The Forums › Forums › What is it? › ADHD/ADD in Adults › Why now? I am mid way through my life and now I discover what I have. › Re: Why now? I am mid way through my life and now I discover what I have.
I think many of us who live more than half our lives unaware of our ADHD, reach a certain point where we have to deal with it. What precipitates that realization? we’ve known for a long time that we are different, but we assume that we are just a little eccentric, absent minded professorish, or maybe we just have a different value system/priorities to everyone else. We often have co-morbidities like anxiety, or depression from the stress of dealing with the ADHD symptoms. If we are lucky, someone, or something prompts us to find out why, and suddenly it all makes sense.
So much is going to make sense now; it’ll blow your mind. The most important aspects of ADHD behaviors for me, were the ones that I really didn’t know were not normal behaviors. Impulsiveness can feel very normal until you are watching yourself buy something you know you don’t need, or saying something that didn’t need saying. Over reacting to emotions can also seem normal, until you see that your reactions do not produce the best outcomes.
Meds help, knowledge helps, and therapy helps. I’m using a therapy called mindfulness, which is basically switching off the auto pilot and being consciously aware. It’s given me more control over my life generally ,and especially with communication and relationships. It’s as if I had been stumbling around in the dark before, and now with the lights on, I see the things I had been tripping over.
As you learn more about ADHD, you will spend a lot of time reflecting on the past; that’s normal. To move forward, you will need to forgive yourself and others. Though it sounds strange, you will also need to be kind to yourself and others.
Welcome to the great ADHD journey.
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