@nikodemus well, I have this as well and never was diagnosed (but nobody went around diagnosing kids for that where I lived)

@nikodemus I prefer M-dashes and semicolons; gotta spice up those independent clauses and keep the audience onboard with your complex sentence structure— especially if you think of something loosely related after you’ve formed the core thought.

@nikodemus It is fairly universal (at least I think so).

@nikodemus Erm... it's universal in some circles.

Also, neurospicy types often gravitate to each other :)

@nikodemus oh lol and brackets inside the brackets because sometimes your first phrasing gets deeper

@nikodemus This is true: Parentheses (and punctuation in general) are a great way to take long, run-on sentences, and make them easier to read; semicolons also help—if I can ever remember how to use them.

@nikodemus I've been doing this forever. Especially in technical emails at work

@nikodemus I’m in this post (and don’t like it 😆).

@nikodemus @cadey 100% universal. I love this (I really do)

@nikodemus pretty sure it's very very adhd. 😅

@nikodemus
@iana
yes (but it bothers me how that could be written with a comma (much like this) sentence)

@nikodemus I thought it was universal (though I might be a bit neurospicy so who knows)

@nikodemus It's completely neurotypical I'm sure. You can trust me, I'm just someone who has tea to relax and go to sleep

@nikodemus I literally just did this several times in an email to my boss (but I have diagnosed ADHD, so that doesn't really answer your question).

@nikodemus @TomLarrow I do that. I don’t have any ND diagnosis but my therapist reckons I am ND

@nikodemus yes (but I have autism)

@nikodemus I was told frequently (pretty much every paper I wrote) in school that I use too many parentheses in my writing (obviously it didn't change anything because I still do it all the time (and by all the time I mean like every other sentence at least))

@nikodemus oh we 100% do this

we're ADH"D" though so I dunno

@nikodemus

That and dashes - because that's another way of extending a sentence with additional context (that probably isn't needed).

@nikodemus it is (Specifically because we don't want people to misunderstand us)

@nikodemus erm, I think it might be? I don’t have ADHD but I overuse parentheses wildly for asides.

@nikodemus yes it is (happens all the time)

@nikodemus (it is)

@nikodemus
I sometimes start a parentesis and never end it (because it contains a lot of information that i consider important and then my train of thought keeps going, eventually shifting to another topic and then the whole purpose of the parenthesis is gone because it has turned into the main argument.

@nikodemus

Crikey! I do this (a lot).
Not joking either.

@nikodemus yeah (yeah)

@nikodemus

I have ADHD and one time I was doing a mindfulness meditation where you were supposed to visualize a mousehole where thoughts were coming out and count how many thoughts.

That was the first time I realized most people have one thought at a time most of the time.

Anyway, needing elaborate nesting systems to represent how my brain thinks is very relatable to me, can't say if it's universal though.

@nikodemus you can use a — too if you want it to look fancier

@nikodemus

Stop me before I digress again!

@nikodemus @Larymir You do not have to use parentheses – there are other options (like this one) – to insert additional content.

@nikodemus
Side comment: Do get antsy when you realize a closing parenthesis is not coming?

@nikodemus @iana does everyone not do this?!

@nikodemus I use parenthesis constantly, especially during longer posts (Makes clarification or extra thoughts easier to convey)

@nikodemus
I am replying to your post (and I suspect everything I say is probably going to be considered to be inane, so I must write a justification that is longer than the actual content, though I am aware, and want you to be aware, that the justification is not the main point, so I will put that part in parentheses. However, these will eventually go on for long enough as I add additional context that I forget that I was even making a parenthetical statement and so will forget to close them.

@nikodemus@kamu.social at some point I end up turning them into bullet points for nested bonus content

@nikodemus Gave a like to every post in this thread that had at least an opening parenthesis (and I don't regret it).

@nikodemus oh noooo

@nikodemus omg (it's me) 🫠

@nikodemus Something like that. I usually just keep sending messages with follow up thoughts or writing threads that could easily have been single posts

@nikodemus don't randomly @ me like that :kek:

@nikodemus Yes

@nikodemus well... I don't have adhd but I do it from time to time (if it's in an informal/joking setting)

@nikodemus Totally (fully recognize it as an ADHD trait myself)

@nikodemus I feel called out. (I also have ADHD)

@nikodemus yes (no)

@nikodemus It's not universal (it would seem like it would be)?

@nikodemus Kinda wondering if I should get tested now.

@nikodemus Just make sure you close every parenthesis you open (otherwise people will become frustrated (because we're programmers.).).

@nikodemus I feel personally attacked. 🙈 (Yes, I use them all the time.)

@nikodemus it’s normal for me

@nikodemus it is (i think)

@nikodemus uh oh (this reminds me of something I do)

@nikodemus I think it's universal ? I do it all the time on discord discussions.

@nikodemus holy moly this is a thing? I always thought it was just my particular writing style, and never really thought about how others *don't* shove asides into practically every sentence, heh.

@nikodemus well, I’m diagnosed as adhd and I do it all the time.

@nikodemus when your thoughts get so convoluted that learning programming languages {like c# or python [or even scripting languages ( like bash or python) ] } to feel like you’re communicating properly is when it gets worrying.

@nikodemus it is

@nikodemus It's universal. I do it too, and even sometimes have nested parentheses inside my parentheses.

...

Huh.

@nikodemus I'm afraid so (I blame my early encounter with lisp (in the form of the DOS Brief text editor script language (and later on Emacs (😄))))

@nikodemus yep, universal ADHD trait

@nikodemus didn’t realize it required adhd (figured everyone did it)

@nikodemus Yes (me, too)

@nikodemus
I like to use the em-dash—which in many cases serves the same purpose as parentheses—and I don't understand why it isn't used more often.

@nikodemus yup, definitely it is

@nikodemus I was diagnosed w/ ADHD when I was a kid, and still have it now. I use parens (like these ones) all the damn time.

A trait of ADHD is non-stop internal narrating. The parens in text are a result of that. Ever watched a play when they have an aside? It's basically that. But constant. It results in a lot of thought editing, too.

Sometimes #ADHD people interrupt. It's basically adding parens into other people's speech.

@nikodemus don’t forget—and honestly, who could—the em-dash; or the ever-useful semicolon (I make liberal use of them all!)

@nikodemus just one level?

@nikodemus I do not have ADHD and I do this all the time. But I go back and change almost every one to either a comma, a semicolon, or a period. 99% of the time, it works just as well.

@nikodemus I definitely do this! (although not all the time(But a lot of the time))

@nikodemus I have to sometimes fight the urge to nest my parentheticals. By sometimes I mean often. Very often.

@nikodemus I thought it was universal for a while (but I suspect it's not)

@nikodemus LMAO I do this all the time (even in academic writing)

@nikodemus half of my posts require 20 minutes editing so they don't have sub-parentheticals

@nikodemus
Absolutely yes. If the platform has markdown or other ruch text support I also use italics to convey secondary thoughts

@nikodemus
Somewhat; some of us prefer semicolons.

@nikodemus
I do this (also, semicolons).

@nikodemus (I'll also often use parens around entire messages in a discussion when I don't want to change the main topic (but also I really want to share the bonus content))

@nikodemus mememememmememe…

@nikodemus it is.

(Well, maybe not universal, but pretty common I think. [and not only in people with adhd or anything.])

@nikodemus congrats on the diagnosis!

@nikodemus Also footnotes.

@nikodemus i do this a lot (even when it isn't needed)

@nikodemus I flop between parens and using dash - because that's how I add an aside
(but there might still be bonus content)

@nikodemus
My writing teacher self says yes, everyone has to learn the skill of choosing only the most relevant details.

My #neurospicy self writes in journals that have plenty of open parentheses that simply never close, because the parenthetical became the main idea.

@nikodemus I don't think I have ADHD and I def do this (a lot)

@nikodemus parens club member checking in (to confirm your idea (I've been stacking them as well (since school times)))

@nikodemus @kimtopher22 When I’m feeling crazy I use an em dash.

@nikodemus I do this all the time (and I do not even have adhd)

@nikodemus@kamu.social dlc

@nikodemus …and I always thought I’d spent too much time codin in Lisp in college and parens had invaded my brain. Now I learn it’s the ADHD, and I’m kinda disappointed.

@nikodemus I have to actively make an effort to remove them. I write the sentence with them, then reorganize it to remove them and have a linear flow for comprehension and context.

@nikodemus i use parens in my parens

(usually as a bit to poke fun at my overuse of parens (but only because i find myself actually doing it sometimes (also i totally talk like this out loud sometimes and everything i say is a garden path sentence

@nikodemus I didn't think my frequent use of parentheses was related to my ADHD but now that you've mentioned it, that makes a lot of sense. So many sentences come with additional bonus content.

@nikodemus one time i used 8 nested parenthesis

@nikodemus
not in every sentence, but I do quite like adding parenthesis

@nikodemus
Some people also -genuinely- don't know how to communicate/organize their phrases and use parenthesis (or slashes) to include idea in their phrases without making them uncomprehensible ✨

@nikodemus I use parentheses a lot of times (but I have ADHD)

@nikodemus

... and ellipses.