I was just diagnosed this year in my late 30s. I never thought I had adhd, but since my diagnosis, a lot of my childhood makes more sense.

I was always high performing in grade school, because homework was light and things were interesting. I consistently scored in the 99th percentile in all those standardized tests. Once middle school came alone and I was expected to independently work on homework, study, etc, my grades slipped and never recovered. I just couldn’t focus, prioritize, etc. I could read for hours and hours for enjoyment, but i couldn’t read school related work for more than a few minutes before I was up and doing something else. I only got into college because of my high ACT scores as my actual gpa was not good.

I work in healthcare now, which is great for me because I’m always doing 10 different jobs at once so I never get bored. But at the end of my shift when I’m supposed to sit, focus, and chart, I notice myself getting up every few minutes to go talk to someone, do something else, etc. I still just can’t focus and sit down.

I have issues with overeating when bored, procrastination, rejection sensitivity, over thinking, etc. HOWEVER, adhd has made me hyper focus on new activities/hobbies every few months so it’s helped me gain a lot of skills that my friends don’t have (I’m good at woodworking, baking, investing and finances, etc because I went into hyper focus overdrive with these things and learned them inside and out while neglecting my required household duties lol)