5 Signs You May Have ADHD

These overlooked symptoms of attention dysregulation may be the key to understanding your mind

Sarah Olson
6 min readFeb 19, 2024
Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

Thanks to social media, there is a growing awareness about attention dysregulation (ADHD and ADD) today. More and more people are discovering that characteristics they may have assumed were flaws about themselves could be overlooked symptoms suggesting an inability to regulate their attention.

That’s all ADHD really is — struggling to regulate your attention span. Not a lack of attention. People with ADHD are actually really skilled at hyper-focusing on things they are interested in or want to do. It’s the things they are procrastinating or struggle with that are challenging to focus on.

In order to get a diagnosis of ADHD, you need to work with a qualified medical practitioner and take a diagnostic criteria assessment. This is how I ended up getting diagnosed with ADHD almost two years ago, after a therapist pointed out that my struggle with executive functioning skills may actually be rooted in ADHD rather than depression.

Until that day, I never considered that I may have ADHD. I had always been a quiet, inattentive daydreamer. When I pictured ADHD, I imagined hyperactive little boys who couldn’t sit still during class and excelled in sports. But sure enough, when…

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Sarah Olson
Sarah Olson

Written by Sarah Olson

I help books find homes for a living. Writing about whatever interests me from somewhere near Portland, OR.

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