ADHD Awareness Month

All of a sudden we’re finishing October and the leaves are very much changing on the trees and dropping quite regularly. But, I’ve realised that it is ADHD Awareness month and World mental health day (10/10) all in October!

And with all of the things that I’ve had going on in the last couple of years, after my diagnosis I realised I’ve only talked about it very briefly. I mean I talk enough in person to people about it and I’ve supported quite a few people through their diagnosis of ADHD now, but every time I post something publicly, I get people asking questions or at least wanting to know more.

Do any of these traits ring a bell with you?
( Info from the amazing ADHD Foundation website - https://lnkd.in/euRiK9Dk )

Starting something and not finishing it and then feeling bad because of this

Working much harder to achieve because not sure of how hard you need to work … burn out cycles

Chatty, enthusiastic, overly engaged ( and then not!)

Losing your day drifting off down a rabbit hole of interest- seen sometimes as ‘daydreaming’.

Distracted by other people’s conversations around you and drifting off when talking to someone – unless the topic is of high interest and then fully engaged.

Impulsive ( enthusiastic) decision making – saying yes before saying no and then regretting it because of too many yes’s

Not being able to sit still/stay quiet for long/fidgety/toe-tapping/doodling/hair twirling

Sleep disturbance, busy brain, and rumination and feelings of disappointment when it hasn’t gone right ( again). Feeling anxious.

Losing possessions even though you are sure you put them in one place, disorganised.

Loads of information/knowledge… but a brain that has an inconsistent filing system

Poorer concepts of time passing

Other people’s perceptions of you – thinking that you are less capable than you really are or overly direct or rude because of interrupting ( I often find it hard to stay quiet for long!).

Compensating to camouflage by working even harder to cover up mistakes /driving anxiety and obsessional actions to do so- putting the pressure on yourself

Prevarication ends up with you doing the things you like doing and avoiding the tedious things we still all have to do as much as possible even though we know they often won’t take us long in reality.

I know that talking’s certainly helped me to get aligned with this world of ADHD. I don’t know if I’d say I’m on top of it, I don’t think I would, I don’t think I’ll ever be, but at least being aware of it and being able to react in certain situations in a different way, is very, very useful. And from many years ago, when I was leaving University, my ethos has always been to help rather than hinder. And I’ve tried to help people throughout my career, whether that was in the communities of Leeds, or more recently to help businesses where I can, both with photos but also with advice and thoughts and another pair of ears and eyes. Which again, it’s not going to work for everything. I don’t think that much of myself, but I think I’ve been pretty good at being able to help people just as a sounding board.

So, it’s exactly two years since I was pushed in the direction that it may be ADHD, this is why I was struggling a little bit with certain anxieties and the way things were being processed by my brain. So again when I look and go, ‘Yeah, thank you so much Nicola Jayne Little for the journey you started me on and it’s made a massive difference to my life.’ (have a look at https://lnkd.in/epqmZKfd) And I hope that my retelling stories and tagging some people in will do the same again and will encourage people to talk. You don’t have to talk to me, but it’d be good to talk to someone. If your head isn’t kind of where you assume everybody else’s is, it’s worth having a chat. I’m not saying everybody’s got ADHD by any stretch, but if you’re like me and you’re struggling, I can certainly say that mine was a life-changer. So seeing as it’s the month, make sure you go and talk.