this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2026
130 points (97.8% liked)

ADHD

13546 readers
163 users here now

A casual community for people with ADHD

Values:

Acceptance, Openness, Understanding, Equality, Reciprocity.

Rules:

Encouraged:

Relevant Lemmy communities:

Autism

ADHD Memes

Bipolar Disorder

Therapy

Mental Health

Neurodivergent Life Hacks

lemmy.world/c/adhd will happily promote other ND communities as long as said communities demonstrate that they share our values.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I've always made up a person to fit in. Masking has taken a toll and I hate the person I've pretended to be. That person is boring, polished, and an over achiever. Since.I was punished severely on a daily basis at 4 years old and afterwards, my true self never was known to me. Only my self who could survive.

Where do we find our unmasked real self after reaching "the big one" burnout? When your braim stops working, you're no longer functional, and the person you made can no longer be sustained, what do you do?

I'm in my 40s and it's rough.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] sumsinj@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I am kinda glad, I had a mindset shift at like 17 to just live to entertain myself and after that I found some neurodivergent folks at my school at the time and had the time of my life. Before that were some major depressions and social circles that didn't enjoy my presence (and I didn't enjoy theirs too!). It makes a huge difference if there are people near you who do vocal stimming with you lmao