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Your biggest fear is completely forgetting the seemingly very, very important task. Better get it done now, while it’s still fresh in (and consuming) your mind.

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These things I’ve thought defining traits of my personality, and my own great failings, listed as symptoms to an identifiable disorder. A treatable condition.

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7. Hyperactive energy.

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This isn’t an excuse for my impulsive and disorganized behavior; it’s an explanation. I now know what I was dealing with and can focus on management rather than allowing the symptoms to render me useless.

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When I am 19, I have my first taste of cocaine, and soon things look not so bad. Because cocaine is so self-gratifying — it’s all you want and need and feel is important in the world — and gratification is just about all I’d been looking for, I believe I have discovered my antidote.