Nah, I definitely have ADHD because otherwise my amphetamines wouldn't be acting as a sleep aid.
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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All you can do is see if treatment helps or not, but if they are character flaws, but you have a desire to change them, and ADHD treatment helps you do that, then what does it really matter.
That's what I tell myself because I lived most of my life with a family that didn't believe in mental health issues and I was brainwashed that I was just a bad, flawed person. When it comes to the Autism its a different story because there is no treatment for adults and it's nearly impossible to get into the one clinic that offers diagnoses for adults, so I still struggle with believing I have it despite the big list of evidence I compiled and the fact that my neurodivergent friends always assumed I did and didn't know I didn't know. LOL
Something like ADHD is notably difficult to diagnose because its symptom behaviors are things that other people also experience, just less frequently or severely. Everyone has limited executive function, spaces out, forgets things, becomes restless, procrastinates, etc. to some degree. So it's difficult to notice the point where it crosses the threshold of interfering with a healthy life.
It is entirely reasonable to wonder if you've been misdiagnosed as having it, just like a neurotypical person may wonder if they have ADHD from normal experiences. It's not like we have another life to compare ours to.
This is my daily as I struggle to find a medication that does ANYTHING for me. Maybe it's just all me.
I mean...ADHD or not, your life is generally in your own hands, both successes and failures are your "fault". The ADHD doesn't take the responsibility, it only adds context.
Yes and no. I knew a guy that was biking and had an accident. He lost his legs. He because an athlete, did sailing and climbed mountain and stuff. He still couldn't use a normal bike. Do you get what I mean? You can do self-help as much as you want but you can't ask a blind person to look at the sky.
Or more like you can ask, but you'll probably get a blank stare.
Sorry for the bad joke
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Context, which can be translated to useful keywords and traits to use for self discovery. Primarily for learning about the coping mechanisms that others have successfully deployed but also to ease the sort of negative thoughts in the last part of this post.
The worse part is when you get so good at coping that others don't see the work that goes in just to function in a society built to your disadvantage.
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Yes! And then whenever an online community springs up centering around solidarity, peer support, or advocacy pertaining to the common mental disorder, the same crowd who complains about avocado toast and rotisserie chicken get up in arms about "labels" becoming a "trend."
Like, no it's not a fucking trend. Some people deal with these illnesses every fucking day, and it's totally okay for them to talk about it online with other people who understand the experience. Outsiders looking in just think they're conforming to what the internet says about the traits, but the reality is that some people have these traits and have to live with them every day.
Clusters of traits get identified by researchers and standardized in the DSM, and that gives people the language and toolkit they need to understand themselves and talk about it with others. It's descriptive rather than prescriptive.
These descriptions pop up online because that's what some people experience. People aren't retrofitting their experience just to conform to an internet trope, like some folks claim. But someone who hasn't experienced that or been close to someone who has will never understand that.
And unfortunately, some people who are close to someone with a mental disorder are still skeptical and dismissive of them. It's really frustrating, and damaging too, because it's essentially gaslighting someone who's already mentally ill by saying they're actually fine and just need to stop being annoying, suck it up and "just be normal." For fuck's sake!
Yeah my grandma couldn't keep her key for the life of her. It makes me sad to think she spent her whole life not knowing what was happening to her.
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Yeh people with ADHD could just educate their parents and teachers about how their brains work differently. And how do they not just diagnose themselves and get the meds to function in a society that is clearly not made for them to succeed. Total failure that’s entirely their fault.
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I have ADHD. All of my failings in life ARE my fault.
My symptoms may be the reason for a lot of the issues I have, but they aren’t an excuse. I can and have overcome all of them at some time given the right circumstances and/or medication. Sometimes I just don’t want to. Sometimes I chose to hyper focus on a video game for 6 hours instead of doing the chore that would take 10 minutes that I have been dreading for 2 days. Sometimes I like starting a new project instead of finishing an old one.
It’s just part of who I am.
Same boat here, wasn't diagnosed until my 40's, but I made it through college with great grades (not the first time around, went back to school in my late 20's), well respected in my career and making good money... but I spent 3 days last week playing video games on my time off when I was supposed to be getting stuff done around the house.
There'll be a point where my ability to "do" will switch back on, and all that will get done.. it just didn't happen last week.
At least the wife is understanding and knows that when my brain clicks over again it'll be dealt with.
This follows that basic rule of forgiving and accepting yourself. Nice .
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I’ve tried to live a large portion of my life like this.
Don’t.
I have a subset of this problem where I think I might be faking imposter syndrome so that people will think I actually know what I'm doing.
You managed to get impostor syndrome squared
double secret imposter syndrome.
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Well, I have been "tested" by neuropsychologists and they said I have symptoms that looks like ADHD, but it's probably not that. I never pushed more as it's difficult to get any diagnosis or help here in Quebec as an adult. In the end they said I may have PDA, and they will not give me a straight answer.
I still consider myself nerodivergent but according to the medical system here, I don't have ADHD. I just have a lot of symptoms that are common.
You very well still could be. Diagnosing conditions like these is very complicated when different things can present similarly, or even mask each other depending on their presentation. Autism and ADHD have a lot of overlap for example where it's not uncommon for someone to have one and be mistakenly diagnosed with the other because of how their particular combination of strengths and deficits manifested. Then still other conditions can mask symptoms entirely that without them no one would ever guess that someone might have ADHD.
That's what happened to my wife in fact. She joined a research study that was aiming to improve diagnosis for ADHD looking to be part of the control because she was reasonably certain she didn't have ADHD.
We come to find out through participating in that study that no, she did in fact have ADHD and her severe OCD had just been masking it all her life. The second she got on a new medication that got her OCD more under control I got a front row seat to literally watch the things I struggle every day with just manifest in her like I'd given her the damn Curse of the Were-Fuckup.
Autism and ADHD are a such a good example for this. While 15 years ago the DSM still said that it is impossible to have both, today we know that there is a huge overlap. Depending on the studies, when you have Autism, there is a 40-70% chance that you also have ADHD. And if you are diagnosed with ADHD, the chances to also have autism are between 20-50%
And there are enough other common comorbidities that could be seen as the "main" diagnosis and prevent you from being correctly diagnosed, like depression, odd, ocd or anxiety.
It's so important to get a psychiatrist that is specialized and it's a shame that it seems to be an almost global problem to even get any.
Or maybe it's time to understand that mental issues aren't as clearcut as viruses that you can test in a lab. As long as we don't understand the fine grain of how the whole brain work (and so far we only have ideas about it, not the whole story), the yes/no diagnostic will stay a dead end imo.
Sorry to hear you have trouble though, I hope you still lives ok <3 good luck!
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I went and got "tested" once and was told it is impossible that I have ADHD because I did not commit crimes as a child.
No, seriously. I didn't steal things, I didn't fight people, primarily because I was afraid of my dad and his physical punishment. Apparently this is a key lynchpin criteria of an ADHD diagnosis. Never mind that I constantly got into minor trouble for never shutting up, or that I couldn't sit still, or that I read literally every single book in the entire fiction section of my middle school library in the 3 years I attended that school. Never mind that ADHD-memes groups read like a structural study of my life.
Guess I'll just fucking suffer I suppose 🤷
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We all know the medical system is flawed and adopts a paternalist / validist approach to neurodiversity (not to mention straight up corruption by big pharma). I don't want to fetishize self-diagnostic, but if I went to my doctor to say "I'm depressed", nobody will doubt my experience, so why would it be any difference for neurodivergence.
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For me it's kind of the opposite. I have always been extremely hard on myself in every area of my life and to some extent I still am. But realizing that some of the difficulties I'm dealing with may be due to me having undiagnosed ADHD, is such a relief. It doesn't fix me. It doesn't really change anything, but it gave me the ability to forgive myself for some of the things I'm not good at or fuck up.
Sometimes you do your best and it's not really good enough, but it was the best you could do and that is okay. Life is a bit easier to live when you accept that you are a turtle and not a bird, so you don't have to constantly try and learn how to fly.
It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose; that is not a weakness, but a part of life.
- Jean Luc Picard
Word to live by.
Comforting words to remember as well. Have taken a lot of hits lately, mostly things that are entirely out of my hands as well, so this was nice to read. 🥲
At least I'm lucky in love and friendship, so yay!
Is there such a thing as an "ADHD egg" 👀
Not really. We have: peer reviewed but undiagnosed, "I should get checked because these memes are too relatable", good student if they applied themselves more; and a few other categories that I lost the focus to think about.
ND gang feel free to add to the list.
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