Didn't expect this guy to summarize my entire life in 13 minutes

ADHD is reading the comments while you hear the video but you’re actually not hearing anything and now you have to go back YET again lol

For 13 minutes I felt understood, overwhelmed, vindicated and helpless all at the same time

As someone who's plucking up the courage to go to the GP about this it's quite crushing listening to a professional you've never met detail your life and the struggles you've felt inside for the last 35 years. I just thought I was 'a bit shit at life' compared to everyone else but now I realise I've actually done incredibly well to make it look like I was coping as well as they were. And I'm only 8mins in!

"If you're an intelligent child, you can coast through primary school" oh those halcyon days when I could do the bare minimum and still make Top 5 of the class 😔

ADHD is needing to rewind the video multiple times because I keep spacing out. Oh the irony :P

The stress drive is a real thing, currently in college I literally cannot bring myself to study every day but when there are days left before an important exam Im magically able to sit my ass down for 20 hours a day and with what feels like having my insides in a vice I'm suddenly able to actually remember the material I study.

Just wanted to leave a comment to say this video was the reason I questioned if I had ADHD and got myself assessed. So I’m coming back a few months later, diagnosed (at 31) to say thank you for opening up the door to understanding that allowed me to ask the right questions and find the appropriate help.

I’ve been thinking about this for soo long but thinking I’m just lazy, procrastinating, dumb in school, not applying myself. I really feel like crying this answers so many questions.

The thing gets tricky when you think you might have adhd but you also have childhood traumas and a family that doesn't accept the idea of their children being unwell, of being "different" in regards of mental health

Sadly, as an almost 70 year old, this has confirmed what I've recently been suspecting. How different my life would have been if I'd been assessed and received timely treatment. Hopefully others will benefit from this enabling them to lead full and stable lives.

40 years of just thinking its just the way I am. I am just finding the answers now at 68! Screwed up the rest of my life, diagnosis of depression & anxiety but never tested for ADHD. Now as a retired Brit living in Germany, supported for depression, the support system has suggested getting tested for ADHD, my research brought me to this video, and shock to hear this clear description of my life.

Protip for the people saying they lost focus during the video: Watch it 2x speed. Feels too fast at first (maybe start with 1.5x) but you get used to it and I swear I can watch hours of educational video now. Even just audio. Makes drifting off less likely for sure.

My entire school years were pure luck, never did my homework, barely listened. I had average grades so no one was alarmed. But now I'm in college and it's all falling apart. I feel like everyone thinks I'm just lazy. I am lazy.

"They can concentrate on computer games for days on end but cannot do 10 minutes of homework". Oh. My. God. Such an accurate depiction

This explains a lot. I'm at my best when I'm stressed. Normal people suffer in those conditions, but I operate at full capacity, I'm on fire. So much so that I sometimes have to create those conditions to be able to get things done and I always get them done to a very exceptional standard, but I must look like a complete psychopath to anybody watching me. I also clean ALL of my house at the same time. Moving from room to room doing little bits at a time or I get bored, so it's all pretty much completed at the same time.

I honestly feel really let down by all the adults who said "she's so smart, she's just not applying herself" instead of investigating why. THEY'RE the ones who truly failed my potential. I know it wasn't as widely known about in the 80s and 90s, but my sister is only 3 years younger and she was diagnosed then. If I had any question before, he just cleared that all away. I felt like he was describing me specifically.

As someone diagnosed with ADD as an adult I can say that it isn't always easy to concentrate on something I enjoy because I start something like a crochet project for instance, my mind starts coming up with other crochet projects I can do and then I end up with 50 unfinished projects. So even stuff I enjoy can be hard to keep up with

This just made me cry so much. At 52 I’ve felt so misunderstood my whole life and no one wants to hear you have ADHD, they just think you’re making excuses for your behaviour.

I'm a 43 year old woman who is being currently assessed for adult ADHD. You have just struck every single nerve with me and described what I've been trying to put across for a long time in the perfect way. Thank you. And thank you to the commenters for being so open and showing the world we don't have to hide away our true selves any more.

This is by far the most comprehensive and helpful lecture on ADHD that I have come across. Very eye opening.

I cried watching this because I really wanna see a doctor now

100% - I was never diagnosed as a child, my parents never even knew about ADHD. They thought everything was a result of lack of discipline. But having been diagnosed as an adult and looking back now I see clear signs. The only time I had straight As and Bs was when my mom would watch over me and make sure I did what I needed to do. During the times she was too busy my grades would slip. I did EVERYTHING las minute and I did it fast and well. The problem was I didn't need to work hard at anything to get As and be in the honor society. I had a 4.0 GPA in High School. And then I went away to college.... The first year was good, I had left over discipline and the fear of being on my own drove me to attend class and be good. By 2nd year the grades started to slip and the constant lure of NYC night life was too strong. By 3rd year I was late to every class, did the work the night before and actually skipped whole classes paying for credits I didn't earn. I later couldn't hold a job or an interest in any job for longer than 8 months. 8 months was like clock-work, a time to get bored and move on. Later marrying and having a child through my ADHD into overdrive. I became an anxious mess. I developed panic attacks and anxiety and would get overwhelmed by everything. Life was hard. Managing time was impossible. I finally got diagnosed by 3 different psychiatrists in my 30s! Today I take medication to be able to get anything done. Without it I just ruminate all day long. I also have a crippling fear of forgetting to pick up my daughter from school when I'm "into" my work. My hyperfocus on my art makes me afraid of missing important appointments, deadlines and every day tasks. It's not a lack of focus that cripples us, it's the hyper focus on one particular thing to the detriment of ourselves and loved ones. When we forget the world exists because we're so into whatever is occupying us in the moment. I must add that even when we manage to force our concentration on a boring task we will most likely miss so many details. If I have to read a boring passage I don't want to read I may throw in words that don't exist, omit words that do, see numbers backwards, or make up a meaning that's not there. My mind just plays tricks on me.

I actually cried at how insanely accurate this was for me, especially using stress to drive me to do things. I just wish I knew and was diagnosed in childhood.

"You can't do a dissertation in one night" - Sir, I'm going to have to correct you on that one.

Uses stress to generate focus - SO TRUE. I had no difficulty in college because I could speed read the highlights of my textbooks, and do my homework in class while ignoring the painfully boring lectures. My difficulty has been with life. If I managed one area well, another one would crash.

I'm 80 years old and just wrote this poem regarding ADHD I responded to pressure it was my only starter. ADHD The one-legged man saw no path ahead. Clutching at chances he caught in the air. Only the moment, no tomorrow was there? He was blind to the debris behind in his wake. He was caught in a trap, locked in a cage. The cassette explained a hopping bipedal here in the zoo. Some saw him high; some saw him low; all saw him with two. A spectacular show, those stories he told while rolling downhill. No one had noticed he only had one, the tales he told were as if he had two. The cassette was right, and the cassette was wrong. That one-legged man was very confused, he also saw two. It never occurred that he only had one. The one-legged man, now incredibly old, his energy spent from hopping around. Grew tired of running against others with two. Something was wrong, patterns emerged. He suddenly woke from this dream so very disturbed. All the debris he saw in his wake overwhelmed. His tears streamed for him; his tears streamed for them. He finally realized he was a two-legged man who only had one. That one-legged man is me.

This video is what led to my diagnosis a year ago. My psychologist had suggested that she thought I had ADHD but my parents didn't believe her. I always excelled at school despite quite literally never doing any work. I got through GCSEs easily and went on to do 4 A levels. I had always had a history of panic attacks but usually I had them maybe once or twice a month and only when a particularly stressful situation arose. When I went to college I started off very well, top of my classes, the novelty of the situation made it easy for me to focus. Then about a month to two months in, I started slipping. I didn't do my work, I was late all the time and the lack of structure in a college environment meant that I could skip classes or entire days without repercussions (very bad set up for someone with ADHD, if I wanted to stay home and paint or play games instead I just would). This meant I started to fall behind, I'm very sensitive to rejection and criticism (rejection sensitive dysphoria) so if say id only done half of the homework for one of my classes, I simply wouldn't show up, I was too scared, so my attendance dropped and dropped. I was having panic attacks every single day, even just trying to leave my house. I remember I had a meeting with my tutor to discuss the problems I was having and I explained that I wasn't coming in because of my panic attacks but that the panic attacks weren't the problem, they were a symptom of something else, I couldn't keep up, I couldn't do the work. Nobody understood and I didn't either, they thought I meant the work was too hard or there was too much but it wasn't that, the work itself was easy I just couldn't sit and do it. I spent weeks and weeks going to my psychologist with this flow chart I had made: something was hindering my ability to do my studies -> that was making me fall behind -> falling behind was leading to panic attacks because I'm very sensitive to failure -> the panic attacks were stopping me from attending -> not attending was making me fall even further behind.... spiralling in a circle. I was trying to explain that the panic attacks weren't what needed treating right now, they were a reaction to another problem and without that problem being solved, nothing would help the panic attacks. It took a year of trying to explain to people, in the end I gave up and dropped out, I was very low for a while and was diagnosed with depression. When I started feeling better I decided to start studying again online and went back to my psychologist and talked to her about how I was nervous about it because I've never been able to study unless I was in a classroom with a strict/scary teacher and essentially was too scared to mess around or text or do something else so with it being online and therefore completely lacking structure I didn't think id actually ever study. It was like a lightbulb went off in her head and she pulled out her iPad and started asking me questions and then turned it around and it said, "based on your answers to this indicative questionnaire, it is highly likely you have ADHD combined type". and she said I think we finally know what's going with you and told my parents (who immediately said that's impossible because i did so well at school and completely ignored it) I showed this video to my parents about three months after my psychologist suggested ADHD and finally they considered it may be a possibility and they paid for me to have a consultation with a private psychiatrist and there we have it. ADHD combined type, Elvanse 40mg and a lot of work figuring out personal strategies and now I'm back in education, doing a degree in forensic psychology with the open university and hoping to specialise in ADHD in the prison population so thank you very much Dr. Humphries. Without a doubt, this video saved my life.

The part where he said it gets harder at secondary school was so on point... that's when I realized school was difficult, not because of the learning, but because I had to manage my homework time, worry about not forgetting my stuff, do well on tests under pressure, pick the school bus at the same hour every day. That was also the time I realized I was "weird".

Oh my god. I have never felt more *seen* in my life. I've gone my entire life wondering why, after sailing through primary and secondary school (admittedly pulling all nighters for pretty much the entirety of secondary school to turn in work on time) with outstanding grades and being at the top of my class, I flunked so hard out of university. Not once. Not twice. But three times. I kept trying and kept dropping out. I was told I was gifted and brilliant early in life, and so in pursuing higher education I fully expected to become an accomplished academic... to instead have been such a complete and utter failure drove me to substance abuse and severe depression. Wow. So much to think about. Every single characteristic Dr. Humphries talked about here applies to me.

This guys has just told my life story. I'm on my 4th unfinished degree right now at 35. I also have the longest CV ever due to all the different jobs I've had. I'm a jack of all trades and master of non because I just cannot stick to anything long enough. I have an appointment to get tested for ADHD and this video really helped me realize I'm the assessment is the right choice for me

I actually passed my uni all exams and courseworks doing all nighters. I haven't been diagnosed but proud of myself for getting it done.

My very degree was built off of that stress 😂. Many a times I stayed up typing up my essays to submit them at 8am the finale moment to return to my bed and sleeping the rest it the day.

OMG he’s so kind and understanding. I got diagnosed three and a half months ago. After a life of being told I need to just try harder; meanwhile I was totally wrecked, depressed and anxious from TRYING, hearing someone be so compassionate and non-judgemental is like getting the biggest hug. I literally feel teary. Thank you ♥️

Diagnosed at 53. Bright kid, sailed through primary, did worse at secondary, passed my GCSEs against expectations, took A'levels and failed them, retook them and scraped through with very low grades, went to college, switched courses (twice), dropped out, worked for a while, went back to college, scraped through a modular degree, got the job of my dreams, pissed it away.

This whole video perfectly described what i struggled with throughout childhood and into adulthood.. i was always told as a kid that i was bright and very gifted but that didn’t translate into my academic performance. I underprepare, cannot focus in class, and would miss many homeworks, yet magically i still get standard and slightly above average scores because my exam scores makes it up. University was the toughest for me, especially when i had to write my thesis. It was one of my lowest point. It took me 3x more time to finish my thesis than my peers, and i was one of the student who graduated last on my batch. It makes me wonder if i would’ve turned out to be something better or greater if i had gotten help sooner.

He hit 12 minutes and I lost my focus. Then he said, “most people with ADHD have trouble focusing for more than 10 minutes” lol

The fact that I had to watch this video at 2x speed to get through it should be a sign.

The symptoms that often persist into adulthood: Being overly talkative, a common expression of hyperactivity in females. Being overly emotional/struggling with emotional regulation - of course we get better than we were as children, but either the US or UK had a study that estimated about 50% of those sentenced to government mandated anger management were suffering from undiagnosed or untreated ADHD... I was 43. It never occured to me before my son was diagnosed a few years prior. I had so many "Aha!" moments during the interviews and questionnaires in that time period. Also, I learned to separate my symptoms and my hard-earned coping mechanisms. "Do you often forget appointments?" Well, no - but that's because I have an iron-clad rule of NEVER leaving the room until I've entered our appointment in my electronic calendar with multiple reminders, or hanging up the phone before I've taken down ALL the details and/or entered them in my electronic calendar... you get the idea. If possible, I'll do all bookings by email because then I have something written to go back and check when I forget stuff. I don't lose my phone - because I ALWAYS wear clothes with pockets. I don't lose my wallet - because it LIVES in my backpack that I bring EVERYWHERE, and if I ever have to take it out I IMMEDIATELY return it to its home - or else I'm guaranteed to lose it. It took me DECADES of being late, not showing up, running around looking for essentials etc. before I came up with some fixes that work for me. 20 years was how long my sister refused to go to the movies with me because I always talked and blurted out funny quips or "spoilers" (i.e. I predicted what would happen next or what the plot twist was) before I learned to keep my mouth (mostly) shut for two hours. And when I started stripping away complicated structures I had to live with to barely manage to keep my head above water, it was pretty obvious. And two professionals, conducting two separate assessments, agreed with me.

As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD at 36, I look back at my life and want to weep at the description of a high-functioning ADHD adult. The term Dr. Humphries describes as "pancaking" in university completely illustrates my time in architecture school. Probably THE WORST major and career to choose with undiagnosed ADHD. While I maintained a high demand and overachieving schedule in academics and athletics in high school, by my sophomore year in college, it was like I was a completely different person. None of my familiar study habits worked, none of my "just work harder, longer" strategies supported me. Obviously, it crept into my career too. I'm glad now that I at least have help and don't feel alone knowing I wasn't crazy all that time and that there are others just like me.

Never leave comments but this video has just made me burst into tears! It literally felt like the doctor was talking directly to me. When he talked about GCSEs being ok, then A Levels a bit of a struggle, then unwinding at Uni, that was exactly me. And then having numerous jobs and finding it hard to settle or maintain relationships. I've just turned 50. Looking back I wish I'd known this at 20. Hopefully now I can get tested and get a diagnosis and things can be better from here. Thank you, doctor. You may have just saved a life and turned it around.

The fear being the trigger to the only way of focus or to act is definitely something I relate to 100%.

„everything is incomplete“... You have me in tears. I feel like you’re talking about my life! Is there a solution to this mess? No dysthymia, no selfmedication, no numbing all day, no anxiety, no fear of getting „caught“ every day? Maybe this might be the answer to the question, why I‘m rather intelligent but don‘t seem to be able to manage the simplest tasks.

I have never felt more SEEN in my life than after watching this video! Thank you. I literally had to pause the video a few mins in to schedule an appointment with my local centre to get assessed for ADHD cuz I am now 100% sure I got it and need to hear it officially!

I’ve never felt so seen!!! Hit the nail on the head with literally EVERYTHING. Oh man. The moving jobs every few months, losing interest with most things, never finishing anything, procrastinating, but needing the stress in order to focus, driving yourself into a stressed state, my thoughts being all over the place, ZONING OUT. I can’t NOT zone out. I hate that the most! Issues with emotional regulation 🤦🏼‍♀️ Can’t believe I’ve gone 30 years not knowing that I’ve had ADHD

The part about SSRIs was really interesting. I’ve been on several, and they never helped my motivation, but just made me less sad about the things I couldn’t get done, which honestly made things worse.

‘’Driving yourself into a stressed state to provoke focus…’’ That sums it up right there 50 + years later I found out so many things were not my fault.

i was worried about me getting high scores in any adult adhd tests online, then i voiced it out to my doctor, he dismissed me by saying "there are no adult adhd" i still cant get over it, this was in march 2021

When this doctor described my whole academic experience, that was a little creepy. I even managed to graduate uni relying on the stress of deadline. I did do assignments that I had to turn in, although often in the morning or already in class. As for the homework I did not have to turn in or if there was a chance they wouldn't ask me - I rarely did it. I never came to the exams prepared completely because I'd start a night or two before the exam and of course I wasn't able to go through all of it. I failed my exam just once. I finished both of my theses (bachelor's and master's) on the day of presenting them. I'm not diagnosed but I'm getting closer to booking my appointment with a doctor...

I'm 41 and having an "Aha!" moment. It never occurred to me that I might have ADHD had it not been for my therapist saying we should explore it based on my strong anxiety at work, my childhood struggle with math, but succeeding when I had good study buddies, and my struggles at work with projects and tasks that are absolute drudgeries to me.

As a condition that is often misunderstood with literature and any content being sporadic and often times unhelpful, this is the most concise summary I've come across without diving too deep, and keeping it allegorical. Thank you.

Didn't think I'd be able to focus through this video but my hypersensitivity loves this guy's voice 😳

I just broke down in tears at this. My entire life I've been called 'retard' 'stupid' 'lazy' even though I've tried my best the whole time. I'm 34 and after finding ou tabout adult ADHD I've incorporated some basic coping techniques and I'm getting my life on track. I cannot afford to be assessed and the NHS waiting list is 4+ years but this video gives me the confidence to keep going. I'm not what people say I am!

*spinning my pencil and fidgeting in my chair to maintain the baseline of stimulation required to sit through a ten minute video* So many of us experience much of what he describes. I felt chills when he talked about procrastinating and relying on the adrenaline from stress to get things done in a burst. What I want to emphasize is how disorders like ADHD can be masked so effectively over the years. Coping mechanisms and learned strategies to override behaviors and thought patterns really make a difference. They also muddy the waters when you're trying to figure out if and what your 'issue' is, if you suspect you're different in some way. I have never had treatment for ADHD and feel that led to me developing many coping mechanisms to hide certain 'repeat offender' traits. Things like procrastination and taking on projects and abandoning them are less of an issue for me today, not because I am any better underneath, but because I am so keenly aware of the threat of these problems. I'll catch myself getting interested in something and *stop* myself from going down the rabbit hole because I already know the dopamine will wear off and that I'll abandon the idea. But there are big holes, because I haven't addressed the underlying issue. So the disorganization persists as a pattern, even if outwardly I am keeping up the 'high achiever' status ever since coasting through grade school. I am sure many of us experience this and feel imposter syndrome as a result. We'll have advanced degrees or run our own businesses (side note: many of us are entrepreneurs because we balk against traditional work environments), yet feel fundamentally unconfident in our abilities because "if you just saw my office" or "if you knew how chaotic my schedule looked" you'd realize I was barely holding things together.

Throughout many years trying to deal with depression I stand by my observation that every so called therapist I saw was an absolute moron and dangerously incompetent! Then I was so fortunate as to be seen by a Doctor who was quite possibly the most intelligent person I have ever met. He was humble, down to earth and just easy to talk to. Reminds me of this guy. In just 2 sessions he suggested treatment for ADHD, I left that day very disappointed as yet another therapist was a sham. Then I did some research and it blew my mind. I was a text book example. I continued with that Dr for nearly a year. By the way, at the time of diagnosis I was "SIXTY FREAKING YEARS OLD"!

"Inattentive presentation" ... "Daydreamer" ... "Hyperfocus"... "Chronic procrastination" ... "Distracted mid task" ... "Bills don't get paid" ... "zoning out mid conversation" ... "disorganisation" ... He just kept spitting things that's... so me. 😭

6:58 and it takes years to complete something that should take O N E Y E A R

You just explained my 22 year old son to the T! It did not affect his school preformance till highschool,,he did no assignments, never studied,,gets 100 percent on tests and exams,,and took a zero on every project. Lost all his friends,,is one credit short of getting his grade 12 ,,tried online courses and they ran out,,he could not finish. We live in Ontario Canada and we waited for over a year to get an appointment to have him assesed,,and two weeks before his appountment the doctor took leave, we are now at a loss how to help him,,I dont know how I can break it to him,,😢 he is already borderline depressed and feels useless. We need medical care and no one cares to help him.

Thank you so much. Nobody ever sees the daydreamers as adhd, only hyperactive ones.

I’m 72. I pursued a diagnosis about five months ago after watching this video and recognizing the story of my life. Over thirty years of therapy had helped very little and as he noted, the SSRI meds kept me from crying but made it harder for me to get things done. Today I just completed my second month of Adderol XR and the psychiatrist is increasing the dose from 20 to 30mg. We’ve been ramping up slowly to make sure it doesn’t cause problems with my blood pressure but so far I haven’t observed any side effects. What I HAVE observed is that I just finished a project that has been blocking my progress for over two years, and my depression has gone down from a zombie-like 9+ to a 1 or 2. I am so grateful to Dr. Humphries and Harley Therapy for helping me identify the problem that 35 years of therapists and psychologists had been unable to recognize. (And how did UKposts figure out that I needed to watch this video?)

So the fact that I was frighteningly close to failing my Masters was _not_ entirely due to laziness and depression? Uh-oh. 😳

After seeing your video....I got diagnos at the age of 24 and now I want to start all over and become a Psychiatrist.....thank you!

This video made me feel validated. Specifically coming from a medical professional. I’ve been told be paediatricians and psychologists that my son doesn’t have ADHD because it wasn’t picked up in primary school…. That he could focus on things he liked so he doesn’t have it…. That stimulant medication would have the same effect on non ADHD kids as well…… That he doesn’t have it because he is such a great kid. I’ve spent 40 years with ADHD, so hard to get medical professionals to believe you and validate your experiences. I’ve given up trying to get help myself but I’m struggling so much trying to get my children the support I never had.

Oh my God I’m practically crying with relief. 58 years old and I’ve never been able to figure out why my life is so disorganized. Diagnosed with depression and anxiety and on meds for the past 30 years but still feel like something is “off.” I feel like I’ve found the missing puzzle piece. Thank you thank you 🙏🏻

Let's talk about ADHD "Continues to snap the camera angle back and forth for no reason"

When you're a parent and listening to this it breaks my heart to think this is what has been wrong with my son he is now 46😢😢

I've never felt so seen my whole life. I literally cried watching this video.

Literally watched this to procrastinate during an all-nighter. I am currently only 3 pages into my final and it is 8:46am. The essay is two days late, and I have to do a move later today. I am going to get checked out. Thank you to this guy.

I wasn’t to hyper as a child but I was extremely inattentive and distracted. My parents would sometimes say I’m lazy and be disappointed with me bc I’d never do homework and or I’d just lose it or misplace it. My mother arranged a parent teacher conference in 9th grade to see what they thought about me having adhd. They said I’m not hyper or loud, just need to be more organized and do the homework. It hurt because it felt like no one understood how hard these were for me. I could barely read a paragraph in a book because I’d start day dreaming or tune out and forget what I just read.

Didn't expect this guy to summarize my entire life in 13 minutes. Didn't expect this guy to summarize my entire life in 13 minutes.

This is immensely frustrating, my freshman year of high school I fell apart in the second semester. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety while ADHD was overlooked completely (even by me) because I was a good student up until my freshman year, 8th grade started to slip a little bit but not bad. I was naturally intelligent, never had to study, if I did I would literally just read my notes once and I was good. Homework that was due each day I would get done, but it would get pushed to the end of the day. Projects and papers and other long term assignment however would always always always get pushed to the night before once my anxiety went up and pushed me to do it. For the last 10 years I have gotten no where with my “depression” treatment. Always unmotivated despite having goals, always unable to apply myself in college, always struggling to get anything done, even with anxiety free and easy tasks. I just thought I was lazy. Come to find out from talking with my cousin, she was diagnosed with ADHD like 15 years after she too started getting treated for “depression and anxiety” and she said once she was medicated it was like night and day. She got teary eyed, and apologized saying she gets emotional thinking about it because of all the time that was wasted. It all makes sense because the one medication that actually provides some benefit is Wellbutrin, which primarily affects dopamine. I’m so mad but also excited lol.

Me watching this on 2x speed while scrolling through the comments

Being diagnosed with a heap of things like depression and anxiety and still searching what is 'wrong' with me, this video legit made me cry. How is it possible you just described me and my life to a T..

I was diagnosed last year and you have described me perfectly. Uni was the beginning of me unraveling and having kids has been the end of me and triggered me to get tested. I spent years self medicating with what I can find at the pharmacy, but not with alcohol or drugs-my dad is an alcoholic and I think him and my brother are undiagnosed.

I went to get assessed for ADHD at a clinic and basically met all the criteria. BUT my report cards from primary school were too good, so they said they can’t diagnose me with ADHD because it seems as if I didn’t have it as a child. Everything else I told them about my childhood didn’t count. The fact that I started having issues later in school when I actually had to start studying didn’t count. So now I have an appointment at a psychiatric office and hope they will let me try medication regardless.

I feel like you have defined my whole life. I used to joke that I was self-diagnosed ADHD but I never looked into what the symptoms or experiences for people were. I literally have had it since childhood and I never knew why I was the way I was. Always losing focus, losing interest when things that do not stimulate me anymore. House chores, I HATE with a passion, it never gets completely done, I only work my absolute best under pressure or deadlines! Easily distracted, lost in thought, forgetfulness, and I struggled with college after high school. I am smart but I am easily distracted and if it is not interesting to me, I don't want to do it. I have started and stopped many things! It's really enlightening that you shed light on what makes me this way.

im sitting here crying because i thought that i was crazy and lazy with no drive and this video summarized my whole life. thank you so much.

I live in Germany and will get this assessment fully on insurance, just waiting a few months . I wish this for everyone who needs this!

I was finally diagnosed aged 53 last year and am now taking 60mg of amfexa per day and I am only just now understanding what it means to live in the middle. I was always either over stimulated or under stimulated, bored and flat or hyperfocused and unable to switch off from my newest interest, zooming about or exhausted, fascinated or dying inside praying someone talking will shut up. My life is so much happier. Thank you for your video and explaining adhd so well.

I actually started crying when he said “you might feel like you are somewhat different.” Honestly that is exactly what I was thinking when I finally decided that it was time to see if I have ADHD. I’m 32 years old and have always felt different cognitively. My main struggle in life has just been trying to be normal. Trying to function in a world that doesn’t seem like it was made for me. I rarely cry. But that one statement brought me to uncontrollable tears.

"SSRI's have an antagonistic effect on ADHD" Maybe this explains why all the SSRI's I've ever been on have absolutely *not* worked for me

This is something I only recently considered after my daughter compared me to a character on a show she watches with adhd. It was funny..but at the same time it may explain why I've often pulled all nighters to finish work when I've been compelled to try doing the same thing 7 or 8 different ways and eventually had to choose one because of deadlines. Also starting on one thing and getting completely distracted into doing something else I know isn't as important but I still do it! I have a ton of tutorials I've bought..from learning languages to software to improve my career...most get abandoned shortly after starting..often because my day job turns into my night job with my 'what if I try it THIS way instead?' Mindset..

OMG here I set at 59 someone has just defined my life. Imagine if I was diagnosed correctly in my younger days.

I've got my first phone call with a specialist in 15 mins and since I woke up all I've been doing is researching and watching videos like this. Wow I feel he just described my life! I didnt have "my foot on the gas" through Primary and Highschool and I went from being predicted A*s across the board to Bs and Cs. I always thought I was smart enough to not need to revise and that I'd get what I needed to hit A Levels. Boy A levels is where the wheels fell off for me rather than university... I ran out of steam in the first year and my inability to focus on revision and particularly the coursework I didnt enjoy or want to do made me suffer and feel inadequate. I bombed the 2nd year and I retook year 13 only for the motivation to pass and the same thing happened again. Fuck me if only I knew then what I know now.. I wish I'd had a better understanding of ADHD then as it may have saved my higher education and helped me out in so so many social situations.

i've been diagnosed since i was a kid but every once in a while i need to watch a video like this to validate myself bc of how many people tell me that i'm "lazy" and treat me like total crap for not finishing all my cool projects. i need to get medication i think

For those of use who need it: remember you can adjust playback speed to hear this faster 😉

I had a feeling antidepressants clashed with people with adhd! I’m so glad I have seen this! Thank you for a clear, calm and simple, yet in-depth, explanation. ☺️💫🌟

Watching this may have just changed my life. I've been this person since forever. Not hyperactive, driven by deadline fear and a master procrastinator. Excelled under pressure, high distinctions then next semester couldn't open the lid of my computer screen. One extreme to the other. On my way for a psychiatric assessment after seeing my GP this morning. Thankyou

I'm 38 and a GP friend told me recently that they are almost certain I have ADHD and need to go get diagnosed. I laughed, I'm not hyperactive in the slightest. Yet here I am with someone I've never met describing my life and struggles better than I could if I tried.

I just wish my parents would have taken me to the Dr as a child. I'm now 46 and waiting for an assessment. Suffered all my life

It is insane how close this mirrors my life. When you got to the part about people lucky enough to be a little intelligent you could have been describing me, my life as a child and adult . The only differences that stood out I suspect are directly related to the very extreme and different circumstances in my childhood experience and because I am female. It is weird as a kid I was labeled gifted but somewhat troubled if not usually in trouble. Most of my quirks and issues written off as bright kids are weird. I felt completely misunderstood most of my entire life. That changed some when my step daughter asked me to take a Myers Briggs test to help her do her psychology college in high school class. I tested as INFJ. I had heard of this and did the test in 3rd grade I believe and was tested as INTP then. I wasn't offered any explanation then but was told it fit. As a much more in tune with myself Adult I actually cried reading the 16 personality breakdown of INFJ as it was the first time I had ever seen anything that came close to understanding me. It was spot on in almost every single aspect. Now my newest revelation... This last year and a half I was really struggling with executive functions. Post covid long haul exacerbated all my worse issues as my brain struggled to heal from the near death experience. It was suggested that I was either mildly on the spectrum or ADHD possibly both by my kid sister who was working with a therapist and sharing insights she felt might be of interest. Now I do some homework completely believing it to be way off base only to discover yet again a near perfect match. Still early in the journey but the Adderall medication I was put on to assist with day time sleepiness has been like a miracle. No formal ADHD diagnosis as Dr thinks it might complicate an already complex medical situation but I wonder what .ight be able to be addressed if the it were directly addressed. Anyway. Thank you for your video. It was quite illuminating.

When he said “if their a bright kid then they can just coast through primary school” OMG THAT WAS ME. My attention was horrible but my comprehension of everything was great and reading was something I was hyper fixated on as a kid so I did well in school even if I was daydreaming all day in class

I'm literally crying right now, I couldn't finish my dissertation and it's been a year and still haven't finish it yet. I thought I'm just lazy or unmotivated, and constantly blaming myself because I'm unable to finish it as fast as my others friends, after watch this video everything just make senses now.

4:38 yahhh, this is spot on. I heard a Ted Talk that said “hyperactivity presents in boys. In girls, it presents in racing thoughts.”

I wonder what percentage of people wanting this advice actually hang around without getting bored to tears before the end ( ;

I think that worst part about my ADD is that trying to finish anything is like

Legitimately as he said he was going to keep it a short video because its a video for people with adhd. I had just gone and clicked on new tab to check my emails... think that answers my question.

I’m left speechless after watching this video. Quite frankly, I had to rewind because I kept daydreaming in the middle of it, but to hear such an accurate diagnosis or list of symptoms that validates me- is incredible.

Excellent description, my life played out like that. I was diagnosed as an adult after I made the connection between anxiety and ADHD, best thing I ever did. My mother before ADHD had a name, told me I "Wasn't college material", which really upset me at the time, but she was right, I would never have gotten through university or enjoyed the desk job I may have gotten from it. I didn't get the grades anyway, way too much daydreaming lol. She also told me that I always put off doing things because I was addicted to the adrenaline of rushing to get them done at the last minute, she was 100% correct! A lot of my understanding of ADHD centred around that. If I was to describe ADHD, it's like my brain is a paper shredder, that craves a constant stream of paper to shred. Once the paper is collected, its shredded and gone. More paper needed lol.

Thank you ... I'm 57, female, and finally recognising what's been going on my whole life :)