What's the point of an ADHD diagnosis?

[HelpAGirlOut1234]

Just as the title says... what is actually the point if you have no intention of taking medication, or medicating your child.

@Putmeinsummer

Understand your decision, it's whatever works for your family.

One of the reasons I medicated DS1 was because I'm a teacher, and the disruptive, impulsive behaviours that ADHD brings with it are so difficult for children to handle. I could tell DS1 was beginning to get depressed, and he was constantly frustrated. Medication changed that overnight, and has led to good outcomes thus far. Things could still change I guess.

Sorry I spelt it wrong:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disablist

This: "But it seems so many people around me are being diagnosed with ADHD and some are using it as almost an excuse for disorganisation, lack of productivity, poor behaviour."

Qualified and carefully worded, but the insinuation is there - "so many people diagnosed" "using it as an excuse." Something we have to hear all the time, and upsetting and exhausting to. One more thing to deal with internally as we come to terms with being diagnosed.

I really hope you keep listening and learning about how to engage with people with any disability diagnosis, and please think carefully about the language you use and the ideas you are drawing on.

@MrTiddlesTheCat I think there's a difference really, a visual impairment is a physical disability and I don't think you can compare a visual impairment to ADHD

Some people refuse because of the side effects. But all the people I know with ADHD who refuse medication do so because they feel like it's medicating away part of who they are to keep other people happy.

@AdversePossession I am learning, and I don't consider myself prejudiced with regard any disability.

I just find there has been such an enormous rise in ADHD diagnoses of late and I do believe some people, in my own life, do use it as an excuse.

And I understand that it can be upsetting and exhausting to hear disabilist comments repeatedly, but I also recognise it can be upsetting and exhausting for people to be at the receiving end of these behaviours, when in some minority of cases, a little bit more effort could reduce the impact.

But why then imply that people are not working as hard as you to overcome their difficulties and say that it (ADHD) is used as an excuse for shortcomings?
A person with an amputated leg will have to work hard to overcome their mobility issues. It's helpful though to know that these mobility issues are due to the loss of the leg and not some character flaw. And for that, it helps to know/see the absence of the leg.
People with ADHD do not have the "luxury" of a visible disability. I object to the notion that they use their diagnosis as an excuse for their character flaws. In fact, I would hazard a guess that the vast majority spend their time feeling like they suck at everything and desperately trying to be less "lazy" and "disorganised". It's only when they receive the diagnosis they can actually stop blaming themselves and research tangible strategies to help with skills that are lacking.
Overcoming difficulties is not about trying harder. It's about using the right strategies. An amputee can't walk by trying harder, they need walking aids.

You come across as if you think that because you (someone who doesn’t actually have a diagnosis) can manage fine everyone else (people with the diagnosis) should be able to manage fine and ‘not make up excuses’.

Individuals with ADHD are not homogeneous. Some people struggle with symptoms massively and some experience more mild symptoms. Early life experiences also impact the extent to which ADHD symptoms will impact you (constantly getting told off at school for - internalised shame - lack of motivation - learned helplessness etc). It’s good that you were able to learn strategies but not everyone has supportive parents, teachers, adults to help with this.

Not to sound blunt but your attitude is akin to saying “well not everyone has a bad experience with cancer… I survived!”

Because:

You'll have a better understanding of their challenges

you'll have a better understanding of what support they need

School may be more inclined to put support in place once there's an actual diagnosis. Equally it may become easier to get an EHCP (supposed to be based on needs, but needs are often denied until you have a diagnosis, wrong but true)

You can ask for reasonable adjustments more easily if there's a diagnosis (again shouldn't require a diagnosis, but having one makes it easier)

The child will be able to understand themselves better which is very important for their MH

You can stick two fingers up to all the 'my neighbours best friends auntys child claims her child is adhd but it's not it's just shit parenting and they're making excuses' lot.

Perhaps they will try medication later. Imo it makes sense to see if additional support could help enough before trying medication. Perhaps the child doesn't want too if they are old enough to decide themselves.

You are being" disabled abelist " as in you have a condition and seem to believe that everyone else with the same condition can or should be able to navigate that to the same capacity as you do.

It doesn't work that way.

People with the same condition have different support needs.

Having ADHD isn't an excuse but an explanation for certain behaviours.

Seems like you have a hieracy of disabilities and that you don't consider ADHD to be a proper one. It's you that needs to try harder to overcome your ignorance, not people with neurological disabilities.

Because if there's other ways of managing it, why would you put chemicals into a person?

Knowing a person has ADHD gives you the opportunity to tailor things like their learning methods, tasks in a role etc to them.

My DH struggles most with focus. Either he gets hyper focused (usually at the wrong time) or he is very easily distracted. He knows if he needs to get something done by a certain time, he needs to clear any distractions and close his office door (usually has an open door policy). His team know if the door is closed, he needs to not be disturbed unless it's an emergency.

He's gotten where he is without meds. He doesn't need the meds. But he understands these things are to do with how his mind works and not that he's just useless (as his brothers spent many years telling him). And he knows how to handle it, mostly. Occasionally the hyper focus at the wrong time needs some intervention from me so we actually get somewhere or the things that need doing get done.

However, if he was just seen as a bit "flaky", people would just get irritated with him. Knowing why he's easy to distract (or hard to, depending), makes it easier to handle as someone around him. Doesn't mean I don't find it irritating, but knowing he's not just being a knob does help.

Neuro diverse disabilities are just that the brains neurons are wired differently to those who have typical neurons. ADHDers can take medication which can help with this unlike dyslexics or those with autism or they can choose to manage without.

The disabilities cause those with them to not be able to carry out activities as easily or at all that those with more typical neurons can and it negatively impacts their life.

If the traits that you have do not negatively impact your life because you are able to consistently put coping strategies in place then it's likely you wouldn't get a diagnosis anyway.

And maybe that’s the problem, with a physical disability or physical health condition people usually accept that it’s a disability and that the person can’t help it. With neurodisabilities or mental health conditions etc there’s so often an expectation that the person just needs to try harder and they can get over it.

There are strategies a person with ADHD can put in place to manage the condition and help them with day to day tasks, but that doesn’t take away the fact the person has ADHD and it can be extremely fatiguing to put in place and follow through with those strategies. This is in the same way a person with a visual impairment can put strategies in place to help them with day to day tasks, but it is often more fatiguing than it would be for a person who has no sight impairments. If it took a person with a visual impairment twice as long to hoover the house, they missed a bit and then they were tired from exerting that effort having most people would understand. For a person with a physical impairment who is using a strategy to help them people don’t expect it to always be as effective as it would be for a person without that impairment and don’t expect the execution to always be perfect and there is usually recognition it is much harder for that person than for someone without a physical disability.

For someone with ADHD the expectation seems to be that they should have a magical strategy in place that means they can do things just as effectively as a person without ADHD to the point it shouldn’t be at all obvious they have a disability. The expectation is that they should have come up with a strategy that means they can do things in the same amount of time, with the same amount of effort and with the same effectiveness as a person without ADHD. It isn’t recognised that even with strategies in place things can still be very hard and tiring, far more so than for someone without the disability, and it isn’t recognised that for some things there might not be any fully effective strategies. Nobody expects a person with a physical disability to be able to find a strategy so that they can do every single thing a person without that disability can do effectively and easily, but that seems to be the expectation for people with ADHD and if somebody can’t do that then they’re to blame for just not trying hard enough and finding the correct strategy.

Why does it grind your gears that someone says "does he have ADHD". Isn't it just as much of a valid opinion or question than any? Does he care? Does he understand how to manage money? Does he have ADHD? Does he struggle with managing his time well?

If someone suspects traits why can't they ask a question?

If someone came on saying my DH is always complaining he has pains and it affects him doing things around the house, is it OK to say does he have a stomach issue or is that not allowed for the same reason?

Here are a few suggestions for the type of adjustments that might be useful, these are very much dependent on the person and what difficulties they experience.

Child:

• Extra time in exams
• Help and understanding with organisational skills, e.g. being allowed to keep equipment at school or leniency if they miss a deadline
• Movement breaks in lessons
• Fidget toys in lessons

Adult:

• Being able to work from home more often
• Instructions to be given in writing
• Clear and specific language
• Meetings to be short and interactive
• Noise cancelling headphones

Reasonable adjustments have enabled me to be successful and productive in my chosen career and this is a net benefit for society as a whole.

Come back when you've got an ADHD young adult struggling with university because they can't access support without a diagnosis. They have poor executive function, miss things, struggle with starting/finishing assignments, debilitating insomnia, trouble budgeting, inattention. The list goes on.
I don't know if they'll want to try medication or whether they will seek other methods of support. Without a diagnosis they don't even have the option.

@mrtiddlesthecat Do you want to answer that one or shall I have a go?
You absolutely can compare the two. Adhd is a neurological disorder. It's not just someone who is disorganised. People can have some adhd traits but that doesn't make them adhd - you can't be a bit adhd. It's a massively disabling condition.

So many things know, confront and understand about disabilities, social attitudes and individual experiences - just one of which is the idea of a hierarchy of disability, something else insidious and damaging.

I am going to politely ask that you consider what peope are addressing in your posts. Sources such as this one here are far more articulate than me, and show why it matters.

crippledscholar.com/2015/08/23/fighting-my-internalization-of-the-hierarchy-of-disability/

"Well, actually, no-one ever confirmed I had cancer, but I feel like I probably did, unlike all the fakers who actually got diagnosed with cancer."

To be honest, I was that university student, and I'm also like that as an adult, and it's not easy, it can be very very difficult at times.

But when I started to fail college exams, I realised I had to tackle these behaviours myself and had to put strategies in place to do so.

As an adult, I can't allow my issues to affect the lives of my children, so I have to put strategies in place so that my behaviours don't affect the people around me and I'm able to manage to hold down employment.

But maybe there is a 'spectrum' of ADHD? And maybe if I were to be diagnosed, I would be on the lower end of that spectrum.

I have a diagnosis and can't take medication for other health reasons. But my diagnosis alone was enough to have life-changing positive effects. Before my diagnosis I had internalized the message that I was lazy and careless and that if I only tried harder I could stop wasting my potential. Knowing that I had ADHD meant that I stopped "trying harder" and started working with my ADHD brain rather than trying to do things the neurotypical way I had been taught. I learned to accept my limitations and work around them, and use technology, lifestyle changes and very minor workplace adaptations to stop the ADHD from holding me back and instead use it to my advantage.

My diagnosis has brought me a happiness and stability that I didn't think was possible.

I'm understanding that an early diagnosis is definitely of benefit in helping children understand why they have shortcomings in certain areas, and not believe they are simply 'thick', 'slow' and whatever other horrible words they themselves might use, or others may use against them.

In formative years I can see how this would help lay the foundations for positive MH in later years.

I agree that they work. They have changed my stepdaughter's life for the better in a huge way. I have medication, and I need it for work, but I have to force myself to take it, because the side effects are really hard for me.

The key ones are the nausea, the headaches, and the exhaustion and depression in the evening when it wears off. Maybe there's a better medication out there but titration took so long and at the time there was a shortage so I just had to go with what was available. The short release ones are better than the Concerta but I find them very unenjoyable meds.

You can have some traits or symptoms of ADHD without meeting the full criteria for a diagnosis. ADHD exists on a spectrum, so individuals can experience varying degrees of inattention, hyperactivity, or impulsivity. Some people might have mild symptoms that don't significantly interfere with their daily life, while others might have more severe symptoms that require treatment.

For example, you might occasionally find it hard to concentrate or be more impulsive than others, but if these issues don't consistently impact your work, relationships, or overall functioning, you might not be diagnosed with ADHD.
Courtesy of chat hpt

I feel that it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to say that if you managed to cope with and navigate your behaviours without external help then you likely wouldn't be scored highly enough for any ADHD diagnosis but would be a person that demonstrates traits.

That's not the same in any way.