Do I Have ADHD or am I Just Lazy?
ADHD is a neurological condition. Simplistically, it’s about productivity—except that people aren’t simple.
ADHD is a neurological condition. Simplistically, it’s about productivity—except that people aren’t simple.
“I don’t believe in ADHD.”
“It’s made up by Doctors and big Pharma.”
“ It’s lazy teachers and weak parents who refuse to discipline their kids.”
“ It’s just a fad. It’s because parents have to work these kids run wild in the street…”
And on and on….
Something has been bothering me for a while. Stewing away.
And I think the seasonal question of “Have you been naughty or nice?” has brought it to the fore.
It’s something I was asked a long while ago.
“How do I tell what’s ADHD, and what’s simply bad behavior?”
Is it just me, or are more and more people confusing their beliefs with facts. Perhaps people have always mistaken their opinions for the truth. I don’t know.
What I do know, for sure, is the universal challenge you face after getting an ADHD diagnosis is whether or not you should tell anyone about it. Who you should take into your confidence? Who probably doesn’t need to know? And who definitely should never find out?
This quiz is as scientific as I could make it. Which is to say, I put on the lab coat I used to wear when I was a teacher at a Science Centre many years ago.
‘Oh, everyone thinks they have ADD nowadays. It’s over-diagnosed. It’s the internet. And cell phones. And everyone’s trying to do 9 things at once. Fifty years ago there was no such thing as ADHD.’
Ask most kids what they want to be when they grow up and you’ll get very clear answers. Which may change from week to week, depending on the video game they’ve played. I had no idea.
“What do I want to be?” From age 8 to about the time my first marriage ended, that question invariably triggered a snowstorm of ideas, then brain freeze. I didn’t have an answer.
Then I realized what I wanted to be: Happy…
I want to talk about owning it. Owning it and taking charge of it and doing with it whatever you wish.
After a recent talk a woman from the audience shared her frustration with friends and family members who question her diagnosis. A loved one had announced, “ADHD is made up by drug companies. The way Greeting Card companies created Mother’s Day.”
It might just be in my imagination. A lot of things are.
But I’m starting to wonder, is my ADHD seasonal? Do the symptoms abate in the warm, long days of summer? Then grow worse during February’s cold, grey?