An occupational therapist once thought I might have ADHD Inattentive type, and I read about it and I believe I could have it, as I had symptoms all the way from childhood, before bipolar. I got in trouble in 3rd grade - my teacher decided to let the class work at their own pace individually, I guess to teach us discipline, but it totally backfired with me because I just couldn't properly manage my time without a teacher's influence (what 8 year old can?) and for however long she ran this experiment, I would skip off to the bathroom every time and spend the whole period making sculptures out of paper towel and water. It's not that the math was hard, when the teacher found out I wasn't doing any work, I had to catch up outside class time, and I did. I don't know why it was so hard to pay attention and stay on task in class, or why it was more interesting to hide in the bathroom by myself and pretend I was putting my arm in a cast, but that's just one instance. Teachers were frequently sending notes home saying I couldn't "stay on task" all the way through to grade 8. They tested me in grade 2 or 3, I don't know what the tests were, but I was labelled "gifted" and put in special enrichment classes where we did stuff like build bridges out of popsicle sticks and see whose bridge could hold the most weight. That was fun. And logic puzzles. I love logic puzzles.

The problem with diagnosis now is, what's the bipolar, what's a med side effect, and what was there to begin with? I'm not going to pursue an ADHD diagnosis, because I don't want to take a stimulant - I have a hard enough time staying stable. Schoolwork is still difficult, but I'll manage.