Re: ADHD Journeys and the Unbelievers

[Born this way]

Finding out that I have ADHD has been great for me. I understand my Dad now- may he rest in peace. And I stopped having the rage, anger, and frustration with my Mom. I could never talk to her without feeling insecure and judged. She would blurt out the most hurtful critical things and not seem to notice my accomplishments.

When I was 13 she told me I was an accident. That she was still nursing my brother and when she told my Dad she was pregnant he got so angry that it stressed her so much her milk stopped and my brother would not take formula. He kept them up for days crying. I never understood this confession. I was convinced that she didn’t really want me. I remembered all the many times she forgot to pick me up from school or lost me in a store.

She is inattentive. We never seemed to have anything in common. I fought so hard to not be like her. I have a great relationship with my kids. I tell them how much I love and wanted them. My son was just diagnosed and I know I have ADHD too and possibly my daughter. I now know what to do. I’m proud I some how adapted and made this far. I found a whole community of people just like me. My life has improved in the last month since I’ve found this site and my mom and I have something positive we can share. We laugh now. I share all your stories and ones of our own.

My Brother has been struggling and had a harder life. He was discharged from the Air force. He’s lost jobs, has terrible arguments with his wife over money. He gets constantly annoyed. He knows he has problems staying present. He’s been listening to Ekhart Tolley’s book, “The Power of Now.” When he has anger episodes he says, “it’s my pain body.” Everything is a pain body. I tried it too but it still didn’t give me comfort. When I was researching ADHD for my son, the symptoms reminded me of my brother. The more I became educated in ADHD I just had to share it with him. I didn’t expect his reaction would be denial. He believes Doctors and drug companies made it up. His wife is even an RN in a psych hospital! She thinks medication is wrong even if he were to accept the diagnosis. My brother is a brilliant music composer who works for an IT dept as a data architect. He edits videos and his son works for the graphics department for a major TV network. He’s in trouble at his 5th job because he can’t be wrong, and constantly burns bridges. I can’t believe he’s so resistant to even looking into ADHD for himself. He says that he does not want to have another excuse.

REPORT ABUSE