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I guess I missed the Twitter ADHD discussion but can I still say something? As an adult diagnosed with ADHD and living with the consequences of going 34 years before getting that diagnosis?
Overall, when you look at the results, I was a very good student in high school and college. I got very good grades and I was known for the quality of my work. So when I& #39;d voice the fact that something didn& #39;t seem right about me, about how I worked, I& #39;d get dismissed
After I graduated and started speaking with therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists I& #39;d mention issues I had and they& #39;d ask "did you do well in school?" and I& #39;d say "yes, but--"
The "yes" was all that mattered. I couldn& #39;t have ADHD!!
The "yes" was all that mattered. I couldn& #39;t have ADHD!!
What finally did it, what finally pushed a psychiatrist to diagnose me was when I pushed back against the "yes" and said before he could reply "I did well in college because I was on cocaine for the majority of it."
That stopped him dead.
That stopped him dead.
Success shouldn& #39;t count when it only exists because you& #39;re on fvcking coke to get your work done. I succeeded because I had unhealthy coping methods, I had "solutions" that were worse than the problem. I was "successful" because I took a dangerous drug for four years
Instead of getting help, I was told that my success meant I didn& #39;t need help even if the reason for that success was incredibly dangerous and unhealthy
Jesus in true ADHD fashion I wandered away from this thread, took a shower, started watching SpongeBob and then glanced at my laptop and realized I& #39;d been in the middle of writing a thread about ADHD
Anyway. This is a relevant thread I did recently about how ADHD still impacts me and holds me back: https://twitter.com/ellle_em/status/1263453229163167744?s=20">https://twitter.com/ellle_em/...
Therapists and psychologists told me I had Borderline Personality Disorder, or Bipolar Disorder...both of which I don& #39;t have. They were seeing symptoms of ADHD but because I "did well in school" they had to force the diagnosis into something else
By the way, the same thing happened to me with my OCD. Because my symptoms didn& #39;t look like the general cultural portrayal I never brought it up as an issue until I finally had a therapist tell me "hey uh this might be a thing you have."
But the point is, I think, ADHD shouldn& #39;t be synonymous with failure and failure shouldn& #39;t be the only metric by which we judge if someone has ADHD or not. Many of us find ways to "succeed" that are incredibly unhealthy and dangerous
And our "success" isn& #39;t actual success. It& #39;s knowing how to get the results other people judge as "success" without ever learning how to actually do the work. It& #39;s relying on tricks and lies to compensate for not being able to just DO things. It& #39;s being a good goddamn actor
For me, I was lucky enough to
-be a fast reader
-have a good memory for things I read (not anything else, but just...information I processed via reading)
-be a good writer
Those three things allowed me to fake being functional for most of my life
-be a fast reader
-have a good memory for things I read (not anything else, but just...information I processed via reading)
-be a good writer
Those three things allowed me to fake being functional for most of my life
My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD last year because I refused to let them come at her with the same excuses they used on me
