Struggling to cope with ADHD

[coffee]

I'm 18 and I'm fairly certain I've had ADHD my entire life. I'm now on the waiting list for diagnosis, but I still have 8 months to go :/
It's caused me a huge amount of frustration, and likewise for my parents (at least I think). I've always been blessed by God with the gift of intelligence which has definitely made it easier for me to cope - however now as I'm getting towards my A-level exams, I feel that I'm close to reaching a breaking point.
I find it next to impossible to start tasks that I need to do, let alone complete them, and I feel unable to do any work unless I have precisely the perfect environment. In lessons I often don't have the slightest idea what the teacher is talking about, and it happens so frequently that I'm too nervous to ask for help. I frequently experience mental blocks; this is especially bad if someone has said something to upset me, which can make me unable to think about much anything else for the entire day.
I hate being constantly unprepared for everything, and the feeling of guilt that comes with it implying that maybe I'm just lazy and need to try harder. I've also felt that I'd never be able to handle getting married, because of my embarrassing habit of constantly walking, running or jumping at home, which I can't really help.
Can anyone offer any help? It often feels like I'm the only person going through this, especially as I've never met anyone else with the combination of ADHD and giftedness.

 

[High Fidelity]

Check this video out.

It was like someone explained my life story. It's a great resource to show your parents or partner, for example, because it covers precisely some of the issues you've mentioned.

 

[MrsFoundit]

You do not have to be "normal" to be loved, or to love others. Jesus can still do good through you and your faith.

A levels are a very high pressure time in the UK system, and being intelligent can make that worse, the emotional pressure can be worse.

Is winter part of the stress? If so, we have almost made it to spring, remember sunshine, trees with leaves on, and a vague chance of not rain?

 

[Aussie Pete]

I'm 18 and I'm fairly certain I've had ADHD my entire life. I'm now on the waiting list for diagnosis, but I still have 8 months to go :/
It's caused me a huge amount of frustration, and likewise for my parents (at least I think). I've always been blessed by God with the gift of intelligence which has definitely made it easier for me to cope - however now as I'm getting towards my A-level exams, I feel that I'm close to reaching a breaking point.
I find it next to impossible to start tasks that I need to do, let alone complete them, and I feel unable to do any work unless I have precisely the perfect environment. In lessons I often don't have the slightest idea what the teacher is talking about, and it happens so frequently that I'm too nervous to ask for help. I frequently experience mental blocks; this is especially bad if someone has said something to upset me, which can make me unable to think about much anything else for the entire day.
I hate being constantly unprepared for everything, and the feeling of guilt that comes with it implying that maybe I'm just lazy and need to try harder. I've also felt that I'd never be able to handle getting married, because of my embarrassing habit of constantly walking, running or jumping at home, which I can't really help.
Can anyone offer any help? It often feels like I'm the only person going through this, especially as I've never met anyone else with the combination of ADHD and giftedness.

All my childhood, I lived with the tag "could do better". I detested school, loved reading and I was good at anything I was interested in. That did not include maths. One reason was I found maths was work. I could not see a purpose for it so I did not bother.

I used to daydream through boring lessons. We didn't have fancy descriptions like ADHT and such. "CDB" (could do better) syndrome was my lot.

I had a sense that only getting out of school and into the workforce was of any point in life. I did not believe that education was of much value from that point of view. No one ever told me and I did not figure it out myself. I was also discouraged because I changed schools every year or two (military family).

All those pressures, plus the total disappointment with the daily drudgery of work, caused me to cry out to the God I'd shunned for 20 years. He saved me. I've learned a great deal in the 48 years since that day. One of which is that there is a vicious and clever enemy of our souls that we must face up to and deal with.

We have two sources of trouble. The first is us. As one preacher said, "How many of you know you can't cast out the works of the flesh?". The answer to this problem is to die. End of problem. Dead people are no trouble at all. The positive aspect of the solution is to rise from the dead with new life. This is exactly what God has done for us through Christ crucified and risen. If we will accept Christ, God includes us in the Cross and we are made to be new creations.

The second source of our troubles is external. Satan means "adversary". He is dead set against every believer. He is the thief, the liar, the deceiver, the destroyer and the murderer. God has defeated Satan through our Lord Jesus. We have the victory, but many do not know it. So we must humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and resist the devil. Satan has no choice but to flee.

If you are born again, you have the mighty life of Christ dwelling within you. Lord Jesus is not lazy. He has overcome everything that Satan could throw at Him, even death! So we are on the winning team. However, to experience victory we need to be in the game. No one gives out prizes to spectators.

Ask Lord Jesus to take complete control of your life. This is difficult. No one likes to let go of their independence. However, Lord Jesus is not interested in helping you the way we think of it. He helps us by doing in us and through us what we cannot do. And that means everything. I used to fear losing my identity as a person. I can assure you that a surrendered life is the best possible life in every way. It's an old fashioned word, but we need to yield to God's will. Constantly. You will discover that the Lord Jesus will cause you to be the person that you really want to be, deep down.

 

[coffee]

Thank you everyone for your kind words!

 

[Tolworth John]

May I suggest you talk with our parents about your problems at school.
Your behaviour will have come up before at parent/teacher events. There may be things the school can do to help.eg schools are supposed to have a special needs teacher who might be able to help you with your teachers in getting you print outs etc for you to work/read at home or in the library surfing breaks.

Are you able to adjust what you call perfect study conditions to what is available in your room at home or to exami conditions.

 

[coffee]

May I suggest you talk with our parents about your problems at school.
Your behaviour will have come up before at parent/teacher events. There may be things the school can do to help.eg schools are supposed to have a special needs teacher who might be able to help you with your teachers in getting you print outs etc for you to work/read at home or in the library surfing breaks.

Are you able to adjust what you call perfect study conditions to what is available in your room at home or to exami conditions.

Yeah I've spoken to my parents and they know about how frustrating it is for me. What I find is that I'm never quite sure what these 'perfect study conditions' are, other than it's not what I have. One thing that has helped in the past is working in a coffee shop, but that's too expensive to do on a regular basis. There is definitely some sense in talking to the school - I'll see who I can speak to there about this.