SaddieTheMad

This keeps happening and it is infuriating. It's also scary for people with SMI/SEMI (severe and enduring mental illnesses) such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as if the fear of the illness itself wasn't enough.

Both, depending on the month. I have bipolar disorder.

Make playlists of songs within your vocal range and sing! It's so much easier in the shower. You'll flow.

Here: https://github.com/XargsUK/awesome-adhd

My personal choices are...

• Russell Barkley, phD
• Dr. Tracey Marks
• How to ADHD
• ADHD ReWired
• ADHD Experts

And you asked for sources, but these tools are great...

Apps

MyTherapy Pill Reminder: Notifications are annoying enough for me to take my pills.

Alarm Clock for Heavy Sleepers: I am not a heavy sleeper. I use it as my default alarm because it is highly customizable and it lets me snooze whatever time I need to snooze from a list of options I decide. Also, you can have alarms with different behaviors.

Bitwarden Password Manager: It's impossible to remember all your passwords nowadays...

Everyday objects

Clever Fox Pocket Weekly Planner: Before, I had reminders and to-dos everywhere (phone notes, post-its, to-do app, alarms...). Now I only use this notebook. Everything is here, from "do laundry" to "Friend's birthday". It's been very helpful.

Fidget cube from Antsy Labs: It's the original one! It's nice.

Loop Experience Plus Earplugs: Expensive, but effective and comfortable.

This, and a minimalist lifestyle are helping me. I share it, just in case.

⚠️ By the way, learning about ADHD is chaotic because people have different takes on it. There's the "I am a researcher, an expert, and all my years of study have let me to conclude that ADHD is not what the DSM tells us but something different, similar but different" (e.g. professor Russel Barkley). There's the "ADHD is what the DSM says because that's the experts' consensus. If we discover something new via sufficient evidence, it will appear in future editions of the DSM. Of course there are other things to say about the disorder, but they are too new and need more research" (e.g. Dr. Tracey Marks). And then there's the "ADHD is not even a disorder, it is just a brain that's different from the average brain. ADHD is therefore not understood by psychiatrists but by people who live with it, and we say that it resembles the description from the psychiatrists but it has additional traits" (e.g. the neurodiversity movement).

Sorry for the long answer! I hope it helps.

My memory has gotten worse and worse. I think it's a matter of age, neurological damage/cognitive decline due to bipolar disorder and other stressful events, and worsened memory that was never great because of ADHD. I need to write everything down nowadays. Other than that, no; I think the rest of the symptoms have been similar throughout my life.

I'd try to be understanding with the parents, but I admit family waiting too long is a problem. I remember watching this video and getting frustrated at every missed opportunity...

No, attention issues can be caused by depression, anxiety, stress, bad sleep hygiene or problems like sleep apnea, and many other things.

Many teachers liked me, but they definitely were frustrated because they thought I was relying on my good tests only, as if I thought that being smart was enough in life. They warned me that hard work was also necessary.
I don't blame them, and it is kind that they were worried about it, but it was not an attitude or belief, it was ADHD! A teacher even detected my memory problems and suggested a to-do list, but she didn't know that even acquiring those habits is hard for us.

I wish my teachers knew more about ADHD as all the clues were there. An early diagnosis would have helped me a lot.

Spanish (native), English (fluent).

Edit: Me emociona leer que tantas personas están aprendiendo español 🫶...

Also, cognitive disengagement syndrome or CDS. (It is not recognized yet by the DSM, though).

You could use a medical directory such as this one. This one is Mexican and it has filters so you can find an ADHD expert within the clinical psychologists. Contact them.

If you allow me a piece of advice, don't be cheap with these people. Just because they are used to earn miserably doesn't mean that it isn't hard. Living super tightly, stressed because it isn't enough to save for the future... That's the reality for many psychotherapists in Mexico —not all, but many. If you can pay them justly because of the euro (obviously considering your needs too), do so, please.