Spreading Awareness About ADHD in A School Assignment

[LunaBean]

Hi!! So I have an assignment for school to write about something. Since I have ADHD, I decided to write about it and spread awareness about ADHD since not a lot of people know what it is. Can you please (if you don't mind) share a bit of your day to day struggles, what kind of struggle you have in general etc.? I will block your names out if you don't want to be known

[MrsKlco]

I just love assignments like this...I'm in!!

I was not aware of my ADHD until my mid 30's but I new I was a little different all of my life. I had only a few friends were empathetic and accepting of me. I remember being spanked and punished by my Mother or Grandmother for, what I know now, are things I can't change. For example, getting out of my seat, talking a lot, interrupting, endlessly shaking my leg, etc. I also had a nasty temper and would loose it often. Only giving my siblings and peers at school all they needed to bully and teas me. With no support from my single Mom, Dad had left us long ago, the harassments never ended.

My life was extremely depressing and full of anxiety. But I excelled at sports, especially cross country. You don't get teased because you forgot the score of the game from last year with cross country.

One of the benefits of my ADHD is my insistence, resilience, and ability to "squirl" (forget the small things) and I move on. Although, I live my life basically from day to day, sometimes week to week. Meaning, that I am super emotional/anxious and easily get stressed.

Even with my "perfect" childhood, I have served in the military, have a Masters in Social Work, have been married for 11years. Together we have three wonderful/crazy children.

My youngest is ADHD to the bone. I am so honored to be able to allow his creative and rapid fire mind go wild!!

I have a hubby who has no AD...anything. Memory like an elephant and is so calm is drives me bonkers. ON..the other hand...I am never ending with my ideas, home improvements, art, enthusiasm, and world views. He made the mistake of talking to me like a child and belittling me early in our marriage. I stood my ground and he no longer makes a big deal out of having to find my keys, phone, etc. for the thousand time. Even my kids are used to my crazy.

I told myself to keep this short, and I have not done that, sorry BUT this is a very awesome and difficult discussion for me. Only in my 40's, by setting strict boundaries with family that refuse to love who I am, I am feeling more and more confident everyday.

Still some days are difficult but I can call my hubby and he just holds me tight until I stop crying. Or call my oldest sis and she is like Mother Thresa (sorry too old? OK Oprah!)

This seems crazy...but at work, I am teaching, doing group therapy, assessing new clients, etc. A lot of my clients ether know or do not know that they have ADD or ADHD and I just love supporting and educating them with tools and coping skills.

If I had a chance to change my mentality, in my younger years...HECK YES. But now, no way!! I can work circles around my coworkers, solve crazy issues that others have not been able to, and advocate for my clients who are having difficulties with their emotions.

If you'd like to slim this down you may, edit as needed, and use my name. If you need other info, let me know.

Good luck,

Renee

[LunaBean in reply to MrsKlco]

OMG TYSMM!! <3

[Sparklerocks]

I'm going to save your post and respond tomorrow. It's the end of the day and my meds have worn off. You will get a better response earlier in the day.

[PineapplePrincess]

I was recently diagnosed at the age of 31. My story is atypical, I think, but diagnosis has totally changed my life and the way I see myself.

I was always an over-achiever, did super well in school. I was valedictorian in high school, involved in everything, graduated from a top tier university, and have worked for Fortune 500 companies since graduation. Despite my success, I always felt like a failure, like I hadn't truly earn these accomplishments because of my constant procrastination. I always saw myself as lazy. I had gotten by for so many years because I could just complete projects at the last minute and I had people pushing me along, but a couple years ago, I suddenly found myself on my own trying to run a huge project and I fell flat on my face.

But I still didn't discover my ADHD until I tried to quit caffeine! I had two weeks during quarantine where I was living my healthiest life -- sleeping, eating right, exercising, no alcohol, no caffeine -- and I got no work done so I started researching ADHD. I googled "ADHD in women" and I found an article that described my childhood. A wallflower. Problems with school going unnoticed because inattentive symptoms aren't disruptive. Trouble forming relationships. Etc etc. I describe my childhood as sad, weird, and angry. ADHD fit.

I sometimes wonder what I could have accomplished if I had discovered this earlier, but I wouldn't change my journey. I built character and compassion in the struggle, and one of my greatest strengths in professional settings is actually due to my ADHD. I connect ideas! I'm really good at digesting a lot of random information and pulling it together into something cohesive. The best ideas are down the rabbit hole that the neurotypicals don't even see

Anyway, day-to-day struggles... overwhelm, motivation, addiction. With ADHD, your brain is just wired differently. Mine presents as overthinking, underperforming. Analysis paralysis is a way of life. So I've been working on simplifying everything. I still haven't solved for motivation. But understanding the role of ADHD and dopamine in addiction has helped me a great deal. I've always struggled with a sugar addiction alongside other impulsive behaviors - hello, instant dopamine hit - so being able to name those as something other than character flaw and pure lack of discipline has done wonders for my mental health.

[LunaBean in reply to PineapplePrincess]

Thank you for sharing!!