A few years ago, I was reading @harto ‘s book “Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded.” In it, she details her struggles with ADHD and briefly mentioned this book, Driven to Distraction as a guide to help others navigate life with ADHD/ADD. I don’t remember exactly how she worded it but it was compelling enough that I actually stopped what I was doing and made sure to write the title and author down. I went through the motions and ordered the book online only for it to be put in another “To Do” pile on my bedroom floor. A few months passed and I finally, out of pure boredom, started reading this book and wow. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 17 and I remember not at all being shocked by the diagnosis but more annoyed it took so long to get the official doctor approved label. At that point, I had been burned by various teachers, coaches, and my own peers over the years for being different. You hear stories of relief when someone is formally diagnosed with ADHD because it’s like “Oh! There’s an actual neurological condition to explain this behavior.” For me it was more like well obviously I have ADHD you idiots, do you think I’m actively trying to be forgetful and disconnected? Do you think I take pleasure in not being able to put my disorganized thoughts into words thus straining or completely ending important relationships? This anger was one of the reasons why I ended up putting my ADHD on the back burner and hyper-focusing on my anxiety and depression. It truly never occurred to me that my ADHD may be the very reason why I was so anxious and depressed. It wasn’t until this life-changing book that educated me and explained things I had never been able to clearly verbalize that I was able to realize my biggest issues since I was a kid were a direct result of ADHD. I got VERY emotional reading this book because I wished I and the people around me would’ve known all this sooner. I wish more people would educate themselves on things like ADHD or anxiety so we didn’t have to deal with dangerous stigma. I’m grateful I have this important knowledge & I’m going to do something with this new confidence and understanding I’ve found. Stay tuned #stigmafree
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