Although not officially diagnosed until my early 20’s, I’ve always exhibited behaviours of ADHD. I was constantly talking, moving and questioning, I was constantly doing something.
So, it didn’t seem unusual that I saw other Black women in my life who were also constantly in motion. As I got older and started understanding my neurodivergence, I thought back on my childhood, looking at the women in my life and thinking ‘I know why I couldn’t sit still, but why couldn’t they?’.
This was amplified when my therapist Andrea introduced me to the concept of the Black Woman Workhorse (BWWH). While I’ve managed to mitigate some of my more severe ADHD symptoms, my incessant compulsion to move persisted.
I eventually began to realise that when I managed to sit still and do my best impression of rest, not only was I unsuccessful, but I also felt guilty. Andrea describes the BWWH mindset as “the inability to perform the self-care required to actually take care of yourself.”