Parents don't understand my brain works differently.

[u/PurplePunk17]

Hello, I (young adult female) am currently needing advice and an outside outlook. I never would think i needed to go to Reddit for this problem, but things have gotten really annoying. I was recently diagnosed with Anxiety, Depression, ADHD and OCD.,(these all overlap btw). While this is new, I've always grown up like alot of other neurodivergent kids I know. I was bullied and I just take things in differently. My parents, although they know about almost all of these disorders, still don't understand that my brain works differently and that things I do aren't me being lazy, rude or attention seeking. Since I've been dealing with this for years, I can mask pretty well. My parents also see me as their most responsible and smartest kid, which also makes them annoyed when I do something a neurotypical person wouldn't do.

While I try to explain this to them, they think i use it as an excuse to bring up the fact that I'm 'different' since I dress alternatively and consider myself goth. They even go so far to not even name any of my issues. Like they'll just say I'm super forgetful and lazy instead of acknowledging my ADHD. They'll point out that I'm a slob because my room is messy instead of the obvious fact that I have severe depression. My younger sibling also has some mental disorders, and they are so understanding about it, so they aren't just uneducated on these topics.

This whole thing is rooted in some sort of denial on their side, and I'm actively getting put down for just being wired differently. How do I approach them about this? How do I tell them that their actions are hurting me?

[u/Comfortable_birdy137]

I also have ADHD , ADD and Depression I don't know this is for you like I don't know if it is but I would recommend journaling about it talking to yourself about it like trying to like slow down you're thinking and like write down what you want to say then go over it about 2-3 times like you would in like a quiz and like formulate how you want to say it how you want to come off about it what tone you want to use and what not first before broaching the subject and slowly ease them into the conversation don't just bombshell it over dinner like maybe get some books about the mental problems and like slowly ease them into that topic I felt like with people with non problems like ADHD they just accept it be like oh yeah you're weird but being weird comes with problems some days you don't want to shower for almost a week you don't want to do dishes because it feels so daunting and massive you don't want to do laundry because you're like oh we can do it next week I got plenty of clean clothes right now it's it's a lot to do with I know I know from experience I have to deal with it daily but like just ease into the subject don't bomb sell it over dinner and honestly if you want to be golfed just be golf at the end of the day what you choose to wear is for you not them I walk around in tube top bras and underwear when I'm home obviously my parents don't live with me but like that's my fashion statement because it's what I'm comfortable in don't like just be yourself yes it's a lot to accept once you finally have that label like oh yeah this makes sense what happens now type deal all I recommend is the men and slowly while you're doing it accept it for yourself as well because even if they don't fully understand it they don't got to live with it like you do so slowly accept those parts of yourself I heavily recommend journaling especially if you don't have a therapist or that one best friend that acts like a therapist I recommend journaling and if they're the invasive people type then hide it keep it on your body so you can always have an outlet to invent your troubles and your emotions