I have a feeling a lot of people may relate to this: I have never felt like I was like other people.
When I was diagnosed with OCD and PTSD about 5 years ago, I thought that was the answer. I am on medications and in therapy and things got better. But some things persisted and I continued to wonder what exactly was wrong with me? I had a hard time focusing for any period of time during work, even when well rested. Daydream central right here. A million hobbies. Night owl. Things have gotten messy in this house when normally my OCD means I have a seriously organized house. Restlessness, especially in the evenings. Inability to finish projects. Or books. Starting is easy, finishing is hard.
Guess what? I probably have ADHD. I’m in the midst of getting a diagnosis right now.
One of my children has been diagnosed and I will be putting the other two through the process as well to make sure we’re all covered. The odds are high for them since they will have two parents with ADHD. I haven’t gotten to the point where we are discussing meds, I have one more test before a final diagnosis, but I’m really hoping to see a change in my ability to keep my house organized, pay attention at work, and finish some crafts here. That’s all I want. Maybe I’ll feel normal then.
In the meantime, I am paying more attention to my symptoms, I am pushing myself to focus if I can, to go with it when I hyper-focus on something just to get stuff done, and to not punish myself when I am struggling because of an ADHD symptom. I’ve been dealing with this my whole life, it’s just that now I have a label, is how I try to think of it—and how my SO has encouraged me to think of it. Nothing has changed except there’s a label slapped on it now. And we can properly handle it now that we know what “it” is. Ditto for my children. It helps to have a healthy outlook on things. I try to get to that point whenever I can.
What makes you feel different? Do you have ADHD and you’d like to comment? Maybe you were also diagnosed as an adult (I know a handful of women who were all diagnosed as an adult). Let me know in the comments. xoxo