Recently I stayed with one of my parents for a couple weeks who I'm sure has undiagnosed/unmanaged ADHD.

I was only diagnosed a few years ago as an adult. So I hadn't spent much time under the same roof with my parent since my diagnosis.

It was interesting. They had many of the same issues I struggle with. I'm attention deficit not hyperactive, which they are too. But their responses to typical ADHD challenges were much "bigger" than mine our. This obviously explains a lot about my childhood.

• Rejection intolerance- got really angry if I suggested alternative courses of action or tried to help when they weren't in the mood to focus on the task

• Refusal to organize a room full of important papers even though I'd bought them a giant accordion folder

• Couldn't unfixate from something. Once they decided to work on x they could not switch to task y even if it were more important or more urgent.

• Would get upset or defensive if I pushed any the above. (I was only there for a couple weeks so everything on our list had to get done.) But then would flat line and be more open.

I've improved a lot over the years, but I definitely struggle with these to some degree.

My biggest takeaway is to try not to "freak out" when pushed towards something I don't want. To realize my "defenses/stubbornness" peaks and crashes. My goal is to not be a jerk during that peak or at least request a few minutes to think about it.