Newly diagnosed…overwhelmed

[threethreesParticipant]

I’m 33…just diagnosed and struggling a lot with the diagnosis. When I went through the testing, I was expecting to feel relief afterwards once I had an answer – regardless of what the diagnosis was. But instead, I almost feel worse in a lot of ways. I was given a bunch of information about ADHD to read after I received my diagnosis, and as I read through it, I feel more and more damaged and hopeless. I was prescribed adderall and when it’s active, it does help…but, in light of all of the new-to- me information I received, I’ve started paying attention to my thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in a different way…in some respects I’m more aware of them – which is simultaneously good and bad, because I know that being aware will help me to better manage things in the long run…but then every time I catch myself running around aimlessly trying to remember what I was doing, I notice it more than I used to in a sense …and get sooo frustrated with myself …with my brain.

I’m also just so upset with myself about the fact that I feel like I should have been much more aware before… I’ve always spent a lot of time trying to dissect my own mind and I felt like I knew myself so well but now I feel so unsure.

I’m upset with myself too because I feel like I’ve let my pride get in the way to the extent that I’ve denied myself honesty about my faults. I never wanted to admit how impulsive I really am. I’d always come up with so many reasons …err excuses even. Never wanted to admit just how much pain I’ve been in for so long…I always want to pretend it doesn’t get to me. I would have a meltdown and the next day pretend like I’m good, I’m over it.

I struggled so long dealing with Hyperfocus and obsessions to the point that it has really interfered with my quality of life and especially relationships.

I’m mad that I never took the time to educate myself on ADHD when my ex husband had it… I never made an honest effort to know about it and so I was unable to understand his actions as much as I was unable to understand my own…so we both ended up hurting each other way more than we might have, had I understood. I, like the majority of people, only knew ADHD in the stereotypical way…and I assumed it was something you could just manage with a little more willpower. That’s exactly what I’ve subconsciously attempted to do periodically throughout my life …when I’d fall into these obsessive, rigid phases…
I see all the grey areas in life but can never achieve balance. I go from one extreme to the other…either I can’t focus and my life falls apart because of it…or I get hyper focused and rigid and can’t relax or deviate from routinewith the fear I’ll fall apart again.

I start therapy on the 30th but I’m worried I’m just going to get obsessive about it and still be imbalanced.

I’ve got a great guy and fear losing him because I’m always just “too much”. That’s what I’ve always been told…too emotional, too intense, think too much…or I’m too “lazy” or too obsessed with perfection. Etc etc …and I could cope with people thinking that about me if I didn’t feel that way about myself…but I do and I have for so long ..

Idk…that’s where I’m at right now and just wanted to vent..

[LuannKelly1980Participant]

Hello Threethrees,
I felt like that too, and still much of the time. My ex husband was Adhd Hyperactivity, and cheated on me alot. I have Innatentive type. I too worry that my new boyfriend may get frustrated with me, but he has so far been very patient. I think others just need to know we are working to improve and manage our tendencies. He has seen me reading on this site, and it hasn’t scared him off. We have alot to offer and there is seldom a dull moment. Congratulations on finding out what’s been there all along. Putting a name to it can be the beginning to a more whole life.
Best wishes,
Luann

[Penny WilliamsKeymaster]

An adult diagnosis can be tricky to navigate emotionally.

Your After-Diagnosis Survival Guide

Silence Your Harshest Critic — Yourself

With gratitude,
Penny

[Paul @ OzParticipant]

I was diagnosed in December after being treated by around 12 Psychiatrist’s for Major Depression across 20 years (which is still there… grrrrrrrrrrr)
Everything instantly fell into place.. the good stuff but as we all know well, the dark and disappointing stuff came to the fore.

I see it like a grief period, where you go from being sad then across to angry and then back to sad again… rinse and repeat, with bits of denial scattered within. From experience it does eventually drop away.. It’ll never ever be somewhere in you mind, but as someone finally slapped me in the face with – we can not change the past.

If you do have an spouse/parter/friend, take them the journey to learn. They’ll find out (or likely already figure) so best to take the lead on this one. Support from family and friends is paramount.

Paul

[topherlee420Participant]

Hey threethrees. Thank you so much for this post.

I’m 44 and I just recently started the process for diagnosis, and I went for the consult and ended up with a lot of information.

I’m so overwhelmed. I’ve been working through a time management program on LinkedIn since my therapist started mentioning it months ago. Between that and the consult and trying to straighten out a lifetime of chaos has been exhausting. I was taking to my mom about it and how I was in school, oh, you weren’t adhd, you just didn’t pay attention and didn’t like homework. Your brother was the one that couldn’t sit still.

Mmm k.

I got my butt tore up if I didn’t sit still. He didn’t. Go figure lol.

I feel so hyperfocused in why I didn’t figure this out sooner, and how in the world am I going to get life to a manageable thing with work and remodeling the house and catching bills up. It like if I get personal life headed in a decent direction and my work life is falling apart. If I am in a relationship and trying to make time for that I end up failing at so many other areas. I have days that I feel like I am chasing myself around trying to get things done and end up exhausted and nothing even started.

I’m looking forward to something better. But damn what a mess.

[janet1234567Participant]

threethrees, I hope that you will give yourself some time to accept your situation. As someone stated above, perhaps grief is a big part of what you are experiencing. I felt a great wave of grief upon my diagnosis for all of the loss incurred throughout my life due to the fact that I could not change my behaviors and did not know why I was not able to function like everyone else.

Please give yourself time. There is no race to figure all of this out. Live day by day and pace yourself. This site is such a great source of information, presented in bite-sized pieces. Most of the time (I was diagnosed about a year and a half ago), I am pretty content knowing that I am an adult with ADHD. But just today, I had myself a mid-day, face-in-pillow cry because I am in a stuck place trying to deal with family finances and can’t get myself to tackle things.

If you are in a serious relationship, I suggest being very open with your partner. A great guy will embrace the whole you, even in difficult times. It always helps the partner to know why we do certain things in a confounding manner. My husband of over 25 years has suffered a lot because of my behaviors, and even he has come around to understand and accept the “why” behind my ups and downs and failures.

Keep coming back to the forum for support, too.

[phantasmParticipant]

Indeed! True love is knowing a person’s faults, and loving them even more for them…

[michael petanParticipant]

33 I turned 60 and recently found out. Don’t beat yourself up, it won’t do any good.
Be patient, stay in tuned to your mood and energy and impulses.The only thing that “Really matters” is what you do next and next and next. It matters how you create an atmosphere and environment that empowers you to relax, breath, think and thrive. It takes time, mediation is key to me and even medication, I’m on Ritalin 10mg twice a day that is also helping but i”m an artist, painter and writer, creative director I’ve found what I’m good at. That focus and passion is key also, find it, grab it and dive into it, otherwise our minds will wrap us into knots, spin us in circles and create emotions that are not healthy. Stay positive, find your passion and grab hold of it, let go of anything that does not add joy, begin to weed out the “crap”

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