It's really interesting how attention disorders show and hide themselves. Like the author, I had a consistently inconsistent way of losing or forgetting things. I don't tend to be late or forget appointments, but I have a hard time scheduling them in the first place. I have rejection sensitivity dysphoria, which explains why relationships, family included, have ended poorly and needed a long time from which to recover. I did not complete college and had no idea what I was doing the entire time despite breezing through high school. I have many abandoned and unfinished projects around the house. I have been fortunate to receive accommodations at work such as choosing slightly different hours as needed, but now I understand why that was something I needed.
It hits you like a ton of bricks when you realize "I've had ADHD my whole life" because it explains every negative experience you've ever had. Having authoritarian type parents was the cherry on top.
> (W)hen the world has been willing to let me what I can do in the way that I can do it, the results have been pretty good. When the world has insisted that I do things the way everyone else does them, it hasn't always gone so well.
This is such a succinct description of the main issue with attention disorders. I think the author makes a very good argument that it's the stigma, not the disorder, that is causing more problems than anything. I know stigma against disorders like this is why it never came up.
I intend to obtain an official diagnosis and potentially try medications. The thing is, it's incredibly overwhelming to choose because half of you knows you're doing pretty well right now, why change? The other part is wondering what your true potential looks like, and fighting against how much work and experimentation you think that will take.