This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Vanderbilt chapter.
“Oh come on, everyone has ADHD!”
It’s true – our generation is more ADHD than ever, with smartphones to social networks competing for our attention at once. I guess everyone has symptoms of ADHD from time to time, like when you had to start that history paper but you just CAN’T get off Facebook. But things are different if you grew up with it.
1) Focus is a challenge 24/7 – and it’s not just for work. People do procrastinate a ton in college, and everyone complains about when they can’t seem to get their thoughts together. I have that all the time. Even during conversations, my mind wanders off to something else I’ve been thinking of all day, or something that is going on around me. It does come off as rude, but I promise I am doing the best I can.
2) Creative tasks can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Some of you may know “the creative personality” is basically borderline ADHD – the type that hates scheduling and loves to work from inspiration. So I must do well with the arts, right? Not always. As I said, I have so much trouble getting my thoughts together that sometimes, I would rather someone tell me what to write. Creative tasks can be my worst enemy because sometimes I do not experience that sudden burst of inspiration. But when I do, these assignments are my best friend. I have written articles in under 30 minutes because of inspiration!
3) Sensory overload is real. I have actually benefitted a lot from this. If the phone rang, I would definitely be the first one to notice and probably the first one to react. Since there are so many things competing for my attention, I usually have a great visual memory. If you asked me about a concert I could basically let you live through the moments again.
4) I am actually not hyperactive. In fact, I get more tired at the end of the day than most of my friends. I feel like I always have to be on the go, and at the end of the day all I want is a break from it all.
5) I seem more nervous than I really am. If I am talking to someone, my mind might drift to how my hair doesn’t feel quite right anymore. So I’ll start playing with it without realizing. During class I unknowingly start fidgeting in my sit because I just need to do something, and get away from this lecture for a split second. These things make me look uncomfortable in any situation, but I am just being inattentive. I promise I am perfectly fine!