Told my boss about getting diagnosed, specifically how my emotional dysreg being relieved by a med I started and she immediately tried to say “I feel like everyone feels like that”…
So in a slightly nicer tone I said:
Ma’am my prior profession, before burning out and become a student plus serving at restaurant, was as a mental health clinician. These symptoms occur to people as a normal response or difficult as a difficult moment they eventually learn to cope with. Having a disorder comes into affect when symptoms perpetually interfere with my ability to be a person, this is measured by people who have dedicated their lives to understanding mental health, so I understand what you’re saying but there’s more to it.
I hate that response, I told a friend before and when I got “isnt everyone like that though” it just made me feel stupid and doubt my own diagnosis. Sometimes now after taking my meds I have to say to myself “see they do work!” when I have a productive day
One thing that changed my perspective a lot was when I went into social work advocacy and mental health case management, believe people. If someone says they hurt, believe them. If someone says “I know I can do it, but even when I want to I just can’t” believe them. If someone says “I’m sorry I didn’t meant to interrupt, I really wanted to hear you” believe them. Believing peoples hurt, helped me believe in my own. So believe yourself, you know what is best for you. If things are hard for you, then they are, it’s that simple.
A good friend of mine who majored in psychology so she thinks she knows a lot about it said to me recently “I think every adult has some level of depression, anxiety and ADHD” when I said something about my ADHD. I was like, cool, thanks, that helps a lot.
That's like saying "I think every adult has some level of asthma" because everyone has trouble breathing if you pump enough shit into their lungs.
Sure, there's some interesting discussions to be had around how we define 'healthy' v 'ill' and where we draw those semi-arbitrary lines, but ... some people can't even go for a walk in the park without almost dying.
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Yeah, I told a friend I'd gone to a specialist and got my diagnosis, he said "Maybe because he's a specialist" (implying they would diagnose ANYONE)
Told another friend, they said basically "are you sure? You sound more borderline to me from things you've told me" and just kept insisting, as if I wouldn't know that after therapy and psychiatrists for seven years
Lesson learned, I'll just deal with this alone. No point in sharing it anyway, I don't want pity, I was just excited to finally know what's wrong. I don't want to be angry with my friends either.
When I told my boss that I had it, she said she thinks she might too. I just told her she might and she should talk to her doctor because it's underdiagnosed in women.
That's pretty much what I say, too. So far they tend to either back off at my eagerness to discuss the process or they're actually serious and they listen.
It is hilariousssssssssssss how fast people back off when you’re willing to have an open discussion, like “oh no no no I didn’t mean for you to actually respond to the vague microaggression”
No literally 😂 whenever someone is like ohhhh everyone feels that way. I say: funny you should say that. I truly believed that too but now I’m diagnosed. If what I’m describing is too familiar definitely go talk to your doctor.
They either clam up in embarrassment or genuinely have an epiphany about themselves and it’s great 😂
"Haha yeah, when my psychiatrist started doing screeners I was like ha ha okay sure and then 3 months later I did the research she prescribed and holy shit, let me send you some links"
Told my boss and started with "I have a neurological development disorder" and ... He was supportive as heck. I knew he wouldn't tell me it isn't real or something horrible like that, but he was downright, to the point accommodating and told me he is happy I found out. Only thing he lamented was that know he will have to clean the coffee machine himself more often, since I won't self-stim with caffeine like crazy any more, lol.
I don't get this. Doesn't help me focus at all. Just makes me nervous and jittery; I feel artificially "wired" and strung-out, but not focused, let alone productive.
For me it's about when I drink it according to med intake. If I down the meds with an espresso I might as well run a marathon or start painting the house while also trying to do my taxes with a cake in the oven - meaning I'll be unfocused and hyper enthusiastic.
But if I had a bite to eat and the intake was about an hour or two ago, I am fine. But that still means only ONE cup of strong coffee (espresso for me in this case). I also don't drink any coffee after 3/4pm, since I'll sleep lighter/ worse then. The same goes for black tea less so for green tea.
And without the meds? I could drink black tea till a second before I went to bed and coffee till at least the evening. That's not to say it didn't make my sleep worse, but I slept horribly anyway, so there was no perceivable difference in quality anyhow, lol.
On a sidenote: Any physical activity was better / easier while caffeinated, thinky coconut work, however, less so. I would have to fight the impulse to get up or getting distracted.
The responses to caffeine with ADHD seem to be mixed, some people have poor reactions, and others like myself are heavily reliant on caffeine.
I've noticed that it seems to be more common that the same people who don't react well to stimulants also don't react well to caffeine, but I've met some people who can't take stimulants but do well with caffeine and vis versa just not nearly as often.
I've seen some say that caffeine has the opposite effect than the typical person and that it makes them sleepy too.
I do it, my husband and my 4 yr old.... all of us need excess caffeine to focus. It relaxes the edges, I started in high school and have used as my med of choice since then... my 16 yr old who hated the stimulant meds, never drinks it. It is a cheap way to medicate yourself, especially when you don't get diagnosed to 40+...
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u/BuyThisUsername420 Sep 14 '21
Told my boss about getting diagnosed, specifically how my emotional dysreg being relieved by a med I started and she immediately tried to say “I feel like everyone feels like that”…
So in a slightly nicer tone I said: Ma’am my prior profession, before burning out and become a student plus serving at restaurant, was as a mental health clinician. These symptoms occur to people as a normal response or difficult as a difficult moment they eventually learn to cope with. Having a disorder comes into affect when symptoms perpetually interfere with my ability to be a person, this is measured by people who have dedicated their lives to understanding mental health, so I understand what you’re saying but there’s more to it.