I started a new job mid-August, and while I’m thankful to have the job, it has been quite the adjustment for me. Honestly, I’ve been having a really hard time adjusting to the new working environment. It has really been affecting my mental health, and this led to the discussion where we talked about a new-to-me diagnosis: ADHD.

Family History and a Hunch

Now, I’ve known that ADHD runs in my family. I’ve also had a hunch for quite some time that I probably have it. The signs and symptoms were there, just I’d never had a formal diagnosis. In the past, I usually had more pressing matters to deal with in therapy.

Current Struggles

I’ve been having a really hard time adjusting to working in an office five days a week. I have no problem getting myself to work on time or anything like that. My anxiety ensures that I’m early for everything. The issues arise from all of the distractions in the office. There are a lot of conversations happening around me in the office. For context, I am a proofreader and some of the stuff I’m proofreading is extremely dense. It’s been extremely hard for me to focus and I’ve been getting so overstimulated that I’m sometimes shutting down. I personally need a quiet working environment to function.

The Need For A Quiet Working Environment

At my last job, I was not only able work remotely 4 days a week, but I also worked in an office where we were all proofing audiobooks with headphones on all day, making it a relatively quiet workplace. There were definitely times where people were talking and laughing loudly amongst themselves, but it wasn’t all day or anything. So going from working in a quiet space to working in a pretty lively office has been really hard to adjust to.

I obviously have a lot of other symptoms as well, but I’ve just been very good at masking them for years. I’m even masking now at work because while I’ve been extremely anxious from just being overstimulated all the time while trying to read things (sometimes having to read sentences over and over and over), I’m not outwardly reacting. Like I’m sure nobody knows at work that I’m having such a hard time.

Another Potential Diagnosis?

While we were having the discussion about ADHD, I asked about the possibility of me also having autism as well. I’ve wondered about that possibility for years, and while my therapist can’t diagnose that, she said that there’s a high chance I have that as well. She said there are definitely some things that I do that make her suspect that I do. If I wanted an official diagnosis, I’d need to go see someone who could give me the diagnosis. The co-occurrence of ADHD and autism together is becoming more widely recognized, referred to as AuDHD (which is not an official term). You can read a bit more about AuDHD here.

I think both of these things have played a pretty large role in my history with eating disorders and disordered eating. My therapist confirmed that suspicion. I was able to dive into that with my therapist and it was really helpful for me.

Why It’s Helpful To Discuss These Things

I think that it’s really important for me to learn these things about myself because if I get a better grasp for how my brain works, it will really help with finding coping skills that will work for me. I’m still on the fence about whether or not it’s worth it for me to go get an official diagnosis for autism since I already know what specific things I struggle with in terms of that.

As the title of this blog post suggests, I’m really not surprised. This was more of just a confirmation for me. I’m pretty self-aware and I’ve been in the mental health world long enough to know the signs and symptoms. I think having meltdowns about random things that do not make sense to most people was one of the indicators for me lol. I had always assumed it’s horrible anxiety, but I think my anxiety stems/is worsened by the ADHD and suspected autism.

Anyhoo, that’s all I’ve got for now! I’m so happy to have a therapist that I feel so comfortable being myself around where I can comfortably have these discussions. Having a therapist you’re comfortable with is super important and I am glad I was able to immediately click with this therapist from day one.

– Kailey

Happy ADHD Awareness Month! Our peer support specialist, Quinn, is joined by Emily Stainton to talk about living with ADHD. Topics include late diagnosis, tools and systems, medication, and advocacy. This is part one of a two part episode, so stay tuned for part two, coming next week! 

• Learn more about NAMI CT’s Young Adult Connection Community here
• https://namict.org/support-and-education/support-groups/young-adult-connection-community/
• Follow Emily on Instagram at @colombianspice
• Visit Emily’s Amazon Author Page  to purchase one of her self-help journals
• Download the Forest app https://www.forestapp.cc/
• Download the Finch app https://finchcare.com/

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi from Pixabay

Want to be featured on an upcoming episode? DM us on Instagram or send an e-mail to turningpointct@positivedirections.org

Check out our other podcast episodes here!

Happy Mental Health Awareness Month, y’all! One of the ways I take care of my mental health is by using an app called Finch. I use this app to track progress on goals, see changes in my mood over time, reflect on my day, and to send uplifting messages to my friends who also use the app. The Finch app is the brainchild of two friends (Nino and Steph) who both struggle with anxiety and depression. They wanted to make self care accessible after noticing that many other folks shared similar struggles. 

My Journey with Finch

Every morning while I drink my coffee and start my daily routine, I power up my finch, Pluto, to go out on their adventure. When Pluto returns, they share what they discovered for the day. Sometimes it’s a new food or a song, other times they share a joke they heard. Each day is different, and each discovery helps to shape Pluto’s personality and likes and dislikes. So far, Pluto loves Yesterday by The Beatles, Finding Nemo, pineapple cake, Over the Garden Wall, and snorkeling in Maui. 

Tracking my progress on goals like staying in touch with friends, nourishing my body, taking time for personal joys, and building my confidence as I navigate a new chapter of my life is incredibly easy. More importantly, I have so much fun interacting with Pluto. Incentivizing progress towards my goals has not only motivated me, but has also encouraged me to get out of my own way. Using Finch has helped me give myself permission to pursue the life I envision for myself. Historically, that’s been difficult for me. But I’ve noticed quite a difference in the way that I show up for myself and for others since I started this journey.

What I love about Finch

There are so many things that I love about the app. As someone who struggles with ADHD, I love that it allows me to gamify my day by rewarding me with rainbow stones for completing goals and sending good vibes to friends. I can use these rainbow stones to “buy” cute outfits and home decor for my finch. During moments of high stress or anxiety, I use the in app breathing exercises to help regulate my nervous system. When I need to focus, I use the soundscapes as timers to remind me when I need to switch tasks. There are so many useful features, including quizzes, reflections, journal prompts, goal progress reports, mood tracking, and more. 

For folks who would like access to the paid version of the app but don’t have the means to purchase a subscription, the Finch team hosts a raffle every month for a free month subscription sponsored by one of Finch’s guardians. Every month, over 1000 Finch plus subscriptions are awarded to raffle winners! 

Click here to take a self-assessment of your choice (depression, postpartum depression, anxiety, psychosis, bipolar, eating disorder, PTSD, ADHD, addiction & more).

Visit our Q&A page to learn more!

All my life, I knew I was different. It showed with the way I thought, did things, and just knew certain information as common knowledge. People treated me like an encyclopedia, however, they never understood my behavioral patterns. Almost 14 years later, I now understand that I am autistic with autistic problems!

Where it All Started

I was informally and misdiagnosed diagnosed with ADHD; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. A caregiver gave me that diagnosis without any formal testing for ADHD. All it took was for them to ask a family doctor of 20+ years for an ADHD prescription. I didn’t really resonate with that diagnosis and was very conscious about it at a very young age. Growing older, I stopped taking the ADHD medication because I didn’t think I had ADHD. At the age of 22, I understand why there was a misdiagnosis of ADHD when my behaviors fell under Autism. Many people do not know the difference! AND are not aware that there are more diagnoses than ADHD.

What’s the Difference?

This is How I Knew I Didn’t Have ADHD…

People with ADHD often have a hard time paying attention for an extended amount of time and may get distracted easily. Which wasn’t my issue. I had a limited scope of interest that didn’t show to be just one thing as it correlated with my academic performance in a positive way. It was the mask that greatly hid that I was autistic. My personal struggles with language also served as a mask that explained the negative impact of my reading scores. I only spoke Spanish but understood English when I came back from Puerto Rico in 2008. From my perspective, I was able to read the material and understand it. I just didn’t know how to write it down in English.

As a complex factor, another result of my impacted academic performance was how uninterested I was in reading certain things. I absolutely had no interest in reading anything besides ghost stories, Shakespeare plays, and/or poetry. When it came down to independent reading, I never read! SORRY MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS, but I was acting. I wasn’t the best actor and broke character a lot. It interpreted as ADHD because I would have rather looked outside than read something I didn’t have an interest in. That gave off that I was easily distracted.

This concludes the reason why I appeared to have ADHD and not Autism. But it doesn’t conclude this blog series!

– Dez 🙂

**this episode contains explicit language

Looking for more ADHD content? Read Stephani’s story about her life with ADHD here.