Does anyone think they DONT have ADHD?

[Frenchtoastie]

I keep seeing posts on instagram with various reasons why someone has ADHD and then hundreds of comments below reporting these people also have all of these symptoms.
Just wondering if anyone reads these and doesn’t relate to them? To me they are just part of being human, but maybe I am completely wrong and I have ADHD🤣

the posts generally include statement along these lines…

• I find it hard to get going or impossible to stop
• I can put off a tiny task for weeks but worry about it for hours but when I finally complete it it takes 5 minutes
• I can distracted and start cleaning after the shower and suddenly I’ve cleaned the whole house whilst wearing my towel
• Having a chair covered in clothes
• having multiple drinks on the go in the house
• needing a calender because if not I would forget appointments

Interesting phenomenon isn’t it? Someone said to me a couple of days ago ‘about my ADHD’, I had to argue I don’t have it! It makes a mockery of people’s actual struggles.

Who doesn’t have a chair covered in clothes?

I do not think I have ADHD.
But
Both of my besties are diagnosed with ADHD and generally I think friendships work because of a commonality.
I have work colleagues who claim I am 100% ADHD.

can you relate to any of this lists of symptoms people post?

Me. I don't think I have ADHD. I am a bit scatty at times, but I think that is normal in 2026.
I don't think anyone in my close family has it either.

I don’t have ADHD. I do use a calendar on my phone for appointments!

Do you have any of those “symptoms” listed above?

Yanbu but you are also about to get flamed for querying this.

I’ve often thought similar - where is the line drawn? I’ve also often wondered who all these perfect, ‘lucky’ people are who don’t suffer some of these adhd symptoms and find their lives really straightforward and easy.

I definitely don’t…I don’t even have a chair in my bedroom 🤣 and I’m waaay too tidy and organised.

Surely everyone does that? Or had a calendar of some description.

That doesn’t point to ADHD.

Yes I even have some other symptoms!
But I am in my 50s and functional, so I don't care enough to test.

I don’t believe they exist. Or if they do people teach me 🤣🤣

My friend thinks I have ADHD, I have looked into the symptoms and am certain I am not ADHD.

How can anyone manage without a calendar?

Yeah everyone and their dog reckons they've got ADHD now. People who've functioned just fucking fine for 40+ years, been to uni, had a career, learned to drive, maintained a relationship etc etc. I'm sure they do have ADHD traits, but the diagnosis should be based on the functional impact those traits have had on your life. If you live a fairly normal life and function well enough to take part in society and meet your basic responsibilities then really, you probably shouldn't reach the threshold for a diagnosis.

People like my brother who are genuinely dysfunctional and live in chaos, never learned to drive, never maintained a job or long term relationship, been homeless and in prison all due to his severe ADHD (diagnosed as a child in the 80s btw) are lumped in with the "ooops so ditsy with my ADHD brain" crowd 🙄

I think I can relate to most of those symptoms and also have some sensory stuff going on, and have struggled with compulsive over eating/binge eating (until mounjaro came a long) and am a master procrastinator. So I feel like I might meet some of the diagnostic criteria these days but don’t think of myself as having adhd (or I guess autism is also a possibility?) I function well, have understood myself better as I get older and think either way it’s just how I am.

My child is in the process of being diagnosed with ADHD, and I am confident that I don’t have ADHD. Wherever it’s from it’s not me!

I don’t. And I work in an industry where 80 per cent of the female staff have a diagnosis.

Of course some of the things listed here I do. A clear part of diagnosis is having symptoms in childhood. I was absolutely fine with self organisation and didn’t do any of those things until I had two kids, full time work and an autistic husband who I basically can’t really rely upon. My DD is neurodivergent. We are totally different.

I am definitely NT.

I definitely need to use a calendar.

I often put off cleaning the house.

I often seriously get focused on things once I get started.

I am looking at both my calendar and my chair covered with clothes right now!
Real ADHD is more than that, surely?

I do all those things. My DD has ADHD and I might have it but I think my difficulties lie in cognitive overload from modern life rather than any brain abnormality. I coped well as a child. The shit is hitting the fan in my 40s perhaps because of hormones but mostly because I have to do ALL THE THINGS for everyone at speed. And now they've added AI to help me with that when actually what they mean is to speed up so I need to do MORE things than before. So yes I feel scatty as hell but frankly anyone would or does in my situation (full time worker with long hours (50+), two young DC, a household to manage and clean, elderly parents needing more support, deciding everything every fucking night what we have for dinner, supporting with homework and extra reading so DC don't turn into AI robots)

All of things on your list everyone does. None of them alone or even together indicate adhd. ADHD is far far bigger than those, but yes those things on the list are some of the ways that people with adhd do behave. However, the biggest problem by far is emotional deregulation.

I actually have an ADHD diagnosis but I’m increasingly of the opinion that we’ve reached the point now that we’re just pathologising the normal spectrum of human behaviour. I agree with the psychiatrists who say the criteria for diagnosing ADHD and autism are now far too broad.

Yeah it’s pathologising totally normal human experiences.

As a person who was actually diagnosed, that is not an ADHD symptom checklist. You are correct in saying that it applies to most people. Social media posts hold no clinical value. Many people think they have ADHD today because they procrastinate on completing tasks and cant focus because social media scrolling destroyed their attention spans. ADHD is more severe and rooted in a person's childhood. My ADHD diagnosis was cathartic because I realised that all the things I did as a child and was criticised heavily for by my parents were not my fault