ADHD memes

laughs in being born a woman (Obviously, I don't know what your gender is, I'm just speaking generally.)

I was diagnosed last year, age 41. I think back to one of my earliest memories, where someone took me out of 2nd grade class to give me tests in some big closet or boiler room. I am convinced I was diagnosed at that time with at least ADHD, but my mom didn't believe in mental health treatments despite desperately needing them herself. She's dead so I can't ask her what those tests were about.

I didn't get diagnosed until I was just under 30, medication has done wonders for myself since. I don't think my parents had a clue, I was quite smart, if I had medication in my school days I can only wonder what I may have achieved, but I'm a university dropout. Doing okay but I do wonder sometimes.

Saw 3 psychologists (one was a student) and they all blew me off because I was an older woman.

Finally got diagnosed two and a half years ago in my early 60's.

Mrs. Warp Core is also going through this very thing. Basically the wild hormone swings hit her hard, right in the executive function. ADHD meds helped, but ultimately weren't enough. HRT has helped tremendously. That said, we're now terrified to roll off of that.

“Gifted child, if only they’d apply themselves”, turns into “Average adult, not always reliable and my god have you seen their <thing we ignore because we don’t have the bandwidth> but usually gets things done.”

Took me getting fired from one job and almost a second before I finally got my coping mechanisms figured out. It's still a struggle and it's also cost me a significant amount of my ability to enjoy my free time (have to severely limit my investment in anything not work related so I don't accidentally get consumed by it and lapse at work), but I'm 'functional' now.

Realistically, it's utterly dependent on one's life situation.

When you're in school, your main focus is trying to get through school, get home, and not get hassled about keeping up with yourself and your things.

Later on, some jobs, are congruent or even complimentary with symptoms, some jobs aren't. Some partners help compensate, some don't.

It absolutely will get worse for some, better for others. Some may have consequences that are an issue, some may have circumstances that defuse the consequences.

That's a valid point. Although I'd add that, as you get older, it's not only the significance of the stimuli that increases, but the overall levels of stimuli increases. More responsibilities, more burdens, more stress, and less likely to be given any concessions due to being young.

No, it gets worse. Adults don't have the amount of mental plasticity that younger people have. While it's possible to make things easier through CBT and learning to cope and deal with certain challenges. The mental load of keeping up with daily life ultimately has its toll. Life is getting harder every year for everyone, and having ADHD makes that mental load just that much harder.

There's also a tendency to experience a diaspora after, or in the immediate years after, school. Say, your mid-20's or so. That's potentially a big chunk of your support network disappearing from your life.

Building a routine of healthy habits and sticking to it can make a world of difference.

Exactly. Those coming to diagnosis and support while young stand a chance to be trained and armed for independence, and an adult life of holding one's self to one's own standards (hopefully). For many of us oldsters, being diagnosed later, or only learning about mindfulness and CBT well past our formative years, it's a huge struggle to cobble together habits and a better mindset.

This is kinda why I ended up as a manufacturing engineer. It's technical, well paid, and doesn't require hard physical labor. But I'm constantly "putting out fires" and going to some forgotten corner of the factory to figure out what broke. "Oops sorry I skipped the meeting - the production line was stopped!" Neurotypicals view this chaos as stressful, but it's the only way I can flow through the day without hating my job.

Lucked out big time.