Lizzie

Throughout childhood, she was called dramatic, lazy, difficult and a problem. She had ADHD and dyslexia, but her family did not tell her about the ADHD. Difficulties she did not understand were treated as naughtiness.

She learned to expect little help, explain herself repeatedly and minimise what she was experiencing. That habit of dismissing her own needs continued into adulthood. She did not recognise that she was pregnant and gave birth alone in her parents' bathroom.

She wishes people had understood the difficulties behind her behaviour instead of attaching labels to her. Being told she was the problem did not give her the understanding or support she needed.

She is now a mother of two with a caring partner. Stepping back from people who judged her has been part of finding happiness. She wants to be recognised as a person who was trying to cope without the information she should have had, and as someone building a different life for herself and her children.