It’s not either/or, it’s because. I’m constantly craving novelty, which has led me to learn a little bit about almost everything, quite a bit about many things, and achieved mastery of nothing. Hell I’ve been playing guitar for 25-odd years, and that’s pretty much the only exception, but even there, I’m nowhere near as good as I “should” be with that much experience.

I can C+ to B just about anything that interests me, but God help me beyond that point.

It’s crazy to see the pieces fit, isn’t it. Also it can lead to a large dose of regret filled with what-ifs. It is okay to ask those questions, but remember there is no changing the past — accepting it makes you grow.

Try to be kind to yourself!

I understand how you feel. I was diagnosed with a condition six months before completing college, and things started to improve significantly once I began taking the right medication and learned helpful techniques like the Pomodoro method.

I used to believe I was dumb compared to my classmates, as they seemed to effortlessly understand the course material while I struggled. This led to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.

However, realizing that my brain works differently has been a healing experience. I now understand that there’s nothing inherently wrong with me; I simply need to approach things in a different way to succeed.

I feel the exact same way, I was diagnosed less than 6 months ago at 29. The more I find out about ADHD the more I realize I had billboard sized signs of it my whole life.

Of course after getting diagnosed and talking with my parents they told me that my teachers had mentioned it the whole time I was growing up, but they don’t believe in it so I obviously don’t have it. Thanks parents, I would have loved to have that info and not feel like I was just a fuck up for 20+ years.

Your over thinking things. You never master anything because you are ordinary and unremarkable

Sorry to burst your bubble but you ain’t going be Michael Jordan

Amphetamines will make you feel like you are. Until they dont

25% would be one in every four people. That’s a lot.

Even if we take a geometric mean on that, 5% is one in every 20. That means most larger groups you’ve ever been a part of, like a class or something, likely had an ADHD person. It’s about the same level of prevalence as Asian people in the US. 5% is not negligible. Even 1% isn’t negligible on a society scale, and if you’re talking to a community focused on a specific thing, something that only already to 1% of people in an unfiltered sample will be very common in that community.

On top of that, mental conditions like ADHD are not a binary thing that flips in your brain, where you either have it and you get all of the effects or you get none. It’s a spectrum, it’s a fuzzy category to begin with (which accounts for the wide range of percentages you see), you can feel very ADHD-like effects even if you don’t meet the ever-changing criteria of a medical diagnosis. Which is why it changes so much to begin with, because there is no simple marker like with a virus.

In either case, don’t gatekeep a condition, especially not in a way that suggests that people should just do better. It’s the equivalent of saying “don’t be sad” to a depressed person.