A woman writes that she was diagnosed a few months ago and put on medication but her family, parents, relatives urge her to keep it a secret ands are ashamed of it. She is looking for guidelines to deal with relatives.
Shame is a big part of growing up undiagnosed with ADD and unfortunately your parents are feeding into this. You need to be with other people with ADD so you feel supported and break this feeling of shame. Hopefully, you can attend a conference here at some point or connect with people on line, for example in a discussion forum or through ADDvance for Women www.addvance.com or just reading about other women. Join organizations such as ADDA, www.add.org.
You must have information and support from people who are familiar with the medications that can help you. At first it's not always possible to get understanding from your family at a time when you need it. This is another important reason to connect up with other women or men who have had similar experiences. Your family will probably come around later once you feel more sure of yourself and are no longer feeling bad about your difficulties. When you are less vulnerable you can explain without apologizing or defending.
You cannot do this alone. You must first come to see yourself in a non-defective way. Then join support groups or online groups, attend conferences or read about others like you. Go to counseling if available and if very isolated you must focus on this first before spending all your energy trying to convince others. Good luck. Let me know if you have trouble finding resources for connection.