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"I wasn’t lazy and I didn’t lack motivation. I wasn’t undisciplined or stubborn; I was just different.
EVERYBODY I cared for heard about my diagnosis, like a convert to a new religion. "
- How an ADHD Diagnosis Transformed Me
EVERYBODY I cared for heard about my diagnosis, like a convert to a new religion. "
- How an ADHD Diagnosis Transformed Me
When people ask me how this all started, this is where. By accident, in a therapist's office. Not because she noticed the signs and brought them up, but because I mentioned it in passing. We have to make sure it doesn't get left to chance for anyone else. https://blackgirllostkeys.com/adhd/diagnosis/
Too many times, neurodiversity discovery is by chance. Many of our stories begin with "if I hadn't ran across that article" or "if I hadn't tuned into that podcast" or "if I didn't overhear that conversation" rather than it being discovered by medical professionals. Its a shame.
That's not a dig against the doctors, I blame the training, not them. Maybe society as a whole. For whatever reason we haven't prioritized knowing more about how neurodivergent people operate and that results in people suffering for whole lifetimes before getting answers.
The reason that so many of our stories are compelling is because of the pure MIRACLE that we were able to get recognized and treated at all. I don't want it to be a miracle. I want neurodivergence to be something people know and recognize so we all have a chance. We deserve it.
Being diagnosed with ADHD completely changed my life; I cannot emphasize it enough. At 25 I was a mess. A mess who worked for one of the biggest insurers in her state but was always broke, with crazy parking tickets, with a messy bedroom and car who couldn't find ANYTHING.
I couldn't figure out how to file my taxes. I couldn't do any of the things that I needed to do to live a stable existence and the problem with that is I didn't know WHY and when you don't know why you can't ask for support because you don't know what you need.
My diagnosis at 25 was not a fucking triumph, it was a stroke of luck and I'm sorry, something THIS important shouldn't be left up to a roll of the dice for ANYONE. It is wrong, and we NEED to find a way to make it so this isn't the way it happens anymore. Not to ONE MORE PERSON.
Because if getting treatment changed my life so thoroughly, it brings up the other side: what happens to people who never get lucky? What happens to people who don't just so happen to run into the article, or the podcast, or the Twitter account?? What about them?
