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Janice Walton's avatar

I may never make the adjustment to full retirement. I've gone through three or four versions. First, I went from a "9-5 - have to be there job" to a "go into work only for appointments one. Then, I had an online work at home job, but still had to follow the rules and guidelines of an organization. Now my work is writing - at home, on my own time, no boss, putting as much as I want into, and enjoying myself.

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Gina Pera's avatar

Great topic! and....great minds.

My post this week is about "ADHD Retirement Syndrome." I'll add a link to this!

Whatever the general population is likely to experience with retirement, folks with ADHD are moreso. Double for folks who have not yet been diagnosed. And in the U.S. alone, it's tens of thousands, if not 100s of thousands.

Retirement when ADHD goes unrecognized or poorly managed has wrecked more marriages than I can count. The spouse formerly able to organize life around the structure of work is suddenly untethered, left to form new structures and routines. Never an ADHD strongsuit. It takes conscious effort.

Folks with poorly managed ADHD also have trouble with transitions, small and large. Moving from Work to "Afterwork" as you call it is an enormous transition.

I used to hear about people who'd recently retired suddenly being diagnosed with Alzheimer's and simply thought, bad luck. Now I know that many being diagnosed with Alzheimer's actually have ADHD. Their physicians do not understand the contextual nature of ADHD. That is, someone might be a top-notch attorney, where the staff keeps them organized and takes care of paperwork, but can act "addled" at home.

https://adhdrollercoaster.org/tools-and-strategies/healing-adhd-retirement-syndrome/

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