I'm new here, this is my first time posting about ADHD anywhere. I'm excited to be a part of this community!
I am 19 years old and my therapist suspects I have ADHD. I am working on finding a way to get a formal diagnosis, but the more that I do research into the symptoms, the more my entire life makes sense.
Anyway, I am currently double majoring in journalism and environmental studies. I did a lot of journalism in high school and even made my way up to an editor position. However, it was always very difficult for me to keep up with deadlines. The class was not graded harshly, so I knew that if there were no repercussions I could just put off articles. When I had the motivation to write, I would enjoy the process and it came pretty naturally to me. Despite this, there was a constant cloud of stress in my mind about everything that I was not getting done which was debilitating.
I used to see this as something that could be overcome with a change in environment, but now I realize procrastination is nearly impossible for me to control. The same patterns repeated this past year in college. While I know that if I do get diagnosed there are ways that I can help with this, it still stresses me out to think about being a journalist in the future because of the focus around deadlines.
I feel like I need to choose a major to commit to this year to avoid wasting money taking classes that will not count towards anything. I am asking this here because I feel like this must be a common predicament for people with ADHD. How do I know I will be successful with a certain career? How do I choose what I want to do for the rest of my life now when I am so used to putting things off? How will I avoid because overwhelmed in the future while still enjoying what I am learning now?
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rose9
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"How do I know I will be successful with a certain career?"
Unless you have a crystal ball, you can't know this with certainty. But you can set yourself up to maximize the probability of success by choosing a path forward that is as aligned with your interests as possible, and using medication, therapy, and/or other ADHD compensatory strategies to get you through the remaining, more challenging parts. It sounds like you experience hyperfocus a good bit with journalism, so that's a good sign. It also sounds like you already have a therapist, which is good. What else have you been doing to manage your ADHD so far?
In terms of your procrastination issues, here are some things that you may find helpful:
(I'm linking to the part towards the end that seems most relevant to you, but Dr. Barkley's lecture is definitely worth watching from beginning to end if you have the time and interest.)
I can't tell you the amount of times I change career paths when I was growing up- I thought I was going to be a doctor, do something with religion, go to Law School... It wasn't until I found my passion in Psychology my junior year of high school until I knew what I wanted to do. But I'm not even directly doing that now!
I am trying to become a therapist, but am currently an outpatient social worker at a hospital. I got my Master's Degree in Social Work. I chose that option because the field of social work gives you a lot of options, so if I changed my mind about being a therapist, I could use my degree in other ways.
I tell you this because, like you, I had doubts about my major. Being successful is always the big goal we all have, right? ADHD or not, we want a career that leaves us feeling fulfilled. For me, it helped to think about what I could do that would leave me feeling fulfilled. I took some part-time jobs in my field to get an idea of what this profession looked like, and I would advise you do the same. I don't know much about your field, or if they offer internships or part-time jobs. I know you said you had an editor position in high school, and that deadlines were tough, but it may help to find a position where you have a little bit more of a strict expectation around the deadlines. I can say that this may be an issue with just about any profession, unfortunately. This could be a good area to focus on with your therapist, if you haven't already been doing so.
My other piece of advice is to not major in something that is so specific that you can only do one job with it. Give yourself options, because if you decide to change your path at any point in your career, you have the background to do so. If the realm you are in is the realm you generally enjoy, then keep your major broad enough to where you have options within it. It may help to talk to a guidance counselor at your school to make sure what you're doing is allowing you to do so.
I'm also happy to offer any other support I can. As an ADHD Long-Hauler, I can absolutely relate to what you are experiencing. It's tough, but I also think that ADHD helps me thrive because I can hyper focus on what I'm passionate about. I hope the same will happen for you too!
I just finished my sophomore year as an Environmental Studies Biology major and am facing the same challenges. I was diagnosed just this winter so I'm with you on the doubt and confusion. I don't know if this will be super helpful since I'm in a similar position as you but my solution to doubting my career and ability to make it through school was to take some time off. If your going to a traditional state school or private school community college is a great option for exploring careers. Its the path Im taking and I'm not as worried about wasting money and taking classes part time while working will hopefully feel less stressful, broaden my horizons, and help me work out strategies. I'm thinking of taking psych classes cause I realized I love learning and talking about ADD.
I think as late diagnosis people its easy to get caught up in the idea that it will always be like this and there is no solution. I felt a huge rush of relief at being diagnosed but it was quickly followed by a feeling of being trapped once I realized I would always "be like this". Its helps me to remember that just knowing about my ADD has allowed me to make so many changes (big and small) in my life that have made studying and life easier and I'm still learning SO much. Now that you know how to work with your brain instead of against it things can get easier.
And I totally agree with LtFish! Choosing something that has a lot of options is really helpful and its helpful to remember just having a degree in general opens up a lot of possibilities. Its been helpful for me to remember there are lots of ways to be successful. Talking to people about their career paths could be really helpful. I've found many people took a much less straight forward path than I expected and aren't doing what they though they would be doing at 19 but love their lives nonetheless.
I don't know if I'm in the best position to give advise since I'm pretty much struggling with the same stuff as you are but I guess I just wanted to say you aren't alone! And let me know if you find anything helpful!
I'm semi retired after a successful career as an engineer and scientist, so at the other end of the process you're just entering.
I was only diagnosed with ADHD a cou-ple of years ago, and my psychiatrist said I was a 'classic case'. I had a rough time at school and my first degree was mediocre to say the least. I returned to study post grad a decade later and aced all my courses.
What I really wanted to say here was that I ran into problems with post grad research because I didn't plan anything but just followed my interests, so ended up taking on projects that were beyond what was required. For example, my MSc thesis was more suited to a PhD or even postdoc research. In hindsight, my supervisors could have been more helpful in guiding me through this, but my suggestion to you is to be ruthless in balancing your passions with the practical demands of your study.
Beyond that, don't be afraid of using your passion for a subject to drive your work ethic. That's the secret of success for us. Just don't let your enthusiasm run away with your judgment.
Have faith, Rose! It's going to get easier. Remember that if you're not yet diagnosed, you're at the stage of identifying challenges due to ADHD more than being able to embrace solutions. Things like medication and coaching that will definitely change your relationship to procrastination and deadlines!
It sounds like you've found two things you're passionate about and it would be a shame to let perceived limitations dictate whether you follow those passions. General majors can be useful, but also it's great to specialize when you feel a deep connection to something. That will help you get into jobs and internships faster and have more room to move about in the field. And it doesn't mean you can still change course later -- often it's better to show you were committed and deeply explored a field, even when moving into a completely different one.
I love dyslexic_bookworm 's advice of taking it slow and/or taking time off. I know there's a lot of stigma around it and it can mean planning differently for scholarships or financial aid, but it really makes a huge difference. Taking my time allowed to me to excel while double majoring and brought about other opportunities, scholarships, and internships I wouldn't have known about otherwise. I moved to Europe twice during my undergrad and it totally changed my relationship to my brain (and that was well before being diagnosed!)
In any case, take heart that there is no wasting anything in life -- especially not in college. Tbh I still don't really know what undergrad even is beyond learning to network and deal with administrative stuff. Your best route now is just to offer yourself as much time and enrichment as you can. Get excited! Your life is just beginning. Be gentle with yourself but don't buy your limitations wholesale. You can recognize you hate deadlines, but if there's things you love about journalism more, you'll find a way to make it work.
Lastly, sometimes schools offer testing for accommodations and may be able to help with the diagnosis. Also, check out this recent ADHD Rewired podcast with a college coach, you might find it really reassuring: adhdrewired.com/strategies-...
Yeah I have very similar issues. Uni has been a bit of a nightmare. Getting a diagnosis and support is very important. Not sure what is available where you are, but I’m now medicated, have developed more strategies, extended deadlines, have extra tech and software to help with the hard bits, and a 1:1 weekly tutor who helps with studying methods and organisation. They also helped with accountability, which is so useful, would absolutely recommend that, through a 1:1 or a friend or someone you can hire etc. I’m probably still going to find it hard, but not quite as much. In the workplace you might be able to get an accommodation too for accountability and help keeping up with deadlines?
As for what to pick, I have an absolute ton of interests that change or are intermittent. I love that, but trying to commit to one of them - nope. Takes all the fun out of them haha. I’ve got some ideas about the type of things we can commit to: something fast-paced, e.g. a high proportion of paramedics and other emergency services workers have adhd, compared to the general population. You’re worrying about deadlines in journalism but I think this could work to your advantage with journalism being another potentially fast-paced career.
Another is, something that solves a problem: interests can come and go but if you find a problem that you understand and want to help solve, this keeps adhd attention better. Quite a few entrepreneurs have adhd, they found a problem to solve and created solutions. I went this way for my degree. I’m very concerned about certain issues in the world and so I picked something that I thought would help me contribute to the solutions/improvements. So, maybe try to make sure you are writing about things you think are most important or that you think will help people the most, or something, in between things that trigger temporary hyperfocus? Oh, also, self-employment and being able to do things on your own terms seems to be popular, but not sure how that would work with journalism.
Take a deep belly breath. Life is not a straight path, even for 'neuro-typical' people. The curves and changes in plan can be stressful, but they can also make life more interesting. . . and one thing I've learned about ADHD is that we can get bored. . . so settle in to the idea that change is ok. Culturally I know it's more ok in some cultures than others, but many parts of our ADHD lives will be counter-culture.
I technically only used my actual degree the second year after college. The first year I used one half of it. The 3rd through 6th years after college I loosely used the other part of it. Then for 3 years I used only the fact that I had a degree (sometimes that's literally all that matters, that you got A batchelor degree). And that's the job that helped me pay off my student loans! My parents definitely saw it as a bummer for a while that I wasn't fully using my degree. So did I, for a while. But I've made peace with it and I'm glad I went to college because that's where I met my husband. And the job I got with "any old degree" turned out to be amazing!!!!
That said, I think the double majors you picked are excellent ones because they are quite flexible. You could write for an established print magazine like National Geographic, or write grants for an unknown start up green-energy company. You could travel with your topics or edit from company head quarters. You could be on a staff with deadlines to keep you accountable or free-lance and write as you are inspired (or need cash). And the best part is, you could do each of these for a season of life and then move on to something else. Relationships and kids sometimes help shift those paths.
You mentioned that you can't help yourself from procrastinating. May I add the word "yet"? As you get diagnosed, maybe get on meds, learn from the amazing people here and the videos they post, work with your therapist, and work through life with your new understanding of yourself, that will change. It might change slowly. Take heart. Even baby-steps show growth.
Next, I recommend you find a way to connect with other journalists and people in environmental studies. Don't limit yourself to people who do both. Try asking your college advisors for help connecting with former students, look for internships or volunteer positions, go to lectures and be bold to go talk to the speakers afterwards. These connections can help both now with your outlook on the possibilities and challenges, as well as in the future.
Lastly, I'm currently reading "The ADHD Guide to Career Success" by Kathleen Nadeau and it's great! "What Color is my Parachute" is an amazing book for anyone looking for direction or switching careers. It helped me find a great job I NEVER would have chosen! And it helped me loosen up on my expectations for careers.
I hadn’t been diagnosed, but picked my major among two choices with the flip of a coin. I doubt there is much difference among hiring managers as to what degree you have versus the fact that you have a degree. The only other history majors I knew that ‘did’ something with their degree were really creative and created their own, unique jobs. If you want to consider jobs, and what preparation is needed, look at the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, which attempts to predict future job prospects in different fields. In other words, look at the health professions. But you can at least get some fairly realistic ideas about what jobs are growing or shrinking, and what it takes to get your foot in the door. And my coin flip led me to get a PhD in a completely different field, which I have not really applied, either.
I struggled with this for so long; since my freshman year if high school I stressed about what I would major in because I had no idea what I wanted or could do. My advisor in college told me something that was kind of life changing, though: "Your major could not matter less." As long as you get a degree in something, employers don't care what it is (with a few exceptions like being a surgeon or lawyer with a degree in art history). Most jobs will teach you what you need to know to be successful in that position anyways. I'm an art and design major and will probably end up minoring in Spanish because I didn't want to study anything else. I think the best thing college students with ADHD can do is to pick a major that you are completely interested in so that you can last long enough to secure a degree.
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