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21 Comics About ADHD By A 29-Year-Old Artist That Only Got The Right Diagnosis A Year Ago
There's a common misconception about ADHD that only children can suffer from it. But adults have it as well. Adult ADHD symptoms may not be as clear since the hyperactivity may decrease, but struggles with impulsiveness, restlessness, and difficulty paying attention may remain. Also, many adults with this disorder aren't even aware they have it — they just know that everyday tasks can be a challenge.
Pina, a 29-year-old artist from Germany has been living with ADHD for a while now. "I'm a freelance illustrator and visual development artist for Animation but in true ADHD manner, I have studied graphic design, of which I dropped out, and game design, in which I graduated." Pina is currently juggling quite a few artistic endeavors, including a comic series dedicated exclusively to ADHD.
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Wow, i actually thought I was the only one like that! No, I don't have ADHD diagnosis, but do have generalized anxiety...
"I had been suspecting that I have ADHD ever since I was struggling and developing anxiety at university," she told Bored Panda. "It wasn't until my life fell apart being a self-organized freelance artist that I started to seek help and eventually received my ADHD diagnosis at 28."
"I started mental therapy when I struggled with university and it helped me only a little bit, [mostly] with my anxiety and depression. However, my ADHD went unconfirmed because according to the therapist I was seeing at the time, 'I didn't drop out of university yet, so I can't have ADHD.'"
As a teenager with unmedicated ADHD, I can totally say that this is accurate. Medication spaces me out, and when I go without medication it makes me anxious. Fortunately, I have a lovely group of friends who understand and are willing to help me!
"After being told I couldn't have this mental problem because I was too quiet and smart, I started journaling my behavior, using self-help techniques from therapy to analyze them. I was able to piece things together when I started researching ADHD, reading any book or paper I could find and watching endless amounts of videos. Group therapy and talking to my doctors has helped me strengthen my knowledge. One of my favorite resources is Dr. Russel Barkley’s talks."
Now, Pina takes ADHD medication and visits self-help groups. "[These things] have turned my life around completely."
"Seeing other people like me at the self-help groups was eye-opening," she said. "[It was] the first time I felt like a legitimate human being, so I wanted to share this feeling through my art. I finally started this relatable comic after being told by a respected fellow artist that everyone is a little bit ADHD nowadays. It made me so mad that people would judge ADHD without knowing what it really is or what we 'aliens' struggle with that I couldn't stop myself from drawing."
I really felt on a deep personal level going out of your way to not be rejected by strangers
Same haha- once I ran out of a bathroom stall because I was having a panic attack and just needed to get out and then I started worrying that the people in line (that I would never see again) thought I didn't wash my hands for God's sake
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Me: Has an extensive knowledge on serial killers, the paranormal, mythology, tradition, video games, anime, and psychological disorders. Also me: Can't fill out a single paged worksheet.
yeah after reading this list i feel the same!
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I have adhd and can agree with the hyper fixation i love a survival game called ark and for like a month that was all i could think about, constantly talking about it thinking about it during school while (attempting) doing homework, if i wasn't playing i was on the companion app preparing for when i did play.
I had major issues with many of these things as a child and a teenager. However I am bipolar as well as ADHD. The combination means things are even more confusing sometimes. When it comes to making decisions like when going out to eat by about age 15 i quit even looking at a menu unless it was a place i had never been. I still at age 34 get the same thing at most places every time. For example, at subway, if it is hot and i want a cold sandwich, i get tuna. If i want a hot sandwich, i get meatball. I do not even let myself consider anything else because it will overwhelm me. I have reached a point where to avoid the chaos of trying to decide i simply stick to what i know i like. If we go out as a family to a new place i let my family pick everything because they are better at picking what i will like and we all try everything. I gave up on school years ago, i dont learn there. I have learned more since leaving school from reading books and watching documentaries. I get lost in them.
I'm terrified of getting rejected. My mom doesn't understand any of this. I wish she could read this and understand
Wow....reading this I'm now wondering if I should talk to someone.... I've never been diagnosed with ADHD but I literally check off every box...that could explain A LOT!!!
I'm all or none of these depending on my anxiety/exhaustion levels...
My 11yr old son goes out of his way to help friends & strangers alike. The end result is adults love him and gush about how nice/polite he is. Kids his age either understand and like him for who he is or make fun of him behind his back....
probably the only reason i can remember my birthday is because it's 1. on the first of a month, so easy number. 2. right after halloween. and I get the motivation part. I want to do things, I want to push through, but i don't know how to start and it's so damn frustrating.
It's interesting reading these as someone with several major anxiety disorders but not ADHD, I can separate what makes it different from my case, but certain things overlap so hard. I have inhumanely awful recall at times, forgetting my own birthday has happened more than a dozen times (also going out of your way to help strangers/not being able to say no), but I also don't have problems shifting my attention away from things, which is one of the major problems someone I know intimately that has ADHD has.
I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was in third grade and it's always been a struggle when I'm at school, when I'm doing work, and when I make friends. These comics I can relate to so much and I wish more people knew that I wasn't being lazy or didn't care. It was because it's so hard to start and finish my homework but when i wanna learn the state capitals i spend hours on it.
I have a lot of anxiety and a lot of this stuff I can relate too. It feels so good to know it's not just me and other people get this too.
The deciding one is soo real, i often can't Even decide lunch and i'm an picky eater too
Huh. I'm all of these things except the being late part... I'm perpetually stupidly early and I pre-warn everyone I'm going to be late... constantly. Eh, I probably don't have ADHD then? Who knows. Urgh. Doctor says it's just regular anxiety disorder.
"My comics can't tell anyone if they have ADHD or not, but they might help someone understand the struggles they've had and give them courage to seek a diagnosis."
"What I talk about in my comics is so shunned upon and made me feel embarrassed all my life and I just want my fellow Aliens to know they're not alone. Even though not everyone with ADHD is like me or makes the same experiences, we all suffer from the same stigma."
emotional dysregulation is so hard to manage!! i deal with this all the time but i internalize all of it because i've been told to stop talking so many times.
"If there is something I could tell everyone, it would be that even if you relate to the problems and can overcome them, it doesn't mean that everyone else can. ADHD symptoms are a question of severity and can prevent people from living life the way they want to."
.... My heart is both warmed and hurt. I have always struggled with.. A LOT of depression and anxiety and was always told that I'm making excuses and just lazy, absent minded, self centered... and I've always been hurt with being misunderstood. Desperate to be heard. This hits home so hard and makes me feel so much better. It's nice not to be alone.
This is true, BUT, ADD does manifest different in boys versus in girls. I always could and would get hyperactive but I would also space-out and daydream constantly, which is common among girls with ADD, but not boys
That last one... gawd... that last one gets taken advantage of so often...
i feel like that's an issue with a lot of kids. once they're good at one thing in school, they're expected to be a child prodigy, and anything that comes difficult to them is their fault for not working hard enough. it's absolutely ridiculous.
The part when you interpret every sign from your surrounding as an indication that you are a worthless being who is only a burden to everyone sounds more like a symptom of depression.
It's the safest way to get along, to protect yourself - and others - from yourself, but then people think you're stuck up.
Boy oh boy...my daughter has adhd and as i read these comics to my husband we both said you hit the nail on the head
This was very helpful to me, as the mother of an ADHD teen. I've always felt like he didn't understand the concept of time but this really illustrates that well.
For me it was not 'What if I'm just lazy?', but more 'What if I'm just stupid?'. Still hits me sometimes: Am I just a fraud? Was is all just hard work and luck? Late diagnose is hard, you've been addapting your whole childhood to what society thinks is normal. Thank you for sharing this commics.
Yes, sitting on chairs is impossible, yet sitting on the floor is disturbing to others. "Are you all right?" Yes. "Do you need help?" Probably, but not with this. "Would you like to sit on this chair?" No, I'm quite comfortable here.
How many kids with ADHD does it take to change a lightbulb? Wanna go ride bikes
I am disappointed with all the down voting in the comments for the comments and and responses that seem to be from people who have ADHD while the upvotes seem to support be against the diagnosis of ADHD and meds. I think that goes to show how misunderstood this condition is. These comics do an excellent job of describing the experiences of having ADHD and we owe it to those who have ADHD to listen to them and their experiences instead of writing them off. My 6 year old daughter and husband were both diagnosed with ADHD less than a year ago and they have started medication and are immensely better, especially my daughter. She was in trouble constantly at school and they even started sitting her alone in the cafeteria because she couldn't sit down and keep her hands to herself. I am grateful that we were able to diagnose her and get her help so early because I see what the lasting damage of untreated ADHD has had on my husband.
Ignore CTRL ALT MEL she dosent know what she's talkign about only ONE teacher on staff has to be Montessori certified for a school to call itself that and they don't ACTUALLY have to teach the curriculum (which is questionable at best) my moms old boss got involved with a rent dispute w a Montessori school
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I have had Adhd all my life tried meds as a teen they just made me an emotionless walking zombie. Everyone should embrace their Adhd and realize our brains are more advanced they fire at a much higher rate then other people feel sorry for them all my non Adhd friends say I feel r******d next to you.you get so much done in a short amount of time on little to no sleep and they say your like a genius
If your meds made you a zombie they gave you the wrong meds or wrong doze.... I think doctors today are too quick to prescribe meds, BUT, they do help (and change the lives) of a lots of people
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I know a very smart boy of about 11 who struggles to control his impulses. His mum doesn't believe in medicating or that he has ADHD so she shouts at him all the time. He was recently at a camp with my daughter and she said he was scarcely ever hyperactive and he was really cute. He confided to her that it was nice not to have his mum shout at him the whole time. I feel so sorry for him. He is such a kind person.
We pretty much knew our daughter had ADHD at the age of 3. My hubby has ADHD so we knew that she had a 50/50 chance of having it and he also knew the signs to look for. We got her assessed at the age 5, but she was too young (start at age 6). We took her back when she was 6 and then again when she was 7 after an Autism diagnosis. Now I know more about ADHD because of my hubby and daughter I actually strongly believe I would be diagnosed with ADHD but I’m not going to bother getting assessed. But it explains so much about me, I even took about 15 different online tests and even they say I am at high probability of having ADHD. (I know it’s not a diagnosis). The biggest hurdle my daughter has with her ADHD is impulse control. She acts before she thinks and struggles to risk assess and think of possible consequences. Which as a parent scares the absolute F**k out of me. Especially a daughter in high school.
Too often historical research on childhood disorders, such as ADHD, fails to keep the child central to the story.117 Equally, this has been the case in contemporary discussions of ADHD. On the one hand, ADHD has been portrayed as a powerful explanation for why children—and adults—are the way they are, why they make mistakes, struggle and fail to live up to their potential. But, on the other hand, it is important to think about who decides about what constitutes a mistake, why someone is really struggling, and how to determine an individual’s potential. Too often, and in too many places, children have been seen as the means to the end of a more competitive, prosperous, powerful society, rather than being seen as ends in themselves, as idiosyncratic individuals who should be given the opportunity to flourish unencumbered from the demands of adults who have proven generation after generation not to have many answers to society’s problems.
Load More Replies... I was diagnosed as a doctoral student. It was good to know that I'm not a lazy, stupid, mean person on purpose...Yes, I have always misread social cues, interrupted others, been too easily distracted, bothered by the sound of lights, air conditioners, water running, and so on... I received my Ph.D. , am a retired teacher/educational diagnostician/special education specialist/university instructor. I am married to a wonderful man, have super children and grandchildren, and been a leader in our community. I still misread social cues, interrupt others, am too easily distracted, and I forgot the rest.
You’re amazing. That is so hopeful and inspiring! I’m a teenager with ADHD and big, *big* dreams. It’s not like I ever gave up and said they would be impossible, but I guess I resigned myself to the fact that I would aim for what I wanted, and end up somewhere much, much lower, no matter what. Thank you so, so much for sharing!
Load More Replies... I loved those comics! I was diagnosed with ADHD about seven years ago and still struggle a lot with it. I swing from burnout to burnout, feel like a failure a lot because I just cannot do what others can. It has only worsened over time, while my functionality at work seems stable from the outside. But I cannot even go to work every day, I need breaks in between and are sick a lot and I have a lot of anxiety. Medication helped, but I couldn't continue taking it due to side effects. Now I hope for a new medication. Meditation also helps for me, those sleep talk down meditations on youtube. It does not cure it, but improves focussing a tiny bit. I still struggle to accept that this is a thing that does not simply go away with hard work on my part. I am f'ing burned out because it is a second job to just LIVE with ADHD.
This is me. This is how I am. Might I have ADHD and not OCD and Anxiety. Reading this was like reading a book anout me.
But ADHD must also have positive consequences. Next comic could vindicate them. I read in a ballet magazine than more than 90% stars in classical dance are ADHD, for example. And Martha Graham, mother of contemporanean dance, was a ADHD person, too, who was told to dance when a doctor discovered it, when she was a little girl. It must be other examples in other jobs, activities and personal skills.
I have ADHD hyperactivity only, and I'm super observant, musically gifted, and have high IQ!
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I LOVE THIS!!! AS SOMEONE WHO IS COMING TO TERMS WITH IT IM SO GLAD THAT YOU MADE ME FEEL LESS ALONE WITH THESE WONDERFULL COMICS ABND YOU EXPLAINED IT SO WELL AS WELL! THANK YOU GOOD SIR. I TIP MY HAT TO YOU. I <3 BEING AN ADHD ALIEN!
Thank you for sharing this. Maybe this will help others understand what it is like being us.
I have definitely been diagnosed with ADD but I relate with almost all of these things which makes me wonder if it is ADHD. I fidget a lot, I hate to go out if I'm not going to do something stimulating. I remember being a lot more impulsive when I was little but it was constantly discouraged so now I just second-guess myself and do nothing.
https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/difference-between-add-and-adhd As of 2013, they changed the definition of ADHD and what qualifies. Instead of ADD and ADHD, there’s three types of ADHD: inattentive ADHD (previously called ADD), hyperactive ADHD, and a combination of both. Hope this helps!
Load More Replies... Thank you. I enjoyed it a lot but now I'm a bit worried. I don't know if everybody is like her or I'm ADHD, too. Anybody who clearly see not being ADHD after this, please?
All my life I could never sit still or focus. I was always either excited and extroverted or basically a small turtle hiding in its shell, no in betweens until I started losing my temper. That was the third option. I thought I was just way too sensitive, way too lazy, way too stupid, way too off in the clouds to be normal. And it was torture. There's a whole lot more but I won't go into it right now. Anyways, recently I got my diagnosis and it all makes sense now. It's just the way my brain works, and I'm not the only one who deals with this.
These comics are amazing and convey the experience of ADHD so vividly. It would possibly be overwhelming for the artist for me to suggest this, and so, sincere apologies, because I really don’t mean to overwhelm, but similar comics for things like depression, mania, schizophrenia would be IMMENSELY useful! This artist is talented and sincere. Her honesty shines through. If it’s at all possible for other artists to produce similar comics, that would be amazing.
These comics are great... BUT they don't really apply as much to ADD... which is WORSE for the executive dysfunctioning and resultant anxiety and self-sabotage, at least in my case.
Thank You Pina. I have been living with ADHD since I was a child. (Currently 58) I have never been able to adequately explain, even to myself at times, what being ADHD is like. Now I'm just going to show them your comics. You capture it well. Thank you again.
A doctor who specialized in ADHD once told me that one of her patients once went out to walk the dog, but forgot to take the dog. The struggle is real...
I went to my VA psych recently, and said hey, I have these symptoms, I think its executive dysfunction and adult ADHD. She blithely brushed me off, oh, no, you have BPD, not ADHD. Yet researching, I've discovered that the comorbidity of BPD and ADHD is not only common, but expected. Thankfully I also have Medicare, and I will now see a Medicare dr to be checked for ADHD. Waiting for the VA dr's boss to call me about her. She's told me a lot of weird things, like don't microwave your food, and I should ONLY eat vegetables (don't, kids. You need proteins and fats, and only eating vegetables is not the same as being vegetarian or vegan!) when the only way I've lost weight is from keto. Doctors can be weird. If one dismisses you offhand, get another doctor until you find one who can be a partner in your health.
I have struggled a lot with a ton of these issues, all my life. In high school, I began to get more anxiety and I could never figure out why. When I read these comics, I felt so human. Growing up without knowing the thoughts in these comics weren’t normal really took a number on me. I ended up wanting to please people all the time and putting a lot of pressure on myself at school to make up for any feelings that I was lazy. This comic has LITERALLY CHANGED MY LIFE. I really need to write to this author in thanks since it has shown me that I’m not an ALIEN and that I’m just like others out there.
Thanks to the author for these. I've been diagnosed 3 years ago and even though the medication helps managing day to day life, it is still important to understand how ADHD has impacted our lives. I've had so many "ha! ha!" moments reading those! I'll actually read them again, they are that helpful. Thanks again.
Would like to add that after a pregnancy and 11 months of breastfeeding, I just took my first dose of ADHD medication this morning after 20 months off of it. OMG the difference a little pill makes! Those who say that ADHD medication made them feel like zombies obviously didn't have the right diagnosis or medication. It feels SO GOOD to have focus and energy this morning! This is gonna be a great day! :)
Load More Replies... Looking for the person who says in the comments "i do this but I don't have ADHD" YEAAAA about that
Question: can ADHD people read or play video games for hours nonstop?? Just curious because I have a sneaking suspicion I’m ADHD
Sometimes! Though, it’s best to go get yourself a professional diagnosis. From a Therapist, for example!
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I have always had thoughts about i might have it, after reading this it just put that light into my head, though i can never be sure, because its hard to say yes without a medical opinion but i do believe i do have ADHD or even ADD
We all have issues in our lives. The best thing for me was to decide to stop caring about them. No, i don't please or sugar-coat for others; my life is mine alone and even doe that i don't like how needy my body is, i embrace the blasted laziness that i was born into. From very early 12 i designed how i wanted to live my life and i've got mostly everything i had planned ahead. Your life is only YOURS and nobody has any right to mess with it. Listen to all the options, but decide only in those that you feel are better to you.
I have ADHD and it's caused stress for me, but it's also a blessing. Maybe having ADHD means that you lose trains of thought, but it also means that you might have an overactive imagination. I have an overactive imagination, and I come up with creative ideas a lot. I can't focus a lot, and sometimes my body is faster than my mind, but it makes me who I am. I also struggle with dysphoria, mood swings, depression, and anxiety, but I've somehow managed it. It really does get better, and even though I do have all of this, it doesn't stop me from living my best life!
Hey, it sound a lot like me. Maybe I should see someone who understand this. But, there is a good thing about it. I was (or I'm) interested in lots and lots of things and I do not want to get stuck in one job for whole life. I need somebody who will help me start my own business. I want to help other people improve their businesses. I know a lot about a lot of things. I can mix knowledge from multiple fields. And in this business I would be alowed to do it at many places, with different people and different challenges. Basically it would be like doing something new every week and getting paid for it. But how do I start? How do I plan all small details for next ten years? Will I be able to support myself and my family? Please, I need somebody to elp me start. Or it will never happen.
ADHD indeed and also HP. "Symptoms" are very similar. I completely relate. Not easy not to fit in the mould society wants to impose you... Embrace your difference that's what makes you beautiful :)
Hmm... always wondered, then not wondered about having ADHD. Never got assessed. My very Asian parents were and are extremely sure that I'm just a lazy, useless good-for-nothing, and that since I was able to get good grades somehow, I must be doing all the "bad lazy things" solely to spite them, so they just relentlessly punished me and told me what a horrible person I am and an even worse child - so maybe that's all it is? I guess I compensate? Or yeah. I don't know. Doctor pretty much is sure I have GAD though. Maybe that's all it is...
there is something rather insidious about the relentless global propagation of ADHD, which emerged in the USA not because psychiatrists suddenly realised that a certain percentage of American children were suffering from a mental disorder, but rather because of a host of political, ideological, demographic, technological, educational and environmental changes. Instead of accepting the DSM version of ADHD unhesitatingly, psychiatrists—as well as parents and patients—from other countries or parts of different countries have adapted, modified and, indeed, contested American notions of ADHD.
Attention deficit hyperactive disorder is big business. That’s the conclusion of a new report, published by the market research firm IBISWorld, which showed that ADHD medication sales have grown 8 percent each year since 2010 and will grow another 13 percent this year to $12.9 billion. Furthermore, it projects this growth will continue over the next five years at an annualized rate of 6 percent, and take in $17.5 billion in the year 2020—making it one of the top psychopharmaceutical categories on the market.
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I know what ADHD is, my daughter and husband both have it. And I suspect I have it. It’s not about having those symptoms one time or another. It’s about having those symptoms pretty much daily and effects everyday life negatively. Either with work, schooling, socially etc. And yes you are ignorant, just because you know the symptoms does not mean you understand the DAILY struggles people with ADHD face. And as I mentioned before not everyone with ADHD takes meds and Ritalin is certainly not the only one. And ADHD medication has the opposite effect for people without ADHD. Stimulant meds help slow and calm people with ADHD but people without ADHD who take them act like they are wired and run on a motor. Hence the street name speed.
Load More Replies... It’s not about being different but it’s about deficits and struggles that effect every day life. Maybe do some actual research on ADHD. Whilst it has been overdiagnosed it still exists. My daughter has been diagnosed 3 different times and we only tried meds for the first time 2 years ago after trying non medicated ways to help with no success. She no longer takes meds due to the side effects but she struggles daily.
Load More Replies... How many kids with ADHD does it take to change a lightbulb? Wanna go ride bikes
I am disappointed with all the down voting in the comments for the comments and and responses that seem to be from people who have ADHD while the upvotes seem to support be against the diagnosis of ADHD and meds. I think that goes to show how misunderstood this condition is. These comics do an excellent job of describing the experiences of having ADHD and we owe it to those who have ADHD to listen to them and their experiences instead of writing them off. My 6 year old daughter and husband were both diagnosed with ADHD less than a year ago and they have started medication and are immensely better, especially my daughter. She was in trouble constantly at school and they even started sitting her alone in the cafeteria because she couldn't sit down and keep her hands to herself. I am grateful that we were able to diagnose her and get her help so early because I see what the lasting damage of untreated ADHD has had on my husband.
Ignore CTRL ALT MEL she dosent know what she's talkign about only ONE teacher on staff has to be Montessori certified for a school to call itself that and they don't ACTUALLY have to teach the curriculum (which is questionable at best) my moms old boss got involved with a rent dispute w a Montessori school
Load More Replies... I have had Adhd all my life tried meds as a teen they just made me an emotionless walking zombie. Everyone should embrace their Adhd and realize our brains are more advanced they fire at a much higher rate then other people feel sorry for them all my non Adhd friends say I feel r******d next to you.you get so much done in a short amount of time on little to no sleep and they say your like a genius
If your meds made you a zombie they gave you the wrong meds or wrong doze.... I think doctors today are too quick to prescribe meds, BUT, they do help (and change the lives) of a lots of people
Load More Replies... I know a very smart boy of about 11 who struggles to control his impulses. His mum doesn't believe in medicating or that he has ADHD so she shouts at him all the time. He was recently at a camp with my daughter and she said he was scarcely ever hyperactive and he was really cute. He confided to her that it was nice not to have his mum shout at him the whole time. I feel so sorry for him. He is such a kind person.
We pretty much knew our daughter had ADHD at the age of 3. My hubby has ADHD so we knew that she had a 50/50 chance of having it and he also knew the signs to look for. We got her assessed at the age 5, but she was too young (start at age 6). We took her back when she was 6 and then again when she was 7 after an Autism diagnosis. Now I know more about ADHD because of my hubby and daughter I actually strongly believe I would be diagnosed with ADHD but I’m not going to bother getting assessed. But it explains so much about me, I even took about 15 different online tests and even they say I am at high probability of having ADHD. (I know it’s not a diagnosis). The biggest hurdle my daughter has with her ADHD is impulse control. She acts before she thinks and struggles to risk assess and think of possible consequences. Which as a parent scares the absolute F**k out of me. Especially a daughter in high school.
Too often historical research on childhood disorders, such as ADHD, fails to keep the child central to the story.117 Equally, this has been the case in contemporary discussions of ADHD. On the one hand, ADHD has been portrayed as a powerful explanation for why children—and adults—are the way they are, why they make mistakes, struggle and fail to live up to their potential. But, on the other hand, it is important to think about who decides about what constitutes a mistake, why someone is really struggling, and how to determine an individual’s potential. Too often, and in too many places, children have been seen as the means to the end of a more competitive, prosperous, powerful society, rather than being seen as ends in themselves, as idiosyncratic individuals who should be given the opportunity to flourish unencumbered from the demands of adults who have proven generation after generation not to have many answers to society’s problems.
Load More Replies... I was diagnosed as a doctoral student. It was good to know that I'm not a lazy, stupid, mean person on purpose...Yes, I have always misread social cues, interrupted others, been too easily distracted, bothered by the sound of lights, air conditioners, water running, and so on... I received my Ph.D. , am a retired teacher/educational diagnostician/special education specialist/university instructor. I am married to a wonderful man, have super children and grandchildren, and been a leader in our community. I still misread social cues, interrupt others, am too easily distracted, and I forgot the rest.
You’re amazing. That is so hopeful and inspiring! I’m a teenager with ADHD and big, *big* dreams. It’s not like I ever gave up and said they would be impossible, but I guess I resigned myself to the fact that I would aim for what I wanted, and end up somewhere much, much lower, no matter what. Thank you so, so much for sharing!
Load More Replies... I loved those comics! I was diagnosed with ADHD about seven years ago and still struggle a lot with it. I swing from burnout to burnout, feel like a failure a lot because I just cannot do what others can. It has only worsened over time, while my functionality at work seems stable from the outside. But I cannot even go to work every day, I need breaks in between and are sick a lot and I have a lot of anxiety. Medication helped, but I couldn't continue taking it due to side effects. Now I hope for a new medication. Meditation also helps for me, those sleep talk down meditations on youtube. It does not cure it, but improves focussing a tiny bit. I still struggle to accept that this is a thing that does not simply go away with hard work on my part. I am f'ing burned out because it is a second job to just LIVE with ADHD.
This is me. This is how I am. Might I have ADHD and not OCD and Anxiety. Reading this was like reading a book anout me.
But ADHD must also have positive consequences. Next comic could vindicate them. I read in a ballet magazine than more than 90% stars in classical dance are ADHD, for example. And Martha Graham, mother of contemporanean dance, was a ADHD person, too, who was told to dance when a doctor discovered it, when she was a little girl. It must be other examples in other jobs, activities and personal skills.
I have ADHD hyperactivity only, and I'm super observant, musically gifted, and have high IQ!
Load More Replies... I LOVE THIS!!! AS SOMEONE WHO IS COMING TO TERMS WITH IT IM SO GLAD THAT YOU MADE ME FEEL LESS ALONE WITH THESE WONDERFULL COMICS ABND YOU EXPLAINED IT SO WELL AS WELL! THANK YOU GOOD SIR. I TIP MY HAT TO YOU. I <3 BEING AN ADHD ALIEN!
Thank you for sharing this. Maybe this will help others understand what it is like being us.
I have definitely been diagnosed with ADD but I relate with almost all of these things which makes me wonder if it is ADHD. I fidget a lot, I hate to go out if I'm not going to do something stimulating. I remember being a lot more impulsive when I was little but it was constantly discouraged so now I just second-guess myself and do nothing.
https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/difference-between-add-and-adhd As of 2013, they changed the definition of ADHD and what qualifies. Instead of ADD and ADHD, there’s three types of ADHD: inattentive ADHD (previously called ADD), hyperactive ADHD, and a combination of both. Hope this helps!
Load More Replies... Thank you. I enjoyed it a lot but now I'm a bit worried. I don't know if everybody is like her or I'm ADHD, too. Anybody who clearly see not being ADHD after this, please?
All my life I could never sit still or focus. I was always either excited and extroverted or basically a small turtle hiding in its shell, no in betweens until I started losing my temper. That was the third option. I thought I was just way too sensitive, way too lazy, way too stupid, way too off in the clouds to be normal. And it was torture. There's a whole lot more but I won't go into it right now. Anyways, recently I got my diagnosis and it all makes sense now. It's just the way my brain works, and I'm not the only one who deals with this.
These comics are amazing and convey the experience of ADHD so vividly. It would possibly be overwhelming for the artist for me to suggest this, and so, sincere apologies, because I really don’t mean to overwhelm, but similar comics for things like depression, mania, schizophrenia would be IMMENSELY useful! This artist is talented and sincere. Her honesty shines through. If it’s at all possible for other artists to produce similar comics, that would be amazing.
These comics are great... BUT they don't really apply as much to ADD... which is WORSE for the executive dysfunctioning and resultant anxiety and self-sabotage, at least in my case.
Thank You Pina. I have been living with ADHD since I was a child. (Currently 58) I have never been able to adequately explain, even to myself at times, what being ADHD is like. Now I'm just going to show them your comics. You capture it well. Thank you again.
A doctor who specialized in ADHD once told me that one of her patients once went out to walk the dog, but forgot to take the dog. The struggle is real...
I went to my VA psych recently, and said hey, I have these symptoms, I think its executive dysfunction and adult ADHD. She blithely brushed me off, oh, no, you have BPD, not ADHD. Yet researching, I've discovered that the comorbidity of BPD and ADHD is not only common, but expected. Thankfully I also have Medicare, and I will now see a Medicare dr to be checked for ADHD. Waiting for the VA dr's boss to call me about her. She's told me a lot of weird things, like don't microwave your food, and I should ONLY eat vegetables (don't, kids. You need proteins and fats, and only eating vegetables is not the same as being vegetarian or vegan!) when the only way I've lost weight is from keto. Doctors can be weird. If one dismisses you offhand, get another doctor until you find one who can be a partner in your health.
I have struggled a lot with a ton of these issues, all my life. In high school, I began to get more anxiety and I could never figure out why. When I read these comics, I felt so human. Growing up without knowing the thoughts in these comics weren’t normal really took a number on me. I ended up wanting to please people all the time and putting a lot of pressure on myself at school to make up for any feelings that I was lazy. This comic has LITERALLY CHANGED MY LIFE. I really need to write to this author in thanks since it has shown me that I’m not an ALIEN and that I’m just like others out there.
Thanks to the author for these. I've been diagnosed 3 years ago and even though the medication helps managing day to day life, it is still important to understand how ADHD has impacted our lives. I've had so many "ha! ha!" moments reading those! I'll actually read them again, they are that helpful. Thanks again.
Would like to add that after a pregnancy and 11 months of breastfeeding, I just took my first dose of ADHD medication this morning after 20 months off of it. OMG the difference a little pill makes! Those who say that ADHD medication made them feel like zombies obviously didn't have the right diagnosis or medication. It feels SO GOOD to have focus and energy this morning! This is gonna be a great day! :)
Load More Replies... Looking for the person who says in the comments "i do this but I don't have ADHD" YEAAAA about that
Question: can ADHD people read or play video games for hours nonstop?? Just curious because I have a sneaking suspicion I’m ADHD
Sometimes! Though, it’s best to go get yourself a professional diagnosis. From a Therapist, for example!
Load More Replies... I have always had thoughts about i might have it, after reading this it just put that light into my head, though i can never be sure, because its hard to say yes without a medical opinion but i do believe i do have ADHD or even ADD
We all have issues in our lives. The best thing for me was to decide to stop caring about them. No, i don't please or sugar-coat for others; my life is mine alone and even doe that i don't like how needy my body is, i embrace the blasted laziness that i was born into. From very early 12 i designed how i wanted to live my life and i've got mostly everything i had planned ahead. Your life is only YOURS and nobody has any right to mess with it. Listen to all the options, but decide only in those that you feel are better to you.
I have ADHD and it's caused stress for me, but it's also a blessing. Maybe having ADHD means that you lose trains of thought, but it also means that you might have an overactive imagination. I have an overactive imagination, and I come up with creative ideas a lot. I can't focus a lot, and sometimes my body is faster than my mind, but it makes me who I am. I also struggle with dysphoria, mood swings, depression, and anxiety, but I've somehow managed it. It really does get better, and even though I do have all of this, it doesn't stop me from living my best life!
Hey, it sound a lot like me. Maybe I should see someone who understand this. But, there is a good thing about it. I was (or I'm) interested in lots and lots of things and I do not want to get stuck in one job for whole life. I need somebody who will help me start my own business. I want to help other people improve their businesses. I know a lot about a lot of things. I can mix knowledge from multiple fields. And in this business I would be alowed to do it at many places, with different people and different challenges. Basically it would be like doing something new every week and getting paid for it. But how do I start? How do I plan all small details for next ten years? Will I be able to support myself and my family? Please, I need somebody to elp me start. Or it will never happen.
ADHD indeed and also HP. "Symptoms" are very similar. I completely relate. Not easy not to fit in the mould society wants to impose you... Embrace your difference that's what makes you beautiful :)
Hmm... always wondered, then not wondered about having ADHD. Never got assessed. My very Asian parents were and are extremely sure that I'm just a lazy, useless good-for-nothing, and that since I was able to get good grades somehow, I must be doing all the "bad lazy things" solely to spite them, so they just relentlessly punished me and told me what a horrible person I am and an even worse child - so maybe that's all it is? I guess I compensate? Or yeah. I don't know. Doctor pretty much is sure I have GAD though. Maybe that's all it is...
there is something rather insidious about the relentless global propagation of ADHD, which emerged in the USA not because psychiatrists suddenly realised that a certain percentage of American children were suffering from a mental disorder, but rather because of a host of political, ideological, demographic, technological, educational and environmental changes. Instead of accepting the DSM version of ADHD unhesitatingly, psychiatrists—as well as parents and patients—from other countries or parts of different countries have adapted, modified and, indeed, contested American notions of ADHD.
Attention deficit hyperactive disorder is big business. That’s the conclusion of a new report, published by the market research firm IBISWorld, which showed that ADHD medication sales have grown 8 percent each year since 2010 and will grow another 13 percent this year to $12.9 billion. Furthermore, it projects this growth will continue over the next five years at an annualized rate of 6 percent, and take in $17.5 billion in the year 2020—making it one of the top psychopharmaceutical categories on the market.
Load More Replies... I know what ADHD is, my daughter and husband both have it. And I suspect I have it. It’s not about having those symptoms one time or another. It’s about having those symptoms pretty much daily and effects everyday life negatively. Either with work, schooling, socially etc. And yes you are ignorant, just because you know the symptoms does not mean you understand the DAILY struggles people with ADHD face. And as I mentioned before not everyone with ADHD takes meds and Ritalin is certainly not the only one. And ADHD medication has the opposite effect for people without ADHD. Stimulant meds help slow and calm people with ADHD but people without ADHD who take them act like they are wired and run on a motor. Hence the street name speed.
Load More Replies... It’s not about being different but it’s about deficits and struggles that effect every day life. Maybe do some actual research on ADHD. Whilst it has been overdiagnosed it still exists. My daughter has been diagnosed 3 different times and we only tried meds for the first time 2 years ago after trying non medicated ways to help with no success. She no longer takes meds due to the side effects but she struggles daily.
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