I found out that i have ADHD through a process of dealing with a hearing issue - I have something called auditory processing disorder (APD), which means while I have excellent hearing, my brain has difficulty processing speech in high noise environments, especially with multiple people or frequencies that correlate to women. ADHD and autism spectrum disorders are highly correlated with it.
A friend who is an audiologist was out with me at an event and basically spotted the adaptations that I had adopted subconsciously over my life (I’m in my 40s). I then got tested and confirmed. It’s likely a result of many consecutive ear infections I had as a kid.
When reading up on APD, the literature describes stories of various people… and it was like looking back on a story of my life. The ADHD correlation is thought to be related because of the way the brain develops (or doesn’t) in the presence or absence of stimuli.
I say this because it would be easy to dismiss my scenario. By most measurements I’m successful and doing great. But had I known or maybe been treated in the past, certain difficult aspects of my life would have likely been managed better or avoided. Brains are complex, and it’s important not to dismiss that problems that people have.