How the sex work industry complements my ADHD

Since entering the workforce at 17, I’ve struggled working in retail, hospitality and customer service. I was beginning to believe I was doomed. That I was “too stupid” to maintain a job. At 25, I was diagnosed with the combined ADHD type, and all the missing pages in my life were filled with labels and terminology I could understand. I wasn’t “too stupid” for work, I was just working jobs that did not support my requirements. That was until I entered the sex work industry. Finally, I had a job where my skills and lifestyle thrived.

Accessibility

One of the positive aspects of the sex work industry is that you don’t need any previous work experience, degrees or qualifications to enter. That’s not to say that the job comes without skills - we’re essentially business managers, accountants and entertainers. But most strip clubs or brothels will hire anyone who’s willing to engage in sex work, as the more variety they have the better. Because of this, many people living with disabilities that would otherwise have them dismissed from job prospects are able to provide for themselves.  

The downside to this is that there isn’t a place to go where you can gain the skills required to be a sex worker (and believe me, there are a lot of skills: sex work is work). Often you’ll learn the skills as you go, which has a certain risk element to it given the nature of our line of work. In saying that, I find that due to my ADHD I’m a very visual and hands-on learner. When put in a classroom learning situation, my attention can easily drift away and I lose valuable information. But when someone is physically demonstrating something to me, as well as monitoring me as I practise, I pick things up very quickly.

Spontaneity

Many scientists argue that folks with ADHD make the best hunter-gatherers. This is due to our impulsive nature, our adaptable thinking and our outbursts of energy. When working in strip clubs, I feel like a hunter and the club patrons are my meal. I have to scope out my environment and lean into my instincts when deciding which customer to try and get a booking from. And for each client, I quickly create a persona that suits the needs they came to the strip club to seek. A large part of our job is engaging in conversations with strangers and taking calculated risks in order to get clients to book you. This means that it pays to be a fast thinker, out of the box thinking, adaptable and great at improvising - skills that I possess due to having ADHD!

A stimulating environment

The ADHD brain lacks dopamine: a neurotransmitter that releases “feel good” chemicals which increases productivity. As a result, I am often seeking instant gratification to trigger the “reward” part of my brain. When I started stripping, I found the job stimulating in a rewarding sense. As a result, I noticed an increase in my productivity and motivational levels when at work that I lacked in previous job environments. Whenever someone tipped me or took me for a booking, I would experience a rush of adrenaline that would inspire me to obtain more. Sure, one could argue that this is a form of gambling. But if I’m forced to live under a capitalist state, I would rather work a job that increases my brain's dopamine levels!

No limit to earning potential

Due to being independent contractors, sex workers don’t have an hourly wage. The money we make we earn through tips and bookings. While this means giving up the perks of having sick or holiday leave, the positive side is that there isn’t a limit to my earning potential. While sex work is by no means “easy money”, it can be accessible money in the sense that with the right clientele; there’s the potential to earn in one or two shifts what used to take me 30+ hours to make. This grants me more time in my week to focus on other areas of my life outside of work. 

Choosing your own hours 

When it comes to how my ADHD manifests, a symptom I struggle with is my poor time management skills. When working civilian jobs (civilian is sex work slang for people who don’t work in the sex work industry), having my hours designed for me often resulted in experiencing ADHD paralysis between shifts. In order to make a decent living in civilian jobs, I needed to work 30+ hours. By the time it came to my two days off from work, I would be so burnt out and overwhelmed that I would become trapped in ADHD time paralysis. And instead of doing my household chores or practising selfcare, I would procrastinate my tasks by doom scrolling on my phone. As a sex worker, I get to text my availability and preferred shifts to my manager who then assigns shifts accordingly. This gives me a strong sense of sovereignty over my weekly schedule, giving me more time to focus on areas of my life besides work.