![]() What is your biggest challenge, and how do you overcome it?ĭistractibility. That everything I am so afraid of is going to turn out just fine. What advice would you give your younger self? I started treatment, and, a few years later, my blog, to chronicle what I experienced as a black woman dealing with ADHD. The therapist referred me to an ADHD specialist, and my life changed. During a therapy session, I mentioned that I had been diagnosed with ADHD as a child. Due to the stigma attached to mental health issues, especially ADHD, in the African-American community, my mother did not want me to take medication.Īs the responsibilities of life took their toll on me, I struggled with mood disorders and sought treatment. I was diagnosed with ADHD three times: at ages seven, 11, and 25, which was the age I started treatment. Tell us what it was like being diagnosed with ADHD. In addition to her blog, René serves the community as a speaker and a coach. She is the founder of Black Girl, Lost Keys, a blog that empowers black women with ADHD and shows them how to live well with the disorder. After being diagnosed with ADHD twice as a child, at 25 she was able to get the treatment she deserved. René Brooks has taken a late-life diagnosis and used it to uplift others. Read Kaleidoscope’s full profile Q&A with Gabrielle here. Gabrielle was introduced to ADDitude by Kaleidoscope Society. Having the pitch accepted - and knowing someone out there thought I could write - changed my life. Writing it and hitting send was the hardest thing I have ever done. Gabrielle’s Proudest Moment: My proudest accomplishment is the first article pitch I wrote at 28. ADHD helps me to immerse myself deeply in something I care about - reading for hours at a stretch is one of the greatest pleasures in my life. It’s easy for me to dig around in my brain and find unusual ideas. I take in a lot of information and details every day, no matter where I am or what I’m doing. I credit ADHD for my ability to think outside the box. What role has ADHD played in your success? My ability to think quickly and unconventionally has been a huge asset, especially when it comes to writing humor. I tell my loved ones when I have a big deadline coming up, and that I need to put everything toward that. For focus, I have had good luck using white noise apps and timer-based list apps that make finishing a project feel like a game. I also use Google calendar to plan every single event in my day. I have several organizational lists on my Google drive - what’s due when, where I am with projects. ![]() To stay organized, I have lots of hyper-specific folders on my computer, so I can find whatever I’m looking for. In an open-plan office, with lots of conversations going on around me, I can barely reply to an email. I still struggle with focus, especially at work. What is the biggest challenge in your life? It did a lot of damage to my self-confidence. Teachers and adults said I didn’t focus because I was lazy or because I thought I was smarter than everyone. To not listen to others’ advice and judgments. It took a year to accept my diagnosis and to see that it was going to make things better. I suddenly understood this piece of my existence. My therapist urged me to get evaluated for ADHD, and my psychiatrist asked me how often I lost my keys. People assumed I wasn’t paying attention in class because I didn’t want to, and I didn’t know how to explain it. Maybe because I was a girl and I got good grades. I’d struggled with concentration my whole life, but adults had always seemed reluctant to examine me to see whether it was ADHD. I was confused by the fact that I still had such problems focusing. She is an associate lifestyle editor at. An editor, freelance writer, and author of Glop: Nontox!c, Expensive Ideas That Will Make You Look Ridiculous and Feel Pretentious, Gabrielle has written for many online and print outlets.
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