"I'm not lazy": The Misconceptions of ADHD

In terms of my Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) I can remember standing in the driveway of my families house and just sobbing because I was failing my classes, I couldn’t get to class, and I couldn’t get my work done. (I remember thinking) it doesn’t make any sense to just sit at a computer and not do your fucking work and I just kept sobbing because I didn’t know what was wrong with me. It wasn’t until grad school that the thought came across that “maybe I have ADHD” … and I ended up getting tested in 2020. Prior to getting tested, all the symptoms that were actually my ADHD I always thought were from playing rugby. I have had so many concussions, and the symptoms of ADHD are pretty similar to a TBI.

What’re some of the ADHD symptoms that you identify with?

Not being able to finish anything. For example, right now professionally I will start all these different emails and I will forget that I even started them/wrote them, it is really embarrassing for me. Another symptom I relate to is forgetfulness and choice paralysis. Also, when I talk, I talk very rapidly in circles, so I will start talking about one thing, and then go down five different ridiculous stories…eventually maybe circling back. I remember when I use to think about ADHD, I thought it was that you have a really hard time focusing, and that maybe you’re fidgety…but it is actually so much deeper than that. I don’t think people realize how holistically it impacts you every single day and feels debilitating (especially in relationships). People talk about how “over diagnosed” it is, so I feel like people don’t really see it as a real diagnosis. They think it is a focus issue or a tapping your legs issue…but it is so much deeper than that. I think people just don’t understand how much it truly affects everything I interact with from when I wake up to when I go to bed, because it also affects your sleep.

The interviewee asked me to attach the ADHD Iceberg, to help people understand the impact of the diagnosis further, see below-