(BlackDoctor.org) — Unlike other people who found their diagnosis to be a blessing, Solange Knowles did not find solace in her doctor’s words. In fact, Beyoncé’s younger sister went for a second opinion.
The soulful songstress says she’s always been full of energy, and claims that sometimes her sporadic speech and effervescence led people to believe she was on drugs. The real culprit? ADHD.
Knowles says that when a doctor told her she had ADHD she did not believe him: “I was diagnosed with ADHD twice. I didn’t believe the first doctor who told me and I had a whole theory that ADHD was just something they invented to make you pay for medicine, but then the second doctor told me I had it.”
She also said that she feels everyone in the music business seems to suffer from the symptoms of ADHD. “The symptoms seem to apply to everyone around me in the industry. Loss of memory, starting something and not finishing it…”
Traditionally, ADHD was thought to be a male-oriented disease, and men were once believed to account for the vast majority of cases. But recent research has begun to focus on how the disorder affects females, so that ADHD may be identified earlier in women’s lives.
Although ADHD can cause some difficulties, many people with ADHD are very successful in life.
Following diagnosis, what’s next?
1. Learn about the disorder—what it is and what it isn’t.
2. Try to get your significant other involved in learning with you about ADHD.
3. Remember that getting a diagnosis of ADHD changes nothing. You only have a name for what was previously unnamed.
4. You will probably be relieved and sad after receiving your diagnosis. You may be relieved to know that something is the matter and that it is not your fault. You may be sad to know that something is the matter and no one ever realized it.
5. Recognize that getting the diagnosis is the first step to a better life. You have to know a problem before you can begin to address it and work with it.
6. Reexamine your past and realize that much of what happened was not your fault.
7. Begin to focus on what you can do to make your future better.
8. Remember that improvements will come slowly. Accept this and don’t be too hard on yourself.
For more information on symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, visit the BlackDoctor.org ADHD channel.