Adult ADHD? Not sure if it's just me being me?

[DrawerofMystery]

I’m starting to wonder if I might have ADHD — I’m bad at spotting things or filtering information, and I have hyper-focus days and slow-brain days
For those of you with ADHD, what does it look like in your day-to-day life?

I’m trying to work out if it’s worth getting assessed, so any experiences would be really appreciated 🙂

Some struggles I notice:
Noticing/finding things: I can’t spot things right in front of me, and reading a departure board can take ages
Orientation & memory: I forget neighbours faces, directions, and where I parked
Fluctuating functioning: Some days I’m hyper-focused with racing thoughts; other days everything feels foggy and my speech suffers
Attention: I zone out in conversations or tasks and freeze if someone talks to me while I’m on the phone
Executive function / organisation: Starting tasks is hard, then I hyperfocus and do everything at once. Big admin jobs overwhelm me, and my space gets messy quickly. I lose stuff if I tidy up
Other odd ones: New systems, tech, and machines confuse me, and I get disoriented easily.

Not sure if this is ADHD or just me being me 😅
Does this sound familiar to anyone with ADHD?

I'm neurotypical and have all of those things!

If you feel like it's having a significant impact on your life and require treatment then seek an assessment but if not, I wouldn't.

One of the reasons waiting lists are so long is because of a significant number who just 'want to know' so they can understand themselves better, feeling better about themselves etc and you don't need a formal diagnosis for that, you can just treat yourself as if you have it and employ strategies to help.

While people are on the long waiting list who just want to know, there are other people waiting who need treatment because they,re going to be thrown off their uni course, can't hold down a job, are involved in the criminal justice system, are having marriages break down, using drugs, at risk of social services removing their DC and so on.

Adult services are going to start taking the approach that many child's services are taking for ASC and ADHD which is that everyone has neurodiversity traits and there are lots of resources online that can help but unless it's causing significant problems in school and in other areas, and strategies have already been tried and failed to help, an assessment won't happen on the NHS.

I'm still trying to see if my struggles are within like a usual range. I'm not sure if it's affecting my life to a great degree, but I wasn't able to graduate from university, I couldn't hold down a decent job (including freelance) except for a part time one where I was just lucky my boss and the team was very supportive I survived just okay🤔
Also I'm not sure if I can drive although itd make my life a lot easier if I could. Currently trying to figure out if it's safe to start learning to drive with my struggles with attention and disision making.

As I wrote somewhere above in the replies, if I'm going to check with a specialist, I wouldn't get in the other's way and queue in the waiting list for the NHS assessment. Instead I'm thinking about taking the initial 30mins screening thing with a private provider...

Yes and it’s really not ideal if I’m out and about and my face is doing all manner of expression and sometimes I’m muttering - I must honestly look a bit mental. I have to be very conscious of keeping my face neutral if I’m doing something like walking the dog where my thoughts go into overdrive.

I don’t have songs, no, but that sounds quite nice. Sometimes have a narration though! The stream of thought is always there though. I always had a vivid imagination as a child and I wonder if it’s linked.

I don’t mind that my brain never turns off though - I’ve never known any different and think I’d find the silence deafening if it did.

Just to update in case anyone’s interested – I had a 1-hour screening with a private provider after this thread, and it suggests I probably do have ADHD (inattentive) after all.
It’s not a formal diagnosis, but I thought I’d share as the responses here were really helpful.