Re: Doubts about telling my family

[Anonymous]

“I’ve had some troubles in my life (some of which can now be explained thanks to the diagnosis i.e. depression, anxiety, dropping out of school a few times etc…”

I could have written this myself! I’m very newly diagnosed and I was in and out of high school and college from age 15 to 23 (i’m 23 now and just started college again). My doctor actually thought i was lying when she went through the symptom list and i had every single one except one, becuase she couldn’t believe i hadn’t been diagnosed as a kid. My doctor offered me depression medication when i was a teen, but any more than that no one noticed anything except I was “lazy”.

My mom thinks add is bull, and I also have dealt with everyone just calling me lazy. I’m almost positive my brother has ADD too, but my mom and I got into a huge fight recently because she kept screaming that he’s JUST LAZY! and hanging around with PUNK KIDS, etc etc. Some people don’t care about facts, nothing will change their world view, sadly.

My husband was a bit like that too. He was skeptical about the ADD and he still just kept treating me like i was lazy and saying i was making it up, but I actually made him watch the ADD And Loving it Documentary with me.. and ever since he has been much more supportive! I am VERY grateful for that movie! I am going to try to get my mom & brother to watch it with me again in a few weeks, but I’m not sure how they’ll handle it. My mom isn’t receptive to learning new things, and my brother isn’t very self aware. But, it’s worth a shot!

I also suggest reading Driven From Distraction, there are some sections in there you might be able to share with your family for them to help understand you better. Good luck!

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