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My ADHD diagnosis: I'm nearly 40, and I just found out who I am

36 0
07.08.2026

MY WHOLE LIFE, I’ve believed one version of me. The high-functioning, perfectionist, multitasker, creative and personable person who knows how to read a room and whose brain never quite switches off.

The empath who feels everything deeply, with a very strong sense of justice and an inability to look away when something isn’t fair or equal. The person who would run herself into the ground fighting for a cause, and who would allow the basic things like booking a dental appointment to take a back seat.

And even though from time to time I would completely burn out, I wore that personality like a badge of honour. The phrase ”do you ever stop” has been said to me more times than I can count, and I generally would laugh and respond “no!”

And honestly, I’m not someone who spent their whole life wondering if they were different. I thought this was what life felt like for everyone. I genuinely thought that most people have 100 tabs open in their brain at any given moment. That’s just modern parenting, right? (I have since learned, apparently not!) I didn’t even consider for a second that maybe my brain was wired a little differently.

I’m going to be really honest here: the last few years have kicked my........

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