So, Adult ADHD Is Really A Thing

I've got it.

An Unexpected Observation

4 months ago I started seeing a therapist because I was having panic attacks (p.s, I come across SO many posts from friends about their struggle with anxiety almost every day. Why the hell are millennials so nervous?) Anyway, I've always been anxious. I was an anxious child, and I am an anxious adult. I decided to try therapy when the panic attacks went from uncomfortable to unbearable.

My new therapist, we'll call her Julie, and I met only twice before she asked me something that struck me as odd. She reached under her desk and pulled out a big book, a really big book; the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.

She put the book on her desk and thoughtfully turned towards me, in a very comforting-therapist sort of way and asked,

"Has anyone every talked with you about ADHD?"

"Um, no," I squinted at the book.

Um, no?

But, Oh, oh yes.

I explained that I was a quiet kid who got good grades and never got in trouble. I explained that I was not a high energy kid. I explained that I was not all of the things that come to mind when we hear ADHD.

After I was done implicitly detailing all the reasons I did not have ADHD, Julie smiled and asked a few more questions.