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Have you ever connected the two? For many, there is that stage where life is just not going right, and you don't know why. Maybe you are dealing with depression and anxiety.
Perhaps your life is just out of control, and you decide to get help. You decided to see a family doctor, a therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or maybe you just start doing some research.
With help or on your own, you find for sure or suspect you have ADHD. You might be so relieved, then these sneaky thoughts start in. Maybe you don't actually have ADHD?
What if I'm a fraud and I don't actually have it and I just need to work harder or get it together? There is that denial. Sometimes denial comes ahead of time and stops you from seeking treatment.
Let's say you get past that. Now you are mad. Why wasn't this caught earlier? Didn't people see me struggling? My life could have been so much better if I were functioning the way I should have been.
Then depression, and that is not to say you actually get depressed. But you are spending a lot of time in the past. You are evaluating all your failures, and you are sad that things weren't different.
On to bargaining. I so often see people wish they could just get rid of their ADHD, but I think for most this looks like trying to gain some control over our feelings of this situation. You are willing to do anything to gain more control over your situation.
If you chose meds they are helping, but soon you realize that although you are functioning better, you are still struggling in many ways. You are willing to do anything possible to feel better. So you seek more help, do more research, perhaps hire a coach.
If you don't get stuck in any of these stages, you will finally come to acceptance. Your brain just works differently from a neurotypical brain. Maybe you wouldn't even trade your brain that has a million thoughts a minute for anything.
Creativity, curiosity, the drive are all amazing things. You may go as far as believing "normal" is boring, as I do. Yet, there are areas you could improve to make your life better.
That is where strengthening those executive functioning skills comes in. That would be your focus & attention, planning & organization, time awareness & management, impulse control, and emotional regulation.
We can work on all of that with coaching. Click the button below and book a consultation call, so we can talk about it.