To use a somewhat contrived analogy, lets say you’re dropped in a city where everybody speaks a strange language, completely unlike anything you’ve heard, and everyone gives you weird looks when you try to talk in English, in this hypothetical you have no idea that other languages exist, maybe you heard someone mention the concept some time but it’s totally baffling to you, beyond comprehension. That’s often how it feels to have ADHD and executive dysfunction in a society that don’t understand it. Getting diagnosed is like having someone explain to you that actually other languages exist, and then tell you what language the people in the city speak. Finding the right medication is like finding an old tattered translation dictionary, you can start to learn the language. It’s unlikely that you’ll ever become fluent - the analogy breaks down here, but safe to say nobody else should decide that you don’t need the dictionary anymore.
Caleb Connolly: Getting privately diagnosed with ADHD in the UK