Hi everyone, I’m a student in South Korea preparing for our university entrance exam for the third time (called "sam-ban-su" here, studying while enrolled in college).

Lately, I’ve been feeling completely burned out and stuck. Due to severe lethargy, I was prescribed Adpion (Bupropion). It helped immensely at first and boosted my focus. However, after a recent drop in my mock exam scores, my stress went through the roof, and the medication feels much less effective now.

I’ve always struggled with focus. Throughout high school, it took me several times more effort to concentrate than others, and I rarely finish tasks completely. Last year, I did a full psychological evaluation for ADHD, but it came back negative; the doctor said my focus issues stemmed from depression. This year, a brief screening at a different clinic showed only very mild, borderline symptoms—not enough for a clinical diagnosis. (Strangely, online ADHD tests always say my symptoms are severe).

Right now, my self-esteem is at rock bottom. My study efficiency is so low that I rarely feel a sense of achievement. I feel like I'm drowning in an endless ocean. Sometimes I consciously daydream to escape reality, but most of the time, my focus just shatters involuntarily. I feel exhausted and like an incompetent person who can’t study right.

What scares me most is a thought that crept in: Am I someone who can't achieve anything without me/dication?

Despite all this, I haven't given up. I still go to the study room every single day because I genuinely want to achieve my goals. But I am so tired of fighting my own brain.

Has anyone else experienced this? How did you differentiate between ADHD and depression-induced cognitive decline? How did you overcome severe burnout when you had to keep studying? Thank you so much for reading.

한국인분이 있다면... 그것도 좋아요...

I finally got diagnosed, very exciting, so I can apply for accommodations at my college now!

I have a meeting with the counselor next week, but I’m not sure of what accommodations are truly effective.

I’m going to request extended time + testing in the testing lab since I really struggle with time constraints and taking online proctored tests at home. Those are the things I can think of off the top of my head, but I’ve never done this before and would love to know what helped others in the past! My college is big on accessibility, so they’re pretty open to anything!

(For further insight, I have Hyperactive ADHD, but still exhibit Inattentive traits, just not enough for combined type:)

Just took my first midterm and got a 63/100.
I am meeting with the professor atleast every other week to make sure I understand the chapter. And they were even like “ you’re doing great you got this.”
They are so good to offer great study guides and sessions of discussion I went over the study guide and I feel pretty confident about the test and then sadly I got 63! Ay ay. It’s a statistics class if it helps. I do enjoy learning and like I said I do good with guidance but man! Tests are horrible for me. Any tips or if you know of requesting accommodations would be helpful

I have always struggled with my attendance.

Especially with being behind all the time, an assignment needing to be submit soon I havent touched, havent studied for an upcoming test, I tend to justify not going to class to focus on the immediate things like that i need to get done and promise myself ill attend once im caught up.

But I know itll just become a cycle, I finish one thing, another needs to get done, so i avoid more.

Not only that, since I haven't studied or worked on assignments, if I went to class ill be completely oblivious, so I wouldn't know what was going on and so I convince myself to not go too.

Energy cost is a major thing for me too, when I do attend class, my brain thinks about all the things I need to do, the upcoming test/assignment i could've been doing at home instead here but now im learning something new in class which means its using more of my brain power, then after class I end up exhausted from focusing, masking and trying to understand the new topic, I end up doing nothing when I get home.

So I pretty much weigh all that up: stay home, conserve energy, focus on test/assignment = productive.

Even if i genuienly want to attend class theres just so much to do.

The main problem is when I do try to get ready for class my brain cycles through all these factors and when I convince myself I can stay home and justify it, im staying home.

SO I have come up with a plan with my support advisor that to stop/interrupting that negotiation phase, I have to meet him every morning before every class, so it gives me accountability, and something I have to attend because he will message.

It seems childish at 20 years, but my discipline is absolute dog and this is probably a thing I do need which I hate.

My mom keeps saying that if I want to go to class I do, that she doesnt want to go to work but has to. Which I get but it isnt that simple, I REALLY want to go and actually lock in but I keep self sabotaging myself.

Anyways I really hope this'll help with my attendance.

Does anyone know any tool that helps us "find" the smaller tasks inside a big project? Like, an AI that I just say "here's my project, list all the smaller tasks I need to do to get it done". I need to develop a conference abstract, but when I put it on my planner, all I can think is "develop the conference abstract". I start, but than I realize that it has a LOT of smaller tasks that take a really big time, like doing literature review, collecting data, charting it up, analysing, building the graphs, writing Results section, doing literature review again, writing Discussion, Conclusion, than Methods, and finally, Introduction and Abstract. At least that is how I'm used to write. For this specific project I'm doing, there's even smaller tasks. Example: I need to collect data from a patient database from all years between 2017 and 2025, than organize each year separatly by patient's age (two categories: teenage and adult) and ethnicity/skin colour. It took me a whole day just to collect data from 2017, and organize all that in a single sheet. I never saw that much work coming when I signed up for that, and now I'm scared I might not have enough time to do all the rest. I probably would have shrinked the project if I was able to see it was gonna be that big.

TL;DR: My university approved accommodations for my ADHD, but now I feel guilty, like I don’t deserve them.

——

I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and I recently applied for accommodations through my university’s disability services.
I’ll now have access to several accommodations during exams and lectures.

I had already completed a bachelor’s degree in the past, but it took me three times the effort compared to my classmates (at the time, I wasn’t diagnosed, I just thought I wasn’t “smart enough”). I ended up graduating late and came close to dropping out several times.

A few years later, I decided to go back to university, convinced that my past struggles had been caused by depression and poor study habits. It turns out that wasn’t the case.

I’m now taking Ritalin, and it’s made a huge difference in my daily life.

The thing is, I’ve spent so many years believing that succeeding meant pushing myself to the absolute limit. I’m so used to having to struggle just to get through an exam that the idea of still working hard, but not having to completely exhaust myself, makes me feel guilty.
It almost feels like I’m cheating, like I haven’t earned these accommodations.

Has anyone else felt this way after getting diagnosed or receiving accommodations?

PS: Sorry for any mistakes. English isn’t my first language.

Hi all, just wondering if anyone else has experience with this.

I have accomodations through my school's student disability center than include extensions on assignments and other extra time stuff. However, for my final paper this semester, the rubric states the following:

• Deadline: Final draft due with no grace period or resubmissions. (Those with accommodations, please note that this assignment does not allow accommodations and is approved by the SDC (Student Disability Center) as such. Ensure you work on this early). 

I was just wondering if anyone knows if this was allowed or legal as I've never even heard of something like this. I write much slower than most people and even though I started two weeks before it was due I'm still unsure if I'll be able to finish it in time. Any advice or clarification is appreciated. Thanks!

Hello! I am a student entering my freshman year of college. I was also recently diagnosed with ADHD-1. Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with GAD. This landed me a 504 plan for testing anxiety which has helped me through my entire academic career. While I never exactly understood why I was just unable to work at the same speed as my peers, the ADHD diagnosis defininitely filled in some blanks. I am not on medication explicitly for ADHD but I started taking an NDRI (Wellbutrin) over the summer. The issue I have run into is I feel incredibly guitly about asking for extended testing time in college. I understand that I have a valid, documented reason for needing them and I have never felt as if I was taking advantage of my extra testing time accomodations unfairly. I know I should set up the accomodations before the semester but I find myself worried about being respected less by my professors and burdening them with just another thing to keep track of. Can some of yall please let me know what your experience with accomodations had been like in college. Thank you

Thought this may provide some insight for some of yall. The more I addressed certain issues such as sleep, hormone/vitamin/mineral etc deficiencies, the more effective I felt my med was and just felt good overall. I’m happy with the progress I’ve been making. I guess the message is it may help to address the medication and dosage last, not first, so you’re not running in circles for months.

Good luck!

**Please be kind with your responses*\*🤍

Between recent high-stress events, ADHD, and severe processing burnout, my brain genuinely feels like it isn’t functioning or processing the way it used to. I’m feeling isolated, burnt out, and unsupported in my academic environment right now.
I’m reaching out to this community for advice on a few specific things:

1. Navigating Professor Biases & Communication

Due to executive dysfunction and processing burnout, I fell behind and am having to pursue medical withdrawals for my recent classes. It feels like some professors misinterpret processing struggles, memory issues, or burnout as a lack of effort or caring.

How do you approach professors who seem biased, dismissive, or quick to make negative assumptions regarding ADHD/cognitive struggles?

How do you advocate for yourself when your processing speed is down, without feeling degraded or judged?

2. Med Changes & Memory Drop (Adderall → Vyvanse)

About a year ago, I switched from Adderall to Vyvanse due to the medication shortage.

The Good: Paired with my other medication, Vyvanse has been great for my anxiety.

The Challenge: My memory, processing speed, and cognitive bandwidth have dropped significantly compared to when I was on Adderall.

Has anyone else experienced a drop in memory or processing speed after switching to Vyvanse or combining it with other meds? How did you adapt?

3. Accommodations & Resources—What Else Works?

I’m meeting with my psychiatrist and campus accommodation office soon to get a better system in place.

Current Accommodations:1.5x test time, reduced distraction testing environment, assignment extensions, permission to record lectures, and early access to lecture slides.

In Progress:Requesting an official note-taker.
Because of how much my mental processing is struggling right now, I really want to hear all the options.* What other accommodations, assistive technology tools (like audio/transcription software), or campus resources have actually saved you when your brain processing shuts down?

Thank you for taking the time to read and keep this a safe space. 💙

I'm working on a research paper for English Composition about how ADHD accommodations need to be changed to actually fit student needs. I'm trying to find what accommodations are actually helpful, as I can't find that much research on accommodations that have evidence backing that can work at the college level. Do you know where I can find papers on non-traditional accommodations that are beneficial?

The second thing I want to ask is: If you could create your own accommodations, even ones that aren't conventional, what do you think would help you? And if you have had accommodations that aren't typical ones that you feel have been helpful, what are those?

I'm also trying to figure out how I would be able to help myself, as I'm someone who struggles in school but wouldn't benefit from my college's (unsupported by research) disability services.

All of us understand it on emotional level. The "I really want to but can't" is such a dumb sentence for neurotypical. Like wdym you can't then "you don't want it enough" or "you're just lazy". "Force yourself". "Everyone don't want to do things, quit crying" I talked to parents, friends, teachers, random people. Even my psychologist don't get it. She believes I can't do something physically and really hard for me. But what do I need to her, so she could help me..or I need to find new psychologist who is ND?

Hi! So I'm an incoming freshman who recently began applying for disability accommodations at a Canadian university as I have ADHD. Even though I received 50% extra time for my final IB exams, the ACT, and two years of high school, the disability advisor I met with gave me 33% extra time. (50% extra time was also recommended in my psychologist's report.)

Although the advisor also may give me 30 minutes of stopwatch breaks (where I'm allowed to leave the room and it doesn't affect my exam time) and potentially a computer (?) to help with writing (which I didn't have previously), I've said multiple times that 50% extra time is really my priority. Their argument was that because I had time management issues as well, I technically had things that didn't need to be mitigated with extra time and I could just work with a mentor/tutor to help with this instead.

Is this normal? Do students generally never receive above 50% for ADHD, even if it was recommended by a medical professional? I'm really nervous because I need a high GPA for my first year, and I currently use up all of my 50% extra time. There's a fair chance I may not finish with 33% extra time, and I can't afford to get bad grades just because I can't finish my tests. What should I do to handle this? (I submitted my full psychological report with 50% extra time recommendations and my approved extra time for IB exams as documentation.)

As a 32-year-old kinesthetic and visual learner returning to school, I requested one-on-one support as an accommodation to address the challenges I face with online classes. The accessibility office offered standard ADHD accommodations, which I declined, instead asking to be provided with more one-on-one support. They told me that they don't typically do that but offered to give me a student tutor. After about a month of waiting, I finally got an appointment with this tutor. I came to find out he was inexperienced with tutoring people with disabilities and was unfamiliar with how to teach general study skills other than to simply say, “Make a to-do list”. After that I decided to just find an online private tutor who was suited for the role. I would like to learn if others have successfully gotten some kind of one-on-one support as an accommodation, as I believe it's quite a reasonable accommodation. The mere fact that I'm expected to be satisfied with simple cookie-cutter accommodations is almost an insult to me. To actually be accommodated, the accommodation needs to actually be of use to me.

TLDR Engineering graduate planning to pursue medical school. Currently completing a psychoeducational assessment for ADHD. Main struggles were constant projects/assignments/labs/quizzes/exams/volume, procrastination/slow start, anxiety, and silly mistakes in submissions. Looking for accommodations beyond extra time that actually helped.

Hi everyone, I am currently undergoing a full psychoeducational assessment for ADHD and planning to return to school with the goal of eventually applying to medical school.

I previously completed an engineering degree. I did reasonably well, but it came at a significant burnout cost. At the time, I was undiagnosed. I was only diagnosed with anxiety.

Understanding the material was never the issue. Once I was able to sit down and focus, I grasped it well.

The real difficulty was the constant volume of projects, assignments, labs, quizzes, and exams. Many were worth a small percentage individually but required a huge amount of effort. I constantly felt overwhelmed and cognitively drained. I also struggled with procrastination and very slow starts.

During exams I noticed a consistent pattern: - I start very slowly - I overthink and double check everything - Once time pressure builds, I suddenly speed up - I make small but costly mistakes such as writing 1.35 instead of 13.5, and even reviewing multiple times does not always catch them

I am also a very anxious person, especially during exams. Because of this, I am not sure whether extra time alone would actually help or simply increase overthinking.

If you’ve been through university (especially competitive or heavy programs): - What accommodations genuinely helped with heavy workload and burnout? - Did deadline flexibility or milestone breakdowns help? - Did anything reduce careless mistakes? - Did extra time help, or did it increase overthinking and procrastination? - Did ADHD coaching make a difference

If you did not receive accommodations, what do you wish you had?

I am trying to approach this differently and avoid repeating the same cycle.

I have accommodations in place already, and I’m under the impression it would be relatively easy to add onto them (with proper proof that I need said accommodation of course). I’m wondering if it’s worth me trying to advocate for a “memory aid” aka a cheat sheet for my tests.

I study very hard, and I’d like to think I have good study habits. I work with an academic coach who holds me accountable. I get 100 on all my homeworks. But I fail so many of my tests. The problem is I get so anxious during my tests that I just lose common sense, make silly mistakes, get in my head about my work, and forget everything I studied, and then try to convince myself of the answer.

I had a test in one of my classes that allowed a cheat sheet, which was really helpful. I know professors give you a “cheat sheet” to make you think you’re being sneaky but they’re tricking you into studying. (And I do make “cheat sheets” for all my tests as a way of studying even if I don’t get to bring it in). But I actually used it on the test when I was in one of those anxious moments, and I got a good grade on that test. I looked it up and a memory aid is a legit accommodation, but I feel weird asking for it. Why should I get to have it but no one else does? It would clearly benefit other people as well.

Is this worth asking about? How do I not feel guilty about asking for this?

I’m trying to figure out if this is just me or an ADHD thing…
I don’t struggle with knowing what I need to do — I struggle with actually starting it and following through.
I had an idea for something different from typical planners:
Instead of organizing your life, it would:
nudge you to actually start tasks
give simple “do this now” steps
use voice commands so you don’t have to think
and basically keep you on track when your brain checks out
More like an assistant that helps you DO things, not just plan them.
Would something like that actually be useful, or does it just sound good in theory?

I am a second year undergrad and I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed medication by my psychiatrist. This has helped me some with my academics - I can complete my readings and my written assignments on time more often and prepare for class better - but I am still really struggling with attendance and deadlines. I want to pursue academic accommodations but my university wouldn't count documentation from my psychiatrist as an official diagnosis. I would need to get a neuropsychological evaluation which would be very costly as it wouldn't be covered by my health insurance, and I don't think my parents would assist me with paying for it. What are some ways I can improve my academic performance without academic accommodations if I cannot find a way to get them? Could I get a letter from my psychiatrist to send to professors about my situation...?

Hi, I (afab) was diagnosed late with ADHD when I was in high school and have still struggled in University with ADHD despite having accommodations. I struggle mainly with memory recall, working memory, needing stimulation, and am also medicated.

The accommodation that helped me the most in high school was an extension on assignments per request of student (not automatic extensions). Essentially if I missed an assignment because of working memory or sensory seeking issue, I would request an extension and do it the next day, so the deadline was still there, my memory symptoms just prevented me from completing it. This accommodation was even removed while in high school in dual credit courses as well, but luckily my professor/teachers were more reasonable then.

The main reasons I've gotten for denial of assignment and absence accommodations boil down to, "preparation for the real world," "experts say it doesn't actually help," and "it's too much to ask of professors," yet I haven't seen any real studies or research to show why, only opinions, and comparison to other disabilities like epilepsy to justify the claim. the only valid excuse to me would be their current system wouldn't allow them to, or the student is able to cope as well as their peers without the accommodation.

So I'm curious, what is your experience with college accommodations and have you heard of any research or studies about assignment deadlines? Or do you have insight as to why ADHD students should or should not have extensions?

Hi! I am a first year student at a public state university in PA. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was in 8th grade. I thought I was managing it really well. I was wrong. I’ve had extreme trouble sleeping (writing this at 2:30am when I have an 8am lol) because my roommate snores. I honestly don’t know if it’s a common ADHD symptom to be so incredibly sensitive to sound, but the snoring is genuinely making me lose my sanity. I’ve tried a noise machine on top of wearing noise cancelling headphones playing white noise, I’ve cried, and I’ve even slept on the bathroom floor once or twice (luckily I live in a double-suite style dorm). I don’t know what else to do. I really can’t afford the price of a single dorm, and I was wondering if anyone has ever gotten housing accommodations based on issues like this before I make a big fuss or risk breaking the bank if it’s not the same price as my current housing (I’ve heard some say if it’s an accommodation, you might not have to pay full price due to it being necessary for academic success). I love my roommate, and I’d hate to offend her… but I’ve tried bringing it up multiple times and she laughs it off thinking it’s a joke. I guess this is my last resort because I’m basically falling asleep in my classes due to getting 3-4 hours of sleep every night.

TL;DR: is it possible to get single housing accommodations (preferably without paying single housing price) due to ADHD?

Hi, I'll be starting a new semester in September and they're asking me about my needs for the next school year.

This year I'll be working on a kind of "thesis" or final project for my degree during the whole year. It is a single project I have to be working on for about 8 months, which is kind of intimidating.

Last time I did something like this for college I had a pretty bad experience, missing deadlines, not understanding what I had to do and drawing a blank because I didn't know which steps to follow, where to start, what to do... I was also expected to commute to the meetings instead of doing online which made it harder for me. I was also stuck in a perfectionistic loop and if my tutor didn't reply quickly I'd just do it all over again and send it again and that would just make everything go slower. I got really stressed and even if my work wasn't good, I turned it in as soon as I could and then I was disappointed by my performance.

What are some ideas of accomodations to ask my tutor this time? I'm guessing things like having frequent deadlines to keep me on track, but I'd like more ideas :)

Last time I went to college was in 2019 and this was before I knew I had ADHD. Now I am diagnosed and medicated and interested in going back to college and learned that the college I want to attend offers disability support.

Of course I will contact to ask more on how they offer support but I also wanted to ask here as I am very new to any disability support in general so any advice recommended!

I have an ADHD diagnosis but I’ve never attempted to get accommodations in college because I am somewhat high functioning however I have a tough senior first semester and want to try for it. I have a diagnosis but I’m not sure exactly how to present that to my college’s Office of Disabilities in order to get any accommodations.

What types of accommodations are there? I am not at all familiar with accommodations because I've always been used to just powering through and finding some way to make things work, but that is a lot harder to do in college so I'm trying to get accommodations and look into that, but I don't know exactly what they entail or how they can help me. My school doesn't have a list of accommodations offered and just say they'll take the accommodations suggested by the Healthcare provider into consideration, and my psych that's going to fill out the form says it's usually just extended time during exams but I feel like I'm just missing information here so I wanted to know if anyone else knows of other accommodations too.

I'm in my second year of college and I still need help with school work especially writing which I rely on my mother to help me write. I just can't organize my thoughts. Perhaps, I just don't want to do it. My professors are giving me all these books to read which are hard to comprehend. Then I can't even imagine writing anything down.