I find myself almost in tears reading certain parts of the article. Growing up I was also the, “Smart, but lazy” kid, and my parents just told me I was a bad ki

I find myself almost in tears reading certain parts of the article. Growing up I was also the, “Smart, but lazy” kid, and my parents just told me I was a bad kid who needed more discipline. I always felt like my brain just worked differently and spent decades feeling fundamentally “broken” because I was just too “unmotivated” and didn’t have enough “will-power”. To this day I struggle with feeling inadequate because of the message I heard. That being said, I’m fortunate in that I’ve worked with a therapist who saw the ADHD (along with PTSD) symptoms and put a name to them. They pointed out that I’d basically been self-medicating with caffeine since I was a young kid. Even just having the acknowledgment and having words put to it has made a huge difference for me. Now I know it’s not some moral failing and laziness. My brain is just different and I have to figure out ways to make it work (currently those ways are medication, writing, therapy, and some incorporation of Buddhist teachings in my life).