kabatty5404 avatar
kabatty5404
25
1 year ago

Family non-believers...

Does anyone else have a hard time with your family (parents, siblings) not believing that ADHD really does affect all areas of your life, and not in a positive way? I'm 52 and as I am learning more about my ADHD, they usually roll their eyes up or give me the "that's just an excuse" response. It is very disheartening. I finally understand these life-long things that I thought were just me being a failure, or lazy, or stupid actually have a cause so I try to educate and share with my family, and their non-believer attitude makes me feel shitty. I did snap back the other day and told my mom that her diabetes is all in her head and she is using her pancreas as an excuse... šŸ˜‰

BDSIngramšŸ˜Š avatar
BDSIngramšŸ˜Š
1y

I currently have that challenge and I think it is hard for others to understand if they havenā€™t experienced it personally. That being said, Iā€™ve decided I donā€™t give a shit what they think šŸ’šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø I just keep working on feeling better and learning more to help myself and my undiagnosed 6yr old son šŸ„° I give others kindness and grace with it when I can but otherwise, I just donā€™t participate in conversation with them about it-thereā€™s no benefit for me if they arenā€™t willing to try and understand. Iā€™m not willing to give them my good energy at this point šŸ™…šŸ»ā€ā™€ļøšŸ˜Š Itā€™s a form of self care for me šŸ„°

shrekmedaddeh avatar
shrekmedaddeh
1y

I have the same problem. when I first got diagnosed my dad and i felt like everything suddenly made sense, but when my dad told my brother about it, my brother said ā€œheā€™s a bad psychiatrist, she doesnā€™t have adhd you just donā€™t discipline her enoughā€ (Iā€™m an adult, and maybe talk to my brother a total of 20 minutes out of the year). now my dad agrees with my brother and doesnā€™t entirely believe i have adhd either, even though he thought my mom had it and initially agreed with the diagnosis.

ParabolicHeater avatar
ParabolicHeater
1y

I guess the best synonym for disbelief is just ā€œignorantā€, and not in a pejorative way, you gotta just deal with them and enlighten them gently.

YKPWRLD  avatar
YKPWRLD
1y

I had the hardest time trying to convince my mom although the doctors wanted to get me test for ADHD when I was younger and I also have 2 other comorbid conditions with ADHD she refused to see it, because I would ADHD mask so I would hid the symptoms and I could hyper focus on things I love so she swear I wasnt an issue, and I learned One thing is people won't understand until they are ready to try to understand it. My mom is finally coming around to understanding after years of un diagnosis because she's seeing it affect me I had to explain it like this "Yes everyone gets distracted but with ADHD it's a neurologic problem that makes it happen more often and the effects are stronger, it's not just something you can think away we have real issues out side of just paying attention we are constantly up and down multiple times throughout the day."

YKPWRLD  avatar
YKPWRLD
1y

She didn't even notice it when I would get in trouble almost everyday just doing stupid stuff for fun like almost getting expelled I would literally would get in trouble for jump around while I was eating at home and she still ignored it. Its not something people will see until they want to see it

Adren88 avatar
Adren88
1y

My husbandā€¦ so I was diagnosed when I was little so my family all know and understand but husband dowsnt believe I have 5 kids (1 with him) 2 have been diagnosed with ADHD one with ADD and he constantly makes remarks like they are lying itā€™s not true the boys are just not listening etc anyways I had my kids on meds he would say they arenā€™t real that we should stop etc just comments basically saying they just donā€™t behave or listen bcuz they chose not to say he starts talking to one of the boys and they arenā€™t listening Iā€™m like babe itā€™s bcuz he was doing something else heā€™s focused on something else and he didnā€™t even know you were talking to him. So I hardly bring anything up about myself he goes with it bcuz Iā€™m an addict 2 yrs sober as long as Iā€™m sober he stays away from anything mental

Add comment