The lighter side of ADHD
There's a growing acceptance in the ADHD community that the name is no longer particularly relevant.
However a lot of very good anti-discrimination rules and laws mention it by name.
And so changing the name would have an immediate negative effect on the rights of those with the condition. So probably until we have some massive breakthrough about the thing we know as "ADHD", it's likely to keep the name.
I know this is a joke, but for anyone wondering, it was named by scientists and doctors... They don't just make shit up for naming things like this.
Factually there is a measure of deficit to the ability for people with this issue, to maintain the focus of their attention on any particular thing, in a normal fashion. Normal being that neurotypical people can choose what they focus their attention on, and don't really have any trouble doing that.
The hyperactivity part, I believe is more about the physiological effects in the brain for people with the disorder. I'm not a doctor, but I believe one of the main characteristics of ADHD, is that dopamine receptors are hyperactive, leading to a deficiency of dopamine (and/or other signaling chemicals) in the brain. This can cause depression, anxiety... The list goes on.
So yeah. ADHD.
I dunno for sure. I'm just some guy with ADHD.
I find the "Attention deficit" part of it to be pretty apt for myself. Although it's more of an attention regulation deficit to be more specific. There's probably worse names out there.
That name is a big part what's kept me from getting help, because until very recently I drastically misunderstood what ADHD was. "I can't have this thing. I'm so good at paying attention that I don't eat or pee all day."
Growing up, I was the gifted kid and my brother was the hyper socialite.
Because he was hyper and I was mild-mannered (until I hit my teens and became an outcast, so I embraced punk culture) my parents only ever got my brother tested for ADHD. Nope, he was just a hyper little twerp with too much energy.
Meanwhile, I had absolutely zero ability to stick to a schedule that relied on my commitment to it, couldn't maintain any semblance of organization, was always forgetting small things, procrastinating until the last minute on every assignment without ever studying (yet somehow was still making A's, American education is a joke), would hyper focus for hours on single topics. Nah, to my parents I was a good student who was just "lazy" and "not applying myself".
Didn't get diagnosed AuADHD until last year. I'm in my 30s.
45 here. JUST started on meds.
I have a toddler and his lunacy just shine a flashlight on my inability to complete tasks in a timely manner.
Not to mention once I was changing his diaper, the phone alarm was going off and Mrs Rachel was blaring on the TV... I got irrational angry. Not at any one thing... Just mad.
That's what made me go and seek help.
That irrational anger from being overwhelmed has ruined my life. Was barely able to hold a job cause of it. Outbursts in relationships that were interpreted wrong and snowballed. Still an issue cause I am currently not medicated and have a hard time getting healthcare (God bless the USA) but I have better coping methods. Still rough though.
I get that as well, especially when I made a plan in my head and something else comes up and I have to replan, which I know will make it more complicated. I guess I’m angry since I know I will forget the original thing in the process.
I think it has less to do with the actual name ADHD as it does with the stereotypes that laypeople think of and with the actual diagnostic criteria. Regardless of the name, how it is viewed is much more of an outside perspective rather than a description of what it's actually like. Autism has a similar issue as well.
Plus, at the time I was growing up the DSM-IV said that you can't have both ADHD and Autism which is probably part of why I was diagnosed with neither.
i'm hyperfocusing. that's totally not attention deficit.
It seems to me at least that it comes through in general executive (dys-)function.
I often can't pay attention to what I want to, even if it is incredibly important, and I care a ton about it. Decision making is awful, except under very specific circumstances: everything on fire at work and you need a solution yesterday? Done. I've got the solution and handed out roles, fires out. I need to eat something and there's a fridge full of food? I will stand there with the door open till it spoils.
I have a very important thing at work that needs to be done and should only take an hour or two? This documentation I've been thinking about writing for three years that noone else asked for has finally found its time in the sun!
Gotta make a phone call for literally anything? Huh, my battery's completely drained because I watched 736 YouTube shorts in a row that I couldn't enjoy because of the pit in my stomach about a friendly 30 second call to the pharmacy.
I don't have ADHD, but I feel like this is perhaps too simple of an answer.
I imagine, when the first diagnoses came in, people were not aware that they experienced life differently than others. They probably assumed that everyone else struggled just as much, but somehow was better at it. At least, that still seems to be a common theme when kids get diagnosed today.
And so, of course, past kids didn't go to the doctor for what they assumed to be normal, but rather got sent there by teachers who described what they saw from the outside.
I guess, I mainly take issue with this post implying that Big They™ intentionally chose a bad name, when there's a fairly simple explanation why this would happen without a conspiracy.
Sitting still for more than a few minutes wasn't a requirement for most people until very recently... You could just be "energetic" or "absent minded" or whatever. Maybe you often get distracted or are disorganized, that's not a disorder, that's just a disposition
It didn't really become a mental disorder until sitting and paying attention for 6+ hours a day became something everyone must do. And then it wasn't the kids complaining that anyone cared about, they were trying to "fix" disruptive or inattentive kids
Big They™
It's a good thing I don't care about IP law and trademarks, because I'm gonna have to steal that
I don't see anything conspiratorial in the post. It's the usual pattern of medical advancements focusing on certain types of people over others. Same thing happens with women, POC, etc, etc, etc. It not (usually) being an active, conscious choice to do so doesn't mean it's not a problem.
The conspiratorial part is really just the non-descript they/them in "it's so obvious they named it based on how we inconvenience them".
All conspiracy theories work that way. You establish a badly demarcated group of supposedly evil people, like the Illuminati, the Jews, the Witches, the Immigrants, the Trans Community, the Doctors Without ADHD That Named ADHD.
And then you blame it on that group whenever anything bad happens, without coming up with a real explanation, because well, they're evil, of course they would do that.
Yeah, that's not what's happening here. Not really sure why you're so insistent that it is, but it's not useful or kind.
Wait, the need for external validation is a symptom of Always Discovering Hobbies Disorder? I thought it was just my upbringing and personality 🤔
Is that need part of the neurodivergence or a result of it?
I love that name for it. I'm gonna share that with others (provided I remember :P)
from the country that brought you Drapetomania and Annoying Bitch Syndrome.
Turns out a lot of the DSM is written to Pathologize people who are incompatible with American culture
Cartwright is best known as the inventor of the 'mental illness' of drapetomania—the desire of a slave for freedom—and as an outspoken opponent of germ theory.
What a fucking idiot.
lol. When he decided to be wrong, he didnt settle for half-measures.
I noticed that at school in my kid's class: Several students with ADHD, and all the teachers care about is that they are sedated and sit still. They don't care for them reaching their potential, avoiding all this frustration.
Genuine question. Is this a trait of ADHD or a side effect? I guess what I’m asking is is the issue that the goals are there but I can’t focus on them and that makes me anxious or that there are goals and oh boy that’s just too much to handle? Or is this all just different positions on the autism spectrum?
I’m 99% sure my son is ADHD and I want to help him as much as I can (and get a diagnosis when the medical people have the time)
That sounds like one of the modes of ADHD.
There are different sub types of ADHD, and there is overlap with Autism in some symptoms. And to confuse you more there is AuDHD, which is a combination of the two neurodivergent conditions.
If you have that strong if a suspicion, yeah go get him tested.
Being diagnosed with being a minority is definately a great idea.
What?
I think they may be referencing how an ND diagnosis in the States may soon get you sent to a camp or oppressed in some other fun way. It may unfortunately be safer to not seek help, and to mask as much as possible.
Pretty much, plus many other countries aren't much better, they just find some innovative ways of repression.
Well, i would like them to clarify.
And to confuse you even more, the symptoms of ADHD are things that every person will experience!
Edit: it's pretty surreal to receive so many down votes for a sentiment that's usually popular on these communities.
Neurotypicals see these memes and they resonate with them. This is because executive dysfunction is something that every human experiences. They don't realize that people like me can barely function as adults because of these things, and that's what makes it a disorder.
I think it's important that people know that just because you might experience the things that we go through doesn't necessarily mean that you have an executive functioning disorder.
Except we experience them with much more intensity and frequency and have a harder time dealing with them.
I would suggest you look at the comm rules.
That's the confusion part I was talking about. It's why ADHD memes are basically universally relatable.
But just because you've experienced the symptoms doesn't mean you have ADHD.
I mean that's kind of the case with all conditions isn't it. Paralyzed? That's a much stronger from of my difficulty getting out of bed in the morning.
Not really, no. Everyone will experience forms of executive dysfunction, but it's not ADHD if it's not very frequent and doesn't significantly impact your ability to function.
It's the reason ADHD memes are so relatable to so many people.
No, really no. I've tried to explain what executive dysfunction feels like to my wife and she can't wrap her head around it. It's even harder with people who aren't psych majors and don't have the vocabulary to express abstract brain stuff in words.
The reason ADHD memes are relatable to so many people is because a huge chunk of the population has ADHD
This still applies to just about every mental disorder (it's never everyone, including with adhd, but usually a lot of people).
Ever had a minor hallucination? Hallucinations are a symptom of schizophrenia. Ever had an irrational fear of a social interaction? Symptom of social anxiety disorder.
It's always about magnitude and frequency, i.e. having a major negative impact on your daily life.
Can even happen with physical things - I get a lot of visual snow, but I do not have visual snow syndrome because I have none of the other symptoms so it's not a problem whatsoever.
I wasn't talking about every other mental disorder. I was talking about ADHD.
In ADHD meme communities, it's not uncommon for neurotypicals to resonate with the meme. My point was that resonating doesn't mean you have it.