Adapting to university life with ADHD

Hi, I'm Marion and I'm going to talk about my experience being diagnosed with ADHD during the pandemic, essentially during the pandemic I discovered some struggles that I had had during my

university

studies that I had previously ignored or somehow dismissed. as something normal for students, for example, not being able to start rehearsals until the last minute, not concentrating in class, not being able to organize myself at all, in general I always feel tired, always pulled in many different directions, which is as if leave out how the normal experience of a student was greatly amplified by staying at home, where I had to struggle much more to concentrate on my studies, this really disrupted my studies and I found it very, very difficult to finish my final year because I was writing my thesis when the pandemic hit and this led me to seek help especially because I was going to start a master's degree and I was diagnosed with ADHD during November 2020 in the first semester of my master's degree.

Since then I have had to learn to adapt to

life

. Locked down as a neurodivergent student, when I look back, I always managed to keep up with coping strategies like going to the library and doing a lot of different things, but I struggled more and more throughout my college careers and as I progressed, no matter how I tried so hard, I couldn't start working on essays until the day before the deadline, and I was constantly stressed. I lived in catering halls in the first year, but the experience of moving into my own apartment in the second year and having to keep up with cooking and cleaning all the very normal things of the daily routine, um, was incredibly overwhelming.

I had always had a lot of symptoms of ADHD, but because I did well in school, I never thought much about it nor did my teachers, um, but during college I had a lot of problems even in conversations. with people, um, unable to concentrate on what they were saying to me, a lot of things that suddenly became more obvious because of the more responsibilities I was given and when we went into lockdown, all of these things that I kind of dismissed as part of the experience student suddenly became much more difficult and I couldn't do anything anymore.

I could not do anything. I only had a few lectures left, but I found it impossible to sit down without getting distracted. Everything around me I tried to sit down and work these days I sat at the table for hours and hours trying to force myself to look at what I had to do and do but I could never concentrate and I quickly realized that I would not be able to finish my studies if I didn't took measures to help with the situation. my partner who I live with had suggested that he had ADHD symptoms for a while and I had noticed it while talking to him or being in new places and because I logged in I really emphasized that this might be something to seriously consider, although at first I was hesitant and I didn't know if it would be worth seeking a diagnosis, I decided to speak to my GP, who referred me to a psychiatrist.

He also directed me to disability services at the

university

, so at first I was a little reluctant to use these disability services because I thought I wouldn't qualify and I thought I would take the place of someone else who was more deserving or better suited for the needs. service, but I would really recommend that anyone who is unsure of their diagnosis or even if they have a lot of doubts to contact similar services at their university because they were really able to help me through the process and were able to help me. I discovered the support I could get and they were able to help me use the right to choose to get a diagnosis faster and in the meantime while I was waiting for my diagnosis they were very helpful with support in contacting the university and e.g.

With their support I was able to get extensions on my assignments and some tutoring hours which really helped me navigate my new circumstances in lockdown and the whole homeschooling thing. I also had to consciously adapt my behavior to be able to study at home in the short term, that meant recreating the things that helped me study outside of lockdown. I always studied better with other people studying around me, for example in cafes or libraries, so I recruited a friend with a similar deadline for her thesis at the end of my bachelor's degree and we called each other on Zoom every day and we both we silenced each other while writing all the respective essays, but kept each other's video faces in the corner just to remind us that there was someone else doing the same thing and also working. and that really helped me force myself into a routine the last few weeks, but I was aware that I had been relying a lot on her presence.

Had to be this kind of help would not always be available. I also made sure to move around my apartment. I always preferred to move between various places on campus, so between the library, the cafes and the different study spaces, I tried to change rooms. I would have a very small apartment but I alternated studying at my desk in the kitchen and living room. roommates room when she went home, so just to make sure I varied where I studied at home, I really struggled to always be around other things that I knew I had to do, so I always felt like I wasn't doing enough and I felt like I was Paralyzed by a kind of endless to-do list around me with many tasks of daily

life

, so one thing that helped me was doing things to end my day, such as going for a walk in the tomorrow to recreate a daily commute, um, to symbolize. the start of the study day and keeping my shoes on all day at home until I decided to stop at night and also tried to stick to the same schedule as my partner to make sure I had enough time to completely unplug. at night because I realized that I would get tired even if I tried to study but didn't succeed, that still counted as effort and I still needed free time and this made me realize that I had to be kinder to myself and stop doing it. counting the time spent trying to concentrate your free time because it was time spent on my studies, regardless of how productive it was, but ultimately the most helpful thing was communicating with someone about my struggles, since only once I got my diagnosis I was able to learn a lot more about ADHD and I started trying different ways of concentrating that worked for me that I read about online or through different resources that disability services gave me and my colleges' disability services were able to help me by making sure that I was supported with immediate deadlines and challenges that allowed me to try different ways of recreating things that had helped me in my pre-lockdown times, so I was given the space to try things that would work for me in the new circumstances I still have. .

There is still a long way to go to understand my diagnosis and find ways to balance my time, but reaching out to them really helped me overcome the diagnosis to not feel alone and continue with my studies despite the difficulties, and I am proud of having overcome such a situation. It was a difficult time and I've learned a lot about myself and how I work during the pandemic and that's already helping me get through more normal times too, so I would really encourage anyone who feels like they're struggling to seek help, even if they're not. sure. about the reason like I'm not sure it's ADHD in my case because there's no shame in needing a little extra help and support could really change your experience for the better and you never know what kind of support you could provide. get by communicating with different services around you