How Does Your ADHD Affect You?

I think that all of us who have ADHD hold back a little part of who we really are unless we are among people we are comfortable with.

For instance, the day my daughter Sarah put a pot lid on her head and pretended it was a hat - in front of her boyfriend - was the day she knew things were getting serious. They’re married now with a sweet baby boy named Robbie.

Robbie

When you have ADHD it’s easy to feel as though no one sees the real you. They see the disorganized person, or the forgetful one, or they may even assume you’re a little dumb. (You’re not.)

I can’t tell you how many times I have said to people “I really am an intelligent person. I don’t know why I can’t get this.”

When my younger daughter took her SAT test and the school got the results back, her counselor actually said to her “We had no idea you were this smart.” Nice huh?

But that’s the way it is.

We’re always hiding our real selves. Few people know about our quirky sense of humor because we rarely express it for fear that we’d be thought of as weird.

They may not know that we are imaginative and creative because they’re too busy looking at our messy house.

We’re dreamers. We’re the ones with the courage to ask “What if?” and then try to make it happen. Others don’t appreciate how important dreamers are to the world. Think of all the things that wouldn’t exist if no one had trued to do the impossible.

I’ve found that for the most part, people react warmly when I just be myself. They are often surprised, but happily so.

And the few who still think I’m weird and messy and a little bit spacey? Who cares?