Object Permanence
Tl;dr — I rinsed my hands with water into a big orange tub of sorrel water sitting in the sink, literally seconds after squeezing the juices from the sorrel plant into the tub; an example of big time forgetfulness and distraction.
So, I learned recently on account of my diagnosis that issues regarding the forgetfulness of an object’s location, whether by distraction or inattentiveness, can occur often for those with ADHD.
I cannot recall any specific examples growing up of this happening to me (I likely forgot them right after they occurred), but I experienced it today.
I am Jamaican, so every year my mom and I make sorrel for Christmas, as it is a holiday drink in Jamaica. It is made by boiling the dried petals of the sorrel plant in water and letting it sit for a few days to leach its flavor and color, and then mixing the sorrel water with ginger, sugar, and white rum (some Red Label wine too, if you want).
When we strained out the sorrel water into a large orange tub in the sink and I squeezed the leftover juice out of the sorrel plant, I went to rinse my hands of the juice on it.
I was looking out the window when I turned on the pipe and started rinsing my hands with water. Into the orange tub. Full of sorrel water. My mom exclaimed “What are you doing!” after maybe two seconds of this, I realized what I did wrong, and immediately turned off the pipe.
Somehow, someway, my brain just blipped the tub out of existence the second I looked away from it and made to do something else. What the fuck, yo.
My heart was RACING after that for about a minute. I take it that experience was my brain more or less dumping the information regarding an object’s location in favor of focusing on a new, minor task.
Woohoo.
EDIT: I made some changes to the story, replacing mentions of 'object permanence' with 'forgetfulness and distractibility' and how that affects perceived object location. Thank you u/strictcompliance for addressing my faux pas in confusing forgetfulness and distractibility for object permanence, the latter being a very much solid concept that our brain comes to terms with early on in childhood. I hope this correction educates others as it has me! :D
Posted Dec 7, 2020, 1:38 AM UTC · edited
This is a common misunderstanding. This is not an object permanence issue. This is a memory or a distraction issue. Object permanence is the concept that something exists even if you can't see it. Young babies lack the concept of object permanence. If someone asked you where the sorrel water was, you would have known. You would not have believed that it did not exist.
I realize I am being a bit picky about something that you are probably just intending to be a relatable anecdote (and it certainly is), but since misconceptions about ADHD abound, we need to be careful what we are passing around as a concept related to ADHD.
I see, I apologize for the misinformation. I did know that we as humans come to understand object permanence in our formative years, but was unaware that it was a solid concept once learned and that the brain simply does not perceive objects that way afterwards—regardless if it may seem so. I misconstrued both the definition of the term and the frankly illegitimate sources that the information came from regarding ADHD.
Thank you for the correction, I will update the post to reflect the new knowledge. Also, your username somehow matches the tone of your response, which I find amusing; you strictly complied to addressing my mistake, likely as per your own values, haha.
Thanks for your generous and humorous response. I did come off a little pompous and strict, didn't I? I'm a lawyer, which is probably the genesis of the tone and the name, both. :)
You're not the first to bring up object permanence here, and the issue has been discussed before, because at first blush, it absolutely does seem like it's an "object permanence" issue, just from the import of that phrase. The sub is just trying really hard to be vigilant about terms, concepts, and information that aren't based in science. Have a good week!