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5 Positive Traits of ADHD Adults

When I signed on to WordPress tonight, I got a notification that yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of signing up with the site.

Can you imagine how awesome it would have been if I had blogged the whole time…instead of taking over a year off? …but I didn’t.

Still, I’m back. Or…I’m trying to be back anyway. During my hiatus, I received multiple comment notifications on various blog posts. Even in my state of silence, my published words and experiences were reaching other members of the ADHD community.

Sadly, I didn’t respond to many of these comments. I’m not sure why. My ADHD blog was doing just what I had intended for it to do. It was reaching people, but I wasn’t acknowledging them or their experiences. I feel badly about this and will likely respond to those comments at some point over the next few days (weeks?).

The thing is, blogging, especially about overcoming my ADHD, OCD, etc. struggles, makes me feel like I’m making a difference. Well, at least the positive response I get from many of my readers makes me feel that way.

I’ve thought about going back to school to become an ADHD coach. There are many tools out there that can make the ADHD life easier. I could be an advocate for other ADHDers.

Anyway, I’m almost digressing here. I am still very lost, but, the point is…I already am an advocate for ADHDers. I’m not trying to toot my own horn. ADHD readers have voiced this…or at least voiced that I’m writing things they can relate to and that I’m helping them think of their struggles in new ways.

And so, as I sat here tonight trying to figure out what to blog about (having taken pics for multiple potential posts and having started multiple drafts), it occurred to me that maybe I should pay homage to the original post on this page: 5 Positive Traits of ADHD Adults.

After all, at the end of the day, despite my personal and professional struggles over the last year or so, I do still believe that adults with ADHD are determined, creative, intelligent, resilient, and courageous. And part of the reason I came here to blog in the first place was to help prove that to the rest of the world.

At 26, I was diagnosed with ADHD. After our first hour together, my psychologist said “I don’t usually recommend medication after the first visit, but I think you’re an ideal candidate.” Shortly after that, I went to a psychiatrist who confirmed the diagnosis: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Combined Type, meaning I’m both inattentive and hyperactive. Go me.

Honestly, the diagnosis came as no shock, as you’ll come to understand if you read my blog. I was pulling all-nighters in first grade and I’d spent the rest of my life knowing I was smart, but struggling with everything in me just to keep up. That said, I did manage to keep up. So many of my struggles occurred because of my ADHD brain and its differences, but I only managed to keep up because of that very same brain and its rockin’ problem solving skills.

So many people focus on the negative side of having ADHD, but I think the ADHD brain is pretty awesome. Sure, there are plenty of struggles and I’ll talk about those in this blog, too. But let’s go ahead and face it, the ADHD brain is super powerful.

The thing is, certain things were always really hard for me. While I was aware that I struggled more than most, the struggle was all I ever knew, so it never occurred to me that there might actually be a reason for my difficulties. I never looked for an excuse and I never gave up…I just kept fighting and coming up with new ways to try, try again.

We’re all different and we all struggle with our own issues, but a diagnosis like ADHD, that is so closely linked to specific struggles, means you are not alone. There are other people who have struggled with the same, or similar, issues and, just as importantly, there are other people who have similar strengths, who get your sense of humor, who understand the way you think and who totally get how painful it is to sit still and be quiet. There’s comfort in that and relief, that you don’t just plain old suck, despite what you’ve been feeling all these years. Somewhere in there, there’s the ability to forgive your younger self for never having been good enough and there’s even the epiphany that perhaps you’ve actually always been more than enough.

The ADHD brain is not like most of the others. Society isn’t built to cater to the ADHD way of thinking. Yet, society could learn a lot from the ADHD brain. And that’s what this blog is all about, the trials and tribulations of living with an ADHD brain AND the triumphs of it. We spend our lives coming up with creative solutions to everyday problems, so we can survive. I’m pretty sure there’s a thing or two that “normal people” could learn from us and I’m pretty sure there are things they already have…

Without further adieu (or extensive ramblings), I give you the 5 Positive Traits of ADHD Adults because, yes, my friends, we are awesome and we are also:

1. Determined – Because giving up isn’t an option.

2. Creative – Because when your brain is not like the others, you have to be.

3. Intelligent – Because how else would you have gotten this far?

4. Resilient – Because you always bounce back.

5. Courageous – Because you fought like hell and you’re pretty much a super hero.

And with that, I’m going to wrap up this first blog post. It’s taken me about a month to post it and I’m afraid if I don’t just do it, well, you know, it’ll never get done…