My Adventures in ADHD

Well, that title sounds fun doesn’t it? Like having, or potentially having, ADHD is a fun time and there is lots of skipping and jumping time.

I know that is not how this actually works…..unless there is something people aren’t telling me and if I start skipping around more I will feel more….” normal.”

This journey started for me a few months ago, I did have therapists in the past mention ADHD and I brushed them off. I thought that ADHD was only the hyperactive kid in class who couldn’t sit still and was always bouncing around all the time. I am definitely not that person and my generation was part of the “just suck it up” generation and my mother never would have taken me to see a doctor about this.

I can’t tell you the number of times growing up….and as an adult, that I was told that I was lazy and just wasn’t “applying myself” or….my personal favorite…..I was a liar. I was a liar when I said I didn’t hear the instructions, or I was lying when I said didn’t understand them after the 3rd time. I was “just being lazy” and making shit up.

In the summer of 2023, now in my 40’s I was waiting time on TicTok, yes I know I heard it and a video of someone with adult ADHD showed up in my feed. I watched it and then scrolled on to other funnier things on my page. A few days later another one showed up and that one was also very interesting and it got me wondering. I remembered that I had brushed off the therapists in the past who mentioned it, maybe they weren’t wrong. So I started doing some research, also a term that can no longer be said without an internal eye-roll based on events that have happened around the world recently.

Anyway….I read many many studies over so many ADHD sites that had a wealth of knowledge. I came to understand that I, like many from my generation, was wrong about what I thought ADHD meant. It was not just the “hyperactive” kid who couldn’t sit down and focus, there are actually 3 types of ADHD.

  •  ADHD, combined type. This, the most common type of ADHD, is characterized by impulsive and hyperactive behaviors as well as inattention and distractibility
  • ADHD, impulsive/hyperactive type
  • ADHD, inattentive and distractible type

I took many tests online that gave you the basic questions to find out if I had it, they all came back positive. I also found out that it was hereditary, so I reached out to my younger siblings.  It was confirmed that they both had it, one was on medication to help stabilize their focus, the other had taken herself off of medication and had found other ways to control their ADHD.

With that confirmed I made a call to my doctor and scheduled an appointment. Now in 6 days I will have a confirmed diagnosis, hopefully and a plan forward.

Now I get to sit and worry….am I making a mountain out of a molehill, am I just disorganized, am I just lazy after all. I can’t get my brain to stop….