“Ok, now what did I come in this room for again????”
I know everyone has said this at least a few times in their lives.
And soooo many people joke and say “I must have ADHD” but – in a lot of cases, they may actually have it – and are just undiagnosed. (some just are making fun of a mental health disability, not cool).
Anyway, ADHD can be quite common, not just in hyperactive little boys in classrooms
They can be little girls who talk too much, are really quiet and fidget in their seats.
They can be teenagers who read books or paragraphs in class and just cannot remember what they read for the life of them.
These are just some early signs coming from children who may have ADHD.
Many of us were not diagnosed until well into our adult years. Like me.
I wasn’t “officially” diagnosed until my mid 20’s.
And I wasn’t sure I was ready for that diagnosis. I was used to being anxious and depressed. But, ADHD? Nah, couldn’t be me.
But turns out, after researching and joining ADHD social media groups, I found people just like me. Also unsure of what they had.
So let’s back up just a bit. (hit rewind here).
(I know, I’m sure a LOT of you are too young to know what this even is LOL)
When I was little, I used to talk. And I mean talk a LOT. Especially to my Mom while she was getting ready for work. Or when it was time to go to bed. “But I just had so much to say!”
In middle school and high school, I was never a straight A student. Hell, I wasn’t even a straight C student. I hated school. I could never retain the info, and never was interested in what was being taught. Or so I thought. (We will talk about that later).
I was also a fidgeter. I’ve been bouncing my legs since before I can remember. (Even at my first job my boss told me to “calm down” cause I would always bounce my leg). “Umm….SIR?! I CAN’T!”
Then as I got older, I started noticing a lack of focus at work, at home, college, just about anywhere I needed to pay attention to something.
So naturally I did what any 20-something would do when they have a question that needs answering: GOOGLE!
I googled my symptoms and low and behold, alllll I saw on that Google page was “ADHD this” “ADHD that”.
So naturally I talked to my psychiatrist about it, and she agrees with me that I probably do have ADHD. And again, rocked my world with this NEW diagnosis.
Next was the Facebook groups. And my best friend who I tell literally EVERYTHING to. No TMI here!
She would send me articles or posts from these groups and websites that sounded EXACTLY like me and how I acted. Made me feel less….alone.
I went down the rabbit hole of ADHD blogs, memes, you name it.
And I saw a lot of common traits that we all seem to have in common. And while writing them for you, you may think to yourself “Hmm…maybe I have ADHD too!”
*ALWAYS GET PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL HELP FOR A DIAGNOSIS AND MEDICATION*
*WE DO NOT SELF DIAGNOSE/SELF MEDICATE HERE, K?*
***All this to say, what the heck does this have to do with my mental health? A lot.
Undiagnosed or untreated ADHD can affect every aspect of your mental health, even without other mental illnesses going on.
So, with that being said, I will be circling back/touching base on ADHD here and there in the future and how it can affect us.
That’s all for now! See you next time! 😀