What made you seek your adhd diagnosis?

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My partner got diagnosed first and suggested that I might have it too! Funny thing is I suggested him the same. We both saw it in each other but not in ourselves.

Was in marriage counseling at age 42 and the therapist said , "I want to get you tested for something"

I had a baby and suddenly everything fell apart. I had horrible PPD, which stretched on for years. I didn't feel bonded to my child, some days I couldn't even look at him. I shouted all the time, was angry, frustrated, short-tempered, exhausted and so fucking EMPTY. I thought for the longest time that I was just a shit mum but even after I was put on antidepressants, I still didn't feel right. Six years on and I'm still not winning any 'world's greatest mum' awards, but at least now I know why.

Becoming a mom (and desperately wanting to give my child a great life) was the kick in the pants for me to finally see a psychiatrist for the first time. I wasn’t seeking any specific diagnosis. I just finally admitted to myself that I had issues and was never going to be able to fix them without help. Despite being a reasonably smart woman/former gifted kid I had never gotten anywhere with my career, had dropped out of college, couldn’t stay on top of basic adulting things, was overwhelmed and no matter how many self help books I read or efforts I made to change I got nowhere. I also had the emotional regulation skills of a toddler.

Went to my appointment and just laid out all of my struggles, things that I longed to change about myself, things I was ashamed of. My provider asked me tons of clarifying questions, questions about my history/childhood, etc, it was a long appointment and at the end she told me I definitely have ADHD (along with some secondary diagnoses) and prescribed me a low dose of Adderall. And my life was forever changed. I’ve since learned all I can about ADHD and it’s insane how much it explains things I experienced my entire life that I thought were just part of my personality or something. The emotional reactivity, time blindness, frustration intolerance, no working memory, piles around my house driving my husband crazy, everything.

I was an A+ student until we got to a level where I actually had to study and listen in class. I realized I couldn't keep up with the teaching at all and started failing. 

A new friend was casually reposting memes about problems that had only ever been specific and unique to exclusively me. When I got curious and started looking at their source pages, they were all about ADHD.

It was already engraved somewhere deep down that I had it, since a teacher picked it up when I was 7 after a boy in my class was diagnosed, but I'd never been assessed and no one else ever believed I might have it, so I'd buried it and decided I just suck as an entity and really ought to be put down.

The freaking validation of seeing those memes about things no one else had ever related to and that they all linked back to ADHD was what drove me to finally get assessed.

ETA: The memes in question said things like "(-does laundry and makes bed-) Sorry, what was that? I can't hear you over the sound of me getting my life together", a graphic about ADHD storytelling which was just an illustration of my personal best attempt at telling people anything, and my personal favourite, entitled "ADHD Gothic" with the filename "its-like-being-possessed-but-by-yourself", which you should Google because I won't do it justice without writing it out verbatim.

I was researching ADHD for my partner and supporting his getting an assessment when I came across information about how women with ADHD are often misdiagnosed with depression. Had a lightbulb moment and insisted on getting a formal diagnosis despite being repeatedly dismissed by my own doctor. 

I'm still chasing a diagnosis, but I have (in my opinion) a very clear case of dopamine eating. Been going to a dietician for years and I know all the ins and outs of a healthy diet but I just CANT STOP EATING. When I was talking to some of my female ADHD friends, they said they experienced a similar thing, as well as other issues that I had struggled with (interrupting, RSD, never having a quiet mind) so I brought it up to my dietician and she agreed it could definitely be dopamine eating caused by ADHD

It took years before I got tested, but I first suspected during a conversation with a colleague who has ADHD. She was rattling off all the symptoms, and it dawned on me that I had every single one of them 🥴 lol

TLDR: Meds

For me, I am in the process of getting diagnosed. Before this, I dealt with my depression and anxiety (after 15 years of depression I didn’t think I’d ever know what happiness was), the lingering adhd symptoms were still there. I enjoy trying to find the solutions myself to my issues. Getting through my depression without help took years but I finally made it.

I used to have a connection for meds. I tried Ritalin, Adderall and Vivance.

I used all three for 2 months and found out what side effects each give me. I prefer Adderall > Ritalin > Vivance.

So now that I did all my research myself, first thing I did was go to a counsellor for a year to make sure I stayed on the right path now that I was okay (I should’ve done it when I was depressed but I have issues asking for help). She knew I had adhd within 5 minutes of meeting her. I did my therapy, she helped me find someone to diagnose me and now I’m on a waitlist.

Its been almost 7 months, and they told me it could take 6-14 months to get an assessment. I have yet to have a date but they called me a month ago asking if I still wanted to hold my spot on the list. It seems extreme to go through all this just for meds, but the thing I tell people is that “I get to decide what I want to think about” and thats enough for them to at least understand there is a problem in my head LOL

Last year (I was 61), my daughter was diagnosed (at 25), which I’d discussed with my therapist because of guilt over not having had her tested earlier. (I’d been told incorrectly that she couldn’t have it because she could focus extensively on things she wanted to do, and I was extremely leery of psych meds, esp for children, after a truly nightmarish decades-long experience with my mother.) A few months later, I was really struggling (again) at work and finally confided in my therapist about having difficulty getting myself to start on tasks sometimes. I had so much shame around it that this was the first time in my life that I’d shared this with anyone or even fully admitted it to myself. As I tried to articulate what it felt like (staring at the screen trying desperately to get myself to start on something while my brain simply refused, and feeling completely stuck,) it suddenly clicked for her. She’s not an ADHD specialist - I see her for anxiety and trauma - but she said another patient of hers with ADHD had said those exact words to her before, and urged me to get tested. When I mentioned it to my daughters they both reacted strongly with “oh, thank God, finally, yes PLEASE get tested.” Even close friends who also have ADHD (which i hadn't known before) reacted similarly when I told them I’d been diagnosed - “it’s about time.” Like why on earth did no one say anything to me before??? I was completely gobsmacked, and it’s been such a journey of learning, self-discovery, and both grieving and relief since then.

My therapist planted the seed. She observed that I could have it, though it had never crossed my mind before. But it'd been over a decade of mental health crisis after crisis, and none of my meds ever worked very well. I went through different diagnoses... Depression, anxiety, bipolar, etc. I was just getting so sick of the nonstop looping, always suffering, but never actually getting anywhere with my life.

Then I found ADDitude Magazine. It really helped me understand myself better... All those articles and posts shined a light on my symptoms in the most accurate way for the first time in my life. I literally cried once.

I sought out an evaluation with my insurance first. Got a half-assed assessment, and the guy literally diagnosed me with "unspecified anxiety"... Which isn't even a real condition. I met another provider, who is a neuropsychologist, and she was out of network. But she was SO upset on my behalf at the poor treatment I'd gotten that she gave me a very steep discount on her services and got me evaluated pretty much right away.

She concluded I have ADHD, inattentive type, and that I probably went under the radar because I'm a bright woman. She really saved my life. Treatment has been good and I've been doing a lot better since I started it.

I realized I had it when I started teaching, and reading up on how ADHD presents in teenage girls felt like reading my autobiography.

Actually went in for a diagnosis/medication a few years later when my not-that-old car kept dying in the middle of the road. After looking at it the mechanic very uncomfortably asked, "....so when was the last time you had an oil change?" It had been well over a year. It was my wake-up call that I was not actually managing my symptoms very well and needed some extra help to get my life together.

I was losing my mind. I couldn’t remember stuff, I was having emotional outbursts, something just felt off. My husband said maybe I need to go get checked for bipolar, since my mom had it and it runs in my family. I went in so confident that’s what it was and it turns out it was ADHD and an anxiety disorder. I had been medicated off and on my whole life for depression but it never helped and I never truly felt like I had depression. It was the ADHD and anxiety and situational sadness that was being misdiagnosed. By situational sadness I mean sad when like my mom died or sad when my grandma died but not sad the majority of the other time.

I was falling in grade school where my teachers and the principal had me tested. Parents didn’t take diagnosis seriously basically in denial so got retested as an adult bc failing in college 😭

My ADHD friend kept sending me ADHD memes that I found all too relatable

My best friend and my son we referred for diagnoses- I did the same at 35

A lifetime of what I thought was just anxiety started to make a lot more sense

Honestly - depression. Serious depression with severe panic attacks. And in the office the psychiatrist said, “have you ever been tested for ADHD?” My mother, along for the ride, said, “you know, her late father - he was a psychologist - thought we should have her tested but after he passed I forgot about it.”

My mother is undiagnosed. Thanks, mom.

My partner mentioned ADHD, I’d had a massive meltdown after being overwhelmed and anxiety and depression weren’t 100% fitting my symptoms.

I actually went in for grief therapy, and also because I thought I was BPD due to certain behaviors (anger, constant frustration, mood swings). My symptoms and behavior really seemed to fit BPD in my mind.

Was surprised that it's ADHD. Makes sense though, especially the dyscalculia and missing minute details that everyone else seems to pick up on immediately.

I realized that for only ~300-600 I could get it figured out within a week or so, cause waiting many months for an appointment gave me about 0 incentive of doing it - threw some money at a private clinic and had it done.

As for signs - my mom had dragged me to a bunch of tests in elementary to figure out why I was so bad at math etc but never officially came to a conclusion, and later as an adult, reading about how women are often not diagnosed cause the symptoms are different, I figured it can't hurt to give that a shot.

I (41F) struggled SOOO hard to lose the 20 pounds I put on during lockdown in 2020, so in 2022 my doctor put me on phentermine for a 3-month stint to hopefully get me over the hump, after dieting and exercise hadn't really helped. It was my first time ever doing any stimulant stronger than coffee and I was blown away by how QUIET it made my brain. I had been readying myself for like, hyperactivity you hear about from stimulant use, right? Like I expected it to make me feel a little jittery and like I couldn't sit down, but instead it had the exact opposite effect on me and I suddenly felt super chill and just MYSELF, and that totally blew my mind.

It felt like my whole life I'd been living between two staticky radio stations in my brain, and suddenly things were tuned to a crystal clear station. I felt calm, and rational, and didn't get overwhelmed by my kids, and I was able to fall asleep at night, and my skin picking stopped, and so many other things. I spoke to my doctor about it and she recommended I get tested for ADHD and here we are.

I was suspicious from observing my boyfriend and then female friends who were diagnosed as adults. The kicker was I royally screwed up some of my teeth because I couldn't make myself make an appointment until they were really bad. Problems with initiating action was the first reason I brought up to my doctor, and the rest fell into place. It was a very expensive realization (that's being addressed).

I made friends with some younger people with ADHD who were talking to each other about symptoms, coping strategies, etc. I realized that what they were describing sounded a lot like me.

I went to school in the era where only boys had ADHD. I believe I graduated college and was in the work force before they really started screening girls with my presentation (I am not sure of the dates). So I had to flounder around and develop systems on my own. I wrote everything down in my planner or else I would not possibly remember things; I kept everything I might need during the day in one backpack or tote and did not attempt to remember what I needed every morning; I set timers and alarms because time is imaginary; I was always early because I had no sense of how long it takes to get places; I was clumsy and caught my pockets on door handles and banged my elbows on furniture; I needed noise in the room to concentrate.

When I put it together that all these things were symptoms of ADHD, it sounded too good to be true. Can all this be ONE condition? Which has a treatment? Several in fact? And when I was finally assessed, yeah. It’s just that simple.

I had no idea. My therapist told me to go get tested. Inattentive ADHD

So, I was diagnosed in my 30s, after a few years of intense questions to various doctors about why I was the way I was. It’s a long story, and not what you asked, so I’ll leave that part short.

But the reason I was looking for answers in the first place was because I was frustrated with myself. I had gone through a handful of years involuntarily unemployed (not at the result of adhd; my industry shifted dramatically in a new direction and I was not equipped for the change,) and it destroyed my life for a while. I finally had a job again and I was getting back in my feet; I had a savings account, my bills were current, I loved the work I was doing… but there were several days a month where I could not convince myself to do my work. My bosses never noticed which only made the problem worse. I was terrified of losing my job and winding up stuck in hell again, so I’d work my weekends to make up for what I fell behind on during the week. I wanted to work. Why couldn’t I?

So I sought out a doctor and we went on a journey. I’m the one who made the journey as long as it was, as I came to her with a previous diagnosis for something else and we were stuck on that for a year. She finally suggested I see a neurologist, but by then Covid happened and appointments took months. During which time, I was let go (again, not for performance, but because of Covid this time).

I gave up that next year and focused on other health stuff. I found a job within a few months and resolved to just try my best; this was who I was, and there was nothing I could do to change things.

It was actually at this job I learned about ADHD, and how it presents in women and, more importantly, how it presents in young girls. It was that part that clicked for me. A year later, I had a diagnosis and I have been doing so much better.

A friend was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at the same time I (am) dealing with long bouts of inattentiveness with forgetfulness and my job is in danger. My incredibly patient primary care physician suggested getting tested. I'm 48, in perimenopause, so of course everything has to fall apart, lol. (Aurgh.)

One QBtest and a few conversations later with an ARNP--who I swear doesn't hear a word I say--and I'm diagnosed with ADHD.

I went on phentremine for weight loss. My mind was so quiet, and I was so mellow and productive. I talked to my doctor (who has been my doctor for 20ish years). He said, "Well, you probably have adhd. Here's a questionnaire, fill it out, and send it back. " Bam, adhd diagnosis. I was always told I had to go through rigorous testing with a psych. My doctor said he did all the necessary training to diagnose and prescribe. It's crazy because while he's my GP, his areas of interest are ADHD and weight loss. Apparently, many of his overweight patients that feel helpless find that treatment for ADHD improve not only their relationship with food but also their lives in general.

I always kinda knew my brain didn’t feel “standard” but was never able to see anyone about it. Then last year there was a violent armed robbery at my job where we were held up and they shot the gun. No one was physically hurt but we were all offered workers comp and offered free trauma therapy.

Through the therapy my therapist recommended me to fill out an ADHD questionnaire for women- specifically women getting tested later in life. It was such a lightbulb moment of “oh wow- this literally explains so much of my life” haha. I just started meditation this week!

My husbands cousin came over to pick her kids up. I had been watching her two girls while she was in court for divorce. 

Cousin started apologizing for her oldest child’s behavior. How she is talkative, overbearing, hyper, head strong, and annoying. All I could think of was ‘ are you kidding she is fine! She is just like me as a child.’ 

Then cousin dropped the bomb that at their family therapists request they had oldest daughter tested for ADHD and she 100% has it. I looked up the symptoms in young girls vs boys, as I had brothers with ADHD. Yeah it was a real eye opener.

So many things in my childhood, mostly related to me getting into trouble made sense. Not all of my issues as an adult have been PTSD but are from having unmedicated and unmanaged ADHD.

Menopause!

All of the most important people around me started getting diagnosed or revealing their diagnoses. Between seeing content online that I really related to, having known something was up since college but having no idea what or how to do anything about it, and then realizing that all the people I loved had it (in my experience we all tend to find each other) I started to finally put it together for myself. I went to therapy, talked for three weeks before finally admitting out loud I was there to see if I had ADHD, and my therapist said “It was too soon for me to say anything, but yes, that was my suspicion.” So she helped me decide where to go for a formal evaluation and here we are.

Diagnosed a month ago at age 40. All three of my classroom licensed therapist teachers at my in orient stay 3 years ago all told me I should get evaluated asap when they watched me work alone on art craft stuff during class. I’m going to start college soon and after doing all of my research, I knew they were right and I went to a psychologist and was diagnosed severe combo type adhd (not a mark or symptom that I miss unfortunately)

Take the online quizzes a few different ones and go from there, if you may have it, get evaluated.

THIS SUBREDDIT

I had a stroke and it made my ADHD symptoms so much worse. Luckily the Dr I saw for evaluation understood that it wasn't new memory/focus/executive function issues, they had just become impossible to mask.

I'm waiting for additional testing for ASD.

I had been struggling at work for years and in that time my sibling was diagnosed with ADHD. I was beginning to suspect it in myself, but the final straw was locking myself out of my apartment one night while pasta was cooking on the stove. The fire department had to break open my door as the smoke detector went off. After that, I felt like I was walking around in constant fear of new ways I might fuck up.

I was researching symptoms for my hyperactive son and realized that a lot of the inattentive ones were me!

I had been diagnosed and treating Depression and Anxiety since my freshman year of college. When I got my first really demanding job working at a bank, I went for my annual physical and broke down in tears in front of my doctor and told her I was really struggling and was getting more and more depressed and my meds weren’t helping. We talked more and she said she thought it might be ADHD and that my depression and anxiety were stemming from that. She referred me to a specialist for testing and mine was severe. I’ve been on ADHD meds ever since and am doing well in my career and have had 3 promotions since. For me the ADHD meds have helped tremendously but I am still learning skills to improve my executive dysfunction and other things…oh and therapy helped a lot too lol. I hope all goes well for you!

I started therapy because I was struggling hard after my second baby. I had been on anxiety meds in my 20s, but I had never even entertained the thought that I might have adhd. After a few appointments my therapist suggested that some of my symptoms and past struggles aligned with adhd. I literally laughed and told her “absolutely not”.

She asked that I read a book - Driven to Distraction by Edward M. Hallowell. I agreed only to be polite. By the third page I got off the couch to find a highlighter. I had literally never felt so seen. There were passages that read like they had interviewed me as a child. I still took me a while to accept the diagnosis, but it was a paradigm shift in my life.

When I told my husband what my therapist suspected he said she “was a dumbass”. He was diagnosed as a kid and is the poster child of “typical” adhd boy. I struggled in school, but I had graduated college, had an extremely successful career and ambitious drive. He couldn’t align the two. It took a long time, but he did ultimately come around.

It’s been hard. Replaying my childhood knowing now what was really going on….it’s made me sad, angry. I’ve internalized a lot of the outcome as part of my identity - that I’m lazy, I don’t try hard enough, I’m smart but I only “do what I want to do”. I accepted that I was a stupid person for a long time. My therapist has been a god send and is helping me work through a ton of this baggage. It’s definitely been, and will continue to be, a process.

We had tried 7 meds to make my anxiety and depression better. Also a lot of ADHD in femmes tick toks were coming up, and I related to damn near all of them.

I don't have anxiety, it was unmedicated ADHD all along.

I had suspected when I was in college as I was a major procrastinator. But I also just assumed I had poor willpower and would get easily distracted. ADHD was never on anyone's radar when I was growing up as I was fairly well behaved and wasn't hyperactive. I also had good grades.

I did well enough despite these tendencies. Without the structure of school and the pressure of having to do prescribed things, I slowly started to struggle. as life has gone on, I had periods where I'd just be stuck at work unable to start a project with no real idea why, and when Covid hit, it really tanked my me to health for various reasons. I originally went for anxiety as I was crying all the time and my emotions were just completely out of control and I was burnt out ALL the time. I was treated for anxiety and it did help, but it mostly just stopped my emotions boiling over, a lot of my other struggles still existed. It wasn't until I started seeing memes on social media and actually decided to Google ADHD in women where I realized apparently it presents completely different and a lot of these things are things I always assumed were normal. My current partner does not have ADHD and in talking with him, I have realized that they very much are not how most people think or function, which is at least in part why I burn out so quickly.

I’m not diagnosed, but I’m planning to get one if possible. Why? This sub! I can’t believe how much I identify with all the issues you guys have. It’s really opened my eyes. Kind of sucks that I’m only figuring this out at 68. It would have been good to know when I was really screwing up at work. But diagnosis and treatment should make the next couple of decades MUCH better! Thanks to all of you have shared your stories here!

My biggest struggle is with task initiation. I get overwhelmed and stuck (often called "ADHD paralysis"), and I'd find myself wasting hours scrolling because I couldn't make myself do the things I wanted to do. Even the fun things that I wanted to do! It was like a mental block preventing me from pursuing my own goals.

What encouraged me to seek diagnosis was, first, realizing I probably had ADHD (I was so used to the "hyperactive" stereotype, I hadn't realized that ADHD can look very different, especially in women). And second, realizing that ADHD is a very treatable condition. People who have ADHD often see huge improvements in their quality of life through various treatments, whether it's medication, therapy/coaching to find supportive strategies, or both. There are a ton of tools out there to help, and having the diagnosis made me feel more comfortable pursuing those options and not beating myself up so much along the way. My self-talk is so much kinder these days, I don't constantly berate myself or call myself lazy, which actually allows me to accomplish more of what I want to do in life.

If you think you might have it, it's worth exploring IMO :)

For me was the fact that I’ve been on depression and anxiety meds for the last 12 years, and only thing that made me was to become a zombie.. no feelings, no crying, like being empty inside, to then find out that undiagnosed/untreated adhd gives anxiety and depression, 2 months on tyvense and oh man, this is what I have always expected antidepressants to do 1000€ for the assessment but the best decision ever, only got to realised how bad I was when I started feeling good🤗

My dentist told me I’d grind my teeth so hard that I had already damaged some of them. So I tried to find out why I had so much stress.

All my left I have felt off… mind always going non stop….. fast forward had kids…. After my 3rd I felt like it has gotten worse… Always told I was depressed had anxiety… put on meds that made me a mute…. I stopped taken them as I didn’t like having it make me feel that way… I have found out it’s ADHD and well trying to get medication to help , right now I drink coffee to help level me out…..

Mine happened in the context of a hospital admission. (I am not American.) My fiancee recently got diagnosed. I'd been telling her for MONTHS that she sounds like me so she started the process and sure enough. It was very quick but she has incredible insurance (she is American.)

I fell into depression after Covid and when seeing the doctor and a therapist to help me unscramble the mess that did to me, she suggested I get tested. I take an off label drug to treat mine bc I’m trying to conceive and can’t take a class 3 drug while pregnant. That said, to highly recommend CBT and meds if you go the med route.

I am (48 f) and was diagnosed last year. I have been treated for anxiety/depression since I was in my 20s. It took me going through menopause and symptoms getting worse. I went to a psychiatrist and she suggested I get tested. Results were inattentive ADHD. I was so surprised. Started Vyvanse and it was life changing for anxiety/depression.

I still take an antidepressant but being on Vyvanse has helped me open my emotions and make progress in therapy without panic attacks and depressive episodes in addition to being able to function better in everyday life.

I'm 57 years old and had been struggling with a lifetime of feeling "like slogging through mud" on a daily basis. I also struggled with anxiety and depression. I hit menopause at 42 and that's when I hit the wall. All of my coping skills just seemed to crumble away and I was left with a hollow husk of myself. Just diagnosed a couple of months ago and am exploring medication now.

One very pertinent thing my doc asked me about my anxiety. He asked if I was anxious, therefore I wasn't getting things done, or was I anxious BECAUSE I wasn't getting things done. It was definitely the latter for me...and shows that my particular anxiety is based in my ADHD.

From a young age, I felt different. I started seeing videos on TikTok about signs of ADHD and it really struck a chord with me. I had lots of friends in HS who had ADHD and I always got along so well with them. I told myself to get tested. Because I never got the help I needed before and I’m so happy I got a diagnosis. It’s a process relearning myself all over again , but there is something beautiful about it too. 

I was having a quarter life crisis and got desperate so I thought I needed to look into the stars to figure out what to do with my life. I started looking at astrology videos about my signs behavior(I’m a Gemini) and the first video I watched basically said “Geminis are like the ADD of the zodiac signs” I paused the video and sat there for a few minutes and and then I said out loud, “Have I really just had ADHD this entire time and didn’t know it?” Fast forward a year of so later and it turns out I got diagnosed when I was 9 but the doctor fudged my paperwork. Multiple teachers flagged it to my parents and one made a formal referral to go to pediatric therapy. I got diagnosed and started medication in this past May.

Went to deal with my childhood trauma and got diagnosed within 6 sessions. Therapist referred me to a psychiatrist and I walked out with a GAD, MDD and ADHD diagnosis.

I was 21 and the ADHD was the most shocking diagnosis, but it made perfect sense. All my primary school report cards had teachers commenting on how misbehaved I was in class. Mrs April called me a chatter box in grade 2 and Mrs Gates called me a class clown in grade 4.

I never got in any real trouble because I also happened to be the top student or in the top 3 most times. Mrs April took me outside once and told me it’s not fair that I am disrupting learning time for other kids just because I’m smart lol. I should try to help them instead of making them laugh.

I remember a social studies teacher walking up behind me silently and just slapping both sides of my face three times. When I told my dad, he was like, “Good, next time keep quiet in her class.” (This was in 2003, corporal punishment became very taboo in later years in South Africa.)

I never taught I could've had ADHD. I had major problems in my life (ED, weed addiction, depression, anxiety, extreme mood swings and even tantrums) and decided to seek help. Edit to add: I was also on antidepressants and had been seeing mental health professionals on and off since I was a teenager. I had also been diagnosed with Major Depressive Episodes in the past.

When the counselor I was seeing asked me if I ever considered the fact that I could have ADHD, I remember asking her "ADHD? I thought only men had that!". And so I was sent to a nurse specialized in mental health who diagnosed me with ADHD, GAD, BDP and OCD tendencies. That was almost two years ago, when I was 23. I wasn't diagnosed with it, but I'm pretty sure I have CPTSD as well.

Today, looking back, I see how my symptoms fit into the ADHD criterias for women. If I had known the symptoms were different for men and women, maybe I would've been diagnosed earlier.

So if you have a feeling or an ounce of doubt about being neurodivergent (and if you have access to the ressources of course), go get evaluated. It could really change your life for the better. Sending love and a lot of hugs your way 🫂🫂🫂

I was diagnosed when I was 6. I sought treatment at 35 to help be a better mom for my infant son. I had to set a timer to remember simple things like feeding him cause I forget to eat so often.

My son got diagnosed with ADHD and his psychiatrist casually mentioned that there was a potential for genetics to play a role in neurodivergence and asked if I had ever experienced certain symptoms. And then I was like, oh. Oh shit. Light bulb moment.

I’ve been in in therapy for several years, and I just felt things were not getting better overall. After the pandemic, I really struggled more than ever with anxiety and depression that got bad enough that it started to scare me a little. I just got to a point where I felt ready to do anything just to feel a tiny bit better. I also struggle with work and keeping my home and finances together… not to a degree that anything catastrophic has happened, but I felt like I was just barely coping. I’ve suspected I have adhd for many years, and my current therapist who also has adhd supported me in pursuing a diagnosis. I also learned that 2 of my siblings have been formally diagnosed as well, so that gave me an extra push.

Progression here has been tween 1 - tween 2 - me - partner ( who suspected for decades they have adhd but ‘was fine’ until parenting made current personal situation untenable)

I was depressed and anxious my whole life, medicated as such. Peri/menopause hit and i hit the skids… getting the correct dx and rx has helped more than depression med ever did.

Got fired

How I kept thinking that I had to be high all the time or I could not cope. it wasn't anything like depression and I had to really make sure of that. I even wished I had ADHD so I could try stimulants "the healthy way" because I didn't realize my problem was bad enough that i could have it. When I did cocaine for a short while, it was just kind of buzzy and barely made an impact the more I took. I was told I took a lot and it was confirmed high grade. I had no reason to get addicted. when other people made me realize this wasn't normal, I had to ask for an assessment.

I'd been on anxiety meds for a year and brought up the things still going on. ADHD diagnosis came pretty quickly after that. 😂

I have generally been a happy person with a lot of zest for life my whole life despite facing a lot of struggles and hurdles. I always had a “reason” for previous struggles and hurdles, though.

At 40, I recognize I have built myself a very nice life. But I felt discontent, had chronic anxiety and overwhelm, and was struggling to regulate my emotions and stay on top of everyday tasks. I was reaching a breaking point and could not figure out why. I think I started seeing videos on social media about adhd in women and they resonated with me. So I did a deep dive into it and realized everything I read explained me. So, I sought a diagnosis.

I was (and still am at times) doubtful of my diagnosis because it felt like maybe I had just convinced myself I have it. I was very worried about taking stimulants, too. Addiction runs in my family and I have stayed far away from anything I could possibly get addicted to - I am terrified of ending up like my addicted family members. I have an amazing prescriber, though, and she talked me through all my fears and explained that stimulants aren’t addicting for people who actually have adhd. I am also now of the belief that those who struggle with addiction in my family probably are self-medicating and also have adhd.

Anyway, this is a super long winded way to just say I dug deep into what adhd looked like in women and realized I fit the bill. I highly recommend getting screened. My life is absolutely changing for the better now that I’m diagnosed and am taking meds.

I had been on a 8 year journey of slowly suspecting I had ADHD. My brother had ADD so I wasn’t completely detached from the symptoms but I started attending a bunch of mental health trainings for work and hearing the symptoms of adhd in adolescent girls and I was like “….oh….” I had my second kid in April 2023 but had been thinking more and more about talking to someone. This year I decided I was going to stop saying “I think I have ADHD” and go find out once and for all. The psych I see screened me a number of things like depression and anxiety in addition to a few disorders that exists in my family tree. She agreed I have ADHD but none of the other things. 20mg of vyvanse has been such a life changer!

20+ years of unsuccessful medication for anxiety and depression. I had tried almost every medication on the market and nothing worked when I started seeing social media content from women in their early 40s who had been misdiagnosed with anxiety and depression but actually had adhd. I got tested asap and sure enough, it’s 3 years later and I feel better than I ever have. I’ve been on Vyvanse ever since. It’s not perfect, but I have less anxiety than I ever have and I’m able to get things done in a way I never knew was possible.

My therapist told me at my first session that I (44, F) have ADHD. I didn’t believe her at first, but after some research, my mind was blown! Everything about me made sense. I eventually met with a psychiatrist and got tested…14/18 markers…definitely adhd. Got on the right meds and now my view on life and the way I react to life has changed dramatically. I still have ADHD days, but they’re not as intense.

So…yeah, my therapist saved me.

(Edited slightly for grammar changes)

I am a cliche, for I was inspired by tiktok. I’m 37, my 3-year diagnosis anniversary is this September. I started seeing a lot of content about adhd in my feed (turns out literally most of my friends are adhd’ers too) and it got me thinking about my life experiences and thinking omg what if I’m NOT a broken lazy POS after all? I started doing even more research.

I wrote “do I have adhd?” on a post it and stuck it to my monitor to remind me not to give up on finding a doc to speak to. Shortly after, my mom was visiting my apt and saw the note. She says “well when you were in first grade the school thought we should have you tested…” 🥲 so that cemented my desire to get diagnosed and here I am.

Cringily enough, it was the Gabbie Hanna "I HAVE ADHD!!" drama on youtube a couple of years ago that sparked it for me. Before that, culturally, I was one of those people who thought ADHD was an excuse for kids to be rowdy and misbehaved, and not an actual diagnosis.

When there's drama, I try to understand both sides, so I started to look into her claims of ADHD being her excuse for being awful, and once I saw that there were actual symptoms associated with it when she was blaming everything on her ADHD, I went down a gradual rabbit hole and realized I was basically a walking adult ADHD diagnosis waiting to happen.

When my anxiety did not respond to medication, my doctor said, ‘well, maybe we should try medicating your ADHD and see if that helps’.

Sure enough, I was assessed and diagnosed. My anxiety stemmed from controlling g my ADHD symptoms to function normally. ADHD meds helped immediately.

I have a job where there are a lot of concurrent projects at different stages. I was having trouble keeping track of everything, so one of my coworkers showed me her organization Excel sheet and everything clicked for me. She passively said “it works well with my ADHD” so then I started researching and talking to my doctor and here we are

I had no problems in school. I was really good at passing exams no matter how many times I'd fall asleep in class, so I was always seen as a really good student.

Fast forward to my first job, everything fell apart. With the exception of job interviews (software development), there were no more exams/tests for me to easily pass and get through my career without any problems. Without the structure of school I was really falling behind. Tasks that I knew I could do in an hour took me days to finish. I would struggle to stay awake in loong meetings, and because I was working so hard to stay awake, I had a hard time keeping up with that was being discussed. I was getting burnt out, to the point where my weekends never felt like I rest because I was anxious for the next work day. I got into a pattern of jumping from job to job because it would always get to a point where termination or a PIP would be brought up to me. I've even gotten laid off a couple of times.

Then, one random day, I saw a reddit post about someone going through the exact same thing and asking for advice. A comment suggested they might have ADHD. I decided to get myself checked.

Here I am today a few years later, diagnosed twice(I didn't trust the first doctor lol), restarted on my medications and can finally rest easy a tiny bit better

A number of mental breakdowns, the first when I was 19 and the one that triggered getting an assessment was in my mid 30s

A number of mental breakdowns, the first when I was 19 and the one that triggered getting an assessment was in my mid 30s

I grew up with my mom and step dad's family in Europe and met for the first time my biological father and his son who live in the US when I was 20. Suddenly I was with people functioning the same chaotic way I always did, they talk in the same speed, swith topics, zone out etc. They told me they both have adhd. I didn't know the term back then, didn't know what it was, only had some stereotypes in mind which I thought didn't applied to me (was raised in a religious black family where neurodivergence simply isn't a topic). 10 years and multiple depressions later I finally decided to get tested and face myself. Accepted that my absent father had given me one of my most defining trait. Happy I did.

I'm about to transfer from a two to a four year and I was like he'll no I need to know. And I need better accomodations.

(Very early) menopause. It made my adhd and ptsd so much worse- HRT has helped but damn. Consider this a warning ladies, perimenopause and menopause may be rough.

I was at a course for people with a disability mine was/is depression, anxiety and ptsd. When the couple people who have adhd were talking i was relating abit much so i talked to my doctor and he Said it could definelty be since my antidepressants werent working right. So Im gonna be assesed for adhd soon, but i joined this sub to see if i could relate even more and i definelty do so Im thinking its possible haha

1. I received some cognitive testing as part of a research study that was consistent with ADHD.
2. Six months later I decided to ask my doctor about it because I was about to lose something that had been important to me and I was willing to make some radical life changes and go through some potentially uncomfortable situations to try to regain it.

Burned out baaaaaaadly.

Doc had lightbulb moment & says you're not depressed! You've got ADHD!

Meds are like night & day! Do it! It's life changing!

After I had kids I fully thought I had early onset dementia because I could not remember anything. I started therapy and when I told my therapist she was like “oh hunny. You definitely have something…” it was ADHD.

I worked with a psychiatric nurse to "rule out" various other mental illnesses/disorders before pursuing an ADHD diagnosis (at the time I'd already been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and PTSD). My depression and anxiety were practically unmanageable at the time. I was finally diagnosed ADHD and after a handful of trials of figuring out the right meds, my life totally changed.

My depression practically disappeared. Anxiety was totally manageable. And it was in LARGE part due to finally managing my ADHD symptoms. I'm obviously not a medical professional and I'm not going to diagnose you ADHD but I wanted to share my experience as being someone who struggled with depression and anxiety and it turns out a lot of it was being fueled by unmanaged ADHD.

Best of luck!

I failed a board exam after being off clinics for 6 weeks to prepare for it and realized I had no idea how to study/could not study. During undergrad and vet school, I would cry-study the night before exams and I did well, but that did not work for such a giant and comprehensive exam. Starting medication was a shock in terms of ability to focus for what felt like the first time ever. After my diagnosis, I worked with an adult ADHD clinic offered at my university to find out what study methods would work best for me. I use the Pomodoro method all the time now.

I had also been struggling to keep on top of things (records, patient follow-up, research, courses) during my residency and while medication helped with that, I think the nature of my job means that I will always have to make extra effort along with medication. I still work with my therapist regularly to find out ways to streamline and find areas to improve efficiency now that I have more control over my job post-residency.

Medication has also helped with other things that I now realized were related to ADHD, mainly impulsive shopping, binge-eating disorder, and compulsive skin-picking. Initially, I was medicated for depression during my residency, but now I’m just on Vyvanse. Took a while to figure out the right meds!

My son had it. Once my son had it, it went from a suspicion that I had it, to a "yeah I definitely have it". I stopped masking, from that day on, and while I felt free-er mentally, it's now so so obvious I have it!

I’ve always known but one day, I got distracted and left the keys in my car while it was on all day during a work day…

When I couldn’t function anymore, I did shitty in college, I’m constantly late, depression/anxiety on Maximum, running on fumes for energy, poor sleep. I’m finally getting tested in September but I will not know my results until December.

I began working in schools and the different trainings were shedding light on so so many things (from as far back as I can recall in my childhood to today). My mom didn’t believe in adhd, or anxiety/depression/bipolar in girls, but that’s a different story. I was homeschooled and there were so many things that weren’t normal- working on a math worksheet for 3 hours while crying under the kitchen table, unable to clean my room and essentially just sitting in a small cleared area messing with any little thing that caught my eye. Got lost in Walmart when I was 5ish, would do very unsafe things without realizing it. Sensory meltdowns, like I would cry my eyes out when it was time to clean out a pumpkin if I wanted to make a jack-o’-lantern, etc… The “adhd walk” and the amount of bruises etc that I could never explain. (Plus my physical stuff that I’m still pursuing formal diagnoses for but still) Oh and the fact that caffeine made/makes me sleepy unless I overdo it by a lot. First provider I saw decided I’m bipolar 2. When she left and they switched me to another in the practice, she eventually checked a little further and added adhd. I recently switched to a great practice (with an actual doctor) and he had me check in with behavioral health. That wonderful guy was shocked when I explained a bit of my history and how they got to their opinions about me. But he did say it all seems to be pretty accurate and was happy about the med cocktail I’ve settled on (I had to advocate for all of my meds and make my own choices when I was seeing the previous folks) First day on vyvanse I looked at my long-term bf and was in shock- all I could say was “is this how normal people work?! They can just DO the things and not sit and panic about how many things there are until hours later, then being more down on myself for not doing any of them?” I could go on and on but this is already much more than I planned to add here.

Haha it was weird. My bf commented that my lips looked sore cos I'd picked all the skin off particularly badly the day before so I googled how to stop and so many of the results said it was a common adhd problem. I instantly thought how I've always found the odd adhd meme I scroll past funny so I properly looked into adhd and my mind was blown lol.

My best friend was diagnosed and swore up and down I had it. I get tested to prove her wrong... Hahaha

I went to my college advisor to set up a new class schedule two years ago, while I was there he asked me how I was liking my current classes. I told him I wasn’t a huge fan of my classes that required reading/a lot of lecture because I’ve never been good at remembering what I read and paying attention in lecture based classes. Super casual convo turned into him asking me some attention relation questions (he was a therapist for a while before becoming an advisor).

He recommended I look into getting tested for adhd, surprisingly enough I decided to get tested after deliberating what he said for a year and a half and he was very much so right hahah. It was NEVER something I had considered before he told me because I had never heard much about inattentive adhh, but now that I know, it explains SO much…the more you know!!!

I was researching my daughters speech delay and came across a list of adhd traits in women. It felt like the pieces of puzzle were falling into place. And then I waited 3 more years to start the diagnoses process 🙃

Two things: I’ve met some people who said that they were “a little ADHD” (because they didn’t have the patience with people), and I didn’t want to be one of those people. And, as I was talking to a dr about something “unrelated” she flat out asked me if I had ever been evaluated for ADHD and I decided that you sonnovabitch, I’m in.

Being on medication has been life changing, so I don’t regret it one bit!

my therapist suggested it

I was one slightly demanding class away from burning out during University with 2 years left of my degree. I needed help.

currently getting assessed, but it was definitely the people around me. Teachers and my therapists mentioned adhd, and I’ve always been kind of different. I was made fun of a lot and referred to as “special” by my friends

I realized my problems werent all caused by depression. There had to be something else. My mom was already diagnosed. Made me suspicious.

My symptoms became completely unmanageable while I was pregnant with my first and I thought I was just having a mental breakdown. My therapist suggested evaluation for ADHD and it completely changed my life- but I also wanted access to accommodations when I went back to grad school.

My symptoms became completely unmanageable while I was pregnant with my first and I thought I was just having a mental breakdown. My therapist suggested evaluation for ADHD and it completely changed my life- but I also wanted access to accommodations when I went back to grad school.

Being at risk of losing my job...i all my 18 years at this company, never once have I had performance issues. Then once I hit my late 30s things went to hell in a handbasket. Loss of concentration, overwhelmed with large amounts of information, staring blankly at an excel worksheet because I knew what I had to do but no idea where to start...time management issues were the icing on the cake when my company moved to a time keeping tracker and we had to strictly adhere to set breaks, lunches, etc. It was right at the start of the pandemic, though, and I was dealing with a really shitty boss, so I just figured it was stress. But I was legit starting to feel like I was losing my mind. So I listed off everything to my doctor and she said all signs pointed to inattentive adhd.

My first try was in 2016. I was 21 and working as an administrative assistant and doing really well in some aspects and completely failing at others (time management, misprioritizing tasks, forgetting things easily, etc). I brought it up to my doctor, who diagnosed me with anxiety and depression instead. He said all the symptoms of ADHD can be caused by lack of sleep, and since I wasn't diagnosed in childhood and I did well on tests, I didn't have ADHD. Admittedly I did need the antidepressants, but my life would have been very different if he had really listened to me.

Then again in 2022, my cousin brought up being diagnosed and I decided to go see a community mental health psychiatric nurse practitioner, who diagnosed me with ADHD-C and we went through a bunch of non-stimulants before we settled on Adderall. Not perfect, but doing better. Now that I'm more familiar with my ADHD, I'm starting to think I'm also autistic, so that's fun! I hear getting diagnosed with autism as an adult is much more difficult.

I got a really good job at a small ad agency and the Creative Director told me if I couldn’t sit still I was fired and that I very obviously had adhd and he was surprised it hadn’t caused problems before. It had. Went to the psychiatrist, diagnosed very quickly, medicated, kept that job for years until everyone got laid off

I lost a job because I was making too many small mistakes. I was literally incapable of catching them and they built up a case to let me go. When I later got a job that I really liked, I started to see the same pattern of getting reprimanded for making small mistakes. I didn’t want to have the same thing happen so thought I was time to see if a diagnosis/medication would help.

I did have a teacher think I had it as a kid but my mom doesn’t believe in medication. I’ve struggled my whole life with procrastination, absent mindedness, losing things, being ridiculously messy, etc. What I didn’t realize until after my diagnosis was how much I’ve been effected by RSD and mood swings.

I’m the outlier, I was diagnosed as a child and hate having the label.

Burned out at work (again), made some really Bad Choices (again), had my second kid, was just completely overwhelmed by everything. I was trying to figure out why my life kept repeating the same cycle - why I kept hitting “burn it to the fucking ground” mode. (I was very much at a point in my life where that was an extremely destructive option to multiple people’s lives and was trying to figure out how to drop the proverbial gas can.) I started therapy and was trying to treat my anxiety and realized that wasn’t the root problem.

My dad was the poster child of ADHD and that’s when the research was really coming out about it being genetic, so I did a bunch of research of what it looked like in girls/women instead of boys/men. Everything I read was like “oh shit that’s me” so I asked to get evaluated. “Passed” with flying colors, got on meds, finally got some of my shit sorted out - things have been much better since.

Getting in trouble at work finally for never having my paperwork done lol

I'm seeking a re-diagnosis because i feel literally all over the place and can't seem to focus. I'm already a real anxious person and startle easily (have been somewhat poked fun at in my youth over this) and like everything takes priority. I have 5 fantastic ideas today? Great! they're ALL important to follow through on. and then i wake up every day with a whole set of different ideas and every week i want a new career... and i'm entering my 30s. as amazing as my mind seems, it's starting to be... a bit cumbersome being so hyperactive. i'm too anxious to get anything done for myself AND i'm brimming with a thousand ideas at a time, and on the side, i probably started 5 new tv shows and started 5 new books out of curiosity (i'm probably reading 6 already??). i'm all over the place when i feel i should have some stability and more maturity in handling things in my life... BUTTTT i did get diagnosed like 20 years ago when i was nearly 10, so i probably still have it. Anyways. Will update once I get the re-diagnosis.

I forgot my best friend of over a decade’s birthday. Just completely missed it, had the date entirely wrong. I had noticed symptoms affecting my work life and ability to clean up after myself, all sorts of things, but it wasn’t until I let down someone I love that I took the initiative to get tested.

Boss told me he would fire me if I didn’t get on meds after he caught me playing mahjong during a really boring all day training.

I had suspected it for a long time. I finally sought out a diagnosis after a terrible work experience. I could have done really well in this job, however they wouldn’t let me organize or plan the way I needed to. I constantly got negative feedback from my supervisors about me wasting time and being lazy.

Now it was a horribly toxic workplace where I was micromanaged to the extreme and I was probably doing nothing wrong in actuality. But I realized that I had fundamental differences in how I do things and if I was going to have any ability to work I’d need a diagnosis and treatment.

I’ve been at my current job for 10 months now and have had 2 promotions since January. I’m the one who gets shit done. I’m ridiculously organized. My type A personality that I had in college is back.

My sister getting diagnosed got me to seek a diagnosis too. I knew I had a lot of the symptoms, but I used to think that I couldn't have it because I did so well in school... Got diagnosed during my last year of med school 😅

r/ADHDmemes

I always struggled with school, it was always hard. I thought I am stupid, as school and uni looked so easy for others. My classmate always seems to listen so good in class, they knew what the teacher was talking about. I didn't realise it there, as I didn't know much about Adhd then, but I was inattentive in class. I always had to coupe my inattentiveness with working so hard at home. I burnout.

I psych helped to cure my burnout but never what caused it. I always asked myself that.

At uni some years later struggeling with uni, I stared to compare me with others, my peers are not destraced easy, they remember what to prof said, they are also faster at doing homework as I am.

I locked up in the internet if there is sth that could help with concentration like omega 3 or so, than I found a text about adhd in women.

Thats when I realised I might have adhd

mine was an unfortunate circumstance but never would i have thought i had adhd. then i started failing out of college for a full 3 years and suspended multiple times, and wasted like $18k because i kept saying “THIS SEMESTER IT WILL BE DIFFERENT” i just thought it was my depression & prone to addictions personality fucking up my life bc i would get hooked on one thing and lose track of reality for several days. one day i couldn’t get out of bed and found a body doubling video for depression (AND ADHD) i ignored the adhd part but it worked! wow! during my involuntary gap year of college i realized i was no longer sad & suicidal but still had executive dysfunction so i started researching just to find out that part of the problem was hyperfixations and time blindness preventing me from being normal PFFFTTTTT i was on SSRIs which gave me odd vivid nightmares for years & didn’t help but the moment i switched from prozac to adderall suddenly i got a job? could clean my room?!?!? shower frequently??? CONCENTRATE AND GET THINGS DONE????????