Why is adhd not as "respected" as other ND conditions?

[elliejjtiny]

I'm wondering if it's because autism can mean anything from what used to be called Aspergers syndrome and profound autism with profound learning disabilities and people with adhd are more likely to either not have learning disabilities or have learning disabilities with a separate diagnosis.

But Nigel Farage has been in the news again saying he is going to get rid of PIP for people with mild anxiety and adhd as their primary diagnosis. I don't think anyone gets PIP for mild anxiety, I certainly don't anyway. But adhd can be extremely debilitating and require PIP.

Also contrary to popular belief to be diagnosed as a kid you have to have evidence from a variety of settings, it can’t just be Mum/Dad said. On top of that there are things like the QbTest you can do which measure things like impulsivity and reaction times along with physical movement/hyperactivty. They all paint a picture.

it isn’t just about being a bit skitty, some people have severe issues with executive dysfunction thanks to ADHD. It can have a profound impact on people and this shouldn’t be underestimated.

Yep im neurospicy 🤮

Exactly

Oh Jesus I’d forgotten that one. I know someone who says this all the time. Bangs on about how she and her family are all “neurospicy”. Does my head in.

Self ID yes, but unfortunately waiting times are ridiculous to get a diagnosis so what are people meant to do in the meantime, pretend they don't have the symptoms? I am diagnosed but people are still questioning the diagnosis, so it seems a bit like faux concern questioning.

Nigel Farage is an utter arse hat. I wouldn’t say his opinion is reflective of wider society.

I’m dubious about the symptoms.

My symptoms or of ADHD in general?

I don’t know you or your “symptoms”. I’m talking about a lot of people I know and a wider social media driven trend in society.

We’ve been there, done that with anorexia in the early days of social media circa MySpace and tumblr, OCD, Tourette’s, transgenderism, autism, and now adhd. They all do the rounds. Usually with the young ones but now all the perimenopausal women are needing something to blame for every day life.

It’s funny, I know so many women self-IDing with adhd and then making it their entire personality. I never hear men doing the same.

Funny how people with diagnosed ADHD are faking it, but self reported ‘food noise’ is definitely a thing 🤡

They’re both bullshit

I think the problem here is the self diagnoses.
people with a genuine diagnosis are diagnosed because it is and can be very debilitating and hinder ‘normal’ day to day life.
there are too many people claiming to have adhd or be ‘a little bit’ adhd because they are forgetful or loud or over-sharers when really that’s just one small thing about them and they have 0 awareness about actual adhd

For me, it’s that whenever some male celebrity gets outed for bad/criminal behaviour, they suddenly find out that they have “undiagnosed ADHD”.

Ah yes! The old ‘sorry I groped you - I just can’t help fidgeting!!’

Food noise isn't a medical condition adhd is

That, is a brilliant question.

Paying for regular cleaning as the executive dysfunction and exhaustion mean he cannot keep on top of mess and it quickly becomes chaotic.

Paying for an organising/life coach to help set up systems at home, helping with accountability and outside of work life organisation

Paying for therapy/support to learn how to manage burnout and the emotional load of constantly masking and pushing through.

He had the first two through Uni and it helped

I’ have diagnosed adhd and it’s made my life very hard. I’ve been deported, fired and live off dopamine until it runs/burns out. Due to start meds soon but can’t seem to concentrate long enough to submit my blood pressure etc. you couldn’t make it up

Doctors do not rely only on what the parents say. They look at evidence from multiple sources and look for a pattern of behaviour that happens in multiple settings. They are also aware that excessive screen use and bad parenting can superficially look like ADHD and so consider this. There are of course children who have excessive screen time and bad parenting and who also have ADHD.

Thee are also stories where people seek a diagnosis, don’t get it and years later get reassessed and diagnosed.

I feel like these types of comments on this thread are highlighting why ADHD has so little respect. In my social media feed, I see articles at least once a week in the Times and Telegraph with some nasty negative portrayal of ADHD. It is a very difficult condition that poses genuine and very variable difficulties and is rightly considered a disability.

My DP has severe ADHD, so I completely understand that it is a real condition.

However it's not true that the medications only help people who have "real ADHD" and won't affect or will affect negatively people who don't. I'm NT but I've taken similar medications for a different (physical) condition, and yep, the side effects were I had improved concentration, got lots done at home, was more productive at work and felt happier.

It's also pointless to argue that if you could only see inside my mind you'd see how hard it is, but by that argument you can't see inside anyone else's brain either - you don't know how hard they find life. Especially if you say you are hiding it, well yes so are they. So is literally everybody.

There’s clearly a wide range of adhd, from mild to severe, and unlike the lower functioning range of autism - which is clearly a severe disability - I think lower functioning adhd can look like something else (as many people have highlighted it can just look like bad or rude behaviour).
I have long suspected I have mild adhd, my brain has always felt different (fuzzy, either very on or fully off). School raised concerns about my son when he started about 8 years ago and when I was reading around I came across inattentive adhd and thought - shit, that’s it! I’m finally pursuing diagnosis - more out of curiosity and I have the money to do so - but yes, I would imagine my symptoms are exacerbated by peri and insomnia. But they have very much been there since childhood. Seniority in work (admin help and delegation) and the money to buy in help at home helps a lot. My symptoms - mostly a real struggle to hold focus on a conversation or process verbal info (the trend toward subtitles in movies has been a godsend ) very scatterbrained, I’ve been sitting on the sofa 3 times in the last 18 months only for my husband to come home and ask where my car is to realise I’ve left it behind somewhere, disorganised etc. the usual I guess.Even if I don’t have it, I’ve had success implementing some adhd strategies anyway eg I’ve always struggled to maintain friendships, now I’m more intentional eg I set a reminder on my phone to contact or text a friend on a Thursday lunchtime otherwise I would never remember to. And I try to apply more effort to answering texts. But there is such a cross over with the range of human experience, it’s true! So who knows. I definitely don’t need PIP.

Because every man and his dog has it

Because it’s essentially an attachment based presentation

Because the symptoms are very much another presentation of how we live our lives

Because it’s another avenue for big pharma to make a shit tonne of money

Because people don’t want to learn the hard and gruelling road of emotional healing and self regulation so would rather just wack a label on it and take some stimulants.

That, and many more explanations in a nutshell.

I'm surprised nobody has picked up on this comment. It really hits the nail on the head.

I've been saying this for years. We're all affected by the excessive and unnecessary complexity of modern life. It stands to reason that people whose cognitive capacity is already overloaded would struggle exponentially.

I think with all the young people out of work for mental health reasons we aren't going to make a dent in those numbers whilst this is how it is in workplaces.

Ive also been saying this for years, hugely over regulated processes for the smallest most simple thing

I was banging on at work about this yesterday and I work in a very very process led overly regulated role which has changes substantially over the last 30 years.

@WhatNoRaisins , yes, it's the way we do things in society that needs to change. It is a tall order, granted, but I can't see any other answer.

Same with schools, they are hell for an ever increasing number of children, both ND and not.