Thread by @ZoeMildon

🧵Friday 3rd December was an important milestone for me

One year ago I was diagnosed with combined (inattentive + hyperactive) ADHD 🧠

and entirely by coincidence it was International Day of Disabled People #IDDP

Inspired by others on here, particularly @balon_marie @ZJAyres @elebelfiore @wiasnofficial @ravenscimaven I want to share my diagnosis story and what I've learnt in the last year

Mid-late 2021 I was a mess. The stress of the pandemic and WFH had completely trashed my sub-conscious coping mechanisms

I was so exhausted I could barely walk to the end of the road. The lowest point was calling an ambulance because I thought I was having a stroke....

... and yet I would put my happy smiling face 😊 on for colleagues, family, friends, students - but inside I was overwhelmed and I couldn't cope

I thought I was just burnt-out

And then I read this article
theguardian.com/society/2020/n…

It was like a💡had switched on - I could identify with virtually everything in this article

Feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, perfectionism, zoning out of conversations, endless interests, difficulty focussing, being forgetful, etc etc

Being diagnosed was a relief in some ways - there was a reason that I was different and I wasn't just 'lazy' or 'useless' or 'rude'

But it wasn't all easy - feeling like I'd lost myself, adjusting my own internal ableism, many many sleepless nights while adjusting to medication

This is one of my favourite memes to describe ADHD (I actually sent this to my line manager to help explain my diagnosis 😂)

although many of these could be perceived as negative traits...

... it's important to focus on the positive traits of my ADHD - many of these are things I like about myself and are what make me good at what I do

It's ironic really that academia is not the most friendly place for neurodiverse (ADHD, ASD, dyslexia and others) people

Many of my ADHD traits are pretty normalised within academia, which is probably partly why I didn't realise how different I was until the age of 29

Everyone I've told so far has been so supportive

from "what can we do to make things easier for you?" to
"those traits are all the things that make you a great person"

In the last year, I've learnt so much about myself, why I think/act the way I do, how I can work well

I'm learning to be kinder to myself - though this is definitely a work in progress!

I've found support, through Twitter, Facebook and podcasts, from other brilliant #ADHD women

I'm sharing this now because it was only by reading/hearing about others experiences that I was able to realise that I was not alone.

Plus it's important to normalise talking about #MentalHealth and #Disability in academia

#AcademicTwitter #ADHDAcademics #ADHD