Living with ADHD means constantly unboxing and adapting to its little “gifts.” Our symptoms work like Russian nesting dolls, the outer shells consisting of one of the “big three” – inattention, hyperactivity, or impulsivity – and the shells within consisting of sub-behaviors that cause issues in different parts of our lives.
It can feel impossible to break from these behaviors because of how subtle they can be and how automatic they become, but you CAN adapt.
One of my most prevalent ADHD nesting dolls is perfectionism.Perfectionism wasn’t on my radar until I was diagnosed with inattentive-type ADHD at 30.
Part of receiving a later-in-life diagnosis is reflecting to fill in the ADHD-shaped gaps of your past, so I got to work re-examining my entire life.
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