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The truth behind ADHD by Thaily
This isn't the sort of thing I tend to post about publicly, but I feel that someone should say something to counterbalance the generally overwhelming onslaught of misinformation on the topic which I find all over the internet. It's kind of personal, and I'm risking wasting a lot of time getting angry at people who prefer a kind of soft pseudoscience over peer-reviewed research. I know these people are just outing themselves as ignorant, and that they're not worth getting worked up over, but it makes me angry to think their inane ramblings might keep people from being diagnosed and being able to take back their lives from ADHD.
So without further ado:
What makes you qualified to talk about ADHD?
I have ADHD; I was diagnosed relatively recently and well into adulthood. I also wrote my thesis on the topic, which has been well received. In short I've done my research to better understand and improve myself. My diagnosis was life changing, for the better, and it makes me angry that other people would deny ADHD exists or stigmatize people who have and treat it so they can have a life.
ADHD is not something to be ashamed of. It's not something to be proud of. It's not an excuse to be a dick. But it does exist.What is ADHD?
To put it simply, ADHD is a deviation in brain chemistry that makes people behave differently from most people in certain ways. Some of the symptoms of ADHD include; being forgetful, often being late, being distracted, procrastinating, having a hard time finishing things, being impulsive.I do all those things, do I have ADHD?
One of the requirements for the diagnosis according to the official guidelines medical professionals have to follow is that these issues have to be pervasive to the point that they are disabling; it makes it hard or impossible for people with ADHD to finish school, keep a job or maintain a relationship. Therefor treatment of ADHD is not about making people "normal", it's about giving people some control of their life back.Isn't hyper activity a requirement for having ADHD?
Nope. In fact, most women with ADHD do not have the hyper active aspect. Sometimes they have the opposite and suffer from chronic exhaustion. This used to be referred to as ADD, but is now referred to as ADHD; type inattentive. Girls and women especially often go undiagnosed because they're quiet and withdrawn, therefor they're not a "problem" for their surroundings the way hyperactive boys are. This is why people thought ADHD was predominantly something that afflicted boys and men.But it's like suddenly everyone has ADHD.
It's because we understand ADHD better, we can better diagnose and treat it. So it appears as though there are suddenly more people who have ADHD and people assume this means people are over-diagnosed with ADHD.I'm told ADHD doesn't even exist.
It does. It's visible on brain scans. http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/09September/Pages/Brain-scans-offer-clues-into-ADHD.aspx
As are issues like depression and bi-polar disorder; just because you can't tell someone has problems from the outside, doesn't mean they don't have problems. And telling people to "cheer up" or "get it together" doesn't help. Quite the opposite.Well everyone is unique, having ADHD isn't a problem!
ADHD being a problem is a prerequisite of the ADHD diagnosis, if it's not a problem it's not ADHD, it's just someone whom is sometimes distracted or procrastinates, which is normal. But always being late, forgetting things, procrastinating, appearing not to listen. These are all things that put a strain on personal, professional and academic aspects of someone's life, all day and every day, week after week, month after month. People with ADHD often have trouble finishing school, keeping a job and maintaining a relationship.
Especially when undiagnosed, people with ADHD often feel like and are told they're a failure, they can lose hope and become (suicidally) depressed. That's a problem.How is ADHD treated?
The diagnosis is the most important part; understanding why they are the way they are. It also helps when people around them understand why people with ADHD do (or not do) what they do. ADHD is not a valid excuse for misbehavior or to slack off at school/work, but for example adjusted work hours or a change to a quieter work environment can help.
Understanding that you have ADHD often leads to lifestyle changes, some find a low-carb diet helps reduce symptoms, or getting more exercise or sleeping different hours. It helps to get more organized, partners can help keep binders for finances, planners for appointments, to-do lists for chores, alarms on your phone to help a hyper-focused ADHD'er remember to eat, drink or leave on time for appointments.
And medication. Medication helps normalize brain chemistry. It's not "cheating", it's not "taking the easy way out", it's not "a ploy by big pharm to get rich quick". It's a valid option that helps level the playing field for people who struggle to even get off the bench every single day, the same way someone with hearing problems could benefit from a hearing aid.
It's not a miracle cure, but it makes every day life a little easier. And it's not fair for people who do not have this issue to demand someone else suffers through it without the aid of medication.But at least you grow out of it, right?
Nope. For some kids with ADHD their brain chemistry normalizes, but this is a minority. Most adults with ADHD have learned to hide it so they won't be judged, so it appears as though most people outgrow ADHD, but problems often still persist.Recommended reading:
Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder - http://www.amazon.com/Delivered-Distraction-Getting-Attention-Disorder/dp/0345442318/
You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!: The Classic Self-Help Book for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder - http://www.amazon.com/You-Mean-Lazy-Stupid-Crazy/dp/0743264487
Driven to Distraction (Revised): Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder - http://www.amazon.com/Driven-Distraction-Revised-Recognizing-Attention/dp/0307743152/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y
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Hey thank you so much for writing this, it's so nice to be able to read stuff like this it helps me feel a bit more normal I guess. I've had ADHD my whole life and thankfully have found a lot of ways to cope with it. Though i'm still surprised and offended by how many misconceptions there are. I've been told on multiple occasions that it's not a real thing and those comments hurt everytime. But anyways thank you for writing this and putting it out there. Also I had no idea that women don't usually get the hyperactive aspect of it.
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I cringed when I read the title, bracing myself for another tirade by somebody ignorantly claiming it doesn't exist. I was delighted to be wrong.
Thank you for writing this. I also have ADD and had no idea that all of these different problems in my life could even be related until a few months ago (I am 31). Figuring out what was wrong with me and getting on the right track with medication has been turning my life around. I no longer lose entire days to Tumblr. I'm able to pay attention in conversations now and not interrupt people constantly, afraid that I will forget what I was going to say. I can manage to listen to others, remember and think about what they say, and reply to it instead of going off on endless tangents or spouting nonsense I later regret. I can sit down with something I want to get done and actually spend several hours finishing it, instead of wanting to finish it, but being endlessly blocked by the lack of dopamine-reward and lost focus, or fears that I will be unable to finish it. Being unable to finish things, and having been told my whole life that it was my fault, that I was just "lazy", made me internalize a lot of self-hatred due to my frustration, leading to depression, anxiety, and poor self-esteem, all of which have been steadily evaporating now that I feel like I can "rely" on myself for the first time in my life.
I might not be on the medication forever, but I for one am grateful that it has showed me the door and helped me to tear down a lifetime of ramshackle coping mechanisms and fears/insecurities. Simply understanding that it is not a personal failure or that I suck at life, that it is brain chemistry I've been stumbling over, was intensely relieving.
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I was 29 when I was diagnosed and we have a lot in common. Being told I was dumb and lazy my entire life took a huge toll, because I'm definitely not dumb and was very much aware of how I was falling short. No-one wanted me to do better than me, and no matter how self righteous and indignant people were, acting as though I couldn't manage just to spite THEM (because the world revolves around them, obv) no-one suffered from it more than I.
I'm so grateful I can just get things done, do things most people take for granted. Most people will never understand what it's like to think "I should do dishes today." and then just not be able to get up and do them for no apparent reason, like there's an invisible chain keeping you from being able to get up and go to the kitchen and just do the damn dishes. And how it makes you feel steadily worse the longer it takes. And how every day is like that with so many different things it's easy to lose hope and just want to die.It makes me incredibly angry when people say stuff like "It doesn't exist", making undiagnosed people feel shitty and unnecessarily making it harder for them to get the help they need to just be able to do basic life things.
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I'm glad that you've been able to overcome your disability and it gives me hope for my own trajectory. :) It's really a tragedy how mental illness is treated by people who don't have it, if somebody needs insulin because they have diabetes they wouldn't be told that they were "making it up" or that they should just "get over it", will themselves to have lower blood sugar, or whatever. You can't tell by looking at somebody that they have high blood pressure or need contacts or whatever, but somehow when it's the mind it's a different story and everybody else thinks they knows what is best for you, telling you things you've tried a hundred times ("just make a schedule!" is my favorite) and acting like this is sage wisdom from above.
Dishes, laundry, straightening up, going to the store - there have been days when I have been lucky and felt productive to get one single thing done in a day. Forget about normal employment - after 3 months of a job, after I've achieved mastery at whatever task they've given me, the novelty wears off and I feel increasing anger and depression at the routine, causing me to quit every time. I've spent most of my adult life living on the road or staying on friends couches, and while I don't judge myself too harshly based on my financial success, it definitely doesn't improve the general feeling of helplessness that this disorder causes. I've lost friends, lovers, because of impatience and frustration, bossiness and tactlessness. I've known that I was bright since I was a kid, and in many ways that made it worse - if I'm so smart why do I keep failing at literally everything?
As much as people claim that ADD/ADHD is over-diagnosed, I feel that especially with artistic and creative women, it's actually UNDER-diagnosed by a wide margin. The alternate brain chemistry has its blessings - I can flit between 20 different things and draw parallels between them, my craving for novelty has given me some very interesting experiences, but the other edge of that sword is a nightmare. I see a lot of the same procrastinating behavior patterns in many of my peers, so many of us struggle, and I have to wonder how many years of our collective lives are being spent spinning our wheels in the mud instead of actually making progress and following our dreams. I know I still sometimes wonder how my life would have been different if I'd figured this out in my teens or 20s, but I will never know.
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DarkRyuukin
I'm sending this to my mate, who has ADHD
Glad to see more coming out that talks about the TRUTH of the matter
Even I get annoyed at all the people who think it doesn't exist and that people just "need to focus" or "need to care"