perusingtheabyss

... only in the last year have i started to understand how my day to day is impacted by my diagnosis and not consider it a fault. After 20 years of dealing with this, I still have a hard time not believing my inability to "succeed" is my fault. No matter how much progress is made, I'll still come to a point where it all falls apart. As in, spent maybe 20 years denying (or ignoring) the diagnosis, rather than embracing it. I've established a toolkit, gone through lots of meds, CBT, self medication, etc. And most recently, tried to get my drinking under control- only to realize how much alcohol was masking inattentive symptoms.

So much societal pressure to mask, even for NT females, seems to really hide the prevalence of ADHD or ND women. At the same time, I'm almost exclusively surrounded by them in my social network.

What advice do you have for women (who do or don't have a late diagnosis) in creating space to forgive themselves? How can we unconsciously stop revolting against our own diagnosis?

If that question is too abstract; I have a back up! What are your feelings on the Adderall shortage and the FDA's decision not to increase production?

You're correct in identifying the pattern of maladaptive thinking. And you're crazy if you think forgiveness and acceptance are mutually exclusive. My answers' to these questions continue the conversation, and I would want to know how you have encountered it. (Except I'd forgotten about the stupid blackout...)

I've come a long way in this, and will always be grateful for my amazing support system. early on, I know i can embrace my acceptance, because it provides context and rationale to my irrational ... yet still make the same mistakes I've been beating myself up for all along. Absolutely guilty of treating myself unfairly. Can also swing in the other direction of borderline narcissism, which tracks.... It's a spectrum, right?

The ADHD as an experience feels more abstract than the anxiety/depression or the hyper/hypomania. Coinciding diagnoses are more common than not, so more needs to be studied. As the visibility of ADHD/Executive Dysfunction heightens, should that mean we start to cope better with it? I haven't had that experience, yet

Edits: tenses and typos