Status Updates From The (Slightly Distracted) W...

"I often forget my brain works more quickly and makes links really efficiently, and I get frustrated people don't do things at my pace. This can lead to conflict which is hard. I find I often switch off from slow-paced conversations, either that or inside my head I'm shouting ‘Speed up!’ or ‘Summarize!’ or ‘Get to the point!’"

"I can trick my brain into thinking that I am back in these [happy] places, and then I can't think about the things that are making me feel stressed or anxious because my brain cannot hold two thoughts at the same time (the same way a radio cannot play two channels at the same time)."

"…when I was a child, I would cry very easily if I was upset (I still do). This was sometimes misinterpreted as “attention seeking”, sometimes even manipulative, as I was seen to be trying to garner sympathy to distract from my misdemeanors."

"…that I need to put more effort in, but actually I think I have to put an awful lot of effort into life already. It is exhausting." — Miriam

"Having ADHD means I have to work harder at many things that other people seem to find easy. In my work, I overthink and overplan. But I get good results generally, so people seem to have high expectations of me. So when I come to do something again, it takes a lot of effort and time to get it right. People, including myself, often tell me…"

"My ADHD without a doubt has also helped me in my work and past career as I was so driven by my hyperfocus. I never knew the whys of it, but I loved the buzz of focusing on something so intensely. Now I know my strengths so much more, I'm able to choose between things that make me avoidant and instead try to only do things that drive that hyperfocus." — Michele

"I have always thought I either work at 200% or 10%"

"I sometimes experience the frustration of having profound insights in sessions and then forgetting them midway. Over time, I've learned to let it flow and trust that the thought will return." — Louise

"…my phone, as it will keep me awake if I try to hold it in my head until morning. In meetings, I have learned to write copious notes or bullet points because I can keep track of the thoughts as they float in and out of my brain… I can easily lose the thread of conversations if I am trying too hard not to interrupt and keep the thing I want to say in my head before it leaves again."

"…or clue of what I need to do before evaporating again. This means I have to act on things immediately, or I have to write them down. Or, when the “vapour” clears and the memory or thought reappears, I have to jump on this too. I will often reach for my phone just as I am drifting off to sleep to check an email I realise I have forgotten to reply to or a task I need to do. I have to check or make a note on…"

"…when a thought, idea or memory of something I need to do pops into my head, I have to act on it immediately. If I don't, it will disappear. But it doesn't disappear completely; it leaves a residue behind, like a kind of “vapour”, so then I get anxious because I know I have forgotten something. I get distracted by the “vapour” because it lingers around, slightly out of reach, sometimes giving me a little glimpse…"

"Someone gave me some amazing advice once; they told me to “take my thoughts to court” and to search for the evidence of whether my negative thoughts were real or false."

"…for help. I woke up every school day with a feeling of absolute dread. My teachers either seemed to be completely unaware of me or would tell me off for forgetting my homework, talking or not concentrating. I didn't feel that they had the time or patience to explain things to me…"

"I think I was probably considered a bit “weird” at school, but I didn't realise at the time that this was how others perceived me… secondary school was absolute hell for me at times. I felt like I had no friends, I found the environment overwhelming, the classes of more than 30 children meant I got lost in the mix, the homework was almost impossible to stay on top of, and I felt like there was no one to ask…"

"Because I would never treat others like this, it would never have occurred to me that this type of bullying would happen."

"I remember on my first day in secondary school, sitting in my new form room next to a girl named Tracey… I noticed how Tracey placed her ruler, pens and pencils on her desk, and I copied her exactly… I realise now that I survived many situations by taking my cues from others, not able or confident enough to do “my own thing” or just be “me”."

"In school, I would regularly ask to go to the toilet as I found staying in the classroom for long periods of time very difficult, and was clearly self-regulating."

"I was a very active child. The nickname my parents gave me when I was tiny was “Weeble” as I was always charging about and would “wobble but never fall down”."