ADHD Symptoms I Didn’t Know Were ADHD
When you think of ADHD, what do you think? Would it happen to be an overactive child who runs around with far too much energy? Because that is always what I thought of when I thought of ADHD. This was even backed up for me when my little brother was diagnosed with it, he was a stereotypical boy with ADHD.
When my psychologist put it to me that she believed I had ADHD, I physically laughed. I looked at her like she had lost her mind. I was not hyperactive, in fact, I was the opposite, I had no energy whatsoever. If I had something like ADHD, wouldn’t it have been picked up when I was younger?
Around 800,000 people in Australia have ADHD, 5% of children and 2.5% of adults. An ADHD diagnosis is more common in males than in females, why are young girls missing out on the help they need? Is it because ADHD is more or less considered “a boy thing”? It turns out that women with ADHD more typically present as “inattentive ADHD”, and don’t typically fit the stereotype.
There are some symptoms, that I didn’t think were symptoms. Honestly, I just thought there was something wrong with me. Why would my brain just not shut up? Why could I not just focus on one task at a time? Why could I not stop adding more and more things to my to-do list? Apparently- ADHD is why.
Doesn’t pay close attention to minor details, and makes careless mistakes.
You might have even noticed this one in some of my writing- the little grammar mistakes, the spelling errors, the little typos. If my spellcheck does not pick up on it, there is a good chance I am not going to fix it.
Cannot pay attention for long, and does not appear to listen.
I have ALWAYS struggled with this and it has been a big problem. I’ll be sitting in meetings with a client and I have to try really hard to keep paying attention, or at least look like I am. My mind wanders and I zone out, I look around and then I feel terrible because I have been rude. I used to get SO angry at myself for this, why could I not just sit there and have a lengthy conversation?
Unorganised.
Look, it was not until I kept piling things on my plate that I really realised how hard it was for me to be organised. I mean my house is usually messy, my office even more so, but after having Cody my organisation levels hit a new low. I was missing deadlines, I didn’t know where anything was, I was missing simple tasks, and I just lost track of everything.
Poor memory
Your name? Yep, I have already forgotten. The word for a specific action? It’s on the tip of my tongue. That appointment I scheduled last week? If it’s not in my calendar and you don’t send me a reminder text, I’m probably not going to rock up.
Constantly needing background noise.
I work better in the lounge room, on my laptop with the TV playing in the background (where I am currently) than I do working in my office. I need some kind of noise- the TV, music, a podcast, just something.
Very sensitive to criticism
I take EVERYTHING personally. A mean comment could be posted on my Instagram that doesn’t even really make sense but I will still take it personally and be offended by. If someone is unwell and can’t come to a planned appointment, I will take it personally.
Hypersensitivity
I can’t do clubs because they are too loud. I get “touched out” being with Cody all day and then can’t stand to be touched by anyone else. Sometimes people even wear a fragrance that is too strong and it overwhelms me.
Starting things, not finishing them.
I am good at this one. All the courses I started and never finished. The articles I’ve written and never finished. The projects I’ve half hashed out and never got back to them. The bills I’ve looked at and just not done anything with them until I get a hundred reminders.
Taking on way too much
Not me at all, right? I mean I don’t have a child, a full-time job, two side businesses, a platform for women, a community project, a household to run etc etc
Saying things without thinking
This only gets worse when I drink, I am a CHRONIC oversharer when I drink. But, even when sober I tend to say things and immediately wish I had just shut up.
Poor word retrieval and mixing up words
Last week I asked the ice cream truck for a “single cock cone” instead of a “single choc cone”, yesterday I said, “cunt” instead of “count” on the phone. I constantly cannot remember the words for things, simple things, things that I usually say on a regular basis.
Obsessive thoughts
Should I have held the door open for the lady at the bakery? Who knows but I will think about it for the rest of the day. Did come across as rude? Maybe, but I’ll still be thinking about it at bedtime.
Being clumsy, uncoordinated
Dropping things, tripping over thin air, cannot dance, running like an idiot, make sense?
Can’t fall asleep, can’t wake up in the morning.
A contradiction, right? It will take me hours to fall asleep and then when it is time to wake up, it is a real struggle. I am someone who could set five alarms and yet still not get out of bed. When I do wake up, you won’t get me out of bed for at least twenty minutes (but usually more like an hour).
Once I was diagnosed these things started to make more sense, I started to see that this disorder was the reason there was so much “wrong” with me. That it wasn’t just lazy, that I wasn’t rude, that I wasn’t “too sensitive”. There was a reason for this.
