"Growing up, I felt like there was something wrong with me. I'd often get compared to my sister, who paid attention, while I couldn't concentrate and was inattentive. When I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2006, during my second year of university, the glass shattered. There was a reason for all the things I perceived as personality flaws. I landed my first job out of college as an analyst at Accenture in 2010."
"After I found out I had ADHD, people gave me well-meaning advice not to tell others. There was so much stigma. When I graduated and moved into the workforce, I mostly hid my diagnosis. This only made me feel more isolated and furthered my mental health challenges, but no senior leaders around me disclosed they had ADHD, which signalled to me it wasn't something you talked about."
Rita Ramakrishnan received an ADHD diagnosis during university and an autism diagnosis 17 years later. She experienced concentration difficulties and felt compared unfavorably to her sister. The ADHD diagnosis explained many long-standing struggles. She worked in consulting and then tech, holding roles at Accenture, PwC, EY, and Juul. Stigma led her to hide her diagnosis early in her career, increasing isolation and mental-health challenges. Professional success later enabled greater openness; she disclosed executive-functioning challenges while leading a team. She recognizes neurodivergence brings unique strengths, including periods of hyperfocus.
Read at Business Insider
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