I need to get myself sorted at 27

None of my family knows this, but I have had issues since school. Most people think I'm easygoing and quite happy. However, I always felt uneasy and nervous at school; I felt like I could have achieved so much more but felt zoned out.

I cannot keep friends. I have lost so many friends in the last couple of years. I don't message back as I get overwhelmed with life in general. People just get fed up with me. I never had a relationship as well.

I struggle to communicate and hate face-to-face meetings or group settings. My brain becomes mush.

I have ran a business for approx 7 years. At times its looked really promising, then the self doubt, anxitey kicks in. Have a bad week or so. Then I get a week feeling really confident getting up at 5am to go for a swim. I have a shared office; It must look wild to other people how my schedule operates.

I simply can't keep going around in circles. Having a good week, a bad week then some OK weeks. Its not like I'm crying in bed all day (my mum had anxitey and depression). I function, swimming helps me a lot, I eat a lot better these days. When my mood is good I'm up at 5am going for a swim. I can get loads of work done, then get days where I can't motivate myself at all and get massive self doubt. I get these weeks were I just feel completely burnt out with no energy. I don't really feel emotion much anymore, everything just feels like another stress.

I'm sometimes dancing around quite happily to my music, going abroad on a little Europe trip. Sometimes I work all week, on my day off do to London Swim, Eat out spend until 11pm there. Can't remember the day I actually relax some weeks. It's such a mixture of emotions at times. I can be very unorganised, people in the office have told me in the past I become quite distant at times.

I have played around with the idea of having inattentive ADHD, I've had 2 friends in a joking way stating they think I have ADHD. I can't imagine seeing my GP of years of having no issues like this (as far as their aware).

I have a big opptunity coming up, I really can't keep mucking up. I want to achieve a lot in my life (even though have mucked up bad at many points), but I feel held back.

I really don't know what to do, like I stated above. Surely, it's laughable going in to your GP when on the outside your functioning like a normal human (I'm not crying or in a state of despair; it's so ridiculous how I feel sometimes I find it quite funny at times).

Reply 1

Surnia

No, you need to see your GP and it's not laughable.

Think about it; heartburn is caused by acid, a chemical in your stomach. Cancer is caused by a change in genes. If you have something genetic or an imbalance of chemicals in your brain, why wouldn't you see a doctor, same as you would with any other part of your body?

Reply 2

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

I agree, you need to see a GP/counsellor as it seems like a bit of a rollercoaster at the moment.

With conditions like ADHD, it's common for people to have coping strategies (that they didn't realise that they were using) which work less well in the unstructured 'real world' after school.

Reply 3

black tea

You really need to see a GP. The fact that you haven't seen them before isn't a problem in the slightest.

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

Original post by Admit-One

I agree, you need to see a GP/counsellor as it seems like a bit of a rollercoaster at the moment.
With conditions like ADHD, it's common for people to have coping strategies (that they didn't realise that they were using) which work less well in the unstructured 'real world' after school.

Thanks for your reply. It's strange because sometimes it seems self-inflicted (surely someone my age should be able to stick to a schedule etc..). I can never work out if it's me or something else going on; it feels like I'm trying to take the easy option, seeing the GP about this. I can be quite stubborn about these things.

Reply 5

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Consider it this way: worst case scenario you go to the GP and nothing changes. Best case scenario you go to the GP and you potentially get on a track that may improve things in the long run. You don't have anything to lose.

I can sympathise with how you feel but sometimes you just need to take the plunge. I was recently diagnosed with a SpLD as an adult despite never having any consideration really that I had it and certainly externally nobody else suspected or would have suspected it generally. It was only because a single lecturer said they saw I was doing some things that they had seen has a sign of it before and suggested I get assessed that I even consider it. But ultimately if I'd gone through it and it turned out I didn't have the SpLD then it would've just been that nothing had changed except I'd have done the assessment. So there was no harm done really - and it turned out I did have the SpLD.

The above comment about coping strategies by the way is actually as it turns out very much a thing - it was exactly why I had never considered the SpLD in question or thought about it because as it turns out, I had been compensating for it through numerous other coping strategies without realising it, for my entire life! If I hadn't developed those I'd have had a much harder time - but since it's been identified now support can be put in place so I don't have to rely on coping strategies that place more of a mental load (not even consciously) on me.

It's very possible it will be the same situation for you with that condition. Also it may turn out you have another entirely different condition (or you might have both!). They might refer you on to be assessed for something else which you hadn't thought of but which they identify as a potential challenge for you, and so you may end up getting help for something you didn't even think of.