I’m not going through life feeling sorry for myself either. I just see this repeated often and don’t see any evidence to believe it’s true. Best case it’s just true for some people, worst case I see it as actively harmful. I hate the idea that someone unsure about whether they have ADHD and shuts down in a crisis would believe they don’t have ADHD and not seek treatment because of posts like this.
for a long, long, while i dismissed the idea that i have adhd because i didn’t think the description of adhd fit me. i was reading medical documents and official diagnostic criteria that just listed symptoms with no exploration as to how those symptoms present in actual life. and even more crucially - i couldn’t even find mentions of how adhd presents in people who never had trouble at school (they never ask you if you studied at school, just if your grades were fine, didn’t study and still got good grades? looks normal to me go away now). if anything is discouraging folks from seeking treatment it’s that - lists of symptoms that cite no actual experiences someone might relate to
and it’s not just me who had trouble relating the names of symptoms to my real life issues. i went to two psychiatrists, both listened a bit and then gave me tests, all but the self assessment were within the “norm” so they tried to give me meds for depression and wrote off my self assessment (and hours of talking) as drug seeking behaviour or being a hypochondriac (this one i even have on paper). finally, a friend of mine recommended me a doctor who also has adhd, and only the guy who actually lives with the thing was capable of noticing that i don’t exactly behave like a neurotypical person. i was ready to give up after the second psychiatrist, if not for that friend of mine i would just not seek treatment. why would i keep spending money for doctors to tell me that i’m not trying hard enough at life or that i’m depressed?
someone who has adhd isn’t going to fully dismiss their suspicions because they didn’t relate to one meme. what could make someone dismiss their suspicion are medical documents devoid of daily life context, or doctors who only care about a checklist of symptoms they can test for while ignoring their patients’ struggles in life
and though anecdotal, i can confirm that i preform much better in crisis situations than in normal life. washing dishes? not until i have literally no plates to eat from + a few days because takeaway is a thing. but being stuck in the middle of the pandemic at night in Birmingham with all hotels closed? i wasn’t even stressed, despite the fact i came pretty close to people that looked like they wanted to mug me, twice
I’m not going through life feeling sorry for myself either. I just see this repeated often and don’t see any evidence to believe it’s true. Best case it’s just true for some people, worst case I see it as actively harmful. I hate the idea that someone unsure about whether they have ADHD and shuts down in a crisis would believe they don’t have ADHD and not seek treatment because of posts like this.
for a long, long, while i dismissed the idea that i have adhd because i didn’t think the description of adhd fit me. i was reading medical documents and official diagnostic criteria that just listed symptoms with no exploration as to how those symptoms present in actual life. and even more crucially - i couldn’t even find mentions of how adhd presents in people who never had trouble at school (they never ask you if you studied at school, just if your grades were fine, didn’t study and still got good grades? looks normal to me go away now). if anything is discouraging folks from seeking treatment it’s that - lists of symptoms that cite no actual experiences someone might relate to
and it’s not just me who had trouble relating the names of symptoms to my real life issues. i went to two psychiatrists, both listened a bit and then gave me tests, all but the self assessment were within the “norm” so they tried to give me meds for depression and wrote off my self assessment (and hours of talking) as drug seeking behaviour or being a hypochondriac (this one i even have on paper). finally, a friend of mine recommended me a doctor who also has adhd, and only the guy who actually lives with the thing was capable of noticing that i don’t exactly behave like a neurotypical person. i was ready to give up after the second psychiatrist, if not for that friend of mine i would just not seek treatment. why would i keep spending money for doctors to tell me that i’m not trying hard enough at life or that i’m depressed?
someone who has adhd isn’t going to fully dismiss their suspicions because they didn’t relate to one meme. what could make someone dismiss their suspicion are medical documents devoid of daily life context, or doctors who only care about a checklist of symptoms they can test for while ignoring their patients’ struggles in life
and though anecdotal, i can confirm that i preform much better in crisis situations than in normal life. washing dishes? not until i have literally no plates to eat from + a few days because takeaway is a thing. but being stuck in the middle of the pandemic at night in Birmingham with all hotels closed? i wasn’t even stressed, despite the fact i came pretty close to people that looked like they wanted to mug me, twice