Two months ago I was diagnosed at the age of 53 with ADHD. Upon speaking with other adults, it’s not something that is unusual. Much of our symptoms are combined with other things such as anxiety, stress, and our mental health that many doctors fail to realize that perhaps those things are a direct correlation to the ADHD.
I will never dismiss mental health and try to shun it. Mental health is- and should be- a priority. We shouldn’t shy away from talking about it, and we shouldn’t isolate and make others feel that they are less than because of it. It takes a village to raise children, and it takes the same village to help one another. Because of my family history and my own history with mental illness, I will never do that. I will apologize when I have to talk about something for my own sanity, but sometimes you have to let things out. [This is something I will talk about in a later post]
My doctor placed me on a non-stimulant medication to see how I would do. At first, I thought that it was just okay, but then I ran out of that medication and oh my the difference. I could see and feel the difference.
My desk was more organized and my grading much more up-to-date while on the meds. I could plan better. I could handle the chaos in the classroom better when I was medicated. Noise in the classroom and constant chatter becomes overwhelming for me. The outer stimuli of it competes with the 100 open tabs and conversations going on in my brain. And honestly, I want to just shut down. The medication helps me with my anxiety when I am tasked with trying to function this way. I still have the constant tabs open (because my brain is constantly trying to make connections to other ideas), but I can focus more clearly on what needs to take priority rather than my brain telling me that it all has to take priority at once. Example, a student doesn’t understand how I taught a lesson, there’s a tab that can connect me to another way to explain it that popped up when I overheard a conversation that several other students were having.
I’m learning to adjust. A co-worker stated that she doesn’t take medication for her ADHD. She learned to adapt. She’s also a little more well-adjusted than I am. I have a family history of depression and usually it is genetic. For me, I am more susceptible of having anxiety which in turn leads to my depression. I need the medication to help me slow down and process. I still have those overwhelming number of tabs open in my brain, but I can now select the ones I need.
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