ADHDifference - FRIENDSHIPS

ADHDifference

Julie Legg and Jel Legg discuss ADHD and friendships – the challenges faced when trying to make friends, keeping them, and high expectations placed upon what a friend should be.
They chat about awkward and confusing moments with schoolmates, social groups, and workmates. They discuss close acquaintances, managing expectations, and how to go about making friends as adults.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Defining what a friend is, and what challenges they had/have throughout adulthood.
• The upside of many close acquaintances.
• Object permanence and how this relates to friends and friendship.
• Understanding yourself before expecting others to understand you.
• Managing expectations.
• Tips and ideas for meeting like-minded friends-to-be.

Key takeaways:

• ADHD traits such as oversharing, over-talking, over-excitement, interrupting, and intensity can be equally welcomed as they can be shunned by neurotypicals. This can leave people with ADHD confused due to their good intentions being misunderstood by others.
• Despite having challenges with friend groups in the past, you don’t have to give up trying in future. Understanding how your brain works, managing expectations, active listening and finding tribe with a shared interest can be a great start.

Links:

• Julie is the author of THE MISSING PIECE: A Woman's Guide to Understanding, Diagnosing and Living with ADHD (Harper Collins, 2024)

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