Whenever I start to fall down the doubt spiral of ADHD doom (“but what if I don’t have ADHD, what if I’m actually just a terrible person who doesn’t try hard enough and who somehow accidentally managed to manipulate a specialist into thinking I have ADHD?”) I like to take ADHD “tests” to remind myself that yeah, actually, my brain is 13 trash fires masquerading as 12 feral cats in a trench coat and that actually, my ADHD is both
a) pretty severe and
b) entirely unmedicated due to my physical health being the equivalent of a meteor strike masquerading as 13 trash fires.
Anyway, this one has a cool pie chart with colors which I found quite helpful compared to the usual number scales. But also, lmao, help…
Edit: link for anyone that wants it. (This is obviously not a complete or comprehensive diagnostic tool. I just thought the way it was laid out was cool and way more accessible compared to others I’ve seen in the past.)
Is that enough to get it checked out, or am I just exaggerating?
#i relate so hard #but does it even matter?
Speaking for myself? It mattered to me. I related a lot to a lot of ADHD things, but I thought it didn’t matter. After all, I wasn’t in school anymore, what did it matter? Turns out, quite a fair bit in terms of how I live my entire life.
My life got infinitely better after my diagnosis, if only in terms of how I view myself. And the realization that I was harming myself by trying to pass for neurotypical and just how unkind I was (and sometimes still am) on a daily basis.
You also do not need to be absolutely debilitated by something to be worthy of help. You do not need to suffer worse to be valid. Would you refuse to wear glasses because other people have worse eyesight than you? No? Then why do we deny ourself the same accommodations when it comes to mental health care?
Even if you have temporary executive dysfunction from situational depression, you’re deserving of help.
