Do I Actually Have ADHD?
People often ask if I actually have an ADHD diagnosis myself.
As I help people, mostly with ADHD, to manage their negative symptoms by themselves, I get asked this quite a lot.
I posted on Linked yesterday that I’m not sure whether it comes from a place of checking my validity, credibility or just curiosity however it happens a lot.
If you didn’t know, I do actually have a diagnosis and I went through the assessment process a few years back in 2022.
What it means to me
At first, everything I did could be credibly attributed to traits or symptoms however at the same time, it easily became the 'cause' or 'reason' for everything I did.
It was like I outsourced all responsibility to this new label.
The diagnosis forced me to look inwards and change numerous areas of my life, which I'm grateful for, although the more I started to understand myself, the more I've found myself distancing from the actual diagnosis / label.
And before you ask, that’s not because everything is perfect.
Why I naturally distanced myself
As I said, it’s not because I’ve solved or cracked the code when it comes to ADHD.
I still procrastinate and get distracted a lot, my sleep hasn’t been great for a while, my phone addiction has returned, I feel scattered frequently and rejection sensitivity still catches me off guard sometimes (like I wrote about here)
The reason I’ve distanced myself from it is because I’m a lot better at understanding how I work & what my needs are, to the point that it no longer defines everything I do.
Procrastination is fine because I know how to get work done when it’s needed.
Not having the best sleep is ok provided I create space for slower mornings and rest.
Being on my phone is annoying but they’re designed to be addictive & I know I can shake it again.
I feel scattered but I’m doing a lot and that’s kind of down to me not wanting to sacrifice anything.
We sometimes forget
Having ADHD is sometimes spoken about as if we’re not humans first.
We’re not some separate species where the core fundamentals of human needs don’t apply to us.
Removing every single problem we face and being these high-performing, productivity maxing robots isn’t realistic.
It also sounds like a life we’d get incredibly bored of very quickly too.
After nearly 4 years, I recognise that ADHD is there however it doesn’t define me or everything I do.
It’s just a part yet we’re so much more than just that one part.
Unless you’re new here, or have been living under a rock 🪨, Mindfulness is something that’s helped me significantly post diagnosis and if you’d like to check it out in a way that’s accessible and suitable for ADHD brains, I’m running some monthly sessions with ADHD UK.
By working with a great charity like them, it allows me to offer the sessions on a donate-what-you-can basis to a wider audience.
Register for the sessions - starting 21/07/26 at 19:00 BST https://events.adhduk.co.uk/event/making-mindfulness-accessible-for-adhd-brains-with-jack-palmer/
I’d love to know:
What’s your story with ADHD?
or reply to this if you’d like it to stay a bit more personal.
Jack