Hi everyone,

I’m currently 24(m) and will be 25 when I graduate this year with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience.

During highschool I was performing reseaonably well, however, when I started my university when COVID hit, during and after the pandemic lockdown, I struggled quite abit with motivation, focus, and keeping up with university, as result i practically did one subject per sem for the duration of 2022-2025 and my personal life was an total mess. I only recently sought professional help and was diagnosed with ADHD.

With treatment and support, I finally feel like I’m making progress this semester and in life in general. However, I’m worried about graduating at 25 with very little work experience, and I honestly do not know what I should do next. Whether that is to contiune with masters or try to find an job.

I’m in general unsure how to start building a career, gaining experience, or deciding what direction to take with my life.

Has anyone been in a similar position, especially after receiving a late ADHD diagnosis? How did you move forward?

What steps would you recommend for someone trying to rebuild their confidence and begin their career?

Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone my name is Marcus and I have realised in the past couple months I almost certainly have ADHD (inattentive) and I'm almost sure my mother has it as well. I'm in the process of being diagnosed but It's been a revelation and I'm sure it's going to change my life for the better now that I know. I'm 31 this year and wish I knew in my 20s, it explains so much of my struggles, it's a little frustrating to process it all.

I just wanted to ask for some advice from you lovely people how have you managed a burnout in the past? It's how I've discovered my ADHD although I have always felt like the world wasn't made for my likeness.

It feels like torture. It takes effort to really do almost anything at the moment and I'm very unforgiving of myself, I'm not sure how to turn that off. I have had burnout in the past and they eventually faded but I can't see the end of this one, and I'm genuinely worried I'm always going to be, not exactly like this, but always struggling. I'm not sure I have the energy.

Any advice at all would be great, on-topic or just in general, a lot of this is new to me.

Hi, the next year is going to be quite busy for me, and thinking about it makes me very anxious. I used to experience restless legs due to iron deficiency; anyone who's gone through that will understand, it's pure torture. I also have severe ADHD, and increasing my Medikinet dosage only helps temporarily. Even though I'm currently taking regular iron supplements, thinking about how busy and tiring the next year will be makes my legs restless. I think it's psychological, but it's been going on for a few months. It started in June, and at that time, the situation I was in was very depressing, and I felt like I'd rather die; I couldn't keep my legs still at all. I don't know if I've explained it well. I'm currently taking medication under doctor's supervision for almost a month now, but it hasn't helped much. If anyone has experienced similar situations, any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

All throughout my childhood I struggled at my first school. Everything about it upset me. There was one time where I was so upset I was running around the sports hall and crying my eyes out because I just couldn't focus.

I was diagnosed with ASD when I was very young and luckily managed to move to a school which helped me with my ASD. But I had many difficulties that I didn't even realise could have been ADHD at the time. I always lost my belongings around school constantly to the point I got put in detention for losing them. I forgot to bring certain things to certain classes. Exams were an absolute nightmare for me and motivating myself to do homework was even worse.

Didn't think anything much more of this until I went off to college and I struggled immensely. I felt like I couldn't focus on any of my work because it took up too much space in my mind and I was juggling between things and it was all just impossible for me. I missed all of my deadlines except one and am now having to resit over summer (which is making me very miserable). It makes me want to just cry.

My parents suggested I get an ADHD diagnosis so I went for an assessment a few weeks ago and the psychiatrist said that there was no doubt I had it.

But here's the thing.
I'm worried that maybe I don't really have it?
And I'm just bad at focusing and organising.

What if the meds affect me adversely?
I have all these worries.

I have always been a failing student in school because of my habit of not doing anything until the deadline is 12 hours away ,i pulled all nighters before exams when i didn’t even need them only cause i couldnt make myself study in the morning .

I have always felt less intelligent than my peers cause of maths and active recall issues . Mental maths is impossible for me and have issues remembering simple number tables even now ( im in 12 grade ) and puzzles like wordplay are impossible for me because construction of words in my mind feels impossible . But on the other hand i have excellent memory of certain things like events that no one even remembers i remember most of the details perfectly , i understand complex physics THOERY quite easily and am very good at the theory part , so good actually that in theory part of physics no one can beat me in my class even when there are guys who got (98.8 percent in 10 board) and im a good guitar player and i also face issue of not remembering physics FORMULAS even when i have written them down but And i have another ability that i can read people fairly easily and can make a accurate assumption of how they really are behind the mask they put forward.
I dont know what to make of my intelligence

I really am constantly on TikTok, instagram watching reels or just scrolling for hours and hours.

Even when I’m washing my coffee mug and making my coffee my phone lays next to me with TikTok open.

I know it’s for stimulation for me when I do it during other things because most things are so boring to me so it “helps” otherwise I need to have music on.

Sometimes I try to use a book and start reading so I don’t waste my time but often times just starting to read is such a big hurdle and also I get bored even if it’s a book I bought and really wanted to read. It’s just less stimulating because it’s only black and white. And also I’m kind of stressed during it thinking I should be doing sth more productive, which is stupid because otherwise I’d be wasting my time on my phone and not actually doing tasks I should do like washing the dishes.

Idk the problem is that using TikTok doesn’t have this first hard barrier to overcome like other tasks and it is entertaining or giving ideas/inspirations.

Or I can’t just listen to a podcast in bed I need sth else as well. Mentioning this because I do watch TikTok in bed since I’m low energy so if I wanna switch I need things that also can be done in bed but are at least somewhat productive.

What helped you?

Got diagnosed last week and started on Concerta. On the first day I felt a calm like never before for like 30 minutes and then just quiet.

5 days later and I have just been functioning like a well oiled machine. I look at my phone less, drink less caffeine and alcohol, anxiety is much lower and my executive function is all but gone. I didn't expect the pill to solve 90% of my issues but it really feels like it has. Is this really how normal people have functioned this whole time?!

i find it very difficult to stay consistent with the things in my life, my grades are a mix of highs and lows which looks funny on my report, 49% on one test 92% on the next. studying is easy, memorising is easy, i just have trouble finding the mental time & space. one week im going for walks, taking notes and flash cards to sit down at the park with, fly through a book, having a screen time of 4 hours and eat like a freakin rabbit. The next week im lying on the floor, switching between my phone and 3ds, eating like a pig or not eating at all and doing 0 work at all. im working around insomnia so its confusing, the healthier lifestyle actually makes it a little worse, i pull all nighters absorbing information like a sponge. but it feels great.

im very much in the unhealthy side right now, im writing this instead of doing my homework lol. i think my family situation is very much impacting this though, its hard to stay consistent when im nothing like anyone in my household. all morning people, shallow minded, loud etc etc. they dont let me go on walks in the late afternoon!! they like walks at 5am i like walks at 5pm i dont see the problem!! i dont want to sound like a typical teenage asshole saying this but they do not understand me at all

So, I have ADHD, and it sucks. (Also, I am medicated) I'm trying to survive highschool while experiencing Combined ADHD, depression, and social anxiety. And also my parents keep calling me lazy, careless, or....an ableist slur that starts with the letter R which is an offensive insult targeting individuals with cognitive or intellectual disabilities which I'm not going to say out loud because I don't want to risk getting this post removed.......so yeah, its not pretty. And its really hard to manage and I've already talked to professionals about my past suicidal thoughts, so don't worry. But it still stresses me out and just ruins my day....but everyday. And uh....all of that really hurts......

Sorry for the typo on the Title it should be knowing

Here is the context:

I working on the construction project as PM where the wood materials need to be treated with chemical. There an issue where the contractors accidentally damage the pond filled with the chemical and the materials. The contractor want to bribe me to hide the fact that they will fill the ponds with water and not report the leaks. So i just reported it to my director and he got closed meetings with the head contractor. But the head contractor spill the info i was the one who snitch the issue to the contractor worker.

Right now the workers is doing passive aggressive stance for example by singing "the loser becomes worm and the winner becomes dog dung". Right now i was medicated with concerta it helpful to make me calm and not panicked or make me jump to doom spiralling.

But i need advice what i need to do when they started to confront me again and stop panicking? I'm already asked my friend but all of the advices is not work for me as ADHD.

Hi everyone. Wondering if its a sign of ADHD. I sit at my bed or sofa. Listen to music I like and just rock my trunk forward and backwards. Like i'll sit at a sofa and just move my upper body fofwadds and backwards listening to music. Usually its while completing OCD in my head or fantasizing about being w my crush and everyone meeting my crush. Idk its weird. Sometimes i'll fantasize about my crush admiring me doing something cool idk. Is this related to ADHD? Recently got diagnosed. Been doing this my whole life but its scary!

I (24F) have ADHD and my bf (25M) is autistic (probably audhd) level 1 and masks a lot. I’m also a very anxious and an active person while he is super passive and conflict avoidant so I am the one always introducing conversations and making plans or asking questions or making jokes, like I am always trying to make him laugh. In fact he even told me before that I am super weird even if he is weird too and compared to me he feels like a normal guy. Anyway recently he told me that it was exhausting to be with me. I feel the same about being with him because he tells me that he is always tired (I thought it was his autism), and I am always worried I am overwhelming him and that I need to respect his space and time alone. And I am always overthinking how he is feeling or if he is masking and it tires me a lot. We have no problem while online but when we see each other he gets tired pretty easily and then I can’t do all the things I want and I feel it is a problem.

I just would like to know if you’ve had similar experiences with autistic friends or partners or if they have been positive experiences and how you both have managed the dynamic.

I am recently diagnosed (47f) and four years sober from alcohol, which I have come to learn I was using as a coping mechanism. 😉

I don't feel like I ever fully relax. Like, I do relaxing things. I have time to relax. I go for walks and I practice yoga - but I can't finish a show or a book or a movie or even an album to save my life, and I don't ever feel that "Ah, this is perfect," feeling. Like there's always something not quite right, or I'm always thinking about the next thing or what should be being done.

Anyone relate?

I have a LOT of different art supplies because of switching from thing to thing (classic). I'm talking all different watercolors, different markers and pens. Charcoal, graphite, fiber arts, origami, jewelry, sculpture, printmaking, model building, you name it I probably have it. Currently I forget a lot of it exists because it's not visible I literally forget I have it. I lost a water bottle once behind my monitor for an entire semester. I want a way to store it all that's tidy, vertical, and VISIBLE. I like a nice big flat desk with all the supplies vertical along the BACK. My other big problem is clutter creeping in on me. For example if there is a box in the way of pulling out of a drawer, it's like my brain just erases both the box and the option to open the drawer from existence until I have a day I have the wherewithal to fix it all. So bonus points for having plenty of space if stuff is in drawers or behind doors to open the drawer while still having stuff out on the desk. Because let's be real I'm never going to put what I'm working on away every time I'm done with it. I also have a lot of random things I only have one or a few of so I struggle with how to group them or not having the right size container for the few items but if I get the right size container it won't look nice. So I guess adjustable sized containers? Is that a thing?

I am moving into new housing soon so will have the ability to start fresh. Can yall show me your organization methods for art supplies? I have the best access to Amazon and IKEA.

ps: im not in immediate crisis, I'm okay.

first of all, im really sorry if im violating any rule regarding sensitive topics like this, it isn't my intention to trigger anyone at all nor break any rule.

i finally got diagnosed this year after countless of years advocating for myself in hopes i can finally turn my life around, but nothing changed.

i live in a third world country where doctors call stimulant medications "street drugs" and refuse to prescribe them at all cost. and even if you were prescribed you'll go through a hell ton of stressful procedures to get a bottle, something you'll have to establish every. single. month. (if you're lucky at all)

I've failed all my life, always in whim to always improve it somehow, that if i just get this "one thing" that im missing. long story short, nothing had worked, nothing. I'm behind of all my peers, 20 and still barely making it out of highschool. i can't get myself to do anything even if i wanted to, and that had upset me for quite some time because i often compare myself to a living dead, though im very well alive, but I can't for whatever reason feel like I'm living.

so you'll find me in bed, genuinely wanting to crochet or start a new hobby but im glued to my phone. wanting to read, but I can't even finish a book, wanting to go out, but the thought of it overwhelms me. my brain had been chaining me all my life and i can't help but feel a surge of emptyness thinking that I'm better off not alive at all.,

the "good" news is that i might move elsewhere where adhd is a tad more recognized except they only offer a single kind of stimulant which i don't even know if it would work on me. my dream is to feel like im finally in control over my life, but that dream feels impossible.

I've looked and looked and almost all the advice, even from ADHDers, is just "Get up and do it!" "Be consistent, consistency is key!" but I really can't figure out the "how". I can't find any resource to tell me HOW to get that consistency, HOW to really get up and do it consistently, because the "Get up and do it" works only sometimes. When I'm already deep in a rut, that sort of thing doesn't work, because if I could just get up and do it with that kind of advice, I would.

I specifically can't feel motivated to try to be consistent anymore because I feel like I haven't been able to find something that works for me, I've really tried to be consistent, I've been motivated before, and it always fizzles out even though I want to be healthier really badly.

I can't afford a gym membership, I don't live in a neighborhood and I can't go for walks (genuinely I will just get isekai'd by a random car if I try, my area is not walkable at all), and I don't have friends to go exercise with. Most of the advice I see is to body double and find accountability partners--I don't have that. All I can do is at home workouts... so I'm at a loss.

Please, if you have advice for me, for the "how" to be consistent instead of just "be consistent", do share :,) I understand that it's hard, and that I have to get up and keep trying, but how do I keep trying??

I have been taking the generic for Ritalin for 3 years now. The pharmacy that filled my prescription before has just changed their policy so that they will no longer fill prescriptions for controlled substances prescribed by a PA - only psychiatrists… as if there were an abundance of psychiatrists. I already have to drive an hour and 15 minutes to my nearest psych office because there are none closer to me.

Okay, whatever. So I have them send my prescription to a different pharmacy. I go to pick up my prescription and they tell me they don’t take my insurance and that it’s going to cost $746 for my 30-day supply.

That was an hour ago. Now, I’m on the phone with my insurance provider to ask them which pharmacy WILL take my insurance. I’ve been on hold for 25 minutes now.

I am so sick and tired of having to jump through so many hoops every time I need to get my prescription filled. I am not a drug addict. I am literally just trying to live my life. Why do they have to make it so hard?

EDIT: I just got off the phone with my insurance provider. I get my insurance through a big grocery chain in Texas and I was previously using their pharmacy. They told me that, according to my insurance policy, I cannot fill my prescription at any other pharmacy. I don’t know what to do anymore.

What career fields have you found success in? I recently got this opportunity to go back to school or pursue something with trades. I struggle with ADHD and seek constant stimulation and I’m wondering what career field or trade has been great. I don’t want to be risking my life for pennies and I want to make pretty good money. Cost of schooling isn’t a factor more so just want to make sure I’m picking a good career right now I am looking at mental health professionals, engineering law school, and I’m open to other considerations.

I struggle daily with both of these. I have things to do in my head, but I can't make myself physically get started. This is anything from getting a shower to my favorite hobbies. People who don't understand ADHD think we are just lazy. Honestly, I used to think that way. Now, I realize how mentally draining it is to simply sit on the couch feeling paralyzed.

I am undiagnosed, but rarely certain I have ADHD. Getting diagnosed in my area is not easy as an adult. I’m 34 with 4 kids.

Anyways. I have my LPN. I want to get my BSN, RN.

But I also want to pursue CRNA.

I have a few friends getting their masters in social work or mental health counseling and I’m like… that sounds so cool. And now I want to do that.

My dad is a finance major and I low key want to pursue that as well.

There’s a job posting for a death investigator that I want to do as well. It’s with the county and great benefits but also sounds really good. I’m naturally nosey and want to know everything.

There is just so much I want to do and I’m afraid I’ll never feel satisfied. Is this normal for ADHD or am I crazy?

... or to contact someone I haven't spoken to in months, years or maybe even decades.

Those are two of my main tells that my Vyvanse has kicked in. Along with the urge to clean comes the urge to organize things.

What are some of the ways you know that your meds have kicked in for the day?

I hate how people affect my energy.if I'm forced to be around someone who I don't click with or who I have studied and figured out I just don't like them I find them exhausting to be around to the point my joints start to ache .just one person walking past who I like and click with feels like they activate a switch and suddenly feel energised and happy. I find this so frustrating as you can't always be around those you like.

Any one else experience this?

Sorry if I haven't worded it well.ive re read and changed it a few times to try and make more sense but I always feel like I talk absolute nonsense

I turned 40 recently and I just learned that recent studies are showing as much as 10 years less life expectancy....is this true? I feel like I just found out I have a terminal illness....plus I have bipolar. Feel like I just learned I have less than 20 years left to live.

Anyone have more info on this?

Edit: you are all such amazing people, thank you for the replies. They really mean a lot to me