Comment by spicyusername
20 hours ago
I mean... like most spectrum disorders, most people experience and can relate to at least some of the core symptoms, even if they don't express the full spectrum or severity.
So when someone says they feel like they have ADHD, they are probably not inaccurate.
No, great, I'm not offended or anything (why would I be), and I wish I could relate back, it's just a weird feeling, that's all.
No doubt.
When you have it, ADHD is such a dominant factor in the way your life is organized and experienced, its not surprising that it can become a core part of your identity.
I do think it's easy for those with it to over romanticize what it's like to not have it. The lack of ADHD isn't a magic bullet for success and good life outcomes.
Like so many of life's real or perceived barriers, when one gets removed, you'll often find there is another one with a different shape just behind.
The challenge, for anyone, is pressing forward anyways.
You know what other thing that those with this fake ADHD can also relate to? Wasting hours a day scrolling on garbage resources.
How can someone say they have a disease or affliction while not understanding what exactly that affliction is as opposed to what they think it is/have been informed by media/society/non-professionals?
How can anyone say anything at all...?
That generalizes all the way.
Everyone's just working off what they've experienced or what they think is true, for mental health or where to find good lunch.
There is no universal truth. Everything is moving relative to everything else. New year, new DSM.
It would be more surprising if our shared experience was more different than more the same.
I think this is a good point. My only push back would be that when people say they have ADHD, in my experience, they're speaking about inattention (and yes, it's one of the big factors).
And while I don't love that aspect in me and often eat cold toast as result, I find that to be the least of what I struggle with (hitting every wall while walking from point A to B or constantly counting / tapping on my fingers or pulling the skin off my fingers or the anxiety or the hyper focus (love it too!) to where I lose hours upon hours...).
All this to say, I'm never offended when people use it but typically it's rooted in a narrow understanding of something that's used as a pejorative. I think there's research that by age 12 kids with ADHD have heard 20,000 more negative or corrective comments than there peers.
I mean, I can read quite a bit but if my agent / harness is producing monographs the fix has nothing to do with my ADHD. So to me, this repo seems lame.