One of the hardest things about living with ADHD isn’t just the symptoms—it’s trying to explain them.

How do you describe the million thoughts firing all at once? Or the sudden need to cry because your shirt feels weird? Or why the dishwasher sat open for three hours with clean dishes inside and you still didn’t put them away?

It took me years to find the words. And once I did, everything got just a little easier.

In a recent coaching class, we talked about how estrogen impacts dopamine (the neurotransmitter we’re already low on in ADHD brains). When estrogen starts to drop — like during perimenopause or menopause — ADHD symptoms can explode. What used to be manageable becomes overwhelming.

I was going to write something neat and informative about ADHD in adulthood. Something with a clean arc. But instead, I’m following the dopamine. Because honestly, that’s what this blog is — and also, that’s what this brain does.

So today I want to talk about late ADHD diagnosis, rage, grief, and the deep unfairness of realizing how much harder everything has always been — and how no one told me why.

Hi, I’m Skyler (he/they) — ADHD life coach in training, fiber artist, video game nerd, plant dad, dog dad, and the human behind North of Normal Life Coaching. This space is more than just a brand — it’s the reflection of a life lived a little off-script… and a little to the left of “normal.”

RSD stands for Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, and if that term is new to you, same — until recently. I’ve felt it for years but never had the name for it. And like a lot of ADHD things, once I did get the language, everything clicked.