Can you do Brian with ADHD?
Okay, I’ll just sit down and write out some chords, Brian thought to himself, sitting down at his dining room table, pen and paper in hand. Freddie had written a new song and needed some help with the guitar section.
He read over the notes before pressing his pen down and-
Oh, silly me. I’ve been needing to do this dishes for a while now. I’ll do them.
Brian got up and went to the kitchen sink, starting the faucet. He’d vigorously scrubbed through half the dishes before he remembered he needed to call Roger about something, which he couldn’t remember.
He dried his hands, scurrying over to the phone and dialing Roger’s number. Upon reminding Roger of the important thing. Roger informed him they had already fixed the van last week, didn’t he remember? Oh. Well, it’s still a good day to talk to his best friend. So the two chatted for over an hour before the drummer had to go.
Brian felt real happy after that talk he had. He decided he’d make some lunch and watch the telly for a bit b-
I’ve forgotten to write back my mum!
He ran back to the table, pushing aside the music sheets to write his mom a letter. They didn’t live far away but she insisted on having correspondence with him. Brian never minded it, finding it quite adorable in fact.
So he settled down, writing out the date and “Hello, mum,” in his best script.
His stomach grumbled, reminding him that lunch couldn’t wait any longer. Without a seconds hesitation, he got up and padded to the kitchen, concocting a lunch of a sandwich and coffee, throwing in as many dishes into the sink as he had just cleaned earlier.
After he had satisfied his hunger, he leaned back, scratching his chin, looking around. Now, what was I doing?
The phone was dangling by the cord, letting out a faint and constant beep.
The table was strewn with papers and letters, half written notes and half opened envelopes.
The kitchen fared no better, a never ending pile of dishes in the sink, food left out on the counters.
This was Brian’s normal, but..it didn’t feel normal.
Since as long as he could remember, he was like this. Going, going, going, all day until he dropped from exhaustion late at night. He’d start things and never finish them. Not that he didn’t want to or that they weren’t important. He just couldn’t stay focused on anything long enough.
His mind was jumping from thought to idea to goal to joke, never ending. He’d forget something as soon as you said it or as soon as he thought it. He’d impulsively do things, his brain unable to think of the consequences before hand.
He lived life in this tunnel, it felt. Only going forward to the next thing, unable to go back.
He must’ve been going crazy. He must’ve already been crazy his whole life.
With his head in his hands, he groaned.
“I’ve gone mad, Fred. I can’t do this anymore,” Brian confessed to the older, leg shaking as he sat in a chair opposite to Freddie.
Freddie just smiled, head tilting. He grabbed Brian’s hand and gave it a soft pat.
“Darling, you haven’t gone mad. You’re perfectly sane,” he said comfortingly.
Brian shook his head, snatching his hand back, using it to rub his face with irritation.
“I have, I really have. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I d-” he was interrupted.
“I do know what’s wrong. You’re hyperkinetic. Like me,” Freddie said with a smirk.
Brian cocked an eyebrow, lips tightening. “H-Hyperkinetic?” he asked slowly, the word foreign on his tongue.
“Yes! Hyperkinetic. It’s an illness, darling. Means, well, you’re hyper. Can’t stop running around, forgetting things, doing impulsive things, can’t even sit still. It’s a diagnosis I received as a child,”
Brian shook his head as he processed Freddie’s words. Him and Freddie were quite similar in behavior. They never stood still, fidgeting about, forgetting and remembering together. Brian thought though, that Freddie was just flamboyant. That it was all just an act.
It made sense that it wasn’t.
“S-So...” Brian once again struggled for words. Freddie happily continued.
“You’re hyperkinetic. It’s not all that bad once you understand it, dear. There’s a medicine out there for it and some things you can do to help. God knows I’d be a mess without it,”
Brian just continued to nod, dumbfounded about it all.
Brian did collect himself and the two talked well into the night. Brian was thrilled to know that there were answers and solutions to everything he was going through. He was even more excited to know that someone he trusted had the same affliction. It made him seem less alone.
Freddie helped him schedule an appointment with a doctor and by the end of the month, he had a prescription for Cylert and some coping strategies. Hyperkinetism, later known as ADHD, was life long. But it wasn’t a life sentence to misery. Not in the slightest. Sure, ADHD had it’s pitfalls, but it had it’s advantages. Brian learned to wield and use those to his benefit.
In a years time, he was in a completely different head space. He felt good. He felt capable. And with Freddie besides him, he felt unstoppable.
