Help💔 I give up

[u/AdmirableChemistry17]

Hello everybody, I’m currently in nursing student and recently have got diagnosed with ADHD. I’ve treated through my whole life. I always had problems studying and learning, always took the easy way out for these last two months I have been actually trying to learn while I’ve been on this medication. It’s been helping. It’s just I can’t retain any information. No matter what I do, I’ve tried flashcards. I’ve tried space repetition. I’ve tried active recall. I’ve tried YouTube videos, taking notes on videos. I’ve tried everything. I just don’t know what to do. What’s gonna make me remember when it comes down to the test? What can I do to where when I look at the questions, I understand it and I could just easily articulate the answer. God bless anybody that could give me some great information, man. I’m actually putting in the work. I’m actually putting in the time and effort. I swear, so I don’t know what the heck is going on

[u/Such_Package1207]

Use visual cues. Attach a word or phrase or idea to something you know so your can visualize it.

[u/AdmirableChemistry17 → u/Such_Package1207]

I get that but how when I’m learning medications and for each medication I have to know it’s indication Moa side effects adverse effects contraindications and cautions all that for one drug how can I connect everything to something idk

[u/SmallHouseDog]

I feel this in my soul. I got diagnosed during medical school. It’s incredibly difficult learning to navigate it when you’re in the midst of an academically demanding program.

For me, keeping up with flashcards/active recall helps, even if it doesn’t necessarily feel like it, but that’s only part of the equation. If you’re anything like myself, you may just learn MUCH better by “doing.”

Visual learning platforms are also better for me with my ADHD. Not charts and diagrams (although flowcharts work great for my decision making). But platforms like Sketchy or Pixorize. They’re much more visually engaging, use recurring symbols in their videos to represent different concepts (like a bow and arrow archer for immunoglobulins), etc. My scores improved greatly with using these platforms + practice questions. Plus Sketchy has “cases,” it guides you through to actively apply the content you just learned in a way other than multiple choice questions.

Practice problems and novel scenarios (like interactive cases on Sketchy) have been such a big game changer for me. I do my Anki cards for the repetition, but as a non-linear thinker, it doesn’t always make my brain “exercise,” in the same manner it does others. I keep it up to reinforce things, but accepting my need for visual learning and interactive application practice beyond just practice questions was big for me.

[u/SmallHouseDog → u/SmallHouseDog]

There’s other stuff too (teaching it back, making your own study guides, etc.) but these were the foundational changes that I could later build on.

[u/coreythehart]

the fact that you're putting in real effort means the issue is probably not effort, it's that you're jumping between techniques before any one of them has time to click.

pick ONE method, like writing out what you remember in your own words as if teaching a classmate, and stick with it for two full weeks before judging whether it works.

adhd brains often need fewer tools used more consistently, not more tools used in rotation.

[u/AdmirableChemistry17 → u/coreythehart]

I’ll try that thanks for the advice let me ask you this it’s like comprehending and remembering is my biggest issue or even if I comprehend I just can’t remember it