ADHD memes

I did well in school until I started college. The freedom kicked my ass. Only took my 15 years for a BS.

Potential? I just want money to live in this fucking world

Wasn't this just everyone's normal experience growing up? Or do I need to do an ADHD test or something?

An inability to keep to routines means an inability to learn new trades. There is so much I want to do but can't because I can never learn how.

Those 6 accursed words: "if you would only apply yourself."

I see this differently: Whenever I enter a new environment everyone immediately sees my potential and gives me better deals (not money, I'm trying to be as abstract as possible).

In other words, I scam everyone because people really care about projected potential. They give me stuff because of my potential which will never come.

Girls, internships, etc.

So no, the teacher didn't see your potential. You scammed them with your adhd coping mechanisms.

It honestly shocks me given the number of people who have these exact same experiences that we cant do a better job of recognizing and supporting people.

You could put my photo and name in that and leave the text exactly the same and it would mirror my experience growing up.

If not for programming, I would have ended up a hobo without real qualifications but well versed in science fiction.

Yup. At least I had the benefit of not really caring. I passed with Bs and Cs. Nothing particularly interested me. But if I find something I actually want to do? I will skip meals accidentally because brain is going brrrr and will not stop.

That is exactly my experience. But my mom wouldn't get me tested because she didn't want me to be "drugged up and not the real me"

I’ve always been multi-faceted, but it’s trapped in a brain that fucking squanders it. I was diagnosed with ADHD in the 90s. Programmer for decades; sang in a band; been drawing off and on since I was a kid; have an insane ear for following drum arrangements and knowing what’s coming; ice and inline skater since I was a child (grew up playing hockey).

No energy or drive to put all of it to use. Terrible student and traditional teaching environments have never worked for me. I was always labeled “lazy” or hit with the same “he has potential, but […]” bullshit. Programming and computer science stuff were the only things that really panned out for me. Managed to make a career out of it, despite having garbage grades, so that’s been the upside. But I always have those daydreams that crop up where I wonder what could’ve been if I had stuck more heavily with hockey, singing, or art.

Regardless, I’m in my 40s now and I like who I’ve become at the end of it all, I still skate, and I’ve been getting back into art again. You have to keep reminding yourself that everyone’s measure for success is different and you have to refrain from attaching that success to some bullshit capitalist-driven metric that ultimately means fuck all.

I usually was lucky enough to get hyper fixated just before exams due to my anxiety. So I was a straight-A student. But it was always a struggle against myself. And it kept getting harder as I got into college, and then university. I also constantly got the "not reaching my potential" line even though I was very good academically, since I sucked in the regular classes and only shined in exams. Basically, they thought that I could do even better if I could perform that well without even trying. (I was trying my best, or least as much as my monkey brain would allow me.)

I remember when I joined high school, people thought I was cheating in exams because I barely did homework (it wasn't graded, so didn't feel any pressure to do it well) and was frequently distracted. But soon enough they realized that it's just the way I was.

Even now, I need to give myself forced deadlines by promising my colleagues/superiors so that the anxiety of embarrassment forces me to actually do my work. I want to get a diagnosis, but you guys know how hard it is for us to get motivated for that.

Hold the fuck up. This is what everyone experiences, right? It’s not a sign of ADHD, is it? What the hell?! JFC social media is how I learned I have total aphantasia and I’m not ready for this.

"He has so much potential, if only he would apply himself" - overhearing a teacher talking to my parents. Spoiler alert adults, I physically couldn't.

I lapsed on getting my Adderall refilled for about a month (yay self-fulfilling prophecy kinda). Finally got back on it this week and single-handedly resolved an issue on one of our big tools here at work that has been plaguing us for a couple years now.

I'm gonna ride that high for a while.