- Date added
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July 6, 2022, 9:33 p.m.
- Description
- The most common benefit attributed to ADHD is outsize creativity, and it has become a truism that people with the condition are able to concentrate just fine as long as they’re interested in what they’re doing, but this isn’t true for everyone. It hasn’t been my experience: in fact, struggling to focus on things which I do enjoy and find meaningful is one of the reasons why I sought a diagnosis in the first place. It’s clearly the case that for many people the associated traits actually stand in the way of realizing their creative ambitions.
People are keen to stress that ADHD has a diverse range of symptoms and presents differently depending on the individual, yet sites like Additude take is as self-evident that we are all, “bright, creative and funny,” with the good fortune of possessing a “sparkling personality” and “a sense of humility and self-respect”. As one Instagram life coach puts it, we should stop associating ourselves with problems like being unable to focus (i.e the actual symptoms associated with the condition), and instead start realizing that we are “passionate, creative, strategic, and awesome.” Needless to say, there is little evidence for any of these claims — the “awesomeness” of people with ADHD remaining a sorely under-researched area.
