I am a 22F who always felt like they were wearing a mask but now reading up on ADHD I can recognise myself in some symptoms but I want to check out if I should or if it's just all in my head.
- I suffer what I call a "brain fog" where sometimes in conversations or class or tutorials my brain just zones out. sometimes I think of other things and sometimes of nothing at all. I started teaching myself confirmation words at 11 such as "mmh" , "okay", "really?", "no way" to make it seem like I was following what was said. i have a fear of offending people.
- I daydream easily.
- I FORGET people's names easily but also so many things in general; I had the same instructor for an entire year and still struggle to remember their names.
- Or I will double-check everything but still have a feeling I forgot something just to walk out and remember what I forgot on my way to class. Or I tell myself to remember something just to remember that i need to remember but not what it is??
- I had/have really bad anxiety going out into public spaces as it felt like everything is hyperfocused; looks of people, sounds, conversations. i preferred sitting near the walls in classrooms as they gave my senses a bit of rest and i can focus better.
- During exams, I feel like I can hear the entire room and can't concentrate. I was dreading my end of secondary schools exams with sharing it with other people due to all the new sounds and I knew i wasn't going to concentrate fully. During my exams for Uni I was designated a separate room to accomodate my extra time for a hand injury and I loved the silence while focusing.
- My friends say I hibernate after social interactions I get really tired and reply to texts nearly days later.
- I can clean my room or desk but it will be messy within hours. I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING TO ORGANISE MY CLOTHES AND DESKS.
- I can spent hours reading a book for pleasure forgetting to eat food or taking care of myself but 1-2 hour for a 20 page chapter for college.
- Growing up, I had no patience for certain things such as brushing my teeth or waiting for people talking long periods. but I now own an electric toothbrush with a timer which made me realise how short I brush my teeth.
- Ever since going into uni I never focus in class, the minute I am in the room I go into social media on my laptop even though I try.
- I shake my leg when concentrating or studying.
- I hated orals because I felt like my brain was moving to fast for my mouth.
- People always ask to me slow down or repeat what I say as I try to compensate for my brain.
- I feel like even though I spent hours doing work it never pays off. I can spent 12 hours sitting on a desk and only getting 50%.
- I hate short answer questions as I make silly mistakes as my brain is trying to condense all I know into one sentence.
I am in my fourth year of dental school and I need to be organised and stop making silly mistakes in clinical work but I feel like things are slipping through my hands. but I don't experience the typical hyperactivity nor being extremely talkative(maybe as a younger child but it has gotten less significantly)
I get manic trying to think of a title 
Should I self-declare ADHD before an assessment
Newly diagnosed, scared, need encouragement
ADD and work
Advice? Positive affirmations? Support? for an adult newly coming to terms with having ADHD
