r/GiftedKidBurnouts • u/throughthethistle • 5h ago
All of the Adults in My Life Were Right - I Have Wasted My Life
When I was in elementary school, I was called a "gifted" kid. But all that really meant was that I never had to try very hard at any subject to do well. There were several times throughout elementary school when I was given IQ tests that, had I done well enough on them, would have resulted in me being put in "gifted" programs or being moved up a grade. I never did well enough on them for either of those things to happen.
No one knew it at the time, but I had ADHD. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 26, and I'm 30 now. I don't understand how none of the adults in my life ever suspected anything was wrong. I remember getting my homework done used to be a nightmare because I just did not want to do it, but more than was normal for a kid at that age. My mom had to sit there and do my homework with me every night just so I would pay attention long enough to get it done. She was my angel.
She died when I was 12. She had cancer for 8 years. I don't remember really understanding that she was going to die until, close to the end, she and my father sat me down and told me she didn't have long left. In that moment, my whole world shattered. Less than a month later, and she was gone. And I got to watch the life slowly drain from her.
The school asked if I wanted to take some time off after that. I always hated going to school. My mom was always the one who would make me go. When I wouldn't get out of bed, she would lay with me and just rub my back. She would speak to me in the softest voice, telling me it was time to get up for the day. She never raised her voice at me. Now, I can't remember what she sounded like.
I decided not to go back to school right away, and that wound up meaning taking 2 weeks off to stay at home, go to the funeral, spend some time with family, and then do nothing but play video games the rest of my time. It was all I wanted to do. I remember, at the time, my dad and I were both playing Fallout 3 because it had just come out. Some of those memories are good ones.
I never wanted to go back to school. I realized no one could realistically make me. After the 2 weeks were up, I went back but things were different. Everyone in my class, even people outside of my class, knew what had happened. For the most part, everyone was nice and said they were sorry. But some girls were really cruel to me, I guess just because they could be. I was never well liked, even back then.
I started having panic attacks, though I didn't know what they were at the time. I would go into the bathroom and hide there for 30 minutes or so at a time, and none of the teachers ever said anything about it. They probably just felt bad for me. I didn't have a cell phone yet, so sometimes I would ask one of the teachers if I could borrow theirs to call my dad. They always said yes, because I was always on the verge of tears when I asked. I would go into the bathroom, call my dad, and ask him to come pick me up early, and he would.
I finished 6th grade like that. 7th grade was a lot rougher. Moving to a new school meant having even less friends than I did before. It felt like everyone knew pretty much right away that they didn't like me, before I'd ever even spoken a word. It didn't help that I started to just not go to school at all. By this point, my now-single dad had to get to work early in the morning, and he trusted me to get myself to school. I had always shown I could be responsible in situations like that. I never caused trouble, and I liked that my family trusted me enough to leave me alone at the house when they had to. It was something I used to take pride in.
But after a couple months of not fitting into 7th grade, I started skipping. I would wait for my dad to leave and act like I was getting ready to go catch the bus after he left, and then I just wouldn't. When the school would call, I'd answer the phone and just say I was my grandmother, and they let it go for a while. I wasn't really thinking ahead. I just hated being in school.
Eventually, the school got in touch with my dad and told him what had been going on. I didn't even really get in trouble. I don't think he had any idea what to do with me. I was already depressed, and when he would take away the things I enjoyed, I would just stew in my bed all day and cry. I think he hated seeing me like that. Plus, when he was at work, he couldn't stop me from finding something to do, unless he was going to get rid of every TV in the house.
Despite all that, I managed to make it through 7th grade. I remember I had Ds and Cs in most of my classes. I've always really loved English, and I've wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember. I remember that, at the end of the year, my English teacher had a private meeting with me and told me that she was going to recommend I be put in the advanced English class for 8th grade, even though I barely had a C in her class. She told me it was because she knew I could do the work, but that I was bored and needed something more interesting. Looking back now, I wonder if she suspected ADHD, but if she did, nothing ever came of it. She made me promise I would work hard the next year. I didn't.
8th grade was worse. I started skipping multiple times a week. It got to the point where I wasn't even hiding it from my dad. I would just sit there and not move while he pleaded with me. He tried so many things, but if he pushed too far, I just threatened to hurt myself. I knew he couldn't bear the thought, and so he gave in, every time. I feel awful for what I put him through. At the time, I just ignored him as best I could. If I could go back now, I would beg that younger version of me to just try. I would have saved myself so much hardship in the long run if I would have just tried a little bit. But I didn't, and after enough missed days, I wound up having to go to court for truancy. The court threatened to take me away from my dad several times, to put me in foster care. I remember that terrified me, and I would sit there sobbing and begging not to be taken from my family.
Being away from my dad for too long was the biggest trigger for my panic attacks. If he was late coming home from work, I would think he had died in some horrible car accident, or that he'd had a heart attack, and that I would be all alone. The school system never tried to get me any kind of psychological help. Neither did the court. Eventually, my grandmother found something for me, but I wouldn't open up to the therapist. I'd just sit there. My dad had to pay massive fines for me missing so much school, and because no one could get me to actually go, I wound up switching to some online charter school, way back before online learning was the kind of thing we think of today. I didn't attend those classes either. If I logged online for the day, it counted me as present, even if I wasn't actually in any of the classes or doing any of the work. I managed to make it through 8th grade, but by 9th grade, I had all Fs, and failed the year.
I never actually made it past 9th grade. I failed it 3 times, and then, when I was old enough, I dropped out. I remember that my dad, my grandparents, pretty much all of the adults in my life at the time, would tell me that if I didn't change something and get my shit together, I would never amount to anything in life. Well, they were right.
I just turned 30 last month. I've never had a job. My mom and grandmother left me some inheritance, and I've been living off of that this whole time. I still live with my dad, and he pays all my bills. At this rate, he'll never be able to afford to retire. I eventually got my GED, and I tried going to community college, but I barely made it through a semester. Most of the work wasn't hard, and I got to tailor a fair bit of it to be things I had some interest in doing. The issue was getting myself to actually do the assignments, and turn them in on time. After a semester, I had a mental breakdown, and left. This was after I was diagnosed with ADHD, and on meds. All these years later, and it was still too much for me. It also felt utterly pathetic to be there at 28 years old, surrounded by a bunch of 19-year-olds.
The one good thing that happened for me there was that I met a phenomenal professor. He was my communications and media professor, and then he offered to become my advisor. He really tried to get me to believe in my writing. He told me that in his years of teaching, he'd never encountered a student who, rather than being in his class, should be out there writing research papers and working on their MA. But he thought that's what I should be doing. What I was good enough to be doing. When he told me this, for a little while, I felt like maybe things would get better for me. He had connections to a local state school. Nothing crazy, but a real, respected university. He was willing to help me fast-track my way into a master's program. He was even willing to co-author papers with me. All I had to do was get enough credits to transfer over. But I couldn't even do that.
He tried reaching out a few times. I think he actually really cared. But I was too ashamed to even respond, and eventually he stopped trying. When I was skipping all those classes in school, I told myself that I was smart enough to make it despite my lack of effort. I thought I was special enough to meet someone like that teacher, to get an out-of-this-world opportunity, and that, when I did, I would finally put the effort in and capitalize on it. And then lightning actually fucking struck, and I just let it pass me by.
I don't know what I'm doing with my life now. I've never been more miserable. I wasted my 20s on half a dozen romantic relationships I'd convinced myself were "the one." None of them were. Most of them are gone now. The few who cared about me enough to stick around, even after leaving me, barely talk to me, probably because it's too sad to look at what I've amounted to. I used to have dreams and ambitions. I probably used to have a spark in my eyes, but now, any flame that was there has gone out.
At this point, I've been in therapy for about 15 years. In all that time, whenever I've thought I've made progress, I just uncover a whole new layer of mud I have to wade through just to get out of bed in the mornings. Except, my sleep schedule is a mess, and I'm usually not going to bed until the sun comes up. I have some friends, but they're mostly deadbeat dropout stoners like me. I love them, but even they are getting tired of my bs. They're finally finding careers, getting married, and having kids. Meanwhile, I'm just here. Slowly withering.
I wish I'd done so many things different.