As ADHDers, I don't think there's an aspect of our lives that it doesn't touch. I've been doing a lot of thinking the past week as my first assessment visit is approaching and been thinking about the impacts it has had. It touches everything.

I got distracted making coffee this morning and almost poured the grounds in the water tank. Then after making the coffee, it sat in the machine for an hour and a half because I got focused on something else.
Constant fear and adrenaline fueled "3am the day it's due" starts for assignments in uni, and eventual burnout and dropping out of Uni (I finished with some interesting open learning subjects almost 10 years later, but *only* because I needed a degree for sponsorship).
Self care struggles. I have a missing front tooth because I dental hygiene wasn't something I could persistently manage on my own without prompting. I brush daily now, but that's because my SO makes me right before bed. We do it together.
Same with showering. How do I sit there, saying "I really need a shower", yet don't do it, or sit with headache suffering when I just have to get up walk into the other room and have access to headache relief.
I've lost my job, quit my job before I lost it, or feared losing it too many times, crashed out of one with burnout so bad I just stopped turning up. After 3-6 months, it became a struggle just to keep doing the thing. Best job was incident response. Each day was a clean slate.
But that job came with it's own costs. Running on adrenaline constantly, putting out fires, racing the clock. It was stressful, but interesting. I've known for a long time that interest was a key thing for me. Computers are a long term interest of mine.
I've drifted from job to job, always looking for the next dose of interest, and excitement. I try to create that with side projects, and have done some amazing stuff, but what happens when the side project is more interesting that the job?
That's where the focus goes, the job suffers again. Cycles repeat. I don't even think I need to go into relationships. We've all experienced the stress and strain created there (lazy, forgetful, don't care), esp when we ourselves are not aware of why we just can't do the thing.
I've internalized so much negative self talk about myself, I could fill volumes. It was only last year, through twitter and sharing experiences I could even put a name to the thing that had stalked my life for so long.
I was worried I'd have little to say to the psych, but honestly I think once I get started I won't be able to stop. I haven't even scratched the surface yet.

More from For later read

I should mention, this is why I keep talking about this. Because I know so many people who legally CAN'T.

How do I know they have NDAs, if they can't talk legally about them? Because they trusted me with their secrets... after I said something. That's how they knew I was safe.


Some of the people who have reached out to me privately have been sitting with the pain of what happened to them and the regret that they signed for YEARS. But at the time, it didn't seem like they had any other option BUT to sign.

I do not blame *anyone* for signing an NDA, especially when it's attached to a financial lifeline. When you feel like your family's wellbeing is at stake, you'll do anything -- even sign away your own voice -- to provide for them. That's not a "choice"; that's survival.

And yes, many of the people whose stories I now know were pressured into signing an NDA by my husband's ex-employer. Some of whom I *never* would have guessed. People I thought "left well." Turns out, they've just been *very* good at abiding by the terms of their NDA.

(And others who have reached out had similar experiences with other Christian orgs. Turns out abuse, and the use of NDAs to cover up that abuse, is rampant in a LOT of places.)

You May Also Like

And here they are...

THE WINNERS OF THE 24 HOUR STARTUP CHALLENGE

Remember, this money is just fun. If you launched a product (or even attempted a launch) - you did something worth MUCH more than $1,000.

#24hrstartup

The winners 👇

#10

Lattes For Change - Skip a latte and save a life.

https://t.co/M75RAirZzs

@frantzfries built a platform where you can see how skipping your morning latte could do for the world.

A great product for a great cause.

Congrats Chris on winning $250!


#9

Instaland - Create amazing landing pages for your followers.

https://t.co/5KkveJTAsy

A team project! @bpmct and @BaileyPumfleet built a tool for social media influencers to create simple "swipe up" landing pages for followers.

Really impressive for 24 hours. Congrats!


#8

SayHenlo - Chat without distractions

https://t.co/og0B7gmkW6

Built by @DaltonEdwards, it's a platform for combatting conversation overload. This product was also coded exclusively from an iPad 😲

Dalton is a beast. I'm so excited he placed in the top 10.


#7

CoderStory - Learn to code from developers across the globe!

https://t.co/86Ay6nF4AY

Built by @jesswallaceuk, the project is focused on highlighting the experience of developers and people learning to code.

I wish this existed when I learned to code! Congrats on $250!!