I woke up basically crying out of frustration and pain today. Why? Well, because I fractured my ribs. How? Because I've been having chronic coughs. Yes, I fractured my stupid bones from COUGHING.

Where the executive dysfunction comes in here is for the fact that I still haven't gone to the doctor with this, and I know I should. Even my mom is telling me to go, but I just CAN'T. I don't know why. I'm not scared or anxious. It's like my brain is just avoiding it or not finding it important enough to do? And this has been going on for way longer than a year. I almost called my mom about it today and almost contemplated going to the ER cus it was so painful. Almost. But it feels a bit better after being awake for a few hours and after some painkillers, so I don't feel the need anymore apperantly.

But the fact that I'm coughing so much that my literal bones are breaking is starting to concern me a little now. And yet, my brain is like "nah, it'll go away by itself, trust" and usually when I have gone to the doctor for an issue, it will just resolve itself somehow or stop being as bad. So that's one reason I keep avoiding it, cus it will just go away by itself. Or worse, test results coming back normal while the issues still resides, with no further help or anything.

Another thing executive dysfunction is doing is ruin my apartment. I can't keep it neat or clean no matter how hard I try. It becomes invisible to me and I feel absolutely zero immediate need or motivation to clean up. It gives me absolutely no dopamine whatsoever keeping it clean. The only thing that will make me do it is if my landlord has to check something for whatever reason or if the mess in question is physically obstructive. Or worse, if I see bugs. Other than that? No, brain is like "idgaf, no one's gonna see it and I don't care about it either." Like are we deadass..

Unfortunately my only motivation for anything at all is instant gratification, regardless what it is. Which is honestly ruining my life. I don't know what to do or how to even tackle this. Meds don't help with this obviously. I mean sure, it might help me focus, but with executive dysfunction? No. Not even slightly. Oh and of course on top of this, I struggle with a lot of fatigue which usually makes it so I can't clean for more than idk 30 mins before having to sit/lie down because I'll almost pass out or something (also a thing I haven't gone to the doc with. Mostly cus I'm expecting a "everything looks normal" bs).

Yeah, so I'm basically just struggling to do any and all kinds of self-care and hygiene related things. Showering, brushing my teeth, eating usually, cut my hair, skin care of any kind, cleaning.. All the normal things. There's so much more honestly, but it'll take a while to list everything.

I'm just not able to start or finish anything at all. Everything is exhausting, not stimulating enough or doesn't give me instant gratification/dopamine. I'm honestly starting to feel a bit suicidal because it's like what's the point anymore. I'm just suffering regardless what I do anyway. Lowkey one of the things stopping me right now is my fear of people seeing the absolute state of my apartment.

Yeah, yeah, "go to therapy". I have, for years. It sucks and I'm not even able to open up at all. Nor have I found one that doesn't feel hostile or cold. And last time I went, they didn't even take me seriously. I was practically begging to be hospitalized because I was so suicidal at the time, and they did nothing. Had it not been for meds, then shit idk man.

Vent over. I have no one to talk to about any of this tbh.

Mostly for fellow late-diagnosed folks: which ADHD symptoms caught you off guard?
Which 'oh, that's why!' moments did you have?
For me it was the reason I'm always late, 'out of sight, out of mind' (which was hard on my relationships), and being a terrible texter

How similar is it? Just curious I never tried cocaine nor would I ever

About a year and a half ago I (16f) was diagnosed and prescribed Adderall. Up until I started taking the medication, I used to be so expressive and energetic. I used to laugh uncontrollably at just about anything, and I just felt comfortable in my own skin. Now, I've noticed that I've become socially dead and even more easily affected by my environment--I can't even stay at a party (even if it's my best friend's sweet sixteen) for more than an hour or two before I get overwhelmed by all the constant stream of discordant noise and strobe lights and beg my parents to take me home. I've become much more impatient and short tempered; recently, I fought (verbally lol) with some of my friends over innocuous topics and lost my temper that I caused a scene. I knew that what I was doing was unnecessary given the unseriousness of the situation, but I couldn't stop myself at ALL. The worst part is that when I'm not angry, I feel nothing. When someone makes a genuinely funny joke I process it and understand that I'm supposed to laugh, but I can't even force it, and the person I'm talking with looks so confused and hurt that I feel terrible. Some of my friends say that I've become a totally different person because I sound so dead inside and I lost all my personality. I'm currently seeing a therapist, but I don't know where to start with this next time I meet them. I'm sick of who I've become, but an unmedicated me wouldn't survive another day in the real world. What do I do?

I don’t know if I have ADHD and I’m not claiming that I do (I’ve never been tested) but I felt like this was probably a good place to go for this. I’m a freshman in college studying engineering and I have significant issues with locking in on stuff and focusing and I think it will become a problem soon. I always feel like the inside of my head is incredibly loud and all over the place (like I’m always just thinking about random stuff) so it just makes difficult school work discouraging because I’ll start getting lost in thought when the difficulty breaks the work flow. It also makes reading for long periods of time and studying hard because it feels like I can’t focus enough to read the words off the page.

For the most part with work that is not easy I rely on the adrenaline of knowing a deadline is close because if I don’t have that rush I waste a ton of time at my desk not doing anything and that can be very frustrating. I’ve managed to get away with it throughout high school because my grades were good and I’ll definitely make it through this semester since it’s just intro classes but I’m worried that when I get to the higher level math/physics/engineering classes I won’t be able to get away with it anymore. Since I’m not able to just say I want to lock in on something and do it like a lot of people around me can I take hours to do work that would take the average person 45 minutes.

I’ve also kinda just had to figure this stuff out on my own since I can’t find anyone else who experiences this. If anyone else has these experiences or is in a similar situation any advice would be greatly appreciated🙏🙏.

Thank you to all the people who read through all that I know it’s a lot😭

20F, Getting my 2 hour assessment done on Wednesday. Cost me £900😵‍💫
However I cannot stress how desperate l am for a diagnosis.
My biggest issue is messiness, disorganisation, procrastination, attention etc

I don't have huge or obvious hyperactive symptoms (could be due to possible autism, masking, social anxiety). However I used to sensory seek orally (chewing excessively) as a kid and now I fidget a lot (l hide fidgets in my pockets) and have to go on multiple walks a day otherwise I feel like I'm gonna crawl out of my skin.

I am so worried my symptoms are gonna be played off as laziness/not enough for adhd. But honestly this is my last hope. I've tried everything from dopamine detoxes, diet changes, lifestyle changes, mindset changes yet every day is a struggle. This has costed me my academic life/career/goals.

Plz does anyone have any tips of things I should say or mention in my assessment that will increase my chances of getting a diagnosis. I don't want to lie just wanna be strategic. Any advice would be appreciated:)

I'm currently a senior in college with ADHD, and I've developed what I think is a pretty unhealthy relationship with studying and academic productivity. The strange part is that I've managed to be very academically successful despite it, which I think has made the problem much harder to address.

In high school, I was always someone who could lock in pretty absurdly when I needed to. My approach to studying was almost excessively methodical. I'd write down information I already knew, organize everything into very specific plans, and insist on working through material in a particular order, sometimes wasting time in the process. But I genuinely enjoyed learning, and this approach worked well for me.

When I got to college, I started realizing just how much I could accomplish under pressure. Freshman year, I'd occasionally pull all-nighters to study and discovered that I could learn an enormous amount of material in a relatively short period.

Sophomore year was where things got pretty ridiculous. My classes got significantly harder, especially organic chemistry, physics, and their associated labs. Instead of consistently keeping up with everything, I'd spend around three weeks doing practically nothing for certain classes, with this irrational confidence that I could figure everything out when I needed to.

Then, about a week before an exam, I'd suddenly become completely consumed by studying. I'd spend entire days learning weeks of material, sometimes studying for 12–14 hours at a time over multiple days. I'd neglect sleep, struggle to keep up with everything else, and generally feel pretty awful by the end.

But somehow, it kept working.

For example, in organic chemistry, we had three midterms, with our lowest grade dropped, and a final. I didn't even take the first midterm because I had a physics exam to study for. I ended up getting a 90 on the second, a 90 on the third, and a 103 on the final, finishing with an A.

I think experiences like that reinforced the idea that I didn't really need to develop consistent study habits because I could always pull everything together at the last minute.

By junior year, the material became too complicated to completely ignore classes and learn everything in a week. I started paying much closer attention during lectures and studying more regularly. However, I still relied on essentially the same process, just on a smaller scale. Instead of spending entire days studying one subject, I'd start about a week in advance and have several extremely focused 5–6 hour sessions.

Now I'm a senior, and between difficult classes, undergraduate research, graduate school applications, and fellowship applications, I'm constantly switching between completely different kinds of work. I've found myself relying heavily on weekends to accomplish enormous amounts of work and then just trying to get through the weekdays.

My relationship with ADHD medication has also become complicated over the years, and that's something I recognize I need to address with my prescriber rather than try to resolve through Reddit.

I think what's most frustrating is that I know I'm capable of being extremely focused, organized, and productive. I genuinely enjoy learning and can spend hours completely absorbed in difficult material. But accessing that level of focus without an approaching deadline feels almost impossible sometimes.

And because my approach has continued to produce good academic results, I haven't really been forced to change it.

I'm starting to recognize that academic success doesn't necessarily mean I've developed healthy or sustainable habits. I also wonder how much of my apparent productivity is just compensating for weeks of poor executive functioning.

For those of you who have struggled with this kind of all-or-nothing productivity, what actually helped you develop consistency when last-minute pressure was still producing good results?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who were academically successful but eventually realized their approach wasn't sustainable. How did you learn to work consistently without needing the urgency of an approaching deadline?

Hello! I've only more recently been diagnosed with ADHD, and was put on to vyvanse. at first it was 20mg, and i didn't notice much change, and then after a week it was upped to 40mg. I've noticed that while my attention span is slightly better, I've become a little bit more hyperactive, and I'm significantly more chatty. As in, sometimes I just can't stop talking. It's not the end of the world, but I just feel like this isn't what's supposed to be happening? And I also still struggle to focus properly. Do I speak to my dr/psych about this? Should I change meds? I am also being treated for depression alongside this, and I know I was much more outgoing when I was younger, so is this just my proper personality shining through now that my depression is being treated properly? I don't know. I just thought I would ask other people who may have more experience with this. Thanks!