Re: Is there really “nothing positive” about ADD?

[Anonymous]

Looks like my camp is in good company! S’mores on me!

@Tiddler what you ask is a tough philosophical question: would we have our positive traits we have without it? Maybe that’s where the dividing line is; some people ascribe their strengths to ADD, others ascribe only their weaknesses.

Acknowledging that there is no scientific research on topic, there are two fallbacks that are precursors to scientific discovery: logic and observation. We can infer things using our reason and intellect, and we can analyze how the world appears using observation.

I don’t know of any statistics, but I can certainly say that the folks on this site are more and further outside the box than anyone else I know. I recognize a piece of myself in everyone on here. The humor, the determination (at some things) and the passion. Now that could be because we’re (mostly) North Americans, or we’re mostly people who like to be online or we’re mostly people in a certain demographic. But (logically), those answers are far less likely than it’s our ADHD.

Separately, the “benefits” of ADHD can and should flow logically from the “impairments.” For example, many people say that ADHDers are charismatic. That could be the result of the high energy (combined and hyperactive subtypes); our unique perspective and senses of humor (more on that in a minute), the restlessness that leads to more diverse experiences and the fact that our neurology is driven by the emotional centers of the brain (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cRrjJCgRcQ (great video, see ~23:00, but watch the whole thing)), not the executive function centers.

The outside-the-box thinking, unique perspectives and unique sense of humor can derive from our impulsivity and the lack of inhibition that hamstrings us in other places. Studies have shown that ADHD allows people to be better divergent thinkers (Rick Green posted on this a while back). A lot of very funny or useful (and poignant) observations are made by connecting two things that no one ever connected before.

It is entirely possible that those of us who have these traits would all think outside the box, be funny, charismatic, etc. without ADHD. But it’s far more likely that these things are a part of ADHD.

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