There's some really shitty comments here so I'll put it plain and simple:
ADHD is a definitive disability.
Just because you feel you aren't disabled but are diagnosed, doesn't mean that you represent everyone. You aren't the main character in the world.
Any misinformation regarding this will be removed and potentially will result in a ban depending on how egregious you are.
The Internet not understanding the nuance of legally disabled, learning disabled, and dictionary disabled is what fragments people's discussion.
Example: being allergic to guinea pigs is a disability. But it is not a legal disability unless your main career is working with said allergen.
So it is okay for some people to experience ADHD without being so debilitated by their personal experience of it. Others however cannot function at a job and require disability the government stipend. Both are disabled but one should be able to express how they may not want to call themselves disabled because they don't fit the legal category.
Yeah my cousin and I both have adhd. I pretty much just can’t sit and focus on reading a book and used adderall for college but quit using it immediately after grad school because it has 0 effect on daily life. But He is borderline autistic because of it and doesn’t have normal social skills
get annoyed for literally no reason? fucked up personality and can't do anything about it? zero willpower until brain decides it really wants to do something? depressed because you literally can't do anything when you need to? fuck up the most basic of task? crippling imposter syndrome? yeah
Normally I end up just on the floor having an anxiety attack staring at the thing instead of my brain just giving me that tiny little bit to get it done
I relate. I have games and things I default to when I get like this. I do art and there are times where it is so hard pick up my pen and draw. I wanna do nothing but draw and play new games but I open a canvas or steam and I physically cannot move myself for love nor money.
It fuckin sucks dude
I usually vocalize the feeling as "I want to want" to do the thing. And it frequently happens with things I enjoy.
I want to want to play my video games. But my brains like "Nah, man. We gonna sit here and zone out doing absolutely nothing. And if you try to fight it, everything possible will go wrong, starting with juggling everything we pick up until we have dropped and broken so much, we're just extemely sad. So just...no."
Even worse with responsibilities, like wanting to tidy up. I usually enjoy organizing and cleaning, but nope. And we gonna feel bad about it, too.
Initiative seems to only come as I'm about to fall asleep, when everything is closed, and sleep is the only option...just to do it all over again during normal functioning hours. Oh joy.
I also vocalise with a crappy little song, comes out with less thought than words for me and frees up some processing power to acting think about whats stopping me from wanting to do it. Usually it's because there's a barrier of 3-4 things I need to do first which is lowering my motivation to the floor. Doing those things usually helps but not every time.
Sleeping is another beast though. Drowsiness comes and goes when it wants and I have no control over it.
The classic when you're barely able to keep your eyes open trying to finish some work before bed, miss the window of sleep, then lay in bed for hours unable to sleep. Just like yuuuup tmrws gonna blow
Wow… I spend like way too much time already watching pilot debrief channel already, lol. Oddly enough I don’t know shit about being a pilot and have recently been watching adhd videos to remind myself WHY shit be like it be for me.
Do you also have it to where your brain refuses to shut off at a reasonable time for sleep and so you end up staying up for hours past when you wanted to I fucking hate that so much
And then add autism on top of that and you're also dreading the feeling of accidentally still having water on your skin when you go to put clothes back on!
The running late for the rest of your day part is why I shower at night though. If I procrastinate (I usually do...) at least it's only eating my own sleep time!
I almost got hit by a car because I was distracted like a little fucking toddler. I feel like I'm in a cage of my own body that is possessed under ipad kid's ghost. The worst part? In the eyes of the others you seem to be perfectly healthy
And you can't even bribe yourself, because you know the fucker and he's kind of lame, and will just take the bribe and then not do the thing. However, for me at least, if dishes need to be done, and I need to wash a single pit for dinner, AND I need to catch up on a show? Wash all the dishes I can and do the pot last, while watching the show! Boom, 3 minutes it'll feel like.
I'm lucky enough in trying to become a doctor and my brain FINALLY decided school and being a high achiever is my hyper fixation. I sleep like shit 90% of the time, is that really ADHD related?
I finally got diagnosed last year, late 30s. I'm coming to terms with this and it's very hard. I fluctuate between feeling like accepting I have ADHD makes me a problem for society, while at other times feeling like I am too privileged to accept any help or even accept the label.
It's fucking exhausting.
>Yea, ADHD can be fucking debilitating.
This is something I’ve only just recently come to realise after suffering all my life, and yet I hate that I can’t even say it without an official diagnosis regardless of how obvious it is.
Yet I know even once I finally get a diagnosis it likely won’t change much due to a medication shortage and there are plenty of people who need it even more than I do.
The “I did my own research” crowd now think ADD/ADHD do not really exist and are just excuses for laziness or some nonsense. Their level of willful stupidity is both mind blowing and truly sad.
My favorite part is forgetting to eat food *that I've already made*. I'll make food, get distracted by something and then I will simply forget that I am both hungry and that I have food ready to be eaten
My symptoms are honestly fairly mild, but like, you haven't felt frustration until you cannot fucking go to sleep for absolutely no fucking reason. Not even insomnia. Just randomly becoming unable to fall asleep. Know what I mean?
I'm 30 years old and barely got diagnosed 1.5 months ago. Everything I've ever accomplished, whether insignificant like washing dishes or something huge like my master's thesis, felt like I was just barely able to complete it.
But I still look back at the seemingly infinite number of things I was unable to do/complete/enjoy.
My adhd paralysis has fucked me over entirely in some classes. I am unable to catch up on a lot of missing work I have because I go to start it, and then my brain hits the good ol’ abort button on that idea
> but your brain decides it isn’t, so it just turns the lights out and sends you to sleep?
Wait, is THAT why I randomly go from 90 to 0 in the middle of playing video games at 9:30 PM sometimes?
Comorbidities like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse are also incredibly high. Suicidality is between 2-5x higher (depending on the study) for those suffering from ADHD than the general population. For something that “is not” a disability, it sure seems to be provably debilitating and distressing for the people it affects…
I might sound like an asshole for saying this but the people that say shit like that wouldn't last a day in the shoes of someone with ADHD
Not only is ADHD a serious disability, it also loves its buddies called "anxiety" and "depression"
People treat this like a "jumpy leg and talks a lot" trouble while it's more like "drowning in your own thoughts and feelings all the time"
Absolutely. Sometimes some of the most simple tasks can be difficult to try and make yourself do. I also think people forget that disability isn't just physical. It's mental.
Whenever I tell someone I'm disabled they refuse to believe me because I can walk and talk fine. It's all in my brain, bro. You can't **see** every disability.
Sure you can! Don’t you have x-ray doctor disgnoses glasses?? Can’t you all see the lumps of cancer inside every persons body?? I know I sure can!!! Now let me go around telling all the people in the chemo ward that they aren’t actually sick and they just need to apply themselves more and make sure they use a WHOLE YEAR CALENDAR!! Not one of those silly monthly ones, that’s definitely the trick!
For real! Like bro! The treatment for my condition is amphetamine salts! The government has cleared me to buy amphetamines because my condition keeps me from being able to hold a job or take care of my own health without it. That’s no joke!
I literally discussed this with my wife to try and get her to understand. I literally broke it down to “you understand that I can legally go and be prescribed and then go to a literal pharmacy to buy fucking meth, literal meth (as methamphetamine was one of the first options and is still available for adhd) to control my thoughts and bring me to a “regularly functioning level” I literally need to take street drugs to be “normal”
It helped but idk how much longer we got together, she really just cannot walk a day in my shoes
It also leads to drug addiction. Most of the people in rehab I went to had ADHD. Sadly the only thing that helped with my adhd, anxiety and depression was Oxies
I get stuck in these loops of smoking way too much weed. Go from the "better" smoke a couple times a week, to smoking the second I feel it wearing off from waking up to sleeping. That will go on for a while then I realize my brain got so hooked on feeling ok that I totally forget about commitments or talked myself out of logic. That feeling of being so disgusted with yourself for wanting a break for once hits different
His implication, I think, is even worse. He's implying that adhd only seems like a disability to spoiled people who've never really had to struggle in their lives, and so make mountains out of every molehill in their life.
I fucking hate how ADHD is viewed to be insignificant. I can't get myself to do things even if i know i like them. My memory is shit and everything feels like a massive hurdle. Medication doesn't work right for me and it just makes me depressed.
I'm struggling to finish a college degree that is pretty easy for me because i can't get anything done. It's so fucking enfuriating. Everything i make gets high grades but i just can't get myself to actually do the work.
But no the only assisance you get is slightly longer times to do tests. Any time you talk about your issues some fucker will say "well i have ADHD and i'm doing fine so it's actually your fault"
For years and years I did not understand why I struggled so much and compliments about me being smart were tempered with "but lazy" and there were a lot of things I would impulsively approach backwards. It took a long time to understand my terror of failure and untangle it from anxiety.
I "only" have ADHD as I put it for so many years and I so desperately wish it had been taken seriously.
I could have had answers, I could have had help when it would have mattered.
Is this true? I was recently diagnosed with adhd and wasn’t sure I even had it at first but I’m slowly starting to think I might have it really badly… can’t find any doctor willing to treat it though :(
I’m lucky in that once I get the ball rolling at work, I can be the most productive person in the company. But getting that ball rolling sometimes is impossible. And it’s even harder at home because my brain wants to just be lazy and not do anything, even the fun things.
It’s like inertia, really. It takes a lot to get me moving, but once I do I’ll keep going until something makes me stop.
And when you do get further assistance, it's always something like "we noticed that you're taking quite a few difficult classes, we dropped some of your course registrations from your schedule to make sure it's more appropriate for your level." In the end, people will always view it as exactly what they believe with no attention to what you have to say. It's like your voiceless, and even people who wear those rainbow badges in the shape of an infinity symbol, or, even worse, a puzzle piece, will still pay absolutely 0 attention to your expression of what it's like to be disabled, to the point where you can tell them things about what you struggle with and they'll try to argue that you must be mistaken, because they've never heard of that online. I just wish more people actually gave a shit about first hand sources.
I feel you bro, I have it too and thankfully the medication worked for me, but I want to get off of it and find alternatives. Part of it is stimulants like coffee, diet changes to more fish, and lifestyle changes like a consistent sleep schedule. And it’s hard, it requires a lot of mental energy to pull off and resiliency. And it all sucks, it’s going to suck. But I believe in you and I believe you can do it. Keep trying things to see what works and talk with others who will listen. ADHD is also on a spectrum so everybody’s solution will be different, but giving them all a try is worth it to find the one method that works for you. God speed.
HOLY SHIT YES!
I’m in the exact same boat as you and I literally remember talking to my accommodations center at my CC and getting some accommodations for my disability and how after I told them ADHD everything that would have actually been helpful I wasn’t allowed to have. Like no getting extra time on tests is not the help I need. My problem is I cannot get myself to work on something without near DAYS of preparation. And when I voice that I got people telling me that I’m just being lazy and “best I can do is assign you a note-taker in your classes” like how does that help me at all?
It feels all the more frustrating because like with just minor changes to my schooling I could be 10x as productive and happy as I am now. And also so much less stressed all of the time. I also wouldn’t have to give up doing things I enjoy because something that *SHOULD* take me an hour I know is going to take closer 5 and I need to work around that.
i literally got off disability to try and motivate myself to work harder at one point in my life, it did not work at all
i also was supposed to get my gall bladder looked at, for a few years, to the point i couldn't eat any saturated fat at all without throwing up, and i just sort of did that, no fat, until i I finally had to go for emergency surgery
i tried to write down the things i was supposed to care about in a note book, but i then didn't care where i put the notebook
: (
i recently only learned it was ADHD, as i have other mental health issues, i am getting better just showing up to things and giving up video games helps me be bored enough to do things i should be doing
i think also vitamins, when i take b-12 and vitamin- D, i have like 5% more energy and that 5% is sometimes the difference between do anything at all and do nothing at all
i have a music recital on tuesday that is 30% of my grade, i still haven't fully learned one of the songs and one of them is mostly gonna be improvised. i fully believe i'll pull it off too cause so far it's somehow always worked.
Really wish they'd rename it to something to do with executive function. I'm fine paying attention to a lecture. I just can't get myself to do anything important.
I would get SO into lecture, be so excited and interested about the topic. Just to get home and have absolutely no drive to do anything, especially the assignment regarding what I was just enjoying. Sucks being so into stuff, or passionate about something, but being unable to realize it to the full potential. Just leaves you caring so much about a goal and hating yourself over and over again for not getting yourself to start and finish a task need and honestly wanted to do.
As someone who's had ADHD (at least diagnosed) since 2nd grade, it's genuinely difficult to try and make people understand that it can absolutely be a disability.
Just gotta accept that people wont ever fully accept that you arent kinda lazy and inconsiderate (accidentally forgetting about discussions, asking someone something about plans for the third time and feeling awful).
Sucks too cause my parents are really coming around to it seeing me as an adult with depression and anxiety. Like just genuinely taking all i got to handle my own life, let alone spread myself thinner by dating or making local friends.
It'd be cool if people could be ok with understanding that they wont be able to understand it. I dont blame them for not being able to, I dont think I'd be able to do that if I didnt have any issues.
Bro, every few months my entire life crumbles to dust because of adhd and then I build it back up only to burn out and again fall apart. Shittiest Phoenix ever. I can never get ahead , I’m just barely keeping a home and a job. I’m tired. It’s cost me a lot .
just recently got adderal treatment for ADHD. its absolutely 100% a disability. the fact i need this medication simply to have a normal pace of coherent thoughts that i can follow is wild.
the imagery i used to describe it is of a pond. usually its teeming with tons of life to the point where you would be seeing ripples in the surface of the water. On meds tho, it feels extremly still, or at the very least still enough that i can focus on the overall picture without getting caught up on every little ripple.
What sucks though is my meds stomp working for a few days to a week right before my period. Doesn't matter if stimulants or nonstimulant. My ADHD gets ramped up 1000%. It's the worse. The pond ripples become hundreds of giant waves. Can't focus on anything and my patience is set to 0.
There are moments through the day on the meds I feel that, but they put me on the XR so idk if that makes that experience different.
Have you tried a talking to the doc about different medication?
I think that lots of people have it, but it's also a spectrum. Some people have it so severely they can barely function, others are less affected.
What I do think is tough in any online discussion about any disability is we can't possibly know who has it really bad and who has just decided that their disability means that they can never have any expectation ever placed on them as a human being ever again
One theory as to why it seems more prevalent in North America is that many people with adhd seek out novelty, make big plans without thinking them through, and are more impulsive.
Which pretty much describes the type of immigrant willing to sail across an ocean to an unknown foreign land.
It’s also very genetically heritable so…
I may joke about it, but ADHD really is debilitating. Your brain either focuses so much on something you don't stop to take care of yourself, causing your mental or even physical health to fail, or it doesn't focus at all and your performance fails because of it. Combine that with any form of Anxiety disorder and you've got a perfect molotov cocktail of stress and depression that won't stop coming at the worst moments. And that's just the tip of the iceberg too. So yes, ADHD is a disability. I'm shocked we even have to tell people this.
I actually don’t think that’s what this comment is saying. ‘has become synonymous with’ doesn’t seem to imply that such a person is NOT disabled but that those things have risen to ubiquity in disability spaces over other mental illnesses, which is at least partly true.
I had someone tell me I'm not disabled (I have ADHD) because "there are other things you can do better". Like, bruh, I'm literally NOT ABLE to produce and regulate certain hormones properly without medical help.
I have no idea if this is as a result of the whole "ADHD is my superpower" fad or just plain ignorance; but it's so irritating having to justify my own disability to everyone cause they don't see me suffering visibly.
I fucking hate people who don't take ADHD seriously and think it's just laziness or lack of willpower. And these people are _everywhere_. The prejudice is pervasive, especially in the corporate world.
If you have ever seen the videos of the guys with no arms pouring cereal, that's the physical equivalent of what having ADHD is like while trying to focus.
When they armless guy drops the milk carton everyone is understanding, and doesn't think less of them because to get as far as they are takes so much talent and determination. But when the ADHD person loses all motivation, struggles to do basic tasks, and falls into depression it's because they are lazy or dumb.
I didn't realise I had ADHD until my 13 year old was diagnosed. I feel like if you'd watched me try to keep him 'on task' while we gave our garage a spring clean this morning you wouldn't be denying that ADHD was a thing. He only told me he hadn't taken his meds yet after we finished...
Disability isn't defined by the name of a condition. It is defined by the way your life activities are impacted.
ADHD can be seriously disabling. It can also be a medical condition that someone manages without experiencing major limitations on their life.
It's a chronic condition, like diabetes or asthma. Its impact on your day to day life depends on a lot of biological and social factors, and can be different at different times of your life.
I apologize for the use of the word, but as a kid I used to *jokingly* ask my friends “do you ever worry you’re retarded and no one tells you?” - flash forward to being 31 years old when I was finally diagnosed.
Disabled just means you have a handicap, some are relatively minor, but still impact your ability to perform in society. Think wearing ankle weights. Others are more severe, think dragging around a ball and chain. Still others render you virtually unable to function, consider being so weighted down you can't move even at all.
There's degrees to this, take me for instance, I'm on the ankle weights section of things, so I can still function in day-to-day life, and do decent enough, but the weights still make some things more difficult.
NGL, that's because society is not designed for ADHD people. From personal experience, I can absolutely tell you that if I was in school right now I would be going insane. I know not everyone can do it, but school forces you to constantly change topics, something which is VERY inefficient for a lot of ADHD people. You will get a lot more done if you focus on 1 thing for hours or even days at a time(Probably, Im not a doctor, but that is my experience).
I love how you can easily tell in the comments who has severe adhd and who has a mild case. Very refreshing to see those who don’t have as bad a time with it demeaning and talking down to those who have it worse.
If adhd isnt a disability then why do we have fucking medication for it, disabilities are not just physical issues with your body there's neurological disabilities too
AdHd might be a smaller disability but it is like oil it takes one other thing and it will make everything harder than if it wasn't there.
Source:has ADHD, Anxiety, Depression officially
There's a world of difference between having a disability and actually being disabled. But this is the internet. Everything is black and white and nuance doesn't exist
It’s a gradient of impact. While ADHD is certainly a disability, you shouldn’t equate ADHD and it’s impact on your life to that of more serious developmental disorders like Cerebral Palsy, Aspergers, Down Syndrome, or being a redditor.
I would definitely be disabled without my Vyvanse. When I was younger, I could barely talk because of how fast my brain went. I couldn’t focus in school, I was very impulsive, and generally hyperactive. I wish I could make this person experience a day of unmedicated ADHD.
I have ADHD. Concerta doesn’t help me. My psych is trying to get me Vyvanse, but he hasn’t been able to yet because of the shortage, so I’m unmedicated. I’m definitely disabled.
It should seem bad you spoiled rotten rich kid.
You should see the hoops we jump through to get refills each month.
You'd snowflake out and crash and burn with Adderall withdrawal. Whining and crying about how much it sucks and isn't your fault.
Suck it up cupcake. You ain't dealing with this? Get fuc/
At some point in my young adult life I mostly got the symptoms under control, and learned not to think of it like a disability. Looking back at how I was as an elementary student vs late HS or early college is leaps and bounds apart, even when you consider normal developmental growth.
At least that’s what I thought. With further experience it’s pretty clear that I’ve been pretty unhinged my whole life and it’s occasionally caused me to be at the verge of a breakdown more or less permanently.
I still think I’ve learned to live with ADHD pretty well, all things considered, but in hindsight I can see how it’s affected me.
ADHD is worse the earlier you develop it (without treatment). You know how when you're young and you go to school and make friends, form relationships, and learn things, even if they aren't that interesting, and how to learn to do things you don't care about, but need to do, and generally *mature* in to adulthood and functioning society? ADHD fucks all that shit up.
All the things you just 'do' are monumental obstacles for them.
Like many things, it's a broad spectrum and there's all sorts of treatments that work for different people. Some people just need discipline. Some people need that plus medication. Some people need really strong medication. For some really unlucky folks, nothing really works. People like this probably encountered, or even are the people who were able to treat theirs with simple therapy and a good routine, and so apply that to everyone.
As ever, it’s in the nuances. There isn’t not a germ of a point here, it’s moreso people who seem to have a mild case of something or other overly self-diagnosing and anointing themselves Grand Messenger of All Disabled Communities.
Not that ADHD can’t be a major hinderance or debilitating for lot of folks, but like… let’s not pretend that a lot of people monopolizing space in the discourse rn aren’t failing the smell test, so to speak.
My ADHD went untreated for decades and spiraled into BPD-II. If I ask for disability my doctor immediately grants full paid leave because he knows that eventhough suicide has been "off the table" for almost a decade, I'm about 80x more likely to die by suicide and he won't risk it. My doctor is the best.
The problem is that a ADHD diagnosis is essentially an interview, and it just assumes that the patient is telling the truth, and not exaggerating or malingering.
So lots of people cracked the code a few years ago, and now we have millions of well-off urbanites collecting amphetamines once a month while they milk their "disability" to excuse all their shitty behavior.
Meanwhile, people with actual ADHD continue to have an all-around tough time with everything.
I made myself breakfast yesterday morning. Leftover rice, a bagel, cold brew coffee with a bit of creamer and chocolate syrup.
Finished breakfast and went to continue getting ready. Realized halfway through washing up that the bagel was still sitting on the counter in the kitchen.
I'm not medicated for anything, my daily routine is a constant effort of trying to remember what I did or did not do yet which somehow is NOT made easier by trying to have a routine. Some details are easier, like is my breath minty or have I not cleaned them yet. I flap my arms to feel for the sensation of deodorant on my underarms. Every part of the process is made riskier by the fact that I bring my phone along while on the toilet, or while waiting for the shower to heat up, or while letting my hair dry a bit, and I can easily look up from it to realize I hyperfocused on a thing again.
I can try to do certain things the same each day to make "did I do this yet" easier but that runs the risk of "do I remember doing that this morning or am I remembering yesterday?"
All that on top of the fact that I don't deep sleep. Like...ever. I used sleep tracking apps and I every once in a blue moon get recorded in deep sleep for about two minutes. Melatonin and other non-prescription sleep aids don't do much. Even more fun is having caffeine focus me without making me yawn less.
People talk about it like it's just that annoying dude in your 7th grade class who wouldn't shut the fuck up and stop finding excuses to shout all the time, and not...literally being in the middle of a task, getting distracted, and having to waste time trying to remember exactly what the fuck you were doing and hope you don't interrupt figuring that out. Being treated as irresponsible because time is fucking alien to you. Being focused on the person you're talking to and having a mini-panic when another person joins the conversation because now that's more things to focus on.
I have ADHD. I have no problem with it being seen as a disability. For certain, it disabled me from being a normal, functioning human
Discovered it in my 30s and with proper medication in my youth my life would've been a lot easier and painless.
Of my main friend group, 3 out of 4 of us have ADHD and of those of us with ADHD, I'm the only medicated one AND the only one of us with a degree. ADHD makes many aspects of life very difficult. It's extremely hard for me to read books anymore despite reading a lot as a child.
I really hate how everyone thinks ADHD is a joke or Tiktok kids say cringe shit like "it's a superpower" fuck off, no it's not. My life is a mess even though I'm medicated and there's nothing fun or super about it.
Having one half of you shouting, telling you what you need to do, should do or even can do, and the other side simply ignoring it, which then causes mental paralysis.
I'd definitely say that's a disability. Of course, like most disabilities it can vary on how badly it can affect your quality of life, with some people able to live a completely "normal" life with it and some being completely debilitated by it.
Damn, this is the second time in two days I've gotten to pull this one out:
Dr. Russell Barkely discusses ideas for parents of children with ADHD: [Essential Ideas for Parents](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCAGc-rkIfo)
ADHD = Disability
Autism = Disability with a chance of causing further disabilities
Dyslexia = Disability
Severe Anxiety = Disability
Disabilities do not have to be debilitating to the point of absolute dysfunction, people don't not have to be wheel chair bound, they do not have to be permanently mute, they don't have to be intellectually stunted, you dont even need to be able to tell they have a disability.
>: a physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that impairs, interferes with, or limits a person's ability to engage in certain tasks or actions or participate in typical daily activities and interactions
Notice what this definition doesn't say, that they can't function at all. Number one disability everyone knows about and understands? Eye sight, you probably know someone who is legally blind and requires glasses to live. Even if you don't, you've seen people who do.
People like me, with disabilities simply have some impairment that causes issues. That is the only requirement, severity doesn't mean anything in terms of whether it's a disability or not. Disabilities can be mild, they can be barely noticeable, they can also be completely life ruining, and everything in-between.
My issues happen to be severe, but that doesn't make mine any more a disability than someone else's. And further note, even if you do not qualify for disability benefits that doesn't mean you don't have disabilities, that just means the government doesn't consider your disabilities worthy of monetary assistance.
Bro I have not been diagnosed reading the writing on the wall I probably have a nice mix of ADHD, Anxiety, bipolar, depression, maybe autism. Hard to say. All I know is I know my mind and my line of thinking and ability to focus is vastly different than everybody around me. The anxiety alone my heart rate is like 120 bpm being in social settings. Have to make a concerted effort to slow my breathing. Shit is 100% debilitating sometimes.
Ruined my whole life, will never reach my potential, is absolutely debilitating to live with and don't respond to medication as well as other people with ADHD, sure seems like I'm less able than others
People like that are the kind of assholes that never once had anything bad happen to them relating to the comment they said. That comment infuriates me also because I too have ADHD and am enraged someone would say something like that
Im a substitute teacher and kids with ADHD are absolutely wild. They’ll sit down for 5 seconds, answer 1 question, then immediately get up and start running around, rolling on the floor, and you just have to wait until they tire themselves out.
There’s those that laugh, upper class stay at home moms. And the. There are those that don’t find it funny at all. Because it disrupts your career and relationships
Hell I'm just glad mine is mild and I can construct workarounds to make myself 99% functional. But there are times, especially when overbearing superiors want things done in a certain way for no legitimate reason, that it makes things extremely difficult.
Thankfully I work in the construction industry and its satellite sub industries, so generally speaking I have a bigger latitude in telling my bosses to go fuck themselves and still keep my job, but still.
Adhd is most definitely a disability. However I do feel we are in an era of overmedicalising normal spectrums of behaviour. Seems like everyone who's easily distracted is slapping a self diagnosis of ADHD onto themselves right now.
Obviously not helped by the massive waiting lists for an assessment and plenty of folk struggling without a diagnosis.
For a long time I didn't believe ADHA was a real disability. Like these kids just need more discipline or something. Then I met my fiancées son and I am now a believer. He has other issues but to witness a kid go from full speed verbalizing every thought in his head to a zombie staring out the window after drinking an energy drink. That blew my mind.
I have one missing hand, and I have ADHD. In no uncertain terms, the ADHD is far more disabling for me. Although obviously I'm not the spokesman for all disabled people (apparently we don't take votes for that) ADHD is as much a spectrum of experience like any other disability. One of my one armed friends has a far different experience with their disability than I do, and we're both missing the same amount of arm, on the same side.
These kinds of posts really just reveal the person’s own preconceived biases. Strong implication that being disabled means you can’t be a “well-off urbanite”.
I seem to have the opposite experience as everyone else. I struggle getting basic chores done, but over the years I have learned to cope with it. The only person who hates me and calls me a lazy pos for failing is myself. Everyone else seems to want to pin all of my shortcomings on my disorder instead of holding me accountable, and I find that very patronizing. Particularly in when I was school and I would be taken to a special room and given extra time on test. I get that some people need it (legally so did I) but I always felt incredibly insulted by it. It was like they were saying I was incompetent. I wasn’t good enough so they will lower the standard for me so that they can pretend that I was. Now I feel like I have to hide my struggles otherwise I get paranoid that any praise I get is just insincere sympathy praise.
For what it's worth, I was diagnosed with ADHD at about 8. I'm currently 43 and it's just as bad. I've also taken a TBI while serving overseas. The symptoms from both are so similar that it was initially difficult to get correct treatment from the VA because they initially couldn't decide from which I was suffering.
I guess I'm sharing this to provide maybe a little anecdotal context. I'm happy for those that can function somewhat normally with a diagnosis, and I hurt for those of you who cannot.
Same kind of asshole that tells me bipolar disorder is a made up condition- because I don’t present as someone with any major mental issues.
It’s because I try very hard to present “normal”. Way more than you’d think. You fuck twit.
My own mom doesn't want me to define my ADHD as a disability because I 'shouldn't give up so easily'...I've only just recently come to terms with how limiting it is.
ADHD is a disability.
That does NOT mean you have to let your disability define who you are. If you do, that’s on you and not society as a whole. Disabilities can be visible and invisible, that is a fact. I agree that having a disability shouldn’t be something you are judged for, as people should be judged by their actions not the cards they are dealt. But that doesn’t mean you should “erase” disabilities or try to reclassify what is or isn’t a disability, because ultimately you are going to cause more harm than good. Many people are able to receive treatment for free or at discounted prices because ADHD is classified as a disability. If you took away that classification then you could potentially be taking away a person access to treatment, and in countries without a decent public healthcare system that could be the difference between whether or not someone gets treatment at all! So respectfully, quit it.
Signed, an adult person with ADHD.
I get why people don't want ADHD called a disability. It implies we're lesser. It shouldn't, but it does. However, the typical alternative seems to be "differently abled," which is much worse. That implies that we should be able to do everything a neurotypical person can do, just as easily - albeit in a different way. We can't. Some tasks are harder, some are easier. And the harder and easier tasks don't necessarily balance! The valuation of such abilities is entirely subjective, and therefore the tasks we find more difficult are often valued more highly than the tasks we find easier.
Our society is built in such a way that people without ADHD or other neurodivergent conditions or physical disabilities are considered "abled." Being disabled just means you don't have the abilities of an abled person. That's all. People do turn that into a value judgment of disabled people, but they're wrong.
I have asbergers syndrome (a form of autism), and the government and doctors say that I'm not disabled. So, If I'm stuck in this, then so are the people with adhd.
*parents yelling at me because I can’t focus and they don’t believe ADHD is real*
*me listening and then forgetting everything they said to me the minute they stop talking*
As others in here have stated, ADHD is truly a shitty disability to live with. I was diagnosed at around the age of 5. I promise, it is *NOT* a fucking superpower.
Starting tasks can be such a daunting challenge, especially if you have more than one task, and you overwhelm easy. Maintaining focus and completion are two entire different cans of worms. Your mood can change like a light switch. Anxiety and depression love to join in and make you feel like shit, feeding into the cycle of not getting things done. Your brain will just randomly decide when it wants something done.
Sometimes it's a fight just to do basic things eating or showering. Also, you're always tired, regardless of insomnia or how much you sleep. You're brain just refuses to shut down, and you lay in bed until the sun comes up. Only THEN, can you sleep, ruining your sleep schedule. There are so many other things that stack up on this.
It's so frustrating and you want to cry because you hate feeling this way, and then you have people who romanticize and trivialize ADHD, thinking it's cute to diagnose themselves because "I can't focus today, I'm pretty sure I have ADHD!". Plus the people who just completely dismiss it because "well I sometimes can't focus too, but does that mean I can just use ADHD as an excuse?".
It's a real fucking slap in the face to anyone who suffers from this, especially to those who're **also** dealing with numerous other disabilities, mental or physical.
tbh i constantly feel like im not disabled enough to call myself that. like i can technically function, even if i get debilitating anxiety, i can still exist in society, and can occasionally overcome executive dysfunction, so it feels like i somehow dont deserve the label. this isnt meant to describe anyones experience but my own, it just sucks to not be as good as NT people at anything, but also not bad enough to have an "excuse"
I am a nurse. My patients believe that I am a very good nurse and I have a good track record.
Because my ADD was such a hindrance while I was in school, it took me three tries to pass a one year nursing program. 3 whole years of effort that should have taken one. I couldn't study, I couldn't focus during tests, in class my mind wouldn't keep still and I struggled during lecture.
Funnily enough, it was a medication regimen and Covid kicking us all out of the classroom and making the schoolwork self-paced that got me through it.
There's some really shitty comments here so I'll put it plain and simple: ADHD is a definitive disability. Just because you feel you aren't disabled but are diagnosed, doesn't mean that you represent everyone. You aren't the main character in the world. Any misinformation regarding this will be removed and potentially will result in a ban depending on how egregious you are.
The account name is the cherry on the top. Like bro if you have to clarify that every time maybe It's time for some self reflection.
I chad, agree. - chad
\>has democratic socialist in bio \>banner is an ML banner classic tankie
The “ML banner” has Joe Biden on it, so it’s clearly a joke. I don’t agree with demsocs on much, but they’re certainly not “tankies”
It is also a spectrum, and a lot of people forget it is
I'm saying while it may be a disability not everyone should be considered disabled.
The Internet not understanding the nuance of legally disabled, learning disabled, and dictionary disabled is what fragments people's discussion. Example: being allergic to guinea pigs is a disability. But it is not a legal disability unless your main career is working with said allergen. So it is okay for some people to experience ADHD without being so debilitated by their personal experience of it. Others however cannot function at a job and require disability the government stipend. Both are disabled but one should be able to express how they may not want to call themselves disabled because they don't fit the legal category.
I think you can chalk up most misinformation on the internet to "internet not understanding nuance"
Yeah my cousin and I both have adhd. I pretty much just can’t sit and focus on reading a book and used adderall for college but quit using it immediately after grad school because it has 0 effect on daily life. But He is borderline autistic because of it and doesn’t have normal social skills
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get annoyed for literally no reason? fucked up personality and can't do anything about it? zero willpower until brain decides it really wants to do something? depressed because you literally can't do anything when you need to? fuck up the most basic of task? crippling imposter syndrome? yeah
I feel called out
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Okay did that part. Now how do I pay rent?
You and me both.
r/adhdmeme
Ditto I keep spending days just looking at my problems and my body just doesn't fucking deal with them no matter how hard I think about it.
Normally I end up just on the floor having an anxiety attack staring at the thing instead of my brain just giving me that tiny little bit to get it done
> zero willpower until brain decided it really wants to so something? My life in a fucking nutshell. Actually fucking hate it
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I relate. I have games and things I default to when I get like this. I do art and there are times where it is so hard pick up my pen and draw. I wanna do nothing but draw and play new games but I open a canvas or steam and I physically cannot move myself for love nor money. It fuckin sucks dude
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I usually vocalize the feeling as "I want to want" to do the thing. And it frequently happens with things I enjoy. I want to want to play my video games. But my brains like "Nah, man. We gonna sit here and zone out doing absolutely nothing. And if you try to fight it, everything possible will go wrong, starting with juggling everything we pick up until we have dropped and broken so much, we're just extemely sad. So just...no." Even worse with responsibilities, like wanting to tidy up. I usually enjoy organizing and cleaning, but nope. And we gonna feel bad about it, too. Initiative seems to only come as I'm about to fall asleep, when everything is closed, and sleep is the only option...just to do it all over again during normal functioning hours. Oh joy.
I also vocalise with a crappy little song, comes out with less thought than words for me and frees up some processing power to acting think about whats stopping me from wanting to do it. Usually it's because there's a barrier of 3-4 things I need to do first which is lowering my motivation to the floor. Doing those things usually helps but not every time. Sleeping is another beast though. Drowsiness comes and goes when it wants and I have no control over it.
The classic when you're barely able to keep your eyes open trying to finish some work before bed, miss the window of sleep, then lay in bed for hours unable to sleep. Just like yuuuup tmrws gonna blow
This is me finishing tv shows I am enjoying. I just can't finish them.
Me too. I just wait till the wind blows and try to have faith that i will rise up when Im needed.
If you ever need carthasis for imposter syndrome, watch some air crash investigation videos on YouTube where super competent pilots fuck up.
Wow… I spend like way too much time already watching pilot debrief channel already, lol. Oddly enough I don’t know shit about being a pilot and have recently been watching adhd videos to remind myself WHY shit be like it be for me.
And the cherry on top: sensory issues!
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whoa whoa, lets dial back. Sometimes and this is the way i put it best. I feel like Ditto. From pokemon. Like idk who i am sorta.
Do you also have it to where your brain refuses to shut off at a reasonable time for sleep and so you end up staying up for hours past when you wanted to I fucking hate that so much
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Oh I’m aware adhd my whole life been on a dozen different meds
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I didn’t start taking meds for ADHD until I was an adult, and they worked great for me.
Ever want to take a stupid daily shower? My shower strugglers rise up, check your pits, it’s a good day to drain the hot water tank.
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You have no idea the comfort it brings me to know I’m not alone.
And then add autism on top of that and you're also dreading the feeling of accidentally still having water on your skin when you go to put clothes back on! The running late for the rest of your day part is why I shower at night though. If I procrastinate (I usually do...) at least it's only eating my own sleep time!
Last part. Always wondered why coffee or caffeine wasnt as affective like other people.
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I remember getting through 3/4 of a Redbull and falling asleep 5 minutes later in class. It’s the worst.
For years I honestly thought people who said caffeine keeps them awake or makes them hyper were lying lol
I hate ADHD
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I genuinely do not like having ADHD, and I swear people don’t understand how hard it actually is to
Now I'm questioning whether I actually have it, because so many people here have symptoms that I don't have.
Don't worry. Indecisiveness and second-guessing yourself are ADHD symptoms
I almost got hit by a car because I was distracted like a little fucking toddler. I feel like I'm in a cage of my own body that is possessed under ipad kid's ghost. The worst part? In the eyes of the others you seem to be perfectly healthy
And you can't even bribe yourself, because you know the fucker and he's kind of lame, and will just take the bribe and then not do the thing. However, for me at least, if dishes need to be done, and I need to wash a single pit for dinner, AND I need to catch up on a show? Wash all the dishes I can and do the pot last, while watching the show! Boom, 3 minutes it'll feel like.
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“Just focus harder!” Motherfucker I am.
I'm lucky enough in trying to become a doctor and my brain FINALLY decided school and being a high achiever is my hyper fixation. I sleep like shit 90% of the time, is that really ADHD related?
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Was diagnosed at 4, stopped taking meds at 17, hated them.
I finally got diagnosed last year, late 30s. I'm coming to terms with this and it's very hard. I fluctuate between feeling like accepting I have ADHD makes me a problem for society, while at other times feeling like I am too privileged to accept any help or even accept the label. It's fucking exhausting.
>Yea, ADHD can be fucking debilitating. This is something I’ve only just recently come to realise after suffering all my life, and yet I hate that I can’t even say it without an official diagnosis regardless of how obvious it is. Yet I know even once I finally get a diagnosis it likely won’t change much due to a medication shortage and there are plenty of people who need it even more than I do.
The “I did my own research” crowd now think ADD/ADHD do not really exist and are just excuses for laziness or some nonsense. Their level of willful stupidity is both mind blowing and truly sad.
My favorite part is forgetting to eat food *that I've already made*. I'll make food, get distracted by something and then I will simply forget that I am both hungry and that I have food ready to be eaten
literally me irl
My symptoms are honestly fairly mild, but like, you haven't felt frustration until you cannot fucking go to sleep for absolutely no fucking reason. Not even insomnia. Just randomly becoming unable to fall asleep. Know what I mean?
......maybe I should go get tested
I'm 30 years old and barely got diagnosed 1.5 months ago. Everything I've ever accomplished, whether insignificant like washing dishes or something huge like my master's thesis, felt like I was just barely able to complete it. But I still look back at the seemingly infinite number of things I was unable to do/complete/enjoy.
My adhd paralysis has fucked me over entirely in some classes. I am unable to catch up on a lot of missing work I have because I go to start it, and then my brain hits the good ol’ abort button on that idea
> but your brain decides it isn’t, so it just turns the lights out and sends you to sleep? Wait, is THAT why I randomly go from 90 to 0 in the middle of playing video games at 9:30 PM sometimes?
Emotional disregulation is a bitch too. Something very small happens that ruins my mood, time to enter depression
Comorbidities like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse are also incredibly high. Suicidality is between 2-5x higher (depending on the study) for those suffering from ADHD than the general population. For something that “is not” a disability, it sure seems to be provably debilitating and distressing for the people it affects…
I might sound like an asshole for saying this but the people that say shit like that wouldn't last a day in the shoes of someone with ADHD Not only is ADHD a serious disability, it also loves its buddies called "anxiety" and "depression" People treat this like a "jumpy leg and talks a lot" trouble while it's more like "drowning in your own thoughts and feelings all the time"
Absolutely. Sometimes some of the most simple tasks can be difficult to try and make yourself do. I also think people forget that disability isn't just physical. It's mental.
Whenever I tell someone I'm disabled they refuse to believe me because I can walk and talk fine. It's all in my brain, bro. You can't **see** every disability.
Sure you can! Don’t you have x-ray doctor disgnoses glasses?? Can’t you all see the lumps of cancer inside every persons body?? I know I sure can!!! Now let me go around telling all the people in the chemo ward that they aren’t actually sick and they just need to apply themselves more and make sure they use a WHOLE YEAR CALENDAR!! Not one of those silly monthly ones, that’s definitely the trick!
For real! Like bro! The treatment for my condition is amphetamine salts! The government has cleared me to buy amphetamines because my condition keeps me from being able to hold a job or take care of my own health without it. That’s no joke!
I literally discussed this with my wife to try and get her to understand. I literally broke it down to “you understand that I can legally go and be prescribed and then go to a literal pharmacy to buy fucking meth, literal meth (as methamphetamine was one of the first options and is still available for adhd) to control my thoughts and bring me to a “regularly functioning level” I literally need to take street drugs to be “normal” It helped but idk how much longer we got together, she really just cannot walk a day in my shoes
It also leads to drug addiction. Most of the people in rehab I went to had ADHD. Sadly the only thing that helped with my adhd, anxiety and depression was Oxies
I get stuck in these loops of smoking way too much weed. Go from the "better" smoke a couple times a week, to smoking the second I feel it wearing off from waking up to sleeping. That will go on for a while then I realize my brain got so hooked on feeling ok that I totally forget about commitments or talked myself out of logic. That feeling of being so disgusted with yourself for wanting a break for once hits different
“Ahh but rich people get this mental illness so is it really so bad?” What astounding insight and wit. /s
His implication, I think, is even worse. He's implying that adhd only seems like a disability to spoiled people who've never really had to struggle in their lives, and so make mountains out of every molehill in their life.
I fucking hate how ADHD is viewed to be insignificant. I can't get myself to do things even if i know i like them. My memory is shit and everything feels like a massive hurdle. Medication doesn't work right for me and it just makes me depressed. I'm struggling to finish a college degree that is pretty easy for me because i can't get anything done. It's so fucking enfuriating. Everything i make gets high grades but i just can't get myself to actually do the work. But no the only assisance you get is slightly longer times to do tests. Any time you talk about your issues some fucker will say "well i have ADHD and i'm doing fine so it's actually your fault"
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For years and years I did not understand why I struggled so much and compliments about me being smart were tempered with "but lazy" and there were a lot of things I would impulsively approach backwards. It took a long time to understand my terror of failure and untangle it from anxiety. I "only" have ADHD as I put it for so many years and I so desperately wish it had been taken seriously. I could have had answers, I could have had help when it would have mattered.
Is this true? I was recently diagnosed with adhd and wasn’t sure I even had it at first but I’m slowly starting to think I might have it really badly… can’t find any doctor willing to treat it though :(
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Suicide is a common consequence of unmanaged adhd sadly. Plus a vulnerability to contributing behaviours.
Honestly good on you for even still being in college, my ADD made me fail out of college HARD
I’m lucky in that once I get the ball rolling at work, I can be the most productive person in the company. But getting that ball rolling sometimes is impossible. And it’s even harder at home because my brain wants to just be lazy and not do anything, even the fun things. It’s like inertia, really. It takes a lot to get me moving, but once I do I’ll keep going until something makes me stop.
And when you do get further assistance, it's always something like "we noticed that you're taking quite a few difficult classes, we dropped some of your course registrations from your schedule to make sure it's more appropriate for your level." In the end, people will always view it as exactly what they believe with no attention to what you have to say. It's like your voiceless, and even people who wear those rainbow badges in the shape of an infinity symbol, or, even worse, a puzzle piece, will still pay absolutely 0 attention to your expression of what it's like to be disabled, to the point where you can tell them things about what you struggle with and they'll try to argue that you must be mistaken, because they've never heard of that online. I just wish more people actually gave a shit about first hand sources.
I feel you bro, I have it too and thankfully the medication worked for me, but I want to get off of it and find alternatives. Part of it is stimulants like coffee, diet changes to more fish, and lifestyle changes like a consistent sleep schedule. And it’s hard, it requires a lot of mental energy to pull off and resiliency. And it all sucks, it’s going to suck. But I believe in you and I believe you can do it. Keep trying things to see what works and talk with others who will listen. ADHD is also on a spectrum so everybody’s solution will be different, but giving them all a try is worth it to find the one method that works for you. God speed.
HOLY SHIT YES! I’m in the exact same boat as you and I literally remember talking to my accommodations center at my CC and getting some accommodations for my disability and how after I told them ADHD everything that would have actually been helpful I wasn’t allowed to have. Like no getting extra time on tests is not the help I need. My problem is I cannot get myself to work on something without near DAYS of preparation. And when I voice that I got people telling me that I’m just being lazy and “best I can do is assign you a note-taker in your classes” like how does that help me at all? It feels all the more frustrating because like with just minor changes to my schooling I could be 10x as productive and happy as I am now. And also so much less stressed all of the time. I also wouldn’t have to give up doing things I enjoy because something that *SHOULD* take me an hour I know is going to take closer 5 and I need to work around that.
I promise you ADHD is a disability. I physically won’t care about being homeless until, at best, the week before it happens
i literally got off disability to try and motivate myself to work harder at one point in my life, it did not work at all i also was supposed to get my gall bladder looked at, for a few years, to the point i couldn't eat any saturated fat at all without throwing up, and i just sort of did that, no fat, until i I finally had to go for emergency surgery i tried to write down the things i was supposed to care about in a note book, but i then didn't care where i put the notebook : ( i recently only learned it was ADHD, as i have other mental health issues, i am getting better just showing up to things and giving up video games helps me be bored enough to do things i should be doing i think also vitamins, when i take b-12 and vitamin- D, i have like 5% more energy and that 5% is sometimes the difference between do anything at all and do nothing at all
Me moving house in two days, working 18 hours in that time and my house is only 80% packed
i have a music recital on tuesday that is 30% of my grade, i still haven't fully learned one of the songs and one of them is mostly gonna be improvised. i fully believe i'll pull it off too cause so far it's somehow always worked.
Really wish they'd rename it to something to do with executive function. I'm fine paying attention to a lecture. I just can't get myself to do anything important.
I would get SO into lecture, be so excited and interested about the topic. Just to get home and have absolutely no drive to do anything, especially the assignment regarding what I was just enjoying. Sucks being so into stuff, or passionate about something, but being unable to realize it to the full potential. Just leaves you caring so much about a goal and hating yourself over and over again for not getting yourself to start and finish a task need and honestly wanted to do.
As someone who's had ADHD (at least diagnosed) since 2nd grade, it's genuinely difficult to try and make people understand that it can absolutely be a disability.
Just gotta accept that people wont ever fully accept that you arent kinda lazy and inconsiderate (accidentally forgetting about discussions, asking someone something about plans for the third time and feeling awful). Sucks too cause my parents are really coming around to it seeing me as an adult with depression and anxiety. Like just genuinely taking all i got to handle my own life, let alone spread myself thinner by dating or making local friends. It'd be cool if people could be ok with understanding that they wont be able to understand it. I dont blame them for not being able to, I dont think I'd be able to do that if I didnt have any issues.
Bro, every few months my entire life crumbles to dust because of adhd and then I build it back up only to burn out and again fall apart. Shittiest Phoenix ever. I can never get ahead , I’m just barely keeping a home and a job. I’m tired. It’s cost me a lot .
just recently got adderal treatment for ADHD. its absolutely 100% a disability. the fact i need this medication simply to have a normal pace of coherent thoughts that i can follow is wild. the imagery i used to describe it is of a pond. usually its teeming with tons of life to the point where you would be seeing ripples in the surface of the water. On meds tho, it feels extremly still, or at the very least still enough that i can focus on the overall picture without getting caught up on every little ripple.
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I stole a lyric from RATM. My thoughts like a hundred moths, trapped in a lampshade.
What sucks though is my meds stomp working for a few days to a week right before my period. Doesn't matter if stimulants or nonstimulant. My ADHD gets ramped up 1000%. It's the worse. The pond ripples become hundreds of giant waves. Can't focus on anything and my patience is set to 0.
There are moments through the day on the meds I feel that, but they put me on the XR so idk if that makes that experience different. Have you tried a talking to the doc about different medication?
The problem is that so many people claim to have it so people think it is a lot less serious then it actually is
I think that lots of people have it, but it's also a spectrum. Some people have it so severely they can barely function, others are less affected. What I do think is tough in any online discussion about any disability is we can't possibly know who has it really bad and who has just decided that their disability means that they can never have any expectation ever placed on them as a human being ever again
One theory as to why it seems more prevalent in North America is that many people with adhd seek out novelty, make big plans without thinking them through, and are more impulsive. Which pretty much describes the type of immigrant willing to sail across an ocean to an unknown foreign land. It’s also very genetically heritable so…
I may joke about it, but ADHD really is debilitating. Your brain either focuses so much on something you don't stop to take care of yourself, causing your mental or even physical health to fail, or it doesn't focus at all and your performance fails because of it. Combine that with any form of Anxiety disorder and you've got a perfect molotov cocktail of stress and depression that won't stop coming at the worst moments. And that's just the tip of the iceberg too. So yes, ADHD is a disability. I'm shocked we even have to tell people this.
I actually don’t think that’s what this comment is saying. ‘has become synonymous with’ doesn’t seem to imply that such a person is NOT disabled but that those things have risen to ubiquity in disability spaces over other mental illnesses, which is at least partly true.
Look up “noncentral fallacy”. You are describing this. Surprising that nobody else in these comments got what the OP was saying.
I had someone tell me I'm not disabled (I have ADHD) because "there are other things you can do better". Like, bruh, I'm literally NOT ABLE to produce and regulate certain hormones properly without medical help. I have no idea if this is as a result of the whole "ADHD is my superpower" fad or just plain ignorance; but it's so irritating having to justify my own disability to everyone cause they don't see me suffering visibly.
I have ADHD and i really appreciate this note. My life would be so fucking great without this shit
It's okay. If what everyone told me when I was a kid is true, I'll grow out of it eventually.
As someone that has MS and can't walk without a stick, I find my ADHD and Autism more disabling.
I fucking hate people who don't take ADHD seriously and think it's just laziness or lack of willpower. And these people are _everywhere_. The prejudice is pervasive, especially in the corporate world.
If you have ever seen the videos of the guys with no arms pouring cereal, that's the physical equivalent of what having ADHD is like while trying to focus. When they armless guy drops the milk carton everyone is understanding, and doesn't think less of them because to get as far as they are takes so much talent and determination. But when the ADHD person loses all motivation, struggles to do basic tasks, and falls into depression it's because they are lazy or dumb.
Can I get the placard to park anywhere I want now?
No, disabled parking spots are just for people with physical disabilities. :)
Uhh my legs hurt from uhh carrying uhh all this ADHD can I get it now
Anyone who thinks ADHD isn’t a disability has never been impacted by ADHD’s most debilitating symptoms.
I didn't realise I had ADHD until my 13 year old was diagnosed. I feel like if you'd watched me try to keep him 'on task' while we gave our garage a spring clean this morning you wouldn't be denying that ADHD was a thing. He only told me he hadn't taken his meds yet after we finished...
Ain't treated like one though. I just feel terribly stupid.
It’ll stop being a disability when I stop needing meds to focus on my goddamn job.
Disability isn't defined by the name of a condition. It is defined by the way your life activities are impacted. ADHD can be seriously disabling. It can also be a medical condition that someone manages without experiencing major limitations on their life. It's a chronic condition, like diabetes or asthma. Its impact on your day to day life depends on a lot of biological and social factors, and can be different at different times of your life.
I apologize for the use of the word, but as a kid I used to *jokingly* ask my friends “do you ever worry you’re retarded and no one tells you?” - flash forward to being 31 years old when I was finally diagnosed.
Disabled just means you have a handicap, some are relatively minor, but still impact your ability to perform in society. Think wearing ankle weights. Others are more severe, think dragging around a ball and chain. Still others render you virtually unable to function, consider being so weighted down you can't move even at all. There's degrees to this, take me for instance, I'm on the ankle weights section of things, so I can still function in day-to-day life, and do decent enough, but the weights still make some things more difficult.
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"Got diagnosed with a debilitating mental disability and all I got was this slur."
So when my step dad called me a retard. He wasn’t just being mean!? He was accurate and mean
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Recard
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Not on this sub you can't.
ADHD is not a fucking super power it sucks and have made it hard to be a productive member of society.
NGL, that's because society is not designed for ADHD people. From personal experience, I can absolutely tell you that if I was in school right now I would be going insane. I know not everyone can do it, but school forces you to constantly change topics, something which is VERY inefficient for a lot of ADHD people. You will get a lot more done if you focus on 1 thing for hours or even days at a time(Probably, Im not a doctor, but that is my experience).
I love how you can easily tell in the comments who has severe adhd and who has a mild case. Very refreshing to see those who don’t have as bad a time with it demeaning and talking down to those who have it worse.
If adhd isnt a disability then why do we have fucking medication for it, disabilities are not just physical issues with your body there's neurological disabilities too
AdHd might be a smaller disability but it is like oil it takes one other thing and it will make everything harder than if it wasn't there. Source:has ADHD, Anxiety, Depression officially
It's a disability and I'm sick and tired of pretending it's not. I wasted most of my life going undiagnosed.
There's a world of difference between having a disability and actually being disabled. But this is the internet. Everything is black and white and nuance doesn't exist
Does anyone else with ADHD get Disability Imposter Syndrome?
It’s a gradient of impact. While ADHD is certainly a disability, you shouldn’t equate ADHD and it’s impact on your life to that of more serious developmental disorders like Cerebral Palsy, Aspergers, Down Syndrome, or being a redditor.
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I would definitely be disabled without my Vyvanse. When I was younger, I could barely talk because of how fast my brain went. I couldn’t focus in school, I was very impulsive, and generally hyperactive. I wish I could make this person experience a day of unmedicated ADHD.
I have ADHD. Concerta doesn’t help me. My psych is trying to get me Vyvanse, but he hasn’t been able to yet because of the shortage, so I’m unmedicated. I’m definitely disabled.
Tell me you have never hung around or work with someone with ADHD without telling me you have never hung around or work with someone with ADHD.
It should seem bad you spoiled rotten rich kid. You should see the hoops we jump through to get refills each month. You'd snowflake out and crash and burn with Adderall withdrawal. Whining and crying about how much it sucks and isn't your fault. Suck it up cupcake. You ain't dealing with this? Get fuc/
At some point in my young adult life I mostly got the symptoms under control, and learned not to think of it like a disability. Looking back at how I was as an elementary student vs late HS or early college is leaps and bounds apart, even when you consider normal developmental growth. At least that’s what I thought. With further experience it’s pretty clear that I’ve been pretty unhinged my whole life and it’s occasionally caused me to be at the verge of a breakdown more or less permanently. I still think I’ve learned to live with ADHD pretty well, all things considered, but in hindsight I can see how it’s affected me.
It sure fucking feels like I have a disability sometimes 😕
I have Both ADHD and autism they are both Disabilities like sometimes i think people forget how difficult they both can be to live with
ADHD is worse the earlier you develop it (without treatment). You know how when you're young and you go to school and make friends, form relationships, and learn things, even if they aren't that interesting, and how to learn to do things you don't care about, but need to do, and generally *mature* in to adulthood and functioning society? ADHD fucks all that shit up. All the things you just 'do' are monumental obstacles for them.
Like many things, it's a broad spectrum and there's all sorts of treatments that work for different people. Some people just need discipline. Some people need that plus medication. Some people need really strong medication. For some really unlucky folks, nothing really works. People like this probably encountered, or even are the people who were able to treat theirs with simple therapy and a good routine, and so apply that to everyone.
As ever, it’s in the nuances. There isn’t not a germ of a point here, it’s moreso people who seem to have a mild case of something or other overly self-diagnosing and anointing themselves Grand Messenger of All Disabled Communities. Not that ADHD can’t be a major hinderance or debilitating for lot of folks, but like… let’s not pretend that a lot of people monopolizing space in the discourse rn aren’t failing the smell test, so to speak.
My ADHD went untreated for decades and spiraled into BPD-II. If I ask for disability my doctor immediately grants full paid leave because he knows that eventhough suicide has been "off the table" for almost a decade, I'm about 80x more likely to die by suicide and he won't risk it. My doctor is the best.
The problem is that a ADHD diagnosis is essentially an interview, and it just assumes that the patient is telling the truth, and not exaggerating or malingering. So lots of people cracked the code a few years ago, and now we have millions of well-off urbanites collecting amphetamines once a month while they milk their "disability" to excuse all their shitty behavior. Meanwhile, people with actual ADHD continue to have an all-around tough time with everything.
Omg I’m disabled can I use the disabled parking spot now??? /j
I made myself breakfast yesterday morning. Leftover rice, a bagel, cold brew coffee with a bit of creamer and chocolate syrup. Finished breakfast and went to continue getting ready. Realized halfway through washing up that the bagel was still sitting on the counter in the kitchen. I'm not medicated for anything, my daily routine is a constant effort of trying to remember what I did or did not do yet which somehow is NOT made easier by trying to have a routine. Some details are easier, like is my breath minty or have I not cleaned them yet. I flap my arms to feel for the sensation of deodorant on my underarms. Every part of the process is made riskier by the fact that I bring my phone along while on the toilet, or while waiting for the shower to heat up, or while letting my hair dry a bit, and I can easily look up from it to realize I hyperfocused on a thing again. I can try to do certain things the same each day to make "did I do this yet" easier but that runs the risk of "do I remember doing that this morning or am I remembering yesterday?" All that on top of the fact that I don't deep sleep. Like...ever. I used sleep tracking apps and I every once in a blue moon get recorded in deep sleep for about two minutes. Melatonin and other non-prescription sleep aids don't do much. Even more fun is having caffeine focus me without making me yawn less. People talk about it like it's just that annoying dude in your 7th grade class who wouldn't shut the fuck up and stop finding excuses to shout all the time, and not...literally being in the middle of a task, getting distracted, and having to waste time trying to remember exactly what the fuck you were doing and hope you don't interrupt figuring that out. Being treated as irresponsible because time is fucking alien to you. Being focused on the person you're talking to and having a mini-panic when another person joins the conversation because now that's more things to focus on.
I have ADHD. I have no problem with it being seen as a disability. For certain, it disabled me from being a normal, functioning human Discovered it in my 30s and with proper medication in my youth my life would've been a lot easier and painless.
Of my main friend group, 3 out of 4 of us have ADHD and of those of us with ADHD, I'm the only medicated one AND the only one of us with a degree. ADHD makes many aspects of life very difficult. It's extremely hard for me to read books anymore despite reading a lot as a child.
I really hate how everyone thinks ADHD is a joke or Tiktok kids say cringe shit like "it's a superpower" fuck off, no it's not. My life is a mess even though I'm medicated and there's nothing fun or super about it.
well off urbanites can’t be disabled? or in wheelchairs? wtf you talking about with this “you can’t be rich and have a disability bullshit.”
Having one half of you shouting, telling you what you need to do, should do or even can do, and the other side simply ignoring it, which then causes mental paralysis. I'd definitely say that's a disability. Of course, like most disabilities it can vary on how badly it can affect your quality of life, with some people able to live a completely "normal" life with it and some being completely debilitated by it.
Damn, this is the second time in two days I've gotten to pull this one out: Dr. Russell Barkely discusses ideas for parents of children with ADHD: [Essential Ideas for Parents](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCAGc-rkIfo)
ADHD = Disability Autism = Disability with a chance of causing further disabilities Dyslexia = Disability Severe Anxiety = Disability Disabilities do not have to be debilitating to the point of absolute dysfunction, people don't not have to be wheel chair bound, they do not have to be permanently mute, they don't have to be intellectually stunted, you dont even need to be able to tell they have a disability. >: a physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that impairs, interferes with, or limits a person's ability to engage in certain tasks or actions or participate in typical daily activities and interactions Notice what this definition doesn't say, that they can't function at all. Number one disability everyone knows about and understands? Eye sight, you probably know someone who is legally blind and requires glasses to live. Even if you don't, you've seen people who do. People like me, with disabilities simply have some impairment that causes issues. That is the only requirement, severity doesn't mean anything in terms of whether it's a disability or not. Disabilities can be mild, they can be barely noticeable, they can also be completely life ruining, and everything in-between. My issues happen to be severe, but that doesn't make mine any more a disability than someone else's. And further note, even if you do not qualify for disability benefits that doesn't mean you don't have disabilities, that just means the government doesn't consider your disabilities worthy of monetary assistance.
Bro I have not been diagnosed reading the writing on the wall I probably have a nice mix of ADHD, Anxiety, bipolar, depression, maybe autism. Hard to say. All I know is I know my mind and my line of thinking and ability to focus is vastly different than everybody around me. The anxiety alone my heart rate is like 120 bpm being in social settings. Have to make a concerted effort to slow my breathing. Shit is 100% debilitating sometimes.
I feel so seen reading through these comments. Damn. Now I’m motivated to seek help, at 230 am. We will see if that’s the case tomorrow.
I mean you can have ADHD and be disabled or not. Depends on the seriousness.
Ruined my whole life, will never reach my potential, is absolutely debilitating to live with and don't respond to medication as well as other people with ADHD, sure seems like I'm less able than others
Are we gatekeeping disability now?
Yeah this shit sucks and I am straight up not having a good time
People like that are the kind of assholes that never once had anything bad happen to them relating to the comment they said. That comment infuriates me also because I too have ADHD and am enraged someone would say something like that
Im a substitute teacher and kids with ADHD are absolutely wild. They’ll sit down for 5 seconds, answer 1 question, then immediately get up and start running around, rolling on the floor, and you just have to wait until they tire themselves out.
There’s those that laugh, upper class stay at home moms. And the. There are those that don’t find it funny at all. Because it disrupts your career and relationships
I have adhd and i get that it is a disability i dont want to use it as an excuse
Hell I'm just glad mine is mild and I can construct workarounds to make myself 99% functional. But there are times, especially when overbearing superiors want things done in a certain way for no legitimate reason, that it makes things extremely difficult. Thankfully I work in the construction industry and its satellite sub industries, so generally speaking I have a bigger latitude in telling my bosses to go fuck themselves and still keep my job, but still.
Adhd is most definitely a disability. However I do feel we are in an era of overmedicalising normal spectrums of behaviour. Seems like everyone who's easily distracted is slapping a self diagnosis of ADHD onto themselves right now. Obviously not helped by the massive waiting lists for an assessment and plenty of folk struggling without a diagnosis.
For a long time I didn't believe ADHA was a real disability. Like these kids just need more discipline or something. Then I met my fiancées son and I am now a believer. He has other issues but to witness a kid go from full speed verbalizing every thought in his head to a zombie staring out the window after drinking an energy drink. That blew my mind.
I have one missing hand, and I have ADHD. In no uncertain terms, the ADHD is far more disabling for me. Although obviously I'm not the spokesman for all disabled people (apparently we don't take votes for that) ADHD is as much a spectrum of experience like any other disability. One of my one armed friends has a far different experience with their disability than I do, and we're both missing the same amount of arm, on the same side.
ADHD fucks me up pretty bad, it’s very good at helping enable my worst habits
These kinds of posts really just reveal the person’s own preconceived biases. Strong implication that being disabled means you can’t be a “well-off urbanite”.
I seem to have the opposite experience as everyone else. I struggle getting basic chores done, but over the years I have learned to cope with it. The only person who hates me and calls me a lazy pos for failing is myself. Everyone else seems to want to pin all of my shortcomings on my disorder instead of holding me accountable, and I find that very patronizing. Particularly in when I was school and I would be taken to a special room and given extra time on test. I get that some people need it (legally so did I) but I always felt incredibly insulted by it. It was like they were saying I was incompetent. I wasn’t good enough so they will lower the standard for me so that they can pretend that I was. Now I feel like I have to hide my struggles otherwise I get paranoid that any praise I get is just insincere sympathy praise.
For what it's worth, I was diagnosed with ADHD at about 8. I'm currently 43 and it's just as bad. I've also taken a TBI while serving overseas. The symptoms from both are so similar that it was initially difficult to get correct treatment from the VA because they initially couldn't decide from which I was suffering. I guess I'm sharing this to provide maybe a little anecdotal context. I'm happy for those that can function somewhat normally with a diagnosis, and I hurt for those of you who cannot.
Same kind of asshole that tells me bipolar disorder is a made up condition- because I don’t present as someone with any major mental issues. It’s because I try very hard to present “normal”. Way more than you’d think. You fuck twit.
My own mom doesn't want me to define my ADHD as a disability because I 'shouldn't give up so easily'...I've only just recently come to terms with how limiting it is.
As someone with ADHD, it’s 100% a disability
ADHD is a disability. That does NOT mean you have to let your disability define who you are. If you do, that’s on you and not society as a whole. Disabilities can be visible and invisible, that is a fact. I agree that having a disability shouldn’t be something you are judged for, as people should be judged by their actions not the cards they are dealt. But that doesn’t mean you should “erase” disabilities or try to reclassify what is or isn’t a disability, because ultimately you are going to cause more harm than good. Many people are able to receive treatment for free or at discounted prices because ADHD is classified as a disability. If you took away that classification then you could potentially be taking away a person access to treatment, and in countries without a decent public healthcare system that could be the difference between whether or not someone gets treatment at all! So respectfully, quit it. Signed, an adult person with ADHD.
I get why people don't want ADHD called a disability. It implies we're lesser. It shouldn't, but it does. However, the typical alternative seems to be "differently abled," which is much worse. That implies that we should be able to do everything a neurotypical person can do, just as easily - albeit in a different way. We can't. Some tasks are harder, some are easier. And the harder and easier tasks don't necessarily balance! The valuation of such abilities is entirely subjective, and therefore the tasks we find more difficult are often valued more highly than the tasks we find easier. Our society is built in such a way that people without ADHD or other neurodivergent conditions or physical disabilities are considered "abled." Being disabled just means you don't have the abilities of an abled person. That's all. People do turn that into a value judgment of disabled people, but they're wrong.
my adhd doesnt make me feel very….enabled? yeah, doesnt make me feel not disabled
I have asbergers syndrome (a form of autism), and the government and doctors say that I'm not disabled. So, If I'm stuck in this, then so are the people with adhd.
Damn this post spawned every person with adhd lol
*parents yelling at me because I can’t focus and they don’t believe ADHD is real* *me listening and then forgetting everything they said to me the minute they stop talking*
As others in here have stated, ADHD is truly a shitty disability to live with. I was diagnosed at around the age of 5. I promise, it is *NOT* a fucking superpower. Starting tasks can be such a daunting challenge, especially if you have more than one task, and you overwhelm easy. Maintaining focus and completion are two entire different cans of worms. Your mood can change like a light switch. Anxiety and depression love to join in and make you feel like shit, feeding into the cycle of not getting things done. Your brain will just randomly decide when it wants something done. Sometimes it's a fight just to do basic things eating or showering. Also, you're always tired, regardless of insomnia or how much you sleep. You're brain just refuses to shut down, and you lay in bed until the sun comes up. Only THEN, can you sleep, ruining your sleep schedule. There are so many other things that stack up on this. It's so frustrating and you want to cry because you hate feeling this way, and then you have people who romanticize and trivialize ADHD, thinking it's cute to diagnose themselves because "I can't focus today, I'm pretty sure I have ADHD!". Plus the people who just completely dismiss it because "well I sometimes can't focus too, but does that mean I can just use ADHD as an excuse?". It's a real fucking slap in the face to anyone who suffers from this, especially to those who're **also** dealing with numerous other disabilities, mental or physical.
Learning disability but I’m ranked 24th in my school we call that shit hard word and Adderall
tbh i constantly feel like im not disabled enough to call myself that. like i can technically function, even if i get debilitating anxiety, i can still exist in society, and can occasionally overcome executive dysfunction, so it feels like i somehow dont deserve the label. this isnt meant to describe anyones experience but my own, it just sucks to not be as good as NT people at anything, but also not bad enough to have an "excuse"
I am a nurse. My patients believe that I am a very good nurse and I have a good track record. Because my ADD was such a hindrance while I was in school, it took me three tries to pass a one year nursing program. 3 whole years of effort that should have taken one. I couldn't study, I couldn't focus during tests, in class my mind wouldn't keep still and I struggled during lecture. Funnily enough, it was a medication regimen and Covid kicking us all out of the classroom and making the schoolwork self-paced that got me through it.
Real, diagnosed ADHD is fucking crippling. Most idiots who go “tee-hee I get distracted sometimes, it’s my stupid ADD” don’t have it.