Following on from another thread, and at the risk of getting slated...
Would love some thoughts from either professionals or people diagnosed with ADHD as adults. As the title suggests, I think I possibly have ADHD, for the below reasons. I work full time by the way, but the below issues do have a huge impact on my life, mental health etc. and have been present since early childhood.
The obvious one- terrible focus on things I find dull but periods of hyper focus when I get the idea in my head. E.g., try really hard to listen in meetings but inevitably realise suddenly that I have been daydreaming for 15 mins and have no idea what was said, find it really hard to start tasks even though I really want to be productive and get them done, make a lot of "5 more mins" deals with myself, the usual, probably quite normal stuff. This has been an issue since I was a child- I never once had a parents evening in my entire school career where the teacher didn't say "lovely student but never stops chatting in lessons".
Am really untidy, but hate mess and it really stresses me, and will then have periods where I suddenly decide to tidy and be up until 3am ripping a room apart to organise every inch (which then lasts about a week!!) Have been this way since I was a child.
Work in a job that has short deadlines, lots of last minute changes and huge variety in the day today and this suits me down to the ground luckily, so it hasn't stopped my career progression, but does cause me extra stress as I either do things the second they land on my plate (usually if they are quick tasks) or else forget about them completely and leave them until the minute after the last minute. I do always manage to get things done (99% anyway) and I actually think my colleagues would describe me as very organised and efficient, but it has taken years of honing those skills and I do feel that all of those skills go into work and therefore home is a shit show!
Have frequent periods of days or weeks of fatigue, anxiety and inability to force myself do basic tasks, followed by periods where I am relatively on it, make lists, set alarms, make myself do things like 20 mins of quick tidying and actually find it really effective so promise myself this is the new me, but it always starts to slip and the cycle continues.
Often zone out and stare into space, mid activity, mid conversation, mid sentence can forget words or what I was saying.
Struggle to do simple things, e.g. recently bought some supplements to try and help with brain fog, frequently see them on the counter and think "I must take those" and another, stronger part of my brain goes "I'll do it later" even though it would take literally 2 seconds and they are right there and I end up not taking them.
Am frequently late despite trying really hard to be on time, have always been bad for losing everything and forgetting things since I was in primary school.
I have developed a lot of strategies that help me hugely, like doing things in short bursts, lists, etc but it is so exhausting.
My question is- could it be ADHD? And if it is, is it even worth pursuing a diagnosis?