From the article: Understanding Symptoms of Adult ADD
Hearing from others with ADHD and knowing you are not alone in your struggles can provide a great source of hope and strength. Life with ADHD can begin to feel better with proper diagnosis and treatment. Please reach out to others by sharing your own stories of hope in gaining better control over difficult ADHD symptoms, as well as any words of encouragement for those still struggling day to day. Share Your Experiences
Undiagnosed ADHD
- Hi--I am 30 years old and know I have undiagnosed ADHD. How do I know? I am an educator who helps look for signs/symptoms in students, and a colleague noticed symptoms (impulsivity and inattentiveness) in me. What's funny is that I remember being in third grade and having a teacher conference over a stack of unfinished papers that I had shoved under my desk (left undiscovered for weeks). If the signs hadn't been ignored then, I would have been saved YEARS of frustration. However, I always overcompensated in school (was in GT classes, always made Principal's List, maybe labeled a "day dreamer," but worked my tail off to "fit in"). I also suffered from an eating disorder (impulsivity) because I had NO coping skills. Looking back I see all of the symptoms in my mother. She too was undiagnosed. I only hope others out there look for signs in girls too so they don't remain undiagnosed until adulthood.
- —Guest Shannon
I Can't Take It
- I’m 12 with ADD and whenever I act impulsively (or like a kid put it, "ADDish"), people always stare at me and I feel bad because I know I’m wearing my mom out and I’m having such a hard time coping with it! My mom keeps telling me I need to stop flipping out over little things and act normal.
- —ADDdrivingmekrazy
Still Trying to Cope with ADD
- Reading what others with ADD are experiencing can be very helpful for me. Like, I'm sure, everyone else is needing some words that are very familiar and comforting. I, myself, still don't understand what has happened to me or when I am going to understand what is going on. I became familiar with all my faults through a rather stormy and really bumpy conversation with my spouse. I had no idea why he was making all these statements about my behavior or about me not having any kind of civil, fair, explanation as to what and why I am what I am. Is this how it is for all posting?
- —Guest msylvester227
Getting Better
- Hi. All my life I’ve been struggling with ADHD. I am 24 years old and I have a 2 year old little girl. I’ve been separated from her dad for a year and I have a new boyfriend. I’ve been with this guy for 6 months and know he is tired of my disorganized self and that is why today I am here searching for help. I’ve been on my meds for over a year and I’ve made a lot of progress. I had a miscarriage and had a very hard time emotionally. 8 months ago I was diagnosed with major depression. I’ve just got back on my feet and I know can make it. I have already started my new routine and my to-do lists. I have great friends and family to support me but no one like me to talk to.
- —Guest sophie
47 & Still ADHD'in
- I was diagnosed with adult ADHD when I was 33, after a very LONG and exciting life of 'carefree' living. (Thanks to my Mother and Father, who still are there for me today!) Though, neither my parents nor I had ever 'heard' about ADHD, when my friends would ask me,Jamie, why are you sooo weird? I would respond, "I don’t know - ANyway...lol! Then one day I discovered the 'Horoscopes' in the newspaper. Mine was June Gemini, which I was sooo pleased to have a little validation, of any kind, for WHY I was (& Am), the 'way' I 'was' I could hardly wait to get to school the next day, and it finally came.... with clipping in hand, I screamed, "Hey ya’ll LOOK, I'm a Gemini!!!....I'm SUPPOSE to be 'this' way, so it's OK!!! It's been quite a ride and a life in an amusement park, every day of my life and when I look around at these...non-ADHD people, I KNOW I’ve been blessed.
- —Guest Jamie Blake
Living with ADHD in Our Son
- Our son's ADHD is like a moving target. You never know what you're shooting at or where. Imagine knowing this is how our son feels too. He is impulsive, unpredictable and inconsistent. That is how his mind feels to him, how his emotions feel to him. Medication helps, but there are always moments where the ADHD breaks through, and horrible things can result. It doesn't mean ADHD is bad or that our son is bad. It does mean that you are always "on" as a parent. The constant advocate, disciplinarian, mediator, cheerleader, life coach, voice of reason, shoulder to cry on. Patience and love are the best virtues we can possess. ADHD kids get a lot of the opposite from the outside world. We deal with a host of co-existing conditions too (rage behavior, tics, dyslexia) but all are manageable - we need our son to know that, to believe that. Some days are harder than others. But we never give up on him. His wonder, his joy, his brilliance, his gifts are what we hold out to those around him.
- —AlwaysSharing
