tired of it and don’t go back to it. A lot of the time, I just plain forget about the food that I have available. I have a cabinet in our house that I used just about every day to fill up the fridge with cold drinks. At one point, I forgot about its existence for months and didn’t use it at all. It’s all just a part of me that I do my best to accept.
• I buy a lot of pre-packaged food as well. A pre-portioned sleeve of crackers will stop me from eating a full-size sleeve of crackers as a snack. I know I can get very preoccupied by food if it is available to me, while sometimes I can forget to eat if I’m focused on a project. Pre-packaged stuff at least allows me to improve my health a bit.
• Sometimes I got on a bit of a manic binge and can’t do anything until I buy something. It doesn’t always have to be something large, but sometimes it is a part of a hobby. Sometimes it might be a trip. Sometimes, it might just be something small to improve the house. This one is…something I need to work on. But it’s one I can also forgive myself if I fall victim to it.

I’m sure there are many more taxes that I’ll revisit later.