ADHD

Weekend Mental Health Motivation: I was one of the first adults on the east coast that was diagnosed with ADHD in 1989. Here is what it’s like living with it and for those out there living with it that don't know how to describe it maybe you can take some of these words to help you out. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into Unbreakable and Mental Health Podcast with Jay Glazer.
I'm Jay Glaser, and if you're like many people, you
may be surprised to learn that one in five adults
in this country experience mental illness. Last year get far
too many failed to receive the support they need. Carolyn
Behavioral Health is doing something about it. They understand that
behavioral health is a key part of whole health, delivering
compassionate care that treats physical, mental, emotional, and social needs

(00:24):
and tendem Carlyn Behavioral Health raising the quality of life
through empathy and action. Welcome into Unbreakable Mental Health Podcast
with Jay Glazer. I am Jay Glazer, and this is
weekend motivation. And for these weekend motivations. In the past,
I've liked to use my words to describe different mental
health issues so we can communicate it to our loved

(00:48):
ones and our coworkers and our friends and our family. Today,
I want to talk about ADHD, and I want people
to understand what it's like and for those out there
with it who don't had to describe it to their
partners again their coworkers, and we can use some of
these words to help you out what people don't know
is I was one of the first adults diagnosed with

(01:10):
adult ADHD on the East coast of America, I believe
in nineteen eighty nine. Think about this, nineteen eighty nine,
I would have to go and explain it to my
professors and teachers that I have to walk out of
their class after I was diagnosed. My psychiatrist at time said, hey,

(01:33):
we're gonna give you something. Plus you walk out, take
a breath, get some water for a little co water
on your face. But I'd actually have to describe it
to college professors, and most of my college professors kind
of looked at me like I was, you know, Ferris
Bueller's day off, and I was trying to get out
of something. So when I started describing it, even back then,

(01:57):
when I describe it to people now, when you have ADHD,
it feels like you're drowning, when you are in something
that you're not able to keep your attention on. So again,
for me, a three hour college lecture felt like I
was drowning, and my way to the top of that

(02:17):
water was to fidget, was to talk to somebody else,
was to disrupt the class. My entire life, every single
parent teacher conference I ever had was the same thing.
They would tell my parents, Hey, you know, Jay is
a good kid, but he can't focus. He's always disrupting

(02:38):
the class, and I always got grounded. And you look
back at it out like, you think I wanted to
get grounded. You think I wanted to disrupt the class.
I wasn't able to. That's what happens you have when
you have certain issues. I just wasn't able to, and
my way of getting to the top of that water
was to disrupt the class. So that's really what it

(02:59):
feels like. So if you have a childhood is adhd
understand how painful it really is. It really gets you
from the inside out. And the more you can understand that,
and the more you can understand the pain of when
something isn't resonating with us, that compassion goes a long way.
Now here's the other thing I would tell teachers. Because

(03:22):
I was put in remedial English, I was told I
had a learning disability, and I said no, and I'm
a learning disability. I just don't learn the way you teach.
Think about that. I've coached a ton of athletes in
mixed martial arts and some cats resonate with my style.

(03:42):
Some cats don't. Doesn't mean they can't fight, doesn't mean
they can't play. It's just who you resonate with. So
always try and tell people please do not say I
have a learning disability. Don't call it learning disability. I
just can't learn the way you teach. So even with that,
if you're a teacher, if you're somebody, think about, Hey,
if I have a student, or I have a child,

(04:03):
or I have a sibling, or a husband or wife
with tension deficit disorder, Hey, how can I maybe change
something up so it resonates with them a little bit better? Again, folks,
nothing to be ashamed of. For me, my ADHD has
been a superpower because it's got me to be able
to do six things at the same time. And again, no,

(04:25):
like I said, I can't sit there in a three
hour lecture, but man I could multitask with the best
of them. Let's keep walking this walk together.