Mental Health Mama

Having a child with ADHD and/or Anxiety is not for the weak.  There is defiance, irritability, frustration and constant battling. I have been through all of this during the twenty-four years of raising my son. I am here to bring some hope to other Mamas out there struggling. I look back on how much I have grown as a mom and how far my son has come with coping and with managing his life. We are living proof that there are effective ways to maintain a happy life with these mental illnesses. 

It all started when my son was five years old, and I was volunteering in his classroom. There were multiple stations set up around the room. Several kids would do an activity at each station, then they would rotate around the room to complete different activities or tasks. I was concerned with my observations. My son was the last child to finish every activity or task. He didn’t seem to even understand the directions most of the time. I would watch him look around to the other children to see if he could figure out what he should be doing. He looked so lost and confused. I observed my son in the classroom setting a few more times and started to pay attention to how he handled homework, as well.  He was so irritated and would just shut down during homework assignments. Yes, he had to write sentences at night and on the weekend after attending all-day Kindergarten. I found this to be a bit over the top, but the assignments had to be completed. I had a Psychology Degree and just knew something was not quite right. My son, at a very early age, was very smart so it didn’t make sense that he was having such a difficult time. I decided to seek professional help because I could not watch my son suffer any longer. I took him for some testing at a local Psychologist’s office. He just went through a series of age-appropriate tests that really seemed fun and intriguing to him. This is when the formal diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder came into light. At least now I knew what the issue was, and I could begin a process to help my child.

This describes the very beginning of my journey with my son. I am happy to say he is now twenty-four years old and “adulting” very well. He is working his dream job and lives independently. Now, this did not come easily, but with a proper diagnosis of GAD and later ADHD, we figured it out and had much success in implementing accommodations and gaining skills to manage life. We did this together and our relationship is stronger than ever and our Mother/Son bond is unbreakable. I will share how we arrived in this moment of time, the ups and downs and all that was in between.