Hello Everyone!!!!

A few weeks back, I received a surprising diagnosis. I have ADHD. I was not even looking for this. I accompanied a good friend to an appointment through a Zoom call with an extremely prestigious Adult ADHD center. While this friend completed the test for the doctor, I took it off to the side. Of all 5 tests administered, they all showed that I am ADHD. So was the friend I accompanied. Funny things, we are two totally different types of ADHD. I was merely there as emotional support for this friend and to make sure they were being honest with themselves. Little did I know, I was the one who was going to face some uncomfortable truths that help explain the puzzle that is me.

Some of the items that really stuck out to me when I was taking the tests were two very surprising things. One question asked if I frequently lose things such as my phone, my keys, and other important items. OMG!!!! I wish I had a dollar for every not only every time someone had to run after me to give me my phone I left at work, a restaurant, or even my own car. I one time visited family and managed to leave my phone in another state!!! The other item that really surprised me is another question that asked if you often miss your mouth while eating. Now, this has always been a family joke: how could someone with a mouth like mine consistently miss their mouth while eating. It is also the reason I try not to buy solid color tops, due to the food stains being so obvious.

‘So who is this Bonnie Plunkett you speak of?’ you may ask, or for those who know, are shouting, “That is Allison Janney from Mom!” During the later years of the show, Bonnie is diagnosed with ADHD after failing her GED test, which she knew all of the answers to but just couldn’t concentrate. As she starts realizing how much her ADHD has affected her life, her friends and family think she is using the diagnosis as an excuse and encourage her to get help. While Bonnie tells her therapist that she cannot take medication as an addict, as he knows she will abuse it, she decides to use CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. As she continues with her therapy, we see why she does certain things, things that she can work through with some techniques, and some are just part of her coping mechanism. At one point, she gets angry, very, very angry. Bonnie wonders what she could have done or become if someone had just noticed this when she was younger. Trevor, her therapist, shows her that due to her childhood, ADHD had been a protector to her and helped shield her from her childhood.

As I looked more and more into ADHD, I knew I did not want to go the drug route. One of the many symptoms of ADHD is hyperfocus. This is where you get so engrossed in an activity that time is irrelevant. I have spent many late-night sessions writing or doing other chores, and I do some of my best work. So, there are things about my ADHD that I love. However, other aspects of it can go. PLEASE!!!

It seems that every time I think of one of my personality “quirks,” it is an ADHD symptom. My anxiety, which I do take medication for, is a byproduct of ADHD. My oversensitivity is an ADHD symptom. Although this is one I would LOVE to allow to die, it does allow me to feel emotions on a much deeper level than non-ADHD people, which, although is a curse, helps me with my writing.

I was able to find an article recently about creative minds and ADHD. There are books on seeing ADHD as a gift, and many musicians, actors, and others in the creative field have come to terms with ADHD but have made it work for them. Michael Phelps, Jim Carrey, Simone Biles, Will.i.am, Terry Bradshaw, Paris Hilton, Adam Levine, and Howie Mandel are just a few of the creative minds that have made ADHD work for them. It has also been suggested that the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso may have had ADHD as each display the characteristics.

So, this I will take as neither a curse nor a gift. Like so many things in life, there is good and bad to go along with it. I will take the good and love these parts that make me the person that I am, and I will try to figure out work-around for the items I do not like and hope the CBT works for me.

You down with ADHD? Yah, you know me!!!!!

Until next week, I bid you Adieu!