{"id":76053,"date":"2024-04-29T21:32:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T19:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/?post_type=magazin&p=76053"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:22:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T16:22:02","slug":"adhd-in-adults-dont-make-such-a-fuss","status":"publish","type":"magazin","link":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/en\/magazine\/power-and-control\/adhd-in-adults-dont-make-such-a-fuss\/","title":{"rendered":"ADHD in adults: \u2018Don\u2019t make such a fuss\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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\n\tPower and control<\/a><\/div>\r\n

\r\n ADHD in adults: \u2018Don\u2019t make such a fuss\u2019 <\/h2>\r\n\r\n
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Forgotten appointments, constant self-doubt \u2013 and the sentence our author heard for years.
\nBy Laura Schepers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n

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\r\n \"Philipp\r\n <\/figure>\r\n\r\n \r\n Philipp Jackwerth <\/span>\r\n \r\n \r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\n\n\n

Photo: Philip Jackwerth<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m standing in the kitchen. Something smells odd, and suddenly there\u2019s smoke.<\/strong> The oil has burnt. I fling all the windows open to let the fumes out. That was a close call. Later it happens again: a foul smell, and I realise the rice ran out of water to cook in long ago. The bottom of the pan is pitch black. At that very moment the people for whom I have spent two solid hours in the kitchen walk into the flat. The curry is ready \u2013 just without rice, which is not how I had planned it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the moments when it overwhelms me: a rage like no other. A whole load of emotions crashes down on me, and I am unable to regulate them. For 23 years of my life I didn\u2019t know that things like time blindness are symptoms of a disability. I always thought I simply didn\u2019t have myself under control and just needed to pull myself together. After all, other people manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Comments like \u2018Don\u2019t make such a fuss\u2019<\/strong>, \u2018Have you forgotten that again?\u2019 or \u2018Stop daydreaming!\u2019 are nothing unusual.<\/p>\n <\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n

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It\u2019s called ADHD, and it has been getting more and more attention since it became known that it affects women too \u2013 and that people don\u2019t simply \u2018grow out of it\u2019 as adults. Comments like \u2018Don\u2019t make such a fuss\u2019, \u2018Have you forgotten that again?\u2019 or \u2018Stop daydreaming!\u2019 are nothing unusual. Situations like the one I described above happen to me all the time. I forget a lot, find it very hard to regulate myself, feel restless inside and struggle to filter out external stimuli. That has often made my life feel out of control. I only just about manage everyday tasks that others find easy. To this day, that eats away at my self-esteem.

So there I stand in the kitchen, dejected and seething. I remember something a therapist once said to me: \u2018Suddenly everyone has ADHD \u2013 it\u2019s become a fashionable diagnosis.\u2019 I throw the rice away and put the pan in the sink to soak. I don\u2019t feel fashionable at all, and if I really had the choice, we would have eaten long ago. Curry with<\/strong> rice, that is.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \"Laura\n \n <\/div>\n\n

Ll<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n \n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n

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Created in the Visual Journalism and Documentary Photography programme at Hochschule Hannover. About the programme<\/a> \u00b7 Portfolio review<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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