Having ADHD as an adult is a very interesting thing. I am a 37-year-old company owner and mother of 3. I am a wife, a musician, a friend, a daughter, and I love to discuss politics.
And I have ADHD.
I was diagnosed twice, first at age 21 and then again at age 30. Both times the clinician asked me a series of questions out of what I now know was the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). This interview lasted about 20 minutes.
Then came this phrase, “Yes, you have ADHD. The medication I recommend for this disorder is…” And that was that.
Looking back, I’m pretty frustrated that neither of these medical professionals (one was a family doctor and the other was a psychiatrist) took the time to explain ADHD to me. There was no conversation about symptoms, impairments, therapies, or interventions.
I didn’t even get a pamphlet.
Because of this, I lived for so long thinking that ADHD was simply an inability to pay attention. I took medication, and yet I was still frustrated with my life.
When I finally learned through education and research that each one of these obnoxious behaviors was a symptom or impairment from my ADHD, my mind was blown!
So I put together a resource for you, it’s the 10 Things I Wish My Doc Had Told Me When I Was Diagnosed with ADHD. If you’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, I sincerely hope that you already know this information. But if your diagnosis experience was anything like mine, I’m going to guess that you don’t.
Grab your free resource here: 10 Things I Wish My Doc Had Told Me When I Was Diagnosed.
This is why I am so passionate about helping adults with ADHD. If we live our lives thinking that ADHD is a basic inability to pay attention, we will remain in a constant state of frustration at all of the other symptoms and impairments from the disorder!
“This book belongs in the hands of every adult with ADHD and the people who love them.”
–Dr. Ned Hallowell, NYT best-selling author of Driven to Distraction
