An Interesting ADHD Diagnosis Analogy
From the AHDH group... comments worth saving and remembering!
In answer to:
"So far, I've had maybe 4 people do this to me (close friends and family) who have refused to acknowledge that I have ADHD (and one who refuses to believe that it even exists). The only "me too" person who said so sincerely was my mom, but she genuinely had very similar symptoms. I deal with the others by just not talking to them about it. They can believe whatever they want to as long as it doesn't inhibit my ability to get help."
When someone spouts off with something like that, I respond with what I was told by a psychiatrist-- ADHD is not a set of unusual symptoms, it is a set of normal symptoms to an unusual degree. To translate into a more physical realm, everyone gets "chills" sometimes, but if you were chilly *all the time*, you'd see a doctor. Everyone has trouble sleeping sometimes, but if you had insomnia every night of your life, you'd be seeing a doctor. Same thing for ADHD- what we experience is not unusual, it's how much of it we experience. Hope this helps!
Right. If it's causing a serious impairment, interfering with life, it's time to get help. If only I'd gotten fed up with the way it was affecting my life sooner... But! As the psalmist said: "My times are in Thy hand."
In answer to:
"So far, I've had maybe 4 people do this to me (close friends and family) who have refused to acknowledge that I have ADHD (and one who refuses to believe that it even exists). The only "me too" person who said so sincerely was my mom, but she genuinely had very similar symptoms. I deal with the others by just not talking to them about it. They can believe whatever they want to as long as it doesn't inhibit my ability to get help."
When someone spouts off with something like that, I respond with what I was told by a psychiatrist-- ADHD is not a set of unusual symptoms, it is a set of normal symptoms to an unusual degree. To translate into a more physical realm, everyone gets "chills" sometimes, but if you were chilly *all the time*, you'd see a doctor. Everyone has trouble sleeping sometimes, but if you had insomnia every night of your life, you'd be seeing a doctor. Same thing for ADHD- what we experience is not unusual, it's how much of it we experience. Hope this helps!
Right. If it's causing a serious impairment, interfering with life, it's time to get help. If only I'd gotten fed up with the way it was affecting my life sooner... But! As the psalmist said: "My times are in Thy hand."