I always knew that I was not the average student. Although I was a high achiever, I found it very difficult to approach tasks the way I was asked to. I often struggled to keep up with routine tasks and found myself vastly overcommitting to random projects that interested me. It didn’t really come as a surprise to myself or anyone I knew that I have ADHD.

In school, I knew that I could usually complete the same work as others in a fraction of the time. I also found I could only sit down for a couple of hours at a time to work because when I experienced burnout, I experienced it hard. I finally decided to pursue a diagnosis when I recognized that I relied on stress and anxiety to get through the day, which is not sustainable at all.

I was only recently diagnosed with ADHD, but it has definitely affected me my whole life. Getting my diagnosis has been immensely helpful for recognizing my own behaviors, and learning how to improve myself. I was pretty relieved to get the diagnosis because I was finally able to get healthy support. Even though I learned to navigate my ADHD as a child, not all my strategies were necessarily healthy. This goes both ways, where the people I interact with every day understand how to support me better as well. The comics themselves have also been an outstanding way for me to cope with the diagnosis and how it affects me. Many times I find myself angrily scribbling out notes about something I've just done and I try to turn that into something others can relate to.

One thing I have been practicing recently is taking a step back to breathe when I can tell that I am in a bit of a mental rut. Usually, when I have something to do I am unable to distance myself from that thing until it is done. Sometimes it can feel like the world is going to explode unless I complete a task as quickly as possible and that just isn’t true. Taking 10 minutes to step back, breathe, or stretch throughout the day has really helped slow everything down when I’m overwhelmed or feel myself getting to that point.

The comic actually started as a list of problematic behaviors I found myself engaging in. Following my diagnosis, I spent a considerable amount of time researching ADHD and ended up in a number of online communities where I was surprised and somewhat reassured to find many others shared my struggles. I decided to make the first few comics at 2 in the morning while I added a very interesting point to that list. Almost every comic in the series so far has been based on a point from this list.

I record ideas for new comics at very random intervals, writing everything down in my notes app. Sometimes I will add 6 over the course of an afternoon, other times I will wake up frantically in the middle of the night to record an idea before it's forgotten. Once I like an idea enough, I will sketch out the panels in my notebook, and complete it in photoshop. I like to sit with each comic for a couple of days before I post it, so I’m 100 percent sure I’m happy with it.

I’ve been having a great time with this series and plan to continue as long as I feel I’m making a difference. The best part so far has been the amazing messages I’ve received across social media. I think people really like being able to see and talk about these issues out in the open. I’ve actually had a considerable number of users tell me that the comics pushed them to pursue a diagnosis, which is incredible and makes it all worth it to me. Going forward with the series I would really like to provide more resources to people in addition to the comics, such as links to mental health forums or help numbers so I can offer people a little bit of direction if they are struggling.

The best way to support me as a creator is either through my Patreon or by following me on any social media! I'm blown away at the support I've received from the community and I'm so excited to see where this journey takes me (and Dino)!