The full guide: The interview questions & replies which stood out

When did you find out you have ADHD?

"It was tomorrow one week ago." (Sam, 20, Media & Culture student)

"I now have symptoms and I am going to get tested." (Anonymous Business Administration student)

"I had to get diagnosed in December 2021 by an American doctor as the waitlists in the Netherlands were too long", "The whole process took one year and 2 months" (Laura, 20, Political Science student)

What was your reaction to it?

"Maybe it's definitely more like 'now I know what I'm dealing with so now it's easier to find a solution to what I'm struggling with' rather than 'Oh no, this is a problem'." (Sam, 20, Media & Culture student)

"I don't want to say that I was happy, but I think I felt some kind of relief that I knew why things were working differently for me than for other people in my class. Not just the way that I studied, but also the little things in life- which I found really difficult- were very easy for other people. So in that sense, I was glad to know that it was relatable to ADD and not just 'Oh, I'm doing something wrong that everyone can seem to do right.' (Colinda, 24, Communication science student)

How did the moment of the diagnosis influence your experience?

"My dad thinks that it is a Western diagnosis, he strongly believes that I should be able to carry out my work if it just focus. (...) My mom started reading up on it found out the things that we viewed as personality traits when I grow up might not be. Like reiteration, varying energy levels and so on.So having this diagnosis is like a relief almost." (Laura, 20, Political Science student)

Which Symptoms of ADHD do you experience on a regular basis?

"My thoughts are always fragmented." (Sara, 21, European Studies Student)

"I have a very short temper and am easily frustrated, then also frustrated to others." (Anonymous Business Administration Student)

How often do you feel like ADHD is impacting you?

"Sometimes I can see being a social butterfly more as a symptom than a personality trait." Anonymous Business Administration Student)

"I am stopping myself from doings things that might help me because I am scared, not scared, just this thought that 'I have been doing this this way so long, I don't need to change." (Sinem, Political Science Student)

Do you think ADHD impacts you more positively or negatively or both?

"It's this vicious cycle between overworking and laying in bed, not being able to get up. This can easily lead to burnout." (Anonymous Business Administration Student)

How do your organise to study?

"There is this thing that every ADHD person has where without the medication you think you wouldn't be able to do these things. [..] I was reading about dopamine and ADHD people and I started basically a dopamine detox which is kind of forcing yourself to do things without a reward. Because if you put a reward at the end of a task, it doesn't allow you to produce dopamine throughout the process. So in the long run it makes the task harder to do. So instead of forcing yourself to do things because you know that in the long run they will pay off. It makes things easier I would say. [..] Then you convince yourself that you want to go to the library because you want to do good." (Laura, 20, Political Science Student)

"I turn off my phone. Otherwise, I will be easily distracted." (Anonymous Anthropology student)

"I choose my courses according to assessment. (...) For this semester, I purely chose classes whose assessments were take-home exams, discussions or final reports or proposal." (Laura, 20, Political Science Student)

What is easy for you when studying?

"Reading examinations and writing are my strong suits so I organise my assessment around that" (Laura, 20, Political Science Student)

“Online classes were really helpful because they were recorded so I was able to go back in the video every time I noticed I stopped paying attention”. (Anonymous student, he/him)

What is hard?

"In high school, it was very hard to focus on maths and science subjects" (Anonymous Anthropology student)

"Once in two weeks I have a day were just nothing works. But thankfully, it is not always a day when I have to get stuff done. I take the day off then. I go to the park and go outside, allowing myself to have a slow day." (Laura, 20, Political Science Student)

"I know that the deadlines I set for myself don't work. Because I know there is no consequence. I need someone else to set that deadline for me." (Sinem, Political Science Student)

How do you feel about your general study habits?

"I developed a system with days when I take medication and days when I don't" (Laura, 20, Political Science Student)

How happy or unhappy are you with your study performance?

"Some people just spend four or five hours studying and they're completely done. It has happened to me that I went to university for 12 hours of studying and studied completely less than somebody who just stayed for three, four hours" (Sebastian, 22 psychology student)

How happy or unhappy are you with your results?

“With my results, I'm definitely happy. If I'm looking at what I'm putting in and what's coming out, it's good. A friend of mine says that if I would just go to the library more, I would have perfect grades. But I don't need that. It doesn't have to be perfect for me” (Colinda, 24, Communication science student)

Do you think ADHD has anything to do with how do you study?

"I thought that I should take my studies more seriously and therefore fork focus more. Realise then that it wasn't an issue of my own choice but that I might have ADHD. It became almost impossible to study." (Laura, 20, Political Science Student)

“In ADHD the thing is, it’s attention deficiency, it’s also hyperactivity. So… for something that normally takes people 30 minutes to do, it’s gonna take me about an hour, because within that span of an hour, I’m gonna be distracted by 10.000 other things.” (Meg, 21, Business Administration student)

"I think it does influence when I study and in which environment, because I also have this thing where it has to be totally quiet. I don't even like it if there's music on. It has to be white noise. Sometimes, I put on my headphones in the library because I can hear people coughing or just small noises. I often feel like the guy from Atypical in those headphones, like ‘Oh my god, everyone shut up!' (Colinda, 24, Communication science student)

Do you think ADHD has anything to do with when you provide what is asked for, e.g. assignments?

"Tests are a a big issue as I need much more time. Often I don't remember what I wrote" (Anonymous Anthropology student)

Do you think ADHD has anything to do with your study outcome?

“I do aim for a higher grade. It has more to do with Asian culture. In India you really have to aim for higher grades. That’s something that’s embedded in my head, so regardless of ADHD I have to score above an 8” (Meg, 21, Business Administration student)

How do you think your study experience is as a student at the University of Amsterdam?

"The study advisor helps a lot, but I don't feel supported by the student councillor" (Anonymous Anthropology student)

"I extended my studies for 6 months because if not I would have dropped out, basically. To make it manageable to graduate in a timely manner." (Laura, 20, Political Science Student)

Do you know any facilities offered by the UvA for students with ADHD?

If yes, which ones? Have you used them?

"As I have not been diagnosed in this country, I cannot get extra time on exams" (Anonymous Anthropology students)

"There is the extra time possibility, but you can only get it if you are diagnosed in your first year. According to UvA's logic, I can prove that I can pass without the extra time, which means that now they are not giving it to me."(Sara, 21, European Studies Student)

"They do have psychologists or study advisors to go to. Who are genuinely informed about the entire course and also informed about the students, which is helpful, but it is not like they teach us skills to deal with adhd. It’s just like general information how to deal with the course" (Meg, 21, Business administration student)

If no, why do you think that is? Do you think if you would know them you would use them?

"I don't think that if you go to the study advisors, they can immediately send you somewhere where you can get help or get checked out." (Alex, 24, Psychology student)

"I don't know any. What is shocking is how little support there is. I realise this when I was struggling mentally but I didn't know who to reach out to." (Laura, 20, Political Science Student)

What would you like to change?

I would like there to be more "Support groups. Yeah, I would be nice because then peole feel that they're not as isolated in this." (Sebastian, 22 psychology student)

"If you do not get enough credit as an international student, your visa will get in trouble. I wish UvA had more resources that would talk about this." (Anonymous Anthropology student)

"I am sceptical about UvA's democracy." (Sara, 21, European Studies Student)

"I think that study advisors should have basic knowledge of learning disabilities and that they should be able to recognise the obvious signs. With this, the study advisor should recommend that the student visit the university psychologist’s office which ideally would have a few psychologists specialised in learning disabilities to assess whether the student needs further testing or not" (Anonymous student, he/him)