ADHD: The person behind the diagnosis

Let me begin by breaking down the acronym. . .

Attention – A privilege that so many of you take for granted every single day. I’d love to see a side-by-side graph comparing your ability to sit down and bang out a paper in five hours against my two hours of finding a conducive setting to work in, one hour of staring at a blank computer screen, three hours of playing catch up because I procrastinated for a solid two weeks, eight hours of actually writing the paper, and zero hours of revision because the paper is already a day late.

Deficit – You’ve probably heard of this in the context of money, but in this case, it refers to what society feels I lack in terms of cognitive function. I would go on to talk about the negative societal implications associated with medicalizing focus and attention, but I’ve lost my train of thought. . .

Hyperactivity – This one is my favorite. I don’t know why, it just is. Picture yourself playing a game of tag and you’re it. All of your friends scatter around and run in different directions. You start chasing them and tag someone. They then tag someone else who becomes it. The game continues with constant motion and disarray. There is no actual endpoint to a game of tag – usually we get tired and stop playing.

But picture yourself playing this game all day long, every day. This time you’re not playing with your friends. Only your thoughts, memories, and responsibilities are chasing each other, and it feels like you tag each of them for a split second before running in a whole new direction. I guess that’s why I was always great at playing tag.

Disorder – When I was younger I was taught that a cluttered room is a cluttered mind. So you can only imagine how great it was for younger me to think that if I cleaned my room, then all my thoughts would organize themselves into a nice mental filing cabinet. It didn’t take me very long to realize that no matter how tidy my room became, my mind would always be overwhelmed. It’s kind of funny actually. There’s disorder caused by my disorder.

So, how does ADHD affect people’s  lives? I asked around and got some answers.

How does ADHD affect relationships?

“ADD plays a role in my relationships because it controls how accurately I can communicate with people and how quickly I can interact with what they’re saying. My girlfriend’s first language is French so she can always tell when I’m either not on my meds or they have worn off because she has to ask me to slow down and be more articulate (my mind just moves too quickly).” – Lauren Chiodo, UMass ’17

“Patience is key. Without patience it’s very easy to become frustrated when you’re dating someone with ADHD.” – Anonymous

“It plays a huge role in how I relate with others. I hate to focus on the negative but having a loved one or a partner who doesn’t understand or get it is one of the most difficult and painful things to encounter.” – Anonymous

“There are many good qualities about having ADHD, such as being really focused on one thing at a time, which could be their partner! People with ADHD have a lot of passion for the things that they’re focused on. They can be versatile and spontaneous. And they bring a unique view of the world.” – Christa Cosenza, Northeastern

What are some obstacles you face when living with ADHD?

“There are a lot of things that people don’t see as being a part of it. They just see it as being lazy or careless when that’s just not the case at all.” – Sophie Harrington, UMass ’17

“People don’t understand that living with ADD is difficult, it’s fucking hard. We are constantly discovering how it is we learn, work, function in order to just keep up with the joneses.” – Glenn Proud, Faculty

“It’s hard when people tell me to ‘calm down’ or that I’m ‘too hyper’ because sometimes I really just can’t help it. I get anxious when that happens and then I start to close myself off.” – Anonymous

What are some strengths you’ve developed with your ADHD?

“I can separate when it is time to work and play. During the school year I take my meds every day, but during the summer and breaks I only take it if I need to get something done.” – Lauren Chiodo, UMass ’17

“I feel as though my ADHD amplifies my imagination and levels of creativity. My ability to think outside the box is also something I can attribute to it.” – Glenn Proud, Faculty

“I’ve been told that I’m more empathetic when I’m not on my meds, which is weird to think about because aren’t they supposed to help? I don’t know. I stopped taking them and even though I’m not as focused, I feel like a real person and less like a robot.” – Anonymous

So, there you have it folks!

This only took me two months to write, case in point.