Absolutely. One thing I’ve found though is that it takes a long time to realize how many things there are that you’ve internalized due to ADHD.
I’ll find myself kind of falling into a rut of self loathing and think, wait, how’d I get here? What’s the root of this?
After a bit of digging over minutes, hours, or days, I come to realize such bizarre ideas have been embedded over the years that really don’t make sense. Unfortunately their effect is totally real. Not exaggerating, I began to suspect I was a sociopath before my diagnosis (why not do better if I know what I do wrong? Why do I upset people I care about in the same ways, over and over? There could only be one answer!) and I still routinely bump up against those ideas.
It’s kind of like weeding a garden. Identifying the weeds can be difficult, and they’re all hiding in and around the cover of normal plants. Their seeds and roots keep growing back if you aren’t careful.
Man isn't that the truth. I can't begin to count the amount of times I've been accused of being lazy, or the times I've been told I could amount to more if I just applied myself.
Getting a diagnosis is amazing, not because it gives me access to drugs -- I don't use any -- but because it allows me to stop blaming myself for the ADHD symptoms.