First off, it’s great to be back! I stopped writing and reduced my online presence for a while during a major personal event – what I call a "crash." Although it was a challenging time in many ways, I was able to re-evaluate my life, my diagnosis, and my true purpose.

Long story short: I pushed myself too far, too fast. I had been researching ADHD intensely for a couple years, and had several life-changing realizations hit me in a very short time span. Despite all my research and involvement in the ADHD community, I now see that I hadn’t been looking at things with true clarity. I had to go through this recent crash to obtain a bigger-picture perspective. It was quite a journey to get to this point, but I’m so glad I made it and can now re-frame my adult ADHD life.

As people with ADHD, we can do amazing things when we harness our strengths and minimize our destructive behaviors. I see it now more than ever in my own life. I am a living, breathing example of an ADHD mind that was tortured for years because my way of thinking doesn’t fit social expectations. Society isn’t really built for minds like ours in a ton of crucial ways, starting with early childhood education and parenting. Parents all over the world don’t know a lot about ADHD, so it just makes sense that from an early age millions of ADHD minds are held back from showing our true potential.

Minds with ADHD can be phenomenal at coming up with new ideas and innovations because they often demand outside-the-box thinking. And talk about passion and energy – that’s us! Contrary to the ADHD stereotype of a distracted airhead, once you lock us into something about which we're passionate, we’re so immersed in what we’re doing that hours seem like seconds.

Imagine the possibilities here, if the ADHD minds of the world could come together. Many Hollywood actors, composers, CEOs and entrepreneurs have ADHD, and it makes sense: we don’t function well in mundane, boring daily routines. The ADHD child acting out in class (like I did) and getting into trouble may well be the child who can make some of the biggest differences in this world. The crucial message here is that we need to stop looking at ADHD as a disability, and instead embrace these potentially gifted children and adults!

The Positive and Negative Patterns

Dr. Ned Hallowell, a good acquaintance, fellow Everyday Health contributor, and Harvard-educated psychiatrist who has ADHD himself, is a pioneer of sorts when it comes to studying ADHD, the inner-workings of this condition, co-occurring disorders, and the bigger picture overall. His view is that people with ADHD are “natural entrepreneurs.” He knows through his own treatment of people with the condition that a huge pattern exists with creativity, intuition, and passionate energy.

There are, of course, negative symptoms that plague those of us with ADHD, such as anxiety, depression, and frustration that comes with a fast mind, but the key is to minimize these aspects through various forms of treatment, including therapy, diet, medication if necessary, and behavior modification.

Innovation Inside!

What does innovation require? Vision, passion, creativity, and vulnerability. These are traits that those of us with ADHD know very well. We love white boards, collaboration with others to bring forth ideas that will uncover new ways to solve challenges, and looking at life in a different way from the majority.

It’s time for all of us to make a fundamental change in the way we see ADHD. We start in our own circles with teachers, professors, healthcare professionals, and others who simply don’t understand the truth just yet. Change takes time, but it’s already happening. I will continue to be a freight train for this cause. Join me! Kids and adults all over the world will benefit. We may only be roughly 5 percent of the population, but we can do amazing things with the right support!