Overly Organised Chaos

‘Do I have ADHD?’ When the thought first crossed my mind it felt ridiculous. ‘How could I!?’ ‘I’d have known by now’ ‘I don’t fit the mould’ were all thoughts that followed, extremely quickly of course.

I was a woman in my thirties, not a young boy who couldn’t stop running round the classroom. I felt silly to even be considering the idea and laughed it off to begin with, but that little niggling thought just wouldn’t go away.

Like most women my age ADHD had never even been considered in my childhood. Like most women my age I didn’t ACTUALLY know anything about it. I had vague recollections of an outdated stereotype and thought back to the boy in my school who had it… I was nothing like that. But in true ADHD style my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up in the deepest internet rabbit hole I’d ever been in. The hyperfocused intensity of my search for answers took me down a path that changed my life forever. But it was a long, confusing and lonely path at first. I felt so let down by the adults in my past and I felt abandoned by the mental health system. I needed someone to help me! To guide me through and keep me on the right track.

Fast forward to now, officially diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (combined type) and having finally won the seemingly endless battle with the NHS trying to get assessed, I decided I should create a guide to help even the most easily distracted of minds get from ‘Could it be ADHD?’ to the answers they have been looking for.

Here are 5 steps to working out if you have ADHD:

1. Have a look on social media for ADHD related content. It of course isn’t diagnostic, but it is a great way to find support and understanding as well as seeing if you relate to a lot of the things you read.
2. Start keeping a list in your phone of traits you have, that you think could be ADHD related. You will be really glad you did if you end up seeking an ADHD assessment, and if you’re anything like me you will forget so much if you don’t keep it tracked in one place.
3. Complete a free ADHD screening form online. Again this is not diagnostic, however this self screening tool is quick and should give you a clear idea of whether you want to seek professional assessment.
4. Speak to people with ADHD! Reach out online or ask someone you know in person. There’s some kind of magic connection we ADHDers seem to have with each other and you can learn so much from the community.
5. Take a look through the official ADHD diagnostic criteria and information and see how each one affects you. Adding this to your phone list of traits will again be massively helpful if you go on to seek professional evaluation.

Remember, if you developed these traits recently, you may be experiencing something different. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a neurological condition people are born with. It doesn’t develop in adulthood. That being said certain life experiences such as becoming a parent, pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause, a change in job or living environment, can worsen existing ADHD symptoms making them harder to hide and ignore. So while you may only be aware of it now, you should be able to look back through your life and recognise that in hindsight you did have signs all along, now you know what you are looking for.

After some self reflection and completing the steps in this guide, if you feel like ADHD really might be an explanation for the struggles you’ve been having, the next step is to be assessed by a professional. This varies hugely country to country but for those of you who live in England, check out my guide to bypassing the NHS queue (and indeed uninformed GPs) to get an ADHD assessment on the NHS.

In the meantime join the online community and learn all you can about how to improve life as an adult with ADHD.

Good luck!