I became a geologist because it required the least mathematics of all the sciences offered at my school.

I had excellent grades in elementary school, then in high school it became excellent grades in subjects that interested me. It's when I got to college and university that it became more like "struggling to get anything done at all cause I forgot about or pushed back every assignment". A lifetime of winging it didn't prepare me at all for courses where I couldn't review the material 15 minutes before the exam and hope for decent grades lol

I'm in the exact same boat, except I only recently started (1 year ago) my journey to diagnosis after learning that I've had anxiety and depression for most of my (30 year) life without knowing that the gloom in my life isn't normal.

Now I think Adhd might be the reason behind it all, as so much of what I've read about Adhd fits with what I struggle with.

I always just lived my life thinking everyone else's life was just as shit as mine, because I didn't lock myself in the bedroom like "real depressed people".

Depends on the person. It’s more debilitating for some than others. I was medicated for a time in middle/high school, but voluntarily stopped because of the side-effects and was fine without it. Now, in my mid-20s, I’m considering getting back on medication because it’s becoming a nightmare to deal with.

I didn't get good grades. I was never medicated even though I was diagnosed. I work on planes and to me my ADHD doesn't need to be medicated. But I might be wrong, ya know? Something to think about.