I was never a unruly or a badly mannered child. I was polite and kind to everyone I knew and met, but i had a lot of energy. I could never sit still. I would always try to be calm like other kids and just sit there but it just wasn't physically possible for me. I had to be fidgeting or moving around to get "comfortable". At the age of 6 I was tested for ADHD. With that diagnosis I got the help in school that I needed. I starting taking something for it soon after to help me focused and a woman would take me out of certain classes to help me with things that I was struggling with and just could not focus on. It helped honestly but by third grade it became embarrassing to need that help so I told them that I did not want that extra help anymore but she also wasn't the nicest woman in the world so I didn't feel too bad about it.

Because I started taking something to help with my ADHD when I was a kid it did suppress my appetite so my parents would give me more of the foods I would eat because I could actually finish it (but I was also a picky eater so some of that was my fault). So as a child I had a lot of pasta, iceberg lettuce with Aldi's ranch dressing, plain mustard and cheese sandwich, cheese pizza, and hotdogs. Off my medication I could typically finish a meal but on I probably couldn't do it which caused me to be usually be the skinniest kid in my class. it wasn't until 7th grade when a mom of a student publicly brought it up in front of my entire 7th grade class, don't worry it was only 9 people including me so not too embarrassing, that it was odd that I never ate any of the food that parents would bring in to class and how I shouldn't be rude and eat all of the food I could eat. I wasn't open about having ADHD so I couldn't give her a reason why I did that so I was silent but once I told my mom she wasn't silent about it.

Growing up I never told people in school that I had ADHD because partially as a child I was not even sure what it was. So once a month when I would go to the doctors for it my friends would ask if I was sick and I would tell them no so they would ask ,"then why are you going to a doctor?" I never told most of them why. The few that I am friends with to this day obviously know but growing up they did not know. During the school week I was take my medications but on the weekends I would a get a break from it so when I would spend the night at friends houses they would see a completely care free, fun loving, and goofier than normal side of me. This overwhelmed some parents because they would not know how to handle all of the energy I had.

I eventually found an outlet for all of the energy I would have once the medication did ware off during the day, theater. On stage you were suppose to have energy and I did not lack that what so ever. I did a the summer camps every year from age 6 to 11 and I loved every minute of it. It was one of the few places where my abundance of energy was useful and I could be as crazy as I want to in certain roles. But from age 11 to 14 it became more or a year round thing than a summer camp thing anymore. I had found people who appreciated my energy and found it useful and it was so great! That is what helped me learnt to love that ability about it so eventually I did stop, for other reasons too.

So now I am a college student with ADHD and it is still hard sometimes. I still will not tell anyone what I take for fear of having someone harass me to sell some to them. Something not many people knew about ADHD back in the day was that adults with ADHD are more likely to have anxiety than someone else. From the beginning of December 2014 till June of 2015 I had large and painfully noticeable anxiety hives. On top of the hives, my lips would randomly swell at any notice. So on top of dealing ADHD I know have to worry about the anxiety I have. Also, ADHD can effect your sleep as well. Because when you have ADHD your body may be tired but your mind typically isn't so even as a child I would be up late thinking about absolutely everything in the world and it is just as bad now as it was when I was a child. I won't mean to stay up all night but it happens.

People will always try to argue that ADHD is just an excuse for kids to behave badly, that it is completely made up, and it is just another reason to give kids drugs. It is so odd to hear and see people talk about something that I have and say that what I have isn't real. I obviously am not as hyper or energetic as I use to be but it is still a very real thing for me in my adult life. And to the people who say every bad kid just has ADHD, you are wrong. Yes some of those kids may but I guarantee that not all of them do so don't categorize that all kids with ADHD because they really aren't. The good thing about growing up with it was that it gave a me a drive and a work ethic to work harder than others around because I had to. So yes growing up with ADHD was hard on me and my parents, but at the end of the day I am still just a normal adult just with a little bit more energy than the average one.