ADHD and Mental Illness: What You See Vs What is Actually Happening.

Introduction

One of the main reasons that I wanted to choose the topic of ADHD and Mental Health in children and college athletes is because I know how alone people who struggle with these illnesses can feel.  The minute that a child is experiencing any signs of ADHD or Mental Illness, instantly people think of medication or going to see a doctor.  Now, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing at all.  These are truly real illnesses that if not treated correctly, could cause a lot of problems for people in the future.  It is so much easier said than done to tell someone to go to a doctor to get help for something that they are having a hard time with.  From someone who deals with ADHD and overthinking, opening up to my family let alone my doctor was very hard.  Most people feel ashamed when reaching out for help, they feel very weak.  Dealing with ADHD and Mental Illness is not something that you can tackle on your own.  You need other trusted people's help and guidance.  It took a very long time for me to realize that reaching out makes you stronger rather than weaker.  If we didn't need help with anything, people wouldn't be there to help us.  I want everyone to know that it is okay to reach out.  So many people would love to help you, or guide you to people that can help you.  

Hidden Struggles 

Most people from the outside looking in, love to judge people based on just what they see.  Truly, you don't know what that person goes home to every single night.  You don't know the struggles they are facing, the hardships they deal with, or anything for that matter.  You only get to see the tip of their iceberg.  Not what is underneath the water.  So what may seem annoying or weird to you, may be the only thing keeping that person going.  For example, if you see a person who can't sit still and is constantly fidgeting.  They are physically not able to sit still for more than a two minute span.  Or keeping themselves moving, is distracting them for something they may have been overthinking about the past two to three days.  If someone carries a fidget "toy", don't call them out for having a "toy".  That gadget might be the only thing that they can use to stop a bad fidgeting habit that they are doing to themselves.  People who struggle with ADHD and fidgeting sometimes have some bad habits that they do to themselves.  Another example is you may see someone as outgoing, but their whole life they have been disappointing people.  So for them, being outgoing and loud, is them trying to please people and try not to disappoint.  The last example I have is, you may see someone who is hard working and detail oriented.  But deep down they have an extreme fear of failure and overthink everything.  ADHD and the brain can really hurt people in a lot of ways.  Overthinking is a huge struggle that is also linked to ADHD.  People feel like day in and day out that they just aren't good enough.  Anything that they try to do, nothing will ever be good enough.  

Conclusion

Overall, my main goal with writing this post was to make people aware and educated.  I feel that even if you don't struggle with ADHD or Mental Illness, you can take away the message I was trying to get across.  ADHD is just one example of how people can judge someone, but there are a lot of examples that people are just so quick to jump to conclusions.  If I had one wish, I would just want everyone to be kind to everyone they see.  A quick "Hello how are you today?" and holding the door for someone can really go a long way.  You never know what that person gets to go home to at night.  You don't know their struggles.  To make the world a better place, be the best version of yourself that you can be.