08/10/2026
October is ADHD Awareness Month.
And this one is personal. ❤️
I found out I have ADHD when I was 40.
40.
That means I spent 40 years wondering why some things seemed so much harder for me than they seemed to be for everyone else.
ADHD affected my school life, my social life, my career, my relationships with my family and my romantic relationships.
I have always been highly sensitive and highly empathetic. My brain can have what feels like 12 tabs open at the same time. All. The. Time.
And it was exhausting.
At school, I could do really well when I liked the teacher. I would study because I wanted their attention, their approval, and sometimes just to hear those two words:
“Well done.”
But if a teacher was very serious, intimidating, or I was afraid of them, something in my brain just switched off. I wouldn’t study.
My family thought I was being lazy.
I wasn’t lazy.
I just didn’t understand my own brain.
And because nobody knew I had ADHD, I didn’t know either.
The mood changes, the sensitivity, the overwhelm, the exhaustion, the difficulty switching off, the intense emotions… they all affected my relationships too.
For years, I thought these were character flaws.
And sometimes I think about the little girl I was.
I wish I could go back and hug her and say:
“You are wonderful exactly as you are.”
Especially on all those days when she felt exhausted, overwhelmed or like she wasn’t good enough.
Finding out I had ADHD didn’t magically fix everything.
But it gave me something incredibly important:
an explanation.
And, finally, a little bit of compassion for the girl I used to think was “lazy”, “too sensitive” or “too emotional”.
She wasn’t.
Her brain was simply working differently.
If you recognise yourself in this, you’re not alone. ❤️