ADHD or OCD? (Julianna Broadwater’s story)

For years, Julianna Broadwater’s therapist suggested looking into
ADHD. But Julianna resisted. She had a past diagnosis of OCD, so
she attributed her challenges to that. Plus she was the primary
breadwinner in the family, so how could she have ADHD? 


Then Julianna tried ADHD medication, and her thinking completely
changed. The impulsive, intrusive thoughts that would pop into
her head started to lessen. It was easy to swat them away like
flies, instead of dropping everything to focus on them. 


Julianna was diagnosed with ADHD during the pandemic. Hear about
her OCD misdiagnosis, and how the symptoms she thought were her
OCD actually stemmed from ADHD. 


Related resources


I have ADHD and OCD. Here’s what a weekend getaway looks like
for me

What is perseveration?

ADHD and anxiety



Timestamps


(01:17) Julianna’s ADHD diagnosis story


(06:49) Julianna’s experience growing up


(11:42) Julianna’s OCD misdiagnosis


(13:59) Getting stuck on thoughts


(15:26) Never going back to how things were before the
pandemic 


For a transcript and more resources, visit the ADHD Aha!
page on Understood.org


Want to share your “aha” moment? We love hearing from our
listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.


Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like
ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work,
donate at understood.org/give


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