I have ADHD, which was not officially diagnosed until quite recently, and that meant I grew up having to deal with it myself. My parents never thought to have me diagnosed mostly because they're very conservative folks who are still very much affected by the stigma surrounding mental disorders, especially here in the Philippines.

As some of you can probably imagine, growing up with undiagnosed ADHD was no walk in the park. Everyone, including myself, thought I was just lazy and uninspired when it came to doing schoolwork whilst being extremely enthusiastic with anything that had nothing to do with school. I skipped school a lot and barely did any homework (but somehow still got good test scores from things I managed to remember from my classes).

Anyway, it wasn’t until I was well into my adulthood (and long after I had finished school) that I got to talk to a psychiatrist and received a proper diagnosis. I then started my medication which resulted in a vast improvement on my quality of life. Prior to my diagnosis, I was extremely forgetful and disorganized, not just with my surroundings but also with my thoughts and speech. I had a lot of anxiety towards work meetings and speaking with work colleagues, because I was very prone to losing my train of thought mid-conversation. After I got a prescription to help treat my ADHD symptoms, things improved very quickly, to the point that I am now able to easily perform tasks that used to take a lot of will and effort.

I feel like anyone in my shoes would be prone to having regrets and dwelling on “could’ve beens”, like if only we’d been diagnosed a lot earlier. But to be honest, I have zero regrets about the late diagnosis. The experiences I had contributed largely to my self awareness and discovery. Basically I wouldn’t be who I am if not for the things I went through. I’m not gonna go into details on the challenges I had growing up, and I hate to sound cheesy, but I’m actually thankful and proud that I got through all of them.

And so this page is my little shrine to adult/undiagnosed ADHD. Just a disclaimer – I am by no means an expert on this subject, and everyone’s experiences with ADHD tend to differ. But perhaps what I have here might help others just like me. Or maybe I can just be a virtual friend to someone who’s going through similar challenges. =)