I got my diagnosis for ADD (and a few other stuff) a little more than a year ago when I was 19. For me, it's always been really "weird". I suppose I could share

I got my diagnosis for ADD (and a few other stuff) a little more than a year ago when I was 19. For me, it's always been really "weird". I suppose I could share this personal anecdote here, in a hope that people stop seeing everything as binary. Sure, there is "big pharma" problem. I buy 150 USD worth meds on my own to know that (insurance does not cover it). But that doesn't/shouldn't hinder those who genuinely are in need of help, be it in form of medication, therapy, or just plain ol' family support. Without and before the stimulants, absolutely nothing was urgent to me. Not showering, eating, getting work done, studying. Nope. It always came as a surprise when I used to see other folks deciding to do something, and then _actually_ getting it done! How is that even normal! Now, though, I realise that that's what "normal" is. But that's just probably what others see as laziness? I don't know. Perhaps it is Executive dysfunction? But I am glad that I managed to get help, and ever since that, actually able to get myself together. Having lived in India, mental illness is still taken as a taboo, at large. Nobody at my family, myself included, knew about even the existence of ADHD, let alone see a psych! I remember my parents always being told: "Your kid can do better, but he doesn't study! If only." And this went on all the way till my second year at University, when the night before my end-term exam, I ended up with a breakdown because I __just could not__ manage to focus and study the material. I ended up barely passing the paper. Not everything has been bad, though. There's always this phase of "super focus" for me -- I find something interesting, and then obsess over it until it isn't interesting anymore. Channelled in right direction, I managed to learn a lot in math, computer science and of course programming. I do think that a lot of mass-education is needed with this regards.