First Diagnosis: Real or Fake?

All of my life I have been told that I needed to calm down or that I was really loud and hyper. People got easily annoyed with me because I could never sit still or anything like that. Honestly at first when I asked my parents about ADHD they asked me why I wanted to know and I kept saying it's because people started asking me if I had it all throughout middle school. My parents told me that I couldn't have ADHD since it doesn't exactly run in the family only a pretty distant family member had it. So then I got told that I was taking it and I know I wasn't but I was convinced for a while that I was.

I felt like other people would think I was making it up but I honestly felt relieved until I thought that there was something else “wrong” with me added on lol

It was definitely an “I really should have seen this coming” moment for us. It certainly explained how we act, and it opened an eye for us. I think it was really good to be able to put a name to things that cause issues

it made me realize that the entire way i was living my life since childhood, wasn’t normal. i experienced symptoms of all my ailments as long as i can remember, i can’t pinpoint a time when the symptoms started because they were never symptoms in the first place, it was my life. i got more concerned because i realized it wasn’t normal, and i felt like “something was wrong with me”, i also worried i was overreacting or faking it because it had felt so normal for so many years. i thought everyone felt like this and i was being dramatic for needing to get help because of it. all my conditions are also genetic, so it helped me learn a lot about family members who were shunned and never spoken about until their funerals again because of their depression. it was a really sad eye opening time of my life, especially being 14 at the time and just starting highschool. i felt worse at the time, but in retrospect, i feel better. you’re always going to feel worse before you feel better.

Everything made sense. Being an extrovert yet not wanting to be around people because masking was exhausting or doing excellent on tests but horrible on homework. I finally realized I wasn’t lazy or insane I just have a hard time regulating my attention and trouble relating to neurotypicals.

I was pretty confident that I had ADHD before I was diagnosed because so did a LOT of research, so it was nice to hear that it was real and there are meds and things that so can do to help me!!! It was also weird for me to not be wondering anymore, because I was just a little unsure for so long but then it was clear. It was definitely a positive experience for me!!!

I was diagnosed as a child so I don't really remember how it felt to me, but to my mom and teachers they were just happy that they had an answer to why I was the way I was and could try to help me with it

I honestly still feel paranoid that I’m faking it, but having my thoughts and feelings be listened to with actions to back them has really helped me feel comfortable in accepting my diagnoses.

It made sense but I did question if I was faking symptoms or if I was over reading into everything

Didn't care at all

it definitely felt wild! when i was diagnosed i had expected a few of the outcomes (depression, anxiety), but i was not expecting to have adhd. when it did come up, i felt like it made sense, that everything was coming together. i came to terms with the fact that i think differently than others and it felt good. it had put an explanation on things i couldn't have described before and i knew my doctors and my therapist were just trying to get the best for me. i definitely felt much better than i had before being diagnosed.