BUFFALO, N.Y. — According to Forbes, nearly 6.8% percent of adults around the world suffer from ADHD in some form or capacity.

For more than 366 million people, their struggles are going undiagnosed. That was especially true for one Western New York woman. Her journey toward an ADHD diagnosis proved to be more difficult than expected.

"I think the first thing you think of is, you know, a 10-year-old boy who can't sit still in class," said Krystle Callari, who understands the common misconception about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder because she deals with it every day.

"Yeah, I wake up, let the dog out, give the cat his medicine," she said.

Although you don't get the diagnosis just by being extremely busy, it certainly comes with its challenges from home to work.

"There's a lot of tasks to do every day and you've got people you know depending on you," she said of her full-time job being a mother and the other position she fills with the state's disability claims office in Western New York.

Working and getting a master's in psychology may not have made things easier, but certainly sent her down the right road to get some help.

"We started studying ADHD neurodivergent. See? And I'd start to look at these checkboxes and I'd be like, 'oh, boy, oh, no — OK,'" she said.

The road to an official diagnosis was a frustrating one starting with a trip to her OBGYN where she thought it might be connected to postpartum depression.

"She's like, 'no, it couldn't be that because of this and this and that.' So I was like, 'OK, but can I get like formal testing?'" Krystle asked. "She's like, 'well, I don't know, do the testing. I can refer you to a neuropsychiatrist.' And at the end of that interview, he's like, 'well, I think you're just a stressed out single mom with treatment-resistant depression because none of the medication is working.'"

This was among other comments and things written in a report that didn't sit well with Krystle.

"When I told my therapist what they had said, she literally threw her pen across the room, she was so mad," said Krystle. "So after that, it was really disappointing to get that, not only a non-diagnosis, but just feeling like your concerns were dismissed because I didn't necessarily need a diagnosis. I wanted someone who would listen to my concerns and help me find out what is causing the issue."

While she eventually did, it didn't come without a toll.

"I'll say, 'OK, I'll need to do dishes, that needs to be put away, oh, these shirts need to go in the laundry,' and I'll do that and then I'll take out the garbage and say, 'oh, something needs to be done outside.' You said you were to do the dishes, why are you planting flowers? And you're like, 'that's a really good question,'" Krystle explained.

At home, her boyfriend Jeremy has seen the best and worst of it.

"I wish there was something I could do for her and all I could do really was just like be there and support her," he said.

He gets a better sense of understanding each day.

"After I assembled her Christmas gifts she's like, 'I just watched you do that entire thing with no breaks. How was that possible? How did you manage to do that without any breaks?'" he explained. "You know and I guess that was really eye-opening to me that I can get from point A to point B in a task but she has about 15 steps in between that."

Having that support goes a long way. 

"There was a point when I went, 'I can't, I don't want to do this anymore. I can't, like I give up. and you need someone on those days," Krystle said. "You need someone on those days to tell you, 'no, you know what, you could take a break today, but you can't give up, you have to keep going.' Finally getting, not only a diagnosis, but feeling like you're being listened to and your concerns are being taken care of, seriously it just makes you feel so much better."