Diagnosed at 47. It’s been a helluva ride. I’ve been addicted to more substances than you can shake a stick at. Car crashes. Destroyed relationships. Academic disasters. Depression. Criminal justice. Happy now though, trying not to look back but it wasn’t all bad. Every day I do a bit of work on rebuilding my self esteem.
“Parents take you to a psychologist”
Can’t relate to that bit, my mother refused to even take me to the opticians because she insisted there was nothing wrong with me.
These days she thinks I’m making the ADHD stuff up, and occasionally asks me why I don’t just take off my glasses for a while…
But why would my parents take me to a doctor when my mom does all the same stuff?
“It’s normal.” …uh, no. Mom had undisagnosed ADHD.
Sorry dude that sounds rough.
I was thankfully provided transport, but I was also subjected to a long lecture on why I “don’t want to be on medication”.
Just started meds at 29. I can’t actually get my work done, I can see how little I could accomplish before. It’s crazy.
Similar story, started at 24, bout a year ago. Only just managed to find the best dose.
Oh how small the world seemed before.
Can I ask what you are on ? I have some adderall but it scares me I’ve only used it once .
Like OP said, I am on Vyvanse as well and I found it to be much better than adderall. I feel a little more like myself.
Vyvanse. Essentially adderall but slow release. I’ve heard it’s much smoother when it comes on.
Idk what you’re all complaining about. Just focus harder. /s
Dad?
It took a huge amount of time and self reflection to realize that I’m not lazy and I’m actually trying my best. It’s sad to think how misunderstood I was for so, so many years.
It does apply to a lot of other disorders and illnesses.
Yes.
Although I was also of an age when I was diagnosed (40), where it not only threw my whole life up to that point into a different light….it also threw my parent’s lives up to that point into a different light. Because part of why I was sure I was ‘normal’ for 40 years was because my whole family did the exact same things….🤦🤷♂️
Just got my six year old diagnosed and we are learning how to help her develop strategies to deal with it. For now, we’re keeping meds on the back burner, but anyone have more recent experience with meds as a child? My husband wasn’t diagnosed until he was an adult and we don’t want to immediately start with meds or use his coping method of Adderall and copious amounts of caffeine.
Out of curiosity is there a particular reason you’re avoiding meds for them other than the stigma associated with stimulants? It’s a first-line treatment for ADHD not a last resort.
that hit me too. people want to avoid what is the mostly likely thing to work. how stimulants affect adhd people: the enhance concentration, making it possible to learn and grow in a healthier way, to succeed. they don’t do the same thing that they do to someone without adhd. just like insulin for a type one diabetic.
it’s not mental illness. it’s neurological. you are born with it and no amount of therapy will change that, tho there are for sure ways to manage it.
