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Danger of Diagnosis

December 8, 2011

By Rick Green

If you’re an educator, doctor or other health professional, you’ve probably heard about lots of scientific studies that show how much beliefs can affect people’s health, abilities and even their intelligence.

The placebo effect is an example of the positive belief causing good.

There are scores of studies on the negative impact. I’ve heard of some that are incredible! Women do worse on a test if they are told it’s a math test, because they buy into the belief that men are better at math. Another study found that white men do not jump high when black people are around. Blacks do worse on the same test if they are told it’s an intelligence test than if they are told it’s something else.

The diagnosis becomes self-fulfilling.

You start to seek not only examples, but as much evidence as you can find to prove something. And let’s face it, you can find evidence to prove anything. Just ask the media.

When you understand this, you get why optimists can look at the world and find evidence for optimism, and pessimists can look at the same world and see nothing but pessimism. The situation at Virginia Tech this afternoon is a perfect example. It’s easy to overlook all the first responders, cops, paramedics and ordinary people doing good things. Even the hundreds of drivers who pull over to let the ambulance get to the hospital at top speed.

Of course, you don’t have to look at a tragic news story to see ‘whatever you want to see.’ As you go holiday shopping you could point out a thousand examples that prove people are cold and selfish. Or you could just as easily see a thousand examples to prove people are good and caring.

I’m writing this because I had an ADD/ADHD realization yesterday.

As we were leaving the house, Ava couldn’t find her car keys. It took a while. They turned up under the bed. And the car is not under the bed. (Even I’m not that disorganized).

Watching her get frustrated, and then baffled and mad at herself, then shaking her head wondering how her keys could have got there… For a moment she was in my shoes, and I was in hers.

And rather than go “Nyah, nyah! Now you know what it’s like!” I rather wisely saw something a bit more profound.

I pointed out that if I’d done the same thing, I would have blamed it on my ADHD but with her, not having the diagnosis, and not having the story that she’s forgetful, then we could say it was just a fluke, because she was rushing, having a lot to think about, and so on.

Beware. The evidence is anywhere you want to look, isn’t it? As you know, these symptoms or impairments occur for everyone. Who doesn’t procrastinate? Who doesn’t lose car keys? Who doesn’t fail to finish a few things?

With ADHD/ADD it’s a matter of frequency, severity. We are at the extreme end of a number of bell curves.

So, what is our challenge? Or our goal? Perhaps it’s the balancing act, is to figure out where it’s impairing you, forgive yourself your past trespasses, and put in place tools, habits, strategies or support systems (ie people who love you) to make sure it’s not impairing you. Or, impairing you as much. Is there one set answer.

The ADHD/ADD disorder falls on a spectrum, right? Well, so does your progress or mastery of your life.

It’s ongoing.

Something to always be aware of and alert for.

Just don’t look too hard, or you’ll get stuck in analyzing everything that happens.

Sometimes, I just lose my keys. Like Ava.

6 Responses to “Danger of Diagnosis”

  1. Robbo says:
    December 28, 2011

    Yep, that’s so dang true. (depending on how you look at it) GET IT? [depending on how we look at it is the the whole point huh?] hehe. it’s funny how we sometimes have magnifying glasses stuck on our faces, even if we don’t actually need glasses.

    Seek and ye shall indeed find. The best example is faith and religion. I chose spirituality, but I can easily think of countless people throughout history that have literally laid down their life in the name of faith and religion. They seem crazy. Faith is a most powerful um… thing. What is faith? how do we explain the placebo affect?. One time (one of many) I survived yet another impossibly dangerous hospital stay, and while talking to one of the doctors I told her that it didn’t actually matter if there was a God or not, what mattered was faith, I had faith!. Don’t ask me why countless millions of human beings have not survived the things I have, people who may very well have been capable of contributing much SO MUCH more than I could ever have to humanity. I won’t know. I hope not to care as much as I do someday. Life is horribly unfair. Terribly. I’m glad it’s not my fault. At least I hope it’s not…

    What if…

    I just don’t know, and I don’t need to “trip” on it either. The world doesn’t owe me anything and vice versa. I’m just here trying to find out where I fit in the world. Knowing myself is a most difficult thing, and I keep changing, growing. The question of ADHD is a difficult one indeed. But I’m pretty sure that looking at how this cluster of symptoms applies to me, and my connection with the rest of the world is helping me figure out where I fit. It’s a gift and a curse. Yet another puzzle piece to ponder instead of sleeping.

    I never lose my keys. I’ve had the same wallet for at least 10 years. I can’t keep track of anything else though!. (I like to exaggerate) It’s just that loosing my wallet, my keys and sometimes both got to be so traumatic that I eventually developed solid habits n strategies on how to loose them much much less. I’m afraid to say never, that’s just asking for trouble.

    Hope is a wonderful thing. Thanks for giving me some you guys.

  2. Pridan says:
    December 11, 2011

    Very true, Rick. I also think this post highlights the importance of surrounding yourself with good people and a support system. I was diagnosed as an adult, and treating my ADD/ADHD was like coming out of a fog.

    It has been a long journey of learning how to utilize my mind to accomplish tasks as opposed to using my time to feed my mind’s desperate search for stimuli. It has also been a long journey of learning that ‘normal’ includes some of the same behaviors and struggles I had before, and that successful treatment is simply having the capacity to address them without the constant feeling of restlessness.

    To this day, the most uplifting thing in the world is having someone close to me notice a positive change in behavior, or point out that “everyone does that/feels that way” when I get too critical of myself.

  3. Sailing says:
    December 10, 2011

    Wow!! I am not alone!! I blame myself almost every few nights about strange things that I said. I think I am too self concious ever since I find out about ADD. I must stop right now because I can’t take it anymore

  4. no_dopamine says:
    December 10, 2011

    My problem is not recognizing it, or its impairments, so I would just beat myself up mentally about little failures and obsessively strive for perfection. Now that I’m getting better at recognizing the symptoms and the consequences (that one is REALLY hard), I can sometimes see the situations in which I might have difficulties and approach them a bit differently. SOMETIMES.

  5. Peacock says:
    December 9, 2011

    For sure. I can spend way too much time navel gazing about it and what it’s done to my life-da past is da past- and probably not enuff on just dealing with it.

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