Re: anyone else??

[Anonymous]

I would add that you know your limitations with a diagnosis…… but also know where your strengths are and the areas you can develop.

I didn’t get diagnosed until this past year. However if I had been diagnosed 30 years ago back when I was in high school and university my path in life would have changed. I would have had more options.

One thing I knew was that I wanted to succeed. For me it was getting an education. I was a mediocre student in high school. My lack of achievement was not due to lack of ability. The reason for low performance was procrastination and limited attention span. (ADHD)

Despite the mediocre grades I pushed on to university. My initial attempt was not successful for the same reasons (as in high school)

After two years of doing some very undesirable jobs I decided to take another crack at university. This time I was going to use herculean effort to get through school. Nothing changed in terms of procrastination and limited concentration. The difference was sheer determination and lots of time and hard work. I did this for 7 years and along the way I finished my undergraduate and graduate degrees.

The personal health costs of doing university my way was large. I suffered frequent periods of major depression and anxiety during those 7 years . I grew to think I was not very bright because it took such effort and time. (in actual fact I made straight A’s through graduate school…. but i thought I was slow and not very smart) The other cost is I had a very limited social life and had little fun along the way.

The lesson for me was I did what i had to, to get through school. If I had been diagnosed at 17 or even earlier I believe that my experience might have been a little easier and would not have jeopardized my mental emotional health

Today I have had varying degrees of success. I have gone through many jobs with the greatest time at any one job being 5 years.

When you get to the work force and real life…… procrastination and limited concentration impacts all aspects of your life. (job, personal life, relationships) BTW the recurrent bouts of depression, insomnia and anxiety followed me ….not as often as university.

In the two months since being diagnosed ADD I have been working hard to change. I am starting an exciting new job in February. However I am worried about my ability to cope even with the diagnosis. I need to take one day a at a time and apply what I am learning

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