"Knowing I had ADHD, I've had to relearn many things."
Ana Gómez always knew something wasn't right, even as a child. She was absentminded and disorganized. But the real problem, she tells us, came in adulthood.
"You feel a constant failure as an adult, as a partner, as a mother, and in everything because you feel that what is happening to you is not normal," she explains, "you feel that everything is too much for you, that you can't handle it all, and sometimes you feel useless."
Ana, an early childhood education teacher, discovered she had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when her two daughters, both with ADHD and high abilities, were diagnosed.
At that point, with a clear diagnosis, she was able to begin adult therapy. "All adults with ADHD who weren't diagnosed in childhood carry many problems stemming from that lack of diagnosis," Ana shares, "one of these problems is low self-esteem. It's common to develop depressive disorders, anxiety, or eating disorders, for example."
In this process of understanding the reasons for her problems in daily life, Ana explains that she has had to relearn a lifetime of bad habits and negative thoughts that have accompanied her all her life, and generate new strategies.
According to this teacher, many adults with ADHD feel lost due to the difficulties in diagnosing it. "There are very few professionals who can detect and diagnose ADHD in adults, and even fewer who can treat it," she says.
Ana Gómez is a founding member of the Madrid Association of Adults with ADHD (AMATDAH).
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