I overachieved to mask my ADHD. It’s common for women.

Growing up, my undiagnosed ADHD symptoms made me feel like something inside was broken or disconnected. A diagnosis in my early 20s, along with the right medication to manage symptoms, improved my life significantly — so much so that I carried on believing I had finally been “fixed.” But living under such a heavy misapprehension only perpetuated the overwhelming cycle of frustration, shame, silence and anxiety I felt before. No matter how I tried, I could never seem to truly fix myself.