ADHD GIRL-AND MORE!

As part of the requirements to become an international adoption caseworker,  a number of certification steps and classes were required. One of the steps was to have my own brain assessed. I also had to undergo an interview that delved into the attachment between myself and my mother. To say I was concerned is a monumental understatement!

I was already educated enough to know that some of my coping mechanisms were trauma responses to a less-than-ideal childhood. I was also keenly aware that my own mother had suffered from mental illness and that genetics played a role in her diagnosis. What I hoped was that I had inherited at least a “lesser form” of my mother’s misery.

Like the children I worked with, early deprivation had resulted in a lack of appropriate levels of certain neurotransmitters within the brain. Now, I certainly had not suffered the kind of/level of deprivation anywhere near that of my charges, but lack of consistent caregiving resulted in physiological and psychological issues. I found I certainly had some things in common with “my kids.”

I learned I had the classic ADHD profile of low norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. It certainly explained behaviors and coping mechanisms I’d had since early childhood. And I had an additional surprise-suspected deficiencies in other areas, too-one of which is closely associated with bipolar disorder. This was the illness my mother suffered from.

It did not bode well for me.