Member-only story
I think I have undiagnosed ADD/ADHD
The one time armchair diagnoses are OK
As the subtitle suggests, I am generally not one for armchair diagnoses, particularly when it comes to someone else. However, in the absence of access to appropriate mental health care, I felt it best to research methods that I could employ to make my life that bit easier.
I have always felt ‘held back’ by something unknown and unseen. I am scatterbrained. I leave tasks unfinished. I have difficulty concentrating on anything that I am not actively interested in. I make lots of simple mistakes, despite having a decent memory. Most of my days involve daydreaming alternating with anxiety about the overwhelming number of tasks I have to complete. I become agitated and trapped when working in environments on tasks that I don’t like.
Honestly, I thought I was just crap at adulting. I wasn’t looking for something or someone else to blame. I was pretty sure that I just came off as a flake, despite working relatively hard for most of my life and consistently trying to better my situation. I often wondered how everyone else had so much energy to do multiple things a day — like coming home from a job they hated, cooking, and then doing their washing — when that just simply felt like too much for me. Like panic attack too much for me. I have always tried really hard to do the best I can, but then I just……
