Submitted by Old_Sport7920 t3_118ohfw in todayilearned
Reply to comment by TheFirstUranium in TIL to finish writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame within an impossible deadline of 6 months, Victor Hugo locked his clothes away, making him unable to go outside and procrastinate which forced him to do anything but finish writing his book. by Old_Sport7920
I'm turning 40 this year so it was the 80s/90s. It wasn't really prevalent in my school or they just kept it more secret. I didn't know any peers that were on medication for it.
My mom's friend was a teacher and her son that I babysat has ADHD and took meds but that's really the extent. I worked at a daycare and didn't have to provide or monitor meds, no parents clued me in that their kid had anything other than allergies.
I just know that yes, the diagnostic criteria wasn't great. It's been documented that it presents differently in females so the rate of adult diagnosis is much higher bc it was missed so much when we were kids. It's not just hyperactivity and not everyone's "flavor" as I call it includes every symptom. I got decent grades bc my anxiety over consequences forced me to find coping skills to make sure I got it done. It didn't always work and I'd just completely forget about an assignment. I also only finished 1 book reading assignment ever. Studying for tests was just memorizing information to pass the test. The deadline motivation 👋✅, distractibility ✅, communication problems (interrupting, tangents on tangents, forgetting halfway through a thought) ✅, can't focus vs hyperfocus ✅... basically once I learned the typical symptoms it was very clear to me they'd been there all along and I feel cheated a bit that I had to go through so much and struggle when it wasn't necessary.
Fair enough. This was the early 2000s for me. I was referred because I got distracted and started talking to my classmates after being in class for ~2.5 hours or so.
Like, duh, I was 7.
Right? There's definitely kids being kids and then there's kids like me who grow up not knowing how to set boundaries, becoming a people pleaser to the extent that I have trouble making decisions without input from others, and I'm pretty sure I've been anxious since my first spanking. I am working on my conflict avoidance and being assertive.
I also started learning that most of my anxiety and depression triggers are directly linked to my ADHD behaviors/symptoms. So even the counselor I started seeing for those almost 10 yrs ago missed all the signs. It took going through a communications worksheet with our premarital counselor who specializes and has it himself to suggest I get evaluated. I always thought I maybe had a twinge just being so talkative and forgetful but the more I've learned... it's been right there front and center my whole life. And I was a child so I didn't have the words to explain how I felt or understand that what I was dealing with wasn't "just me". I'm not lazy like my mom said, I'm not broken or deficient... my husband has described it best, he said it's like being left handed in a right handed world. I just have to learn to do the differently in a way that works WITH my brain and not fight against it so much.
I'm sorry you went through that accusation as a child, it couldn't have been fun and if it had been me, I'd have taken it very personally even at 7. At least someone cared enough to at least suggest you get checked just in case though. Grass is always greener as they say.
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