It’s been almost 2 years since I was diagnosed with ADHD.
I remember in the lead up I had an identity crisis, wondering where I ended and ADHD began. If many of the quirks that made me, me were all glaring symptoms, who was I beneath it all?
After my diagnosis, I felt like my symptoms had gotten even more obvious. I realise now that it was because of self-acceptance. There was no more need for shame or guilt, so I let my freak flag fly. I sunk into myself completely.
The best thing to come out of that was confidence in myself, not necessarily despite the “symptoms” of a neurodiverse brain but more because I didn’t have to try and be anything else but myself.
There’s so much freedom in that.
I don’t have an identity crisis anymore. I am simply me. I am more than ADHD but also, I wouldn’t be who I am without it.
Even though some days it controls me, I’m learning to be a master of it… work with it instead of against it. ADHD and I are a team that you can’t tear apart. A mess of colour and creativity and following the whim of the day. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
