Yes, a book
ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction--from Childhood through Adulthood https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0399178740/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_98D58XZTDJKFJBKC68JX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
One of the most popular ADHD books on audible right now. My feeling is they cover a lot of experimental treatments that aren't proven to work yet, but it's been an interesting listen so far
I was pretty lucky to have a family doctor that was responsive to exploring a diagnosis with me. I was given the Adult ADHD Self Report Scale (ASRS V1.1) Symptom Checklist to fill out and was also asked to have someone close to me fill it out - family member , close friend etc. Basically someone you trust who can fill out the checklist honestly based on behaviours they see in you.
This is the checklist - https://www.caddra.ca/wp-content/uploads/ASRS.pdf
I want to share my story with ADHD so far too but before I do, my main recommendation is to ask that your doctor assess you based on that checklist.
Everything below is NOT medical advice - just my story and what I have learned about ADHD in hopes it can help you or someone else when getting diagnosis and learning to manage life with ADHD.
Sharing my story cause I know there is a lot of unknown with ADHD and a lot I didn’t know before my diagnosis. Here it goes. I turned 30 this year. I have always thought I was a different in some way (probably natural for everyone to think that) in terms of not being able to do simple tasks - cleaning up, doing laundry, procrastinating easy tasks for work, even maintaining friendships and relationships, the list goes on. I chopped it up to thinking I was a late bloomer to “getting my shit together” and/or I just simply suck at life. It was pretty depressing and sad. I was consistently seeing myself miss simple shit for work and trying to wrangle in my organization but I just couldn’t nail it. I truly enjoy the style of work I am doing right now and see myself doing it for a long time so I was digging in on how can make myself better for work. While thinking about that I remember my performance in school. It was pretty bad, not sure how I even finished high school - university I had zero luck with and then went to CNA - that I did get through because of my small class, supportive classmates and learning by doing. To put context on landing my current job as well - I was originally lazy in trying to get work with my CNA diploma but I was hustling on the side to make something from my creative hobbies - a combination of doing what I loved, some hard work and a whole lot of luck landed me where I am today - this could have been a very different outcome. And not to say it all sunshine and rainbows right now, cause it isn’t but I am on some sort of path, which feels rare for someone with ADHD. I had mentioned to my family that I may have ADHD in the past but they seen that I started this new career path and was doing great - how could I possible hold a job with a promising future and not be able to focus? Having ADHD doesn’t line up with that. So, I did some surf level reading and ask my doctor about it. At this point I still didn’t understand much of it. After filling out the form somethings started to resonate with me but I still was not convinced I had it yet but sure enough my doctor looked over the assessment and figured I should try some low dose meds. My first day with the meds was NOT good! I have anxiety that is triggered by mostly work and it is common that ADHD meds can make that anxiety worse so on the first day I took it and something at work came up and holy hell it was not pleasant- my full weekend was ruined plus I was on vacation. I revisited the meds after coming home and my second time taking them was fantastic! I felt normal, I could focus on things, make decisions, be organized, not feel so run down. That starting point was in September and the diagnosis has been very helpful ever since. I also see a clinical psychologist along with my medication cause it is important to understand your behaviour , how to manage it and how to leverage it. The meds alone will only do some much.
Here are some of things I noticed/learned about ADHD over these past couple months:
- meds can really kickstart your way to managing your symptoms but don’t think meds will do it all for you.
- a common trait in ADHD that I definitely have is Hyper focus and I found I could hyper focus on more things that are normally not super exciting for me when taking my medication. You can leverage this for good! I’m leveraging it right now to write this reddit post. Early on, I leaned into my hyper focus trait to read about ADHD and research it. This year I have read 3 full books, and I mean every page - this is something that I have not done since my teenage years when I was forced too.-another common trait with ADHD is an inability to understand time - if you indeed have ADHD this will likely resonate with you very strongly. Either you have noticed that a block of time have passed super quick and you have no understanding of it passing. Or, you have a task to get finished by a set deadline you won’t feel motivated to complete it until you noticed it needs to be completed ASAP! I notice this almost daily still and have to stay on top of it to manage it.- I still struggle with symptoms but understand my behaviours more so I can manage them. I have had days without meds and still felt fine because of behavioural tools I have learned to leverage. - I still have days that I wish I could have learned about my diagnosis earlier and It makes me real fucking sad and frustrated with the situation I am in so having a friend, family member or someone to talk to can be really helpful. If you can get psychologists services or some kind of therapy I highly recommend it. This can become another chapter of your life and can have it’s own unique set of challenges and you owe it to yourself to not go it alone. Remember to love yourself :)
- I think I learned this last point the hard way but remember not everyone will understand the diagnosis you get so don’t waste your time convincing others who won’t listen to you about it. This might sounds harsh but the reality is some people may think they already know what ADHD is and no amount of convincing will turn them.
If you got this far I hope I gave you some insight from my story.
Here is a list of resources I found helpful especially if you are struggling now while waiting to get a formal diagnosis
ADHD 2.0 by Dr. Hallowell - I especially love how Dr.Hallowell talks about the power of ADHD and different tools that are not meds to help with symptoms
Huberman Lab PodcastAndrew Huberman has episodes on ADHD, and focus and some others I found value from like - Optimizing your workspace and Tools for managing Stress and AnxietyUse this website to get an overview of the ADHD episode of podcast if you do not want to listen - https://podcastnotes.org/huberman-lab/episode-37-adhd-how-anyone-can-improve-their-focus-huberman-lab
And of course - reddit.com/r/ADHD/ - post question or simply read about other peoples stories and challenges with ADHD. You are not alone and don't forget that.
Yes, it's an ADHD thing. I'd strongly recommend the book ADHD 2.0 by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey. https://www.amazon.com/ADHD-2-0-Essential-Strategies-Distraction/dp/0399178740
They talk about the doom and gloom part of your brain and how to train it to be less intrusive.