Buddy’s ADHD Story continues from here
Throughout my years I would get bored and do different things. I have been…A framer (steel & wood), roofer, finish carpenter, plumber, electrician, window/door fitter, an installer of: acoustic ceilings, insulation, drywall, siding, laminate flooring, carpet, and tile. Also, I have been a fiber optic line layer, landscaper, and automobile mechanic. I’ve also been an I.T. administrator, assembly line worker, sandblaster, computer technician, tech support for Intel, production manager of a telecom cable manufacturer, and owner/operator my own Cybercafe/computer shop.
Quite often throughout the years, I would have someone ask me what the hell was going on in my head. I’d explain it like this: It feels like I am standing in the eye of a tornado and all of the debris in the tornado are my thoughts and ideas. I can reach out and grab one, but the longer that I hold on to it the more the tornado pulls on me. Eventually, I’ll have to let it go and grab something else. I can wait for that idea to come back around, but I will have to dig through everything else to find it. And there is a really good chance that I will get distracted in the process by another thought or idea that is more interesting. That’s how I lived my entire life.
I found my passion
In 2005, I found myself back in construction and in 2009 I suffered what they called “a catastrophic failure” of my right elbow. Not pretty, testing added bi-lateral cubital tunnel syndrome. 6 surgeries and 3 years later, I was able to use my arms again. And I had no idea what to do with my life. During the time of my disability I began volunteering at a local church as a “lay counselor” which is just someone who sits down and talks to people. I found my passion and decided to become a counselor but the realization and terror of getting an education hit me.
If I was to succeed I would have to get my ADHD in check. I sought out a counselor of my own that specialized in ADD/ADHD. He helped me immensely, but it was still about fixing what was broken.
I was able to fumble through college but it was either all or nothing. Often overwhelmed, I used up all my free withdrawals and took a couple classes a second time to improve my grade. I finally completed what I needed to get my state certification as a Chemical Dependency Professional.
It has taken me years of trial and error to get to where I am with my processes, but again it has always been about finding ways to conform to “Normal”.
Until a year ago
When I heard a mental health professional tell one of my colleagues “You know ADHD is not really a thing right?” I found myself insulted and angry, and a rush of all the shame for not being like most other people came flooding in. Then I stopped, and made a choice that has since changed everything.
I decided that I was going to learn more about ADD/ADHD than that misinformed mental health professional could possibly ever know, and down the rabbit-hole I went.
A year or so later I now know a lot about my ADHD and quite a bit about ADHD in general, but I still want to know more.
I want to know how it presents in individuals that are not necessarily struggling with substance addiction. I’m curious if what helps me and the clients that I treat will help others that are not in the same situation(s). I want to hear as many opinions as I can on what individuals believe about ADHD, their ADHD and the ADHD of others.
Part of my recent journey brought me to Jennie’s podcast, and then to the See in ADHD Facebook group.
I’m not sure what I will gain or what I can give, but I am sure of one thing, this is going to be a fun ride.
Practicing Stoic, Substance use Counselor, Construction worker, Mechanic, Artist, Computer Technician, Man of Faith, Loving Husband, Entrepreneur, Program Developer, Inventor, and Self-proclaimed Maniacal Crackpot, Buddy is impulsively curious with an insatiability for knowledge.
“I am always far more concerned with all the things that I DON’T yet know, rather than with the things that I have already learned.” He has dedicated his life to helping the hopeless and leaving the world a better place that when he found it.