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What do you do when life is pure chaos, your kid is melting down, you’re trying to hold it all together… and someone suggests you might have ADHD?
This week on The Vibe With Ky Podcast, I had the absolute honor of sitting down with Rozelle Gipson, a powerhouse mom, late-diagnosed ADHDer, and future licensed mental health counselor. Her story hit me right in the heart, because it’s not just about diagnosis. It’s about what happens when the labels finally show up long after the symptoms did.
Rozelle was diagnosed at 37. While parenting a neurodivergent daughter. While working. While surviving. Sound familiar?
Let’s talk about what her story taught me, and hopefully, what it’ll teach you too.
Meet Rozelle Gipson
Rozelle is a clinical mental health intern, a passionate advocate for mental wellness, and someone who knows firsthand what it’s like to be an adult just trying to keep up with life when your brain feels like a browser with 48 tabs open.
The Diagnosis That Took Six Months… and Changed Everything
“I was functioning. I got things done. But everything felt like it took five times more effort than it should,” Rozelle told me.
She went to her primary care doctor and explained how overwhelmed she felt. The suggestion? Get tested for ADHD.
It took six months just to get in for an appointment.
And when she finally got her results? “My doctor said, ‘Your scores are so high, how are you even functioning?’”
But instead of diving into treatment, Rozelle kept going. She had things to do. A child to raise. A life to manage.
And that’s the thing so many of us experience, ADHD doesn’t always look like flailing or failure. Sometimes it looks like the person holding it all together while secretly unraveling inside.
What Parenting with Undiagnosed ADHD Looks Like
Rozelle’s daughter was diagnosed with ADHD at five, and later autism at eleven. But Rozelle didn’t yet have the language for her own neurodivergence.
She shared what those early years were like: “I looked well-organized. I had binders. But really, my brain was chaos.”
School meetings. Doctor’s appointments. Work. Sleep? Rare. Rest? Nonexistent.
“I was surviving. Just surviving.”
Her story mirrors what so many parents go through. And yet, when she started to recognize her child’s struggles as familiar, it changed everything.
Now, she’s parenting from a place of compassion. “I used to give my daughter ten tasks at once. Now I realize… I can’t even keep up with ten tasks myself.”
The Grief That Follows Late Diagnosis
Like me, Rozelle experienced grief after her diagnosis.
“I felt like I missed out,” she said. “In college, I was tutoring people who got A’s while I couldn’t get above a C in the same class. I didn’t know why until years later.”
That post-diagnosis grief is real. You start connecting the dots. Realizing how many moments might’ve gone differently if someone had just known sooner. If you had known sooner.
Rozelle described it beautifully: “Now, I just try to be present. Curious. Not perfect.”
What ADHD Looks Like at 40 (and Why It’s Okay to Still Be Figuring It Out)
Rozelle doesn’t try to package ADHD in a bow. She tells the truth.
Her ADHD now? Still busy. Still impulsive. Still craving structure. Still a work in progress.
But now she accepts her brain. She builds in structure. She writes out steps. She color-codes her life if she needs to. She gives herself grace.
And that grace has transformed everything, not just for her, but for how she shows up as a parent, student, and mental health advocate.
Therapy, Trial & Error, and Finding the Right Fit
Rozelle also opened up about her therapy journey. Like many of us, it took some trial and error.
“You don’t always find the right fit on the first try. It’s like dating,” she laughed. “But when you do, it changes how you see yourself.”
She’s now working with a therapist who understands neurodivergence and is even going through reassessment to see how ADHD shows up in her relationships.
One Small Step You Can Take
If Rozelle’s story resonated with you, here’s one actionable thing you can do today:
Write down what your version of “overwhelmed” looks like.
Is it the mental fog? The panic when your schedule gets thrown off? Emotional reactivity? Once you name it, you can start supporting it.
5 Things I Learned from Rozelle’s Story
- Getting a diagnosis doesn’t magically fix everything, but it gives you language.
- Surviving doesn’t mean you’re thriving. There’s more available to you.
- Parenting becomes more compassionate when you understand your own brain.
- Therapy is not one-size-fits-all. Keep searching for the right fit.
- Self-acceptance starts with curiosity, not perfection.
FAQ
Q. What are the signs of ADHD in adults, especially women?
A. Signs often include emotional overwhelm, difficulty with time management, impulsivity, forgetfulness, and exhaustion from masking symptoms.
Q. Can therapy help with ADHD even if it’s not ADHD-specific?
A. Yes. A therapist who listens, validates, and helps you create structure can be life-changing. But if possible, seek one experienced in neurodivergence.
Q. How can I support myself as a parent with ADHD?
A. Start with self-awareness. Create visual reminders. Build routines that feel manageable. And most importantly, give yourself grace.
5 Key Takeaways
- Late ADHD diagnosis often brings relief and grief at the same time.
- You can be high-functioning and still be struggling internally.
- Parenting with ADHD becomes easier with awareness and tools.
- Self-acceptance looks like letting go of perfection.
- Finding the right therapist can change everything.
If you’ve ever felt like the world was moving too fast and you were stuck on the struggle bus trying to catch up… this episode is your permission slip to pause and breathe.
You are not behind. You are not broken. And you are absolutely not alone.
Much love. Good vibes. – Ky
