Always being late may be linked to the behavior in question; diagnosis depends on neuropsychological assessment
Summary
People who are always late may suffer from tidsoptism, a disorder linked to poor time management, associated with neurocognitive or behavioral factors, with treatment based on psychoeducation and cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Being always late for an appointment or completing a task may not simply be due to the negligence of a very forgetful person. This may be the case for someone who suffers from a disorder known as optimism.
“Clinically, there is no other name,” explains psychotherapist Denise Figueiredo. “But there are, for example, more informal ways of talking about illness, like ‘optimistic time’ or ‘chronically late’.”
According to the professional, tidsoptimism is known as a disorder that concerns a persistent pattern of behavior, characterized by a systematic underestimation of the time required to complete tasks.
“She ends up getting lost in the problems of commuting, commitments, starting and finishing even simple activities in the daily routine – and this ends up making life very difficult for those who have this pattern,” Denise explains.
The professional explains that as a result, the tidsoptimist has a high chance of developing anxiety, because he is always in a hurry, overloading the management of his own emotions: “He is a person who always lives in debt to himself, to his family members, to his friends. He has a high degree of anxiety and difficulty managing simple things.”
Origin of tidal optimism
A possible origin of the disorder is associated with learning, such as the repetition of a pattern learned at home. However, Denise points out that it can also stem from a neurocognitive problem, as well as being linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
“The difficulty of perceiving time and fragility in the question of anticipation of the organization of planning. We can offer neuropsychological tests to better understand how executive functions are,” recalls the psychotherapist.
Another relevant association with the disorder concerns “avoidance.” “There are people who have more ‘avoidant’ behavior at the start of tasks, they tend to avoid discomfort, difficulties in tolerating limits, frustrations,” lists Denise.
Characteristics which, according to her, would reinforce an idea of perfectionism: “I want everything to be perfect, so I don’t even start. »
Tidsoptimism: treatment
The psychotherapist emphasizes that it is very important to carry out a neuropsychological assessment to understand the best strategies to deal with optimism. She adds, however, that the basis of the treatment has psychoeducation as its starting point: “That the person develops an awareness of their schema: understanding the difference between perceived time and real time, to be able to escape the cycle of optimism, delay, urgency, guilt, duty. »
Additionally, for a tidsoptimist, it is important to maintain a plan, “with a start time, an end time, a detailed description of what we are going to do during this period,” explains Denise, who suggests cognitive-behavioral therapy to develop this degree of organization.
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