It’s hard to remember that I’ve been taking meds for less than two weeks. They do make a real difference in a good way.
I see that there are lots of behaviours and characteristics in me that are the result of coping with the condition. The work I do is shaped to my capabilities. But now my capabilities are changing and I’m having to review which I can let go of and which are still useful.
This will not be a month-long task, it’s going to take a while for all of this to shake out. I’m able to engage on Twitter with less fear of overwhelm.
I talked to some people at work about it today and that helped too.
Good to hear things are making a positive difference for you.
Do you wish you had been diagnosed ADHD in the past?
Did it affect you when you were a child?
I’m interested to find out more about it and it’s good to hear first hand from those who it affects.
Thanks Ash, yes I'll be writing more about both of those questions :)
But, in a nutshell, one of the things they look for in making a diagnosis is evidence that these characteristics have been around since childhood. They have. I had a miserable time at school because I was bright but bored and easily tired by the sort of hour-long focus that school insisted on.
The "do you wish" question is harder. I'm very happy with who I am and where I am now. I don't believe that anything only has positive consequences. I can imagine a world where I was diagnosed in school and got medication and extra help and that would definitely have made a massive difference to my late teens and twenties, but that massive difference would mean I wouldn't have exactly what I have now. And I maybe would have bypassed doing the work on myself that I've needed to do and which I'm glad I've done. So the answer really is, if I could guarantee that I'd end up here or better then yes, but I have grave doubts about that guarantee.
As I say, more to come on this. Hope you're well.
Thanks for the detailed and open answer.
I’m keen because I feel like it might be what is affecting someone close to me. So I’m curious about the process of diagnosis and if age is a factor.
I look forward to your next post about it.