October begins ADHD awareness month and I support the cause because of how much ignorance still exists surrounding the affliction. When it comes to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), I’ve seen every perspective and attitude pointed at the disorder, and they all aren’t pleasant. I, myself, was diagnosed about a year and a half ago and my life has completely changed now that I have a management protocol — even with a management protocol in place, I will struggle with it until the day I die.
To kick off ADHD Awareness Month, I wanted to share a message with others who deal with ADHD, especially those who are dealing with it untreated: I’m with you, I understand.
When you’re listening to that same song for the 95th time in a row and no one understands why you are hyper-focusing on it, I’m with you.
When peers and teachers write you off as a goof-off who can’t take anything seriously, and you pretend their judgment doesn’t hurt. I’m with you.
During the times when you lose hope on a future because you can’t get it together like the clearly successful folks, I’m with you.
When you show people something that you’ve worked really hard on, and you’re proud of, and they dismiss it with “why can’t you work that hard on your school work?” I’m with you.
When it’s the early 90’s and your options are “he’ll just work harder,” or medical treatment, the choice to work harder is made for you, even though you are working as hard as your brain will let you. I was with you.
When people are shocked that you are actually very intelligent, despite your grades in a system that was never designed to work for you, I’m with you.
When you throw away yet another yearly planner that only had the first few pages written in, because this was going to be the year you were going to turn it around, and now only feel even more like a failure; I’m with you.
When your friends roll their eyes at you because you’ve told them about another one of your big projects that they know you aren’t going to finish, and you know it too deep down; I’m with you.
When you’ve spent your entire Saturday, which was full of potential and possibilities, channel surfing on the couch because you are overwhelmed by the options, I’m with you.
When you’ve had a string of a few successes, and you’re sure you’ve nailed a project, only to have someone poke holes in it by pointing out all of the small details you’ve missed and you feel worthless, I’m with you.
When you’ve got a mountain of work piling up around you and you know that you need to get it done, but your brain can’t force your hands to move, I’m with you.
When you’re laying on the couch, exhausted from a day of getting beat up for not being “detail oriented enough,” and beating yourself up because you know you want to succeed more than anyone else in the room, I’m with you.
We’re not broken, we are just wired a little differently. If we were all meant to be the same, this life would be exceptionally boring. You keep being you, do what you need to do to manage yourself through out the day, and know that you’re not alone.
October’s blog will be Halloween Short stories! I’ll see you on your next trip across the Millerverse.
A.P. Miller 