That's a brilliant realisation Teri. Sounds like your Rebel streak has always been your friend not the enemy it may seem to have been!

@Teri Connolly What's the point of life without a little occasional stirring! 🤣

@Kate Everitt Isn't it interesting looking back and seeing what we all accepted "back in the day"!

@Cat Bell And you 🙂 The more I know about ADHD, the more I have come to realise what an ideal job it is for someone with ADHD. Always different things to deal with and with the added dopamine rush of the regular but varied panic issues to sort out!

@Renold Revales Great question! At the moment I think I need to observe and question it when it next happens and see how things fall into place. I'm sure the next days of the challenge will help too.

@Elaine Allen But at least noticing the connection is a good first step I think. Easier to find a solution when the problem is clearer.

Totally understand where you are coming from Naja! Looking back now I realise that perimenopause was when the masking and coping strategies I had been using for most of my life started to fail and the ADHD traits I had for the most part been able to supress up to then really kicked in. What I can say now, with the hindsight knowledge that I do have ADHD which I didn't then, is that if I had known that my brain wasn't suddenly broken but was just no longer able to mask successfully, I would have been so much kinder to myself. On a practical level, knowing that continuing to push myself to do things the neurotypical way wasn't best for me would have made a big difference and I would have started searching out alternative strategies and methodologies that worked with my ADHD brain not against it. Instead of battling for so long on a "neurotypical" route to my end result, I could have found alternatives that worked with my brain and got me to the same end place but with far less stress, effort and tears!