You know…. ADHD gets a certain… Idk a certain reputation? Like people think, consciously or not, that it isn’t that bad and isn’t a big problem. It’s like… Depression can kill you, anxiety can send you into panic attacks and debilitating fear, eating disorders can kill you, personality disorders are “scary” or whatever, autism makes you “different”… People think these things are a big deal. Whether their reasoning is sound, or fueled by ableism, people, at least on tumblr and in my experience, put a lot of weight on most mental illness and neurodivergence.
But for some reason ADHD is like… Trivialized? Like it is a mild inconvenience that only has a real effect in school. Maybe it’s because it’s not usually life threatening, or because it’s not visible, but I have known that I have had ADHD for 12 years. I am only now understanding the impact it has on my life. My ADHD effects every aspect of my life. I think it’s more impactful than my anxiety disorder. (It may be the cause of my anxiety disorder but we will not even think about that aspect rn).
My ADHD is not a quirk, it’s not just a school problem, it’s not a kid problem, it doesn’t mean I’m hyper and spacey all the time, it’s not any of that.
My brain functions in a fundamentally different way from a NT brain. My social life, academics, memory, interests, confidence, and so much more are directly affected by this. And I never even knew.
I grew up thinking that ADHD made me easily distracted and talkative. That was all the information I was given. Every other symptom was just a personal flaw that I should work harder to fix. I’m starting to realize just how intense the effect of my ADHD truly is and I resent the attitude that it is “not as big of a deal”.
PREACH IT UNIDENTIFIED PERSON I SHARE CHARACTERISTICS WITH
Thank you unidentified person I share characteristics with!
The Perfect Scientist 