Your story has the power to inspire and encourage others who may be starting their own journey with ADHD. By sharing how treatment has helped you overcome challenges and improve your life, you can make a meaningful impact.
If you’d like to share your experience, click the button below to send us an email with the subject line "My Story". Please note that only your initials and the city where you live will be included if we feature your story on this page.
Stories are shared with permission and edited for privacy; we do not publish identifying details.
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A gentle note before you read:
These stories reflect individual experiences of trauma, mental health struggles, and major life changes. They are not meant to represent typical outcomes. Treatment experiences vary widely depending on personal history, diagnosis, and supports. ****You are welcome to read as much or as little as feels helpful. It’s okay to pause, skip, or return later.
Some stories are shared in full; others are shortened for privacy.
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A Note From a Physician with ADHD on Day 2 of Starting Treatment:
*"Wow I am happy :)
I never ever thought someone who ranked so high in exams could have ADHD! In third grade I had severe problem with attention, making mistakes, daydreaming in class to the point that they thought I had petit mal, and I had EEG done, etc.
I used to fidget (crazy shaking my leg) or chew on pencils intently; all my pencils and pens were chewed up. Later I started chewing gums all day to stay focused. Then I started taking notes so when I wrote I could pay attention and not drift away. I was labeled as a genius in high school by every math and physics teacher who worked with me…
I have started multiple hobbies and have been great but never can stick to following… I never finished my Masters degree, … I just could not force myself to finish writing it… Thanks again!*
Anonymous; North Vancouver, BC
This story explores a long journey through trauma, ADHD, and recovery. Scroll to continue, or skip to the next story.
*“Before my ADHD diagnosis, my life was shaped by chronic dysregulation layered onto and inside severe trauma. I did not grow up with safety or stability. I left home at twelve to escape abuse and violence, only to find the outside world even more dangerous. I was a runaway and a vagrant, moving from one unsafe situation to another, with betrayal and abuse as the only constants. I learned early that kindness made me a target, honesty could be weaponized against me, self protection was punished, and compliance erased me. I internalized the belief that I had no inherent worth. I learned to lie to keep myself safe, and I learned to assess threats to my safety far more quickly than most people.
It was not until my late teens, sitting with an ex military friend who displayed the same hypervigilant behaviours and thinking patterns, that I realized I had PTSD. What I did not know at the time was that ADHD was just as prominent. Trauma, PTSD, and ADHD are strange companions, and for me they developed together.
I was raised in a cult, and that environment of control and oppression profoundly distorted my understanding of relationships, autonomy, and self trust. I had no framework for what a healthy life, healthy family, healthy parents, or healthy attachment looked like. I did not know how to associate safely with others. Every way of being seemed to confirm that I was wrong simply for existing. This context matters, because my ADHD did not occur in isolation. It developed inside constant threat, fear, and invalidation.
As a teen and young adult, I was perceptive, intuitive, and highly sensitive to people’s intentions, but I had no ability to regulate what I perceived. My nervous system was always scanning for danger. This was repeatedly interpreted as me being difficult, unstable, or morally flawed. I was even accused of being evil for seeing things others did not want named. In reality, this was trauma, PTSD, and unrecognized ADHD interacting in a way that left me overwhelmed and unprotected. I mourn for the younger version of myself, trying so hard to fix her life, her parenting, her heart, never understanding that no plan, no move, no new hobby, career, or fitness goal was ever going to resolve the underlying issue.
As a new mother, this dysregulation became devastating. My relationship with my children’s father was violent and incapacitating. I did not have the clarity or internal stability to protect myself or my children in the way I wish I could have. After leaving, I remained alone for nearly a decade, not because I did not want connection, but because I did not trust myself to make safe decisions. I look back now with deep compassion for that woman, alone with two young children and no one to guide her. I used to blame her for destabilizing choices that did affect my children, but every decision was made with the intent to heal, to provide more, to be safer, to afford education, and to live a life that resembled happiness. After those years, I met someone I believed embodied everything I had hoped for in a partner. My brain did not yet have the clarity or insight to recognize that the relationship was unhealthy, just in a different way.
I then spent more than a decade in a relationship I believed was good, only to slowly realize I was being lied to, gaslit, coerced, and carrying the full emotional, financial, and organizational weight of the marriage. I stayed because I believed the problem was me, and I kept trying to fix myself. It was only after beginning ADHD treatment that I could finally see my own value clearly and recognize the imbalance. That clarity gave me the strength to separate. I do not yet know where that path will lead, but I know now that I do not have to sacrifice myself to love someone. Trauma bonding had been the reference point for most of my relationships, and now I understand that I am happier on my own and no longer need to give up parts of myself to feel connected.
Learning about my children’s diagnoses, and then my own, was earth shaking. It reframed my entire life. I finally understood that I was not broken, not bad, and not responsible for the things I had been blamed for since childhood. I adore my children, and while I carry grief about how dysregulation affected their early lives, I now know I was doing the best I could with a brain that never had enough quiet or safety to think clearly. That understanding has brought compassion instead of shame.
Since starting treatment under your care, the difference has been drastic. This was not a subtle improvement. It was a structural change. My mind is now quiet enough to think in sequence. I can focus on one task, complete it, pause, and return without losing hours or becoming overwhelmed. Emotions are still present and deep, but they no longer flood my system or dictate my behaviour. I experience calm without numbness and clarity without rigidity.
Your support has been central to this transformation. You listened carefully, treated my history with seriousness and respect, and supported an exceptionally slow and thoughtful medication staging. I increased by five milligrams over long intervals, sometimes remaining at the same dose for months. That pace was essential for me. It allowed trust to build, gave me confidence in my own observations, and made each stage feel safe and integrated rather than destabilizing. Your consistency, responsiveness, and clinical judgment made the process collaborative and grounded.
As my mind cleared, memories and emotions surfaced that had been unsafe to hold before. Some weeks were marked by intense anger as I realized how profoundly wrong others had been about me. Other weeks carried grief and shame as I reread old journals and saw hopeful but dysregulated decision making that had real world consequences. None of those choices were bad, but they came from a brain that could not hold clarity. Having medical support that recognized this process as normal and meaningful made it survivable and ultimately healing.
If I were to go through this process again, I would suggest pairing medication treatment with counselling or at least structured journaling from the beginning. As my brain rewired itself, recalling long buried trauma without early counselling support made some months harder than they needed to be.
Counselling has transformed as a result of treatment. Previously, therapy focused on managing emotions without understanding their origin. Now it focuses on integration, self understanding, and growth. I understand that I did my best, and that the different versions of myself that had to fight, protect, and remain hypervigilant no longer need to lead. There is some loss in that, but also profound relief. In their place, I now have curiosity, steadiness, and commitment to myself rather than living as a constant warrior or survivor.
The practical changes still feel astonishing. I can sit, think, work, take breaks, eat lunch, and return to tasks without chaos. I do not overeat or snack to manage sadness. I do not punish myself with emotional extremes. I enjoy sleep and plan for it intentionally. I can breathe. I can plan. I have purpose. I genuinely like myself. I can look in the mirror with more ease, treat myself with respect, and feel at home in my own body.
Looking forward, my hope is not perfection but continuity. I plan to continue counselling to deepen emotional regulation, repair the impact of long term trauma, and strengthen my parenting through a clearer understanding of ADHD across our family. With my nervous system now supported rather than overloaded, this work finally feels possible. I can see forward. I now know that this person has always been here.
This diagnosis and treatment did not give me a new life. They gave me access to the life that was always there. Through your skill, compassion, and wisdom, I am meeting myself without confusion, without terror, and without dysregulation. This has one hundred percent changed my life.”*
Anonymous; North Vancouver, BC