Published by: PsychCentral
Written by: Neil Petersen

When we talk about ADHD in general, we often talk about it from the perspective of something that is looked at from the outside. We talk about symptoms that can be observed, and we talk about people with ADHD or people who have ADHD.

But if you actually are one of those people, you experience ADHD from the inside, which is a little different. That’s why when I’m talking about the experience of having ADHD, I often find myself referring to people who live with ADHD rather than people who have ADHD.

ADHD is something that, when it affects you personally, is a constant and inseparable part of your life.

My shoes are something that I have. My keys are something that I have (on a good day). My ADHD, however, is something that I live with.

One of the biggest challenges to coping with ADHD, and often one of the biggest obstacles to diagnosis, is being able to match up your lived experience of ADHD from the inside with clinical descriptions of what ADHD looks like from the outside. Click here to read the rest of the story.