The Forums › Forums › Emotional Journey › ADD/ADHD makes me so unhappy › Reply To: ADD/ADHD makes me so unhappy
It does seem a bit quiet around here doesn’t it? I’ve myself just registered.
47 years old and almost everything you said describes me very closely. It’s almost scary to find others experiencing such similar life challenges.
Like you for years I’ve been treated for depression (diagnosed Bipolar 2 – but I’m not convinced) and crippling anxiety. My latest Psychiatrist is the first to test for ADHD after not seeing good results treating those other symptoms, and started to look for an underlying cause they’ve been missing. Started on Ritalin and it seems to be helping a little and on some days my anxiety reduces a bit. Part of the issue is I spent all my time with the professionals talking about the anxiety and depression as I thought they were the big issues, and all these other things was just me being a loser. It may just well be that the ADHD is the underlying cause.
Have you asked your health professional to try medication for ADHD to see if it helps? And if they won’t can you go to someone else?
Regarding the career, yes that’s such a hard one. I was lucky for the last 8 years to be in a job that was full of micro-chaos – short in duration issues that needed decisive dealing with, and I found that suited me perfectly. Prior to that and unfortunately now (due to redundancy) I worked in roles that require planning and long projects that don’t really grab my attention. And I fail almost every day, which reduces my already low self confidence. Because I’ve seen what works for me with the “micro-chaos” I’ve decided to start looking elsewhere for that type of role – and the industry it is in will be secondary. Even though this may involve a big drop in pay, I know for me having the right job that works with the way my mind works is critical for helping me with my self worth. Previously I thought having a high paying, high profile career would be what would help me with that self worth. In the right job we can be AMAZING! In the wrong one…
Maybe we should make a list (or perhaps there is one here already) of jobs and careers that seem to suit the ADHD mindset? I think something like that would help me anyway.
All the best with your continued journey with this and I hope things improve.
REPORT ABUSE