ADHD is an equal opportunist. It cuts across all socio-economic groups and when it’s untreated, the suffering is real.
I work with professionals and executives who live with ADHD. Yes, they have ADHD too.
This might sound contradictory. How can someone so accomplished have ADHD?
When I attended the 2023 annual CADDRA Conference in Montreal, I heard the organizers’ excitement about future conferences focusing on the impact of untreated ADHD. (By ‘untreated’ they were referring to medical treatment.) As CADDRA conferences are the playground for researchers, it’s likely they’ll attempt to measure the impact scientifically. With lots of data. Numbers. Trends.
But how can we truly measure the impact of untreated adult ADHD?
The exponential consequences of ADHD cannot be truly understood mathematically. While data are very important to creating best approaches for treatment, data do not fully convey the complexities of the disorder. And it is a disorder. Wild talents aside, anyone with ADHD will tell you that a disordered mind is no picnic to live with.
Personal stories, anecdotes, and life trajectories are the real data.
The doctor who loses promotions because they can’t get to their paperwork, the lawyer asked to leave their firm because they can’t get to their billings, the executive who risks heavy fines by not paying their personal taxes for years – these are all examples of very intellectually capable adults who struggle to execute basic tasks.
The staggering contradiction between potential and performance is deeply confusing. How do numbers convey the sense of chronic failure in spite of intelligence?
Imagine not being able to communicate or execute in a way that shows who you actually are.
When your actions consistently run contrary to your values, eventually you start believing you have no idea who you are. You don’t trust yourself to perform basic tasks or to learn from your mistakes.
How do you measure that kind of impact?
It isn’t just the adult with ADHD who’s affected. When one adult with ADHD is suffering, their business partners all experience the impact. Their life partners take on a huge burden of responsibility in order to create some order.
Their children might be subjected to the emotional tirades and impulsive explosions of frustration in ways that leave life-long scars.
And as for the adult with ADHD, they frequently experience deep self-doubt, imposter syndrome, depression and a myriad of other psychiatric comorbidities.
The very essence of ADHD is the loss of personal agency, the mechanism we all take for granted to live a goal-directed life.
How do you measure that?
If you’re suffering and you think you may have ADHD, here are some things to ask yourself:
- Have I been experiencing anxiety or depression for years despite therapy?
- Is my anxiety related to not being able to get things done?
- Am I chronically overwhelmed?
- Am I experiencing burnouts every few years?
- Am I struggling to manage my time?
- My emotions?
- Am I chronically under-slept?
- Do I frequently lose items?
- Am I unable to get started even when I know what to do?
- Do I avoid conflict or what I think might be conflict?
If you said yes to many of these questions, you may have ADHD. And you CAN do something about it.
Recover your agency.
Use your awareness of these patterns and decide to obtain a diagnosis.
Or, if you’re not ready for that step, come see me first.
Together, we’ll unpack the cluster of behaviours that are draining you.
Together, we’ll explore and build new ways of being.
Together, we’ll create a new understanding of you, for you.
Measure the true impact of ADHD in your life.
Use it as your starting point for something strategic. Self-affirming. Empowering. Authentic.
You deserve it.
With love and gratitude,
Lynda
ADHD Anger: Heal Your Relationship
