I’m newly diagnosed as a woman in her 20’s. The more I learn about my adhd symptoms, the more I learn my adhd has ALWAYS been EXTREMELY present. The very building blocks that make me, me are just everything that makes up adhd. (could even be autistic too but idk yet) I’ve always been criticised for just about every single little thing. I’m always late, I’m “lazy” I “overreact.” I don’t “pay attention,“ I forget things. You name it, I have it and I’ve been made fun of or criticised for it prior to me knowing it was adhd. I thought I was broken for my entire life. That I was a failure of life because of it. I knew in my heart that these things weren’t fixable but I had no answers as to why I was like this. Now I FINALLY have answers. I’m not broken. At least not in the way I thought. I’m just different and already I have noticed my mental health improving just based off that. I’m currently on a waiting list for medication so as of now, I am unmedicated. As such, I am still myself. I have the exact same adhd struggles at the exact same intensity. That would be fine if the people around me were patient, knowing I am just different, that there’s nothing inherently wrong with me…but I’ve noticed they don’t. I mentioned my diagnosis and it’s as if I had just told them what I ate for breakfast. I’m still being criticised. I’m still being made to feel like I’m stupid and dumb and worthless, even if they aren’t directly calling me those things. My friend who I thought would understand the most because they have adhd friends, it’s as if they don’t even believe me somehow. They even said I “didn’t seem like the type.” I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say to that! My assumption is that they only think of adhd for the quirky stuff like “oh, I have adhd so I’m super childish” not as anything that could actually genuinely debilitate you. I was forced to raise myself from a young age, so it’s like they see the fact I can be independent and assume I can’t have adhd.