Adult ADHD: Battling Depression & Distraction
Seven years ago I was interviewed by a medical content company (I was one of their technical advisors as they launched). The videos they created still play in doctor’s offices around the country. Every once in a while someone will reach out to me or to one of my kids saying that they saw the video. This morning, I received a call …
When he heard my voice, he started to cry. Picture a middle-aged man standing in the corner of his doctor’s office … sobbing. I heard him say, “Bless your heart, I didn’t think it would actually be YOU answering the phone! I thought it would be an office or something!”
All he wanted was to find that video again so that he could share it with his wife. Married 14 years, two kids – one with ADHD, both with autism – and he suspects he has ADHD and depression. He wanted his wife to see the video because it captured EXACTLY what he had been experiencing and what he has been trying to tell her but had yet to figure out how to say…
He wants to save his marriage and he thinks this video will help start the next level of conversations.
Angel (I LOVE that his name is Angel because the name matches his heart!) and I spoke for a short while before they called him in to see his doctor. Before we parted, I committed to getting him the link.
I walked into Elaine’s office to tell her about the call. I *felt* so excited that the video had touched someone else. But as soon as she saw me, she got off her chair and started walking towards me and wrapped herself around me. Instead of just listening to my words, she was reading my face and my energy. Seems I had already started crying yet had not realized it. It took a minute for my brain to catch up with my body.
The body ALWAYS knows, right?!?
Hugging. Crying. Sharing the story. Connecting.
AND, way back in 2013, Elaine had gotten the super secret link (and permission from the media company) and had posted the video to her site. It’s there for parents of complex kids all over the globe to see.
I just watched it again. Thank goodness I don’t have a video to do right now … I’m a mess all over again!
I’m sharing the story and the video here because I realize that the very last line is a critical mindset learning that I have been working on and living and walking and sharing for the last 14+ years.
And that has made all the difference in my world.
May it in yours, as well!
If you have a pulse, you have time!
