3
ARTICLE
“I Don’t Need to Be Fixed!” Epiphanies of Self-Acceptance from Adults with ADHD
By ADDitude Editors — 2022
The path to self-acceptance is long and treacherous for adults with ADHD, many of whom mistake their symptoms for personal faults. Here, ADDitude readers share the moments they realized that they weren’t broken at all—and that their wild, wonderful ADHD brains didn’t need fixing.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
CLEAR ALL
BY TOPIC
BY TEACHER
BY TYPE
FILTER
TOPIC
- Personal Development (84)
- Fellowship and Community (82)
- Grit (82)
- Autism (79)
- Talk Therapy (79)
- Romantic Relationships (77)
- Spiritual Life (63)
- Belonging (57)
- Communication Skills (56)
- Anxiety (47)
- Self-Discovery (45)
- Identity (44)
- BIPOC Well-Being (42)
- Parenting (41)
- Depression (35)
- Self-Development (35)
- Connection (33)
- Child’s ADD/ADHD (32)
- Self-Love (32)
- Neuroscience (31)
- Authenticity (30)
- Honoring Emotion (28)
- Marriage (28)
- Self-Care (28)
- Child’s Autism (27)
- Self-Esteem (27)
- Friendship (26)
- Children’s Well-Being (25)
- Self-Compassion (25)
- Community Healing (24)
- Learning Styles (24)
- Self-Reflection Practices (24)
- Self-Worth (24)
- Black Well-Being (23)
- Family Dynamics (23)
- Stress Management (23)
- Young Adult Well-Being (23)
- Resilience (22)
- Activism/Service (21)
- Athlete Well-Being (20)
- Building Character (20)
- Inner Life (20)
- Imagination and Creativity (19)
- Compassion (18)
- Shame (18)
- Cancer (17)
- Courage (17)
- Growth Mindset (17)
- Highly Sensitive People (17)
- Love (17)
- Self-Realization (17)
- Social Justice (17)
- Spiritual Growth (17)
- Synesthesia (17)
- Women’s Well-Being (17)
- Emotional Intelligence (EQ) (16)
- Mindfulness (16)
- Racial Healing (16)
- Search for Purpose (16)
- Self-Healing (16)
- Divorce and Breakup (15)
- Finding Meaning (15)
- Intimacy (15)
- Racial Justice (15)
- Speaking Your Truth (15)
- Anger (14)
- Awareness (14)
- Body Image (14)
- Fear (14)
- Habit Formation (14)
- Leadership (14)
- LGBTQIA Well-Being (14)
- Loneliness (14)
- Self-Limiting Beliefs (14)
- Self-Reliance (14)
- Setting Limits and Boundaries (14)
- Spiritual Awakening (14)
- Spiritual Development (14)
- Vulnerability (14)
- Child’s Emotional Growth (13)
- Relationship with Time (13)
- Self-Actualization (13)
- Trauma Healing (13)
- Well-Being (13)
- Brain Health (12)
- Buddhism (12)
- Building Culture (12)
- Creative Well-Being (12)
- Disconnection (12)
- Forgiveness (12)
- God (12)
- Life Challenges (12)
- Meditation (12)
- Negative Self-Talk (12)
- Offering Support to Others (12)
- Positive Thinking (12)
- Spiritual Practices (12)
- Stress (12)
- Transformation (12)
- Acceptance (11)
- Confidence (11)
- Decision Making (11)
- Empowerment (11)
- Entrepreneurship (11)
- Inner Peace (11)
- Mindfulness Practices (11)
- Presence (11)
- Psychology (11)
- PTSD (11)
- Religious Experience (11)
- Self-Mastery (11)
- Trust (11)
- Work Relationships (11)
- Consciousness (10)
- Criticism and Rejection (10)
- Habits of Mind (10)
- Mysticism (10)
- Racial Identity (10)
- Work Challenges (10)
- Addiction (9)
- Body Positivity (9)
- Christian Mysticism (9)
- Cognitive Psychology (9)
- Grief (9)
- Identity Shifts (9)
- Kindness (9)
- Memoir (9)
- Mental Health Challenges (9)
- Mind-Body Connection (9)
- Motivation (9)
- Physical Health (9)
- Racism (9)
- Social Anxiety (9)
- Toxic Relationships (9)
- Veteran Well-Being (9)
- Collaboration (8)
- Disabled Well-Being (8)
- Goal Setting (8)
- Happiness (8)
- Human Potential (8)
- Judaism (8)
- Letting Go (8)
- Neuropsychology (8)
- Social Presence (8)
- Spiritual Direction (8)
- Suicide (8)
- Access to Education (7)
- Anger Management (7)
- Christianity (7)
- Connection with Nature (7)
- Cross-Cultural Dynamics (7)
- Empathy (7)
- Faith (7)
- Focus (7)
- Intention (7)
- Latinx Well-Being (7)
- Othering (7)
- Perception (7)
- Productivity (7)
- Racial Discrimination (7)
- Self-Pressure (7)
- Social Responsibility (7)
- Unity (7)
- Values (7)
- Withholding (7)
- Adaptability (6)
- Child’s Challenging Behavior (6)
- Chronic Anxiety (6)
- Dysfunctional Childhood (6)
- Gratitude (6)
- Inner Strengths (6)
- Joy (6)
- Living as an Empath (6)
- Military to Civilian Re-entry (6)
- Passive-Aggressive Behavior (6)
- Philosophical Approaches (6)
- Positive Self-Talk (6)
- Prayer (6)
- Problem Solving (6)
- Self-Expression (6)
- Self-Reckoning (6)
- Shadow (6)
- Spirituality and Politics (6)
- Suffering (6)
- Trauma (6)
- Addiction Recovery (5)
- Asking for Help (5)
- Attachment Theory (5)
- Eating Disorders (5)
- Endurance (5)
- Female Empowerment (5)
- Freedom (5)
- Guilt (5)
- Hope (5)
- Immigration and Assimilation (5)
- Interdependence (5)
- Memory (5)
- Moral Philosophy (5)
- Neuroplasticity (5)
- New Relationships (5)
- Oneness (5)
- Peak Performance (5)
- Spiritual Healing (5)
- Yoga (5)
- Affirmations (4)
- Aging (4)
- Breathwork (4)
- Burnout (4)
- Challenges with Teens (4)
- Codependency (4)
- Curiosity (4)
- Ecospirituality (4)
- Failure (4)
- Global Challenges (4)
- Healthy Eating (4)
- Intergenerational Trauma (4)
- Journaling (4)
- Narcissism (4)
- Nonviolence (4)
- OCD (4)
- Performance Anxiety (4)
- Race and Gender (4)
- Self-Control (4)
- Sex (4)
- Soul Mission (4)
- Storytelling (4)
- Tibetan Buddhism (4)
- Transitions (4)
- AAPI Well-Being (3)
- Accepting Love (3)
- Caregiver Well-Being (3)
- Child’s Anxiety (3)
- Chronic Pain (3)
- Clinical Depression (3)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (3)
- Coming Out (3)
- Conflict Resolution (3)
- Death and Dying (3)
- Dharma (3)
- Discrimination (3)
- Ego (3)
- Facing Own Death (3)
- Faith and Identity (3)
- Family Acceptance (3)
- Female Friendship (3)
- Fiction (3)
- Gender Identity (3)
- Generosity (3)
- Integrative Medicine (3)
- LGBTQIA Relationships (3)
- LGBTQIA Sexuality (3)
- Living with Illness (3)
- Lovingkindness (3)
- Midlife Crisis (3)
- Mindfulness Meditation (3)
- Motherhood (3)
- Panic Attacks (3)
- Patience (3)
- Positive Psychology (3)
- Psychology and Spirituality (3)
- Rest (3)
- Science and Spirituality (3)
- Self-Discipline (3)
- Social Psychology (3)
- Spirituality and Health (3)
- The Divine (3)
- Time Management (3)
- Transgender Well-Being (3)
- Visualization (3)
- Work Ethic (3)
- Work-Life Balance (3)
- Abandonment (2)
- Academic Struggles (2)
- Alcohol Addiction (2)
- Animal Communication (2)
- Animal Connection (2)
- Autoimmune Disease (2)
- Biofeedback (2)
- Child’s Trauma (2)
- Climate Change (2)
- Competition (2)
- Diet and Nutrition (2)
- Doubt (2)
- Economic Justice (2)
- Environmental Justice (2)
- Exercise (2)
- Fatherhood (2)
- Following Bliss (2)
- Forest Bathing (2)
- Genetics (2)
- Guided Meditation (2)
- Healing Approaches (2)
- Holism (2)
- Homophobia (2)
- Humility (2)
- Hypnosis (2)
- Indigenous Healing Approaches (2)
- Indigenous Well-Being (2)
- Integrity (2)
- Intuition (2)
- Jungian Analysis (2)
- LGBTQIA Children (2)
- Lifestyle Medicine (2)
- Manifestation (2)
- Masculine/Feminine Dynamics (2)
- Men’s Well-Being (2)
- Near-Death Experience (2)
- Non-Duality (2)
- Nutritional Medicine (2)
- Optimism (2)
- Passion (2)
- Performance Pressure (2)
- Post-Traumatic Growth (2)
- Poverty/Economic Inequality (2)
- Regret (2)
- Ritual (2)
- Sexual Assault or Abuse (2)
- Situational Depression (2)
- Somatic Practices (2)
- Spiritual Quest (2)
- Sustainability (2)
- Wholeness (2)
- Youth Activism (2)
- Zen Buddhism (2)
- Acupressure (1)
- Afterlife (1)
- Animal Welfare (1)
- Anorexia (1)
- Art Therapy (1)
- Ayurveda (1)
- Betrayal (1)
- Boundary Confusion (1)
- Buddha Nature (1)
- Cannabis/CBD (1)
- Chronic Health Conditions (1)
- Cognition (1)
- Collective Trauma (1)
- Compassion Fatigue (1)
- Conscious Evolution (1)
- Dark Night of the Soul (1)
- Despair (1)
- Diamond Approach (1)
- Domestic Abuse (1)
- Dream Analysis (1)
- Ego Dissolution (1)
- Ego Transcendence (1)
- Embodiment (1)
- Emotional Labor (1)
- Energy Healing (1)
- Enlightenment (1)
- Enneagram (1)
- Fate (1)
- Feminism (1)
- Gaming Addiction (1)
- Gender and Spirituality (1)
- Gender Challenges (1)
- Gender Discrimination (1)
- Generational Healing (1)
- Goddess (1)
- Handling a Child’s Illness (1)
- Handling a Loved One’s Illness (1)
- Heartmath (1)
- Hero’s Journey (1)
- Higher Calling (1)
- Hospice (1)
- Household Labor (1)
- Illness and Injury (1)
- Imposter Syndrome (1)
- Infidelity (1)
- Inner Child (1)
- Inspiration (1)
- Jealousy/Envy (1)
- Jewish Renewal (1)
- Karma (1)
- LGBTQIA Parents (1)
- Longevity (1)
- Love Languages (1)
- Mediums (1)
- Mentoring (1)
- Misophonia (1)
- Native American Beliefs (1)
- Personality Disorders (1)
- Plant Spirit Medicine (1)
- Play (1)
- Poetry (1)
- Pregnancy and Childbirth (1)
- Psilocybin (1)
- Psychedelic Research (1)
- Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (1)
- Psychoanalysis (1)
- Raising Daughters (1)
- Raising Nonbinary Children (1)
- Retirement (1)
- Self-Harm (1)
- Sexuality (1)
- Shared-Death Experience (1)
- Sleep (1)
- Sleep Disorders (1)
- Sufism (1)
- Sutras (1)
- Unconscious Bias (1)
- Visions and Hallucinations (1)
- Vitamin Supplementation (1)
- Wake-Up Calls (1)
- War (1)
- Willpower (1)
- Zen Meditation (1)
FILTER
TEACHER
- Martin Luther King Jr. (12)
- Jeff Foster (9)
- Evelyn Underhill (8)
- Brené Brown (7)
- David J. Wolpe (7)
- Howard Thurman (6)
- Richard Davidson (6)
- Andrew Solomon (5)
- Daniel Amen (5)
- Esther Perel (5)
- Gabor Maté (5)
- Lisa Feldman Barrett (5)
- Alan Watts (4)
- Gary Chapman (4)
- John Bradshaw (4)
- John Perry (4)
- Julie Schwartz Gottman (4)
- Terri Cole (4)
- Brendon Burchard (3)
- Debbie Ford (3)
- Elaine Aron (3)
- Elizabeth Lesser (3)
- Iskra Lawrence (3)
- Jan Willis (3)
- Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (3)
- john a. powell (3)
- Lodro Rinzler (3)
- Lori Gottlieb (3)
- Marie Forleo (3)
- Panache Desai (3)
- Ramani Durvasula (3)
- Rick Hanson (3)
- Rosie Molinary (3)
- Tara Brach (3)
- bell hooks (2)
- Daniel J. Siegel (2)
- David Whyte (2)
- don Jose Ruiz (2)
- Gary Zukav (2)
- Gay Hendricks (2)
- Harville Hendrix (2)
- Helen LaKelly Hunt (2)
- Iyanla Vanzant (2)
- Jacqui Lewis (2)
- Jay Shetty (2)
- John Gottman (2)
- John O’Donohue (2)
- John Sarno (2)
- Karla McLaren (2)
- Kris Carr (2)
- Lama Surya Das (2)
- Mark Nepo (2)
- Maya Angelou (2)
- Oprah Winfrey (2)
- Pema Chödrön (2)
- Sharon Strand Ellison (2)
- Thich Nhat Hanh (2)
- Tony Gaskins Jr. (2)
- William Bloom (2)
- A. H. Almaas (1)
- Abraham Joshua Heschel (1)
- Acharya Shunya (1)
- Alain de Botton (1)
- Alejandro Jodorowsky (1)
- Amishi Jha (1)
- Andrew Weil (1)
- Angela Duckworth (1)
- Bayo Akomolafe (1)
- Bessel van der Kolk (1)
- Biet Simkin (1)
- Blaise Aguirre (1)
- Bruce Lipton (1)
- Camille Helminski (1)
- Carl Jung (1)
- Chan Khong (1)
- Charles Eisenstein (1)
- Chip Conley (1)
- Christopher Germer (1)
- Colleen Saidman Yee (1)
- Connie Zweig (1)
- Daniel Goleman (1)
- Danya Ruttenberg (1)
- David R. Hawkins (1)
- David Steindl-Rast (1)
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1)
- Don Hanlon Johnson (1)
- don Miguel Ruiz (1)
- don Miguel Ruiz Jr. (1)
- Dorothy Day (1)
- Dorothy Firman (1)
- Eckhart Tolle (1)
- Elaine Pagels (1)
- Elizabeth Gilbert (1)
- Francoise Bourzat (1)
- Gabrielle Roth (1)
- Gangaji (1)
- Gaylon Ferguson (1)
- Geneen Roth (1)
- Gloria Steinem (1)
- Gordon Neufeld (1)
- Harnaam Kaur (1)
- Heidi Campbell (1)
- Hildegard von Bingen (1)
- Huston Smith (1)
- Hyla Cass (1)
- J. Krishnamurti (1)
- Jack Kornfield (1)
- James Doty (1)
- James H. Cone (1)
- James Hillman (1)
- Jana Long (1)
- Jerry M. Ruhl (1)
- John C. Parkin (1)
- John Welwood (1)
- Joseph M. Marshall III (1)
- Karen Casey (1)
- Kathlyn Hendricks (1)
- Kelly McGonigal (1)
- Kim Eng (1)
- Kristin Neff (1)
- Larry Harvey (1)
- Larry Yang (1)
- Leah Guy (1)
- Lindo Bacon (1)
- Lise Van Susteren (1)
- Louise Hay (1)
- M. Scott Peck (1)
- Malcolm X (1)
- Martin Seligman (1)
- Melanie Joy (1)
- Michael Phelps (1)
- Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (1)
- Mitch Albom (1)
- Mona Polacca (1)
- Mother Meera (1)
- Nedra Glover Tawwab (1)
- Neem Karoli Baba (1)
- Nicole LePera (1)
- Nikki Mirghafori (1)
- Noah Levine (1)
- Oliver Sacks (1)
- Paramahansa Yogananda (1)
- Patanjali (1)
- Peter Russell (1)
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1)
- Poppy Jamie (1)
- Ralph De La Rosa (1)
- Ram Dass (1)
- Rich Roll (1)
- Robert A. Johnson (1)
- Ruby Wax (1)
- Russell Brand (1)
- Sadhguru (1)
- Sam Harris (1)
- Satish Kumar (1)
- Shefali Tsabary (1)
- Shunryu Suzuki (1)
- Simone Biles (1)
- Stan Tatkin (1)
- Stephanie Y. Evans (1)
- Stephen Covey (1)
- Stephen Levine (1)
- Steven Johnson (1)
- Susan Piver (1)
- Sylvia Boorstein (1)
- Ta-Nehisi Coates (1)
- Terry Real (1)
- The Dalai Lama (1)
- Thomas Moore (1)
- Thubten Chodron (1)
- Toni Morrison (1)
- Viktor E. Frankl (1)
- Yael Shy (1)
- Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (1)
- Zainab Salbi (1)
- Zinovia Dushkova (1)