I have a friend who has ADHD. The other day he mentioned he was getting back on medication after taking a year off or so, as well as trying a different medication.

Anyway, we started talking more about ADHD and how it’s affected his life and his struggles with it. While I have other friends who have it, none have ever really explained how it affects them. And, to me as someone who’s neurotypical, it was fascinating and mindblowing. And also sad, because it’s clearly affected his life so negatively and he hates it.

For example, he mentioned he sometimes has problems remembering tasks or other things he has to do. So I mentioned like using a paper or app-based list or post-it notes. Which of course he’s tried, but he has to remember to do that. And because of ADHD, he forgets or doesn’t think to do that in the moment. And there were so many situations he was telling me about where there’s some “simple” solution that he’s aware of or behavior that his therapists have suggested, but because of ADHD, it just doesn’t happen. It’s so difficult for him to build these habits.

He’s successful enough, having been able to graduate college and get his career going and all that. And had he not mentioned before that he has it, I probably wouldn’t have known, other than maybe noticing his tendency to get distracted. Unfortunately, he feels like he’s been “held back” somewhat in various facets of his life because of ADHD.

I’d never heard the personal side of ADHD before. Only ever the “clinical” descriptions. I’m glad he shared it with me. It helps me understand him a little more, and hopefully I’ll be able to better understand those I may come across who also have it.

Something I really miss from YouTube channels, blogs and other media is that they don’t talk about atomoxetine or guanfacine, like they don’t even exist. They only talk about methylphenidate. Which is good, I tried it for 3 months and it helped me. But for people who can’t take stimulants, for whatever reason, it seems discouraging when they can’t read anything about non-stimulants.

Despite that, it’s a great post.