#-mell

[ask-abcsofadhd]

Hi! You aid you run an ADHD discord? Could I join? If you need to know, I'm 39, attentive type, late diagnosis, a bunch of other mental-health conditions, and feeling like absolute crap since I was diagnosed at 37.

Sure! Here’s an invite link: https://discord.gg/MegRFKp 

I’m sorry to hear you’ve been feeling that way. Hopefully the community on the discord server will be helpful for you. 

—Mell

[ask-abcsofadhd]

So I brought up to my mom recently that I think I might be adhd and possibly have some symptoms of ocd as well and my mom said “of course you do. I didn’t want you to get labeled by your skill, and our family doctor wanted to put you on tons of medication you didn’t need.” My point is I guess, where do I go from here? Is it wrong to call myself adhd and find support through that community if I don’t explicitly take any medicine or have an official diagnosis? (1)

and I never really got examined by doctors for this stuff after that because “she’s just a girl. Did she daydreams or has trouble paying attention or (any number of other adhd symptoms) she’s just being a girl.” So is if bad to use those words for myself so I can find others like me without an official diagnosis? Sorry for the log asks (2)

Whether self-diagnosed or formally diagnosed (which you might actually have been, if your doc wanted you give you meds), it’s definitely ok for you to find support and ideas for managing symptoms in the ADHD community.

Self-diagnosis is something a lot of people do when they can’t get a formal diagnosis for one reason or another. It’s not ideal, but most people are pretty accepting of it. @actuallyadhd has a great post on self-diagnosis that you probably wanna look at: self-diagnosis.

Without a formal diagnosis, you won’t be able to get accommodations in school/work or things like that, but you can still get support and information from people with the same experience.

—Mell

[ask-abcsofadhd]

Is it an adhd thing to just not be able to stop daydreaming even in distracting situations and like rather than necessarily going on a tangent in my head in real time i just incorporate weird random things that potentially distract me into a fantasy world but essentially I’m going on a tangent still i guess but like in this fantasy world context instead that ends up kinda being its own daydream and pretty much everything that distracts me usually gets absorbed into a single expansive daydream

Daydreaming is a very common ADHD thing. Also, the extent to which you describe it sounds like maladaptive daydreaming. 

Maladaptive daydreaming is not currently recognized as a disorder in the DSM-5, but there is ongoing research, and a question scale (the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale or MDS) has been developed to help determine if a person might be a maladaptive daydreamer or not. Maladaptive daydreaming is reported to correlate pretty strongly with ADHD.

—Mell

[ask-abcsofadhd]

I was going to ask something that i thought was pressing but in the time it took to find this blog I've forgotten it. I hope the irony here is appreciated :|

Ah, short term memory issues...aren’t they fun? The irony is very much appreciated! 

—Mell

[ask-abcsofadhd]

is it ok to say I have ADHD even though I haven't been officially diagnosed by a doctor? I have multiple symptoms that could be linked with ADHD and they're getting pretty severe. Also, my mom has it so I'm wondering if it can be hereditary like anxiety and depression. IDK I just need some clarity or reassurance or something. -sss

Most people are fine with self-diagnosis. 

In an ideal world, everyone with ADHD would be professionally diagnosed so they could get whatever treatment/accommodations they need. However, this is not that world, and sometimes people can’t get diagnosed for various reasons.

@actuallyadhd has a very good post on self-diagnosis (or just search for it on their blog). If you continue to learn about it and still feel that ADHD matches your experience, it’s ok to say you have it or think you have it. 

If you do have the chance to get formally diagnosed, I’d suggest you strongly consider it. 

And yes, ADHD is highly hereditary! Your mom having ADHD means you have roughly a 1-in-3 chance of having it too. 

—Mell

[ask-abcsofadhd]

is it an adhd thing to get uncomfortable watching things being made? and i mean like on how its made and stuff, where everything happens seemingly ‘perfectly’ because watching stuff like that makes me soo uncomfortable and i dont know if its just me.

Sounds like it might be a sensory issue for you. And yes, sensory issues can be related to ADHD.

Funnily enough, I remember seeing a post in the adhd tag on Tumblr talking about how much they loved watching the “How It’s Made” show as a sort of visual stim.

Everyone reacts to sensory input differently; a really good stim for one person is another person’s sensory nightmare. But having strong reactions (good or bad) to sensory stimuli is something many ADHDers experience. 

(Sensory processing disorder itself is also a common comorbid with ADHD.)

—Mell

[ask-abcsofadhd]

I’m going to the doctor tomorrow to try and get a diagnosis and potentially medication, and I just wanted to say thank you for giving me the confidence to approach my doctor about this and the vocabulary to do so. This blog has really helped me define what I’m going through and helped with the stigma around it. Thank you so much!!

Congrats! Hope your appointment went well! 

—Mell