Path To Psych by Christine

Path To Psych by Christine - December 2024 Scholarship Essay

I didn’t realize it at the time, but what she said to me that summer day changed my life for the better. My friend and I were sitting down, eating lunch. We were having a conversation when she brought up the fact that she was diagnosed with ADHD. I stared at her for a moment to see if she was serious or joking. At the time, I thought that people with ADHD were always hyperactive, like a child after drinking their parents’ coffee or eating a lot of candy. She was a calm person, so for her to be diagnosed with a disorder like that seemed insane! But as I stared at her, she added, “Don’t you have it too?”. I laughed a little and told her no. Then I changed the topic and went on with my day.
Except I couldn’t. What she said stuck out in my mind, like an itch in the upper center part of your back, right between your shoulder blades where you can’t quite reach. The moment I got home, I was determined to scratch that itch, and began researching about ADHD.
The first thing that I learned was that the disorder is so much more than not being able to sit still. It’s a regulation disorder, causing most things they do to be all or nothing. They’re either overstimulated or understimulated. That’s why it’s difficult for them to focus and complete tasks. Second was that it presents differently in girls than in boys. There are three forms of ADHD: hyperactive, inattentive, and combined. While most boys present as hyperactive, girls typically present as inattentive. This causes many girls to have a late diagnosis, or go undiagnosed, leading to comorbid disorders, depression and suicide. This let me know that my friend had the inattentive type of ADHD, which was formerly known as ADD.
Curiosity took hold of me and I began to fall further into the rabbit hole, expanding beyond ADHD, and educating myself on a multitude of mental disorders like autism, obsessive compulsive disorder, dissociative identity disorder, borderline personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder. I felt as though my eyes had been opened, and I saw the world in a completely new way. To this day, I still itch to learn more. I hope that through studying psychology I can use what I learn to help those with mental disorders through ABA therapy.