Hi, I'm Adelaide. I'm a millennial with ADHD who has spent their life feeling like an overemotional weirdo. I found out about ADHD in my late 20s, but took me years to fully understand that ADHD might be the reason for many of my struggles. That's when I started to embrace it 1/
I'm hyperlexic and I have good memory when I hyperfocus, which made people think in my school years I was gifted and a hard worker. I felt like a failure; I barely put any effort and still managed to do stuff quite nicely, while others didn't. So I felt guilty and a fraud 2/
When I finished high school, I got pressured to pursue medicine, and although I liked it, I also liked other career choices. Most people thought I should just because my grades allowed me to do so, and it "would be a waste". Job opportunities finally tipped the balance for me 3/
*insert 3 tweets I got to delete in time - I totally derailed in total ADHD fashion*
My hyperfocus was pretty hardcore, so in med school I still managed to study last minute and get decent grades. That capacity something that still amazes me about ADHD brains 4/
My hyperfocus was pretty hardcore, so in med school I still managed to study last minute and get decent grades. That capacity something that still amazes me about ADHD brains 4/
I wanted to be a psychiatrist, since I've always been good at listening to people. During that time I went through some emotional mess that made me realize I would probably overload eventually and end up being shitty at it (Thread below explaining why) 5/
During my intern years I had a hard time with focus. A little slip up (normal for someone learning) caused RSD to kick in (you screwed up, everyone will hate you for it). I started to develop coping mechanisms for my focus, unaware ADHD was the cause of my inattention 6/
The first time I read about ADHD in a relatable way was on an online post about someone who talked about their emotional issues with ADHD. It knocked me off my feet for days; I knew that was it, but I didn't fully embrace it. I thought it wouldn't change much anyway 7/
It wasn't until years later, when I read a post about relatable emotional ADHD symptoms, that it finally clicked. It completely knocked me off my feet for several days. From there, I checked everything I could about ADHD and I kept being mind-blown every time (an ADHD classic) 8/
The biggest gift for me was understanding myself. For the first time in my life, I wasn't an outcast, I wasn't the different one. I was just part of the ADHD community, where people shared my struggles and understood. That's the biggest gift twitter has given me 9/
I was aware that writing or talking about what I felt helped me make it conscious, so I started this Twitter account to shout into a void; I never expected anyone to listen. I slowly started to share experiences with people, and I felt like I finally belonged somewhere 10/
I still remember the first time someone thanked me because something I shared helped them understand themselves. It flooded my heart with warmth. Even though I found it hard to understand why anyone would be interested in what I had to say, what mattered is that they did 11/
That's when I knew that, even if sharing made me feel vulnerable, I could give something back to the ADHD community that helped me so much. I'm an over thinker, which makes me quite self aware of my struggles (even though my self awareness still sucks because ADHD) 12/
I live in that ADHD contradiction where I'm as insecure about my content as I need validation for it because RSD. Every interaction inspires me to share all the random stuff that comes to mind. That's all I have to offer. Thank you for being there, it's the best gift 13/13
