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What An ADHD Diagnosis Means For My Concept Of Black Womanhood

In October 2019 I was diagnosed with ADHD. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, primarily Inattentive Type. Me with a whole disability. At the grand age of 26.

Finally I had an answer to the nameless demon I had no idea I was fighting that had wreaked so much havoc in my life. An answer to why I have lost countless jobs, friends, opportunities and struggled to keep my head above water for pretty much my entire life. I like to compare ADHD to a wrecking ball; one that causes so much chaos if not managed. Be it your career, finances, education social and even sex life (fam!), untreated ADHD spares no area of your life.

Before receiving the diagnosis I had always known I was different to other people, especially girls. I say different now, but back then the word ‘worse’ would have been the preferred word. I was the girl with the messiest desk at school, which later became the messiest desk at the office. Talking out of turn in the classroom evolved into interrupting people at meetings and functions. Rushed homework done outside the school cloakroom turned into last minute submissions outside uni departments. When it was time to start working is when I really struggled. For the life of me, I couldn’t keep up with the demand of managing a full time job, household chores and social commitments. Burnout wasn’t episodic periods but an everyday overwhelming experience.