I can't see how anyone thinks ADHD is a superpower.

Sorry for the negative post but this disorder is genuinely terrible. I was diagnosed a few months ago and from the report I received it seems like I have an extremely bad case of it.

I lost 8 percent of my final grade in an operating system class because I submitted the wrong file.

Fine, I have syncthing setup between my desktop and laptop so I’ll just check if the assignment is on my shared folder in my desktop. It’s not.

Ok, I’ll turn on my laptop and grab the file itself. Oh, I have a boot error and now I need to open up the recovery environment to see if the hard drive is even being recognized.

It’s not. Now I have to open up the laptop and reconnect it.

At this point it’s been 30 minutes of me scrambling to get my laptop up and working again and I found the damn assignment there. I emailed my professor and I’m praying that he reevaluates the assignment because the earlier submission had nothing on it. It was just the default assignment.

None of this shit would have happened had I taken just one second to check over what I submitted a month earlier.

I hate reading articles pertaining to ADHD as if it’s some quirky condition that just takes a little bit of time and medication to work through. Its not. I have to constantly remind myself that I’m even conscious in order to function at all, and now I have to sustain extra mental effort to do a relatively hard task.

The only thing that keeps me going is my boss saying “nice work” when I diagnose an issue successfully. It feels infantilizing, as if he knows there’s something going on with me that’s making it hard to cope with the demands of life but “atleast he’s trying his best, atleast he shows up to work, this customer said he had a friendly attitude”.

gila,

I randomly got interested in a niche industry and started hyperfocusing on learning about it in my free time, without any intent other than indulging my curiosity. Sometime afterwards I was looking for work and saw an opportunity in that industry. I responded and was able to come across like a highly experienced enthusiast whom specialised in the field the company needed experience in. They hired me and I quickly became the most senior person in the company in technical areas related to the industry. It was a large pay increase, the company is great and I’ve been with them for many years now. None of it would’ve happened without my highly inquisitive nature, which I consider as a positive effect of my ADHD. The specific opportunity coming up was still complete luck. But given the number of tangents I’ve gone on in the past, diving deep into learning the intricacies of some niche or hobby, I’d likely be open to similar kinds of opportunities in those areas in ways I’ve never even considered. I’ve always thought of it as just ‘going with the flow’, but I think for the average neurotypical person it’s often unreasonable to think that would actually get you far in life.

BilboBargains,

I don’t disagree but thinking of the disorder in purely negative terms is not helpful. It feels like there are some things we are better at. Listening to comedy podcasts I discover many comedians are ADHD and adjacent types e.g. autism. It wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that many creative people are classified as ‘disordered’. I think the key to managing this condition are

  • medication
  • good routines (sleep, work, diet, exercise)
  • self awareness and acceptance

If you take one or more of these away, life among neurotypical people becomes untenable. It’s in comparison to neurotypical people that we can feel inadequate and anything we can do to address those issues will improve the situation for everyone.

Panda,

People who claim having ADHD has benefits or is a super power are just saying it to make it sound less bad. The reality is that ADHD sucks. It’s not impossible to deal with most of the time once you learn more about yourself and how your ADHD impacts you and what can help you manage the symptoms. Every individual is different. And sometimes we just have to accept that we mess up and that, although we are responsible for those mess ups and we have to work extra hard to blend in and try not to mess up too badly, it’s also a handicap that we didn’t ask for.

I don’t get why people say they have certain positive traits thanks to their ADHD. Why can’t it be because they themselves, as people, are good at something? Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and every individual is unique. ADHD makes things more difficult, but not impossible. We just have to work with what we have and all we can do is try to find ways to get what we want in a way that works for us.

Maturi0n,

I’ve had moments where I genuinely felt like ADHD has benefited me, like when went into hyperfocus mode and launched some new project I would have never started otherwise. I feel like I’m a bit more creative and enthusiastic at times. But 99% of the time ADHD is just a condition that sucks for me.

Thcdenton,

For me the worst part of ADHD is letting my emotions stifle momentum. If you have chronic depression, you will rarely feel the upsides of ADHD. So you get deadlocked - you’re a fuckup because you’re depressed, and you’re depressed because you’re a fuckup. Somehow you gotta break the cycle.

Noodle07,

Are you me?

rainerloeten,
@rainerloeten@lemmy.world avatar

I feel you. And what helped me the most was to start taking Methylphenidate.

Confound4082,

I was diagnosed a few years ago. I disagree with you. Yes, there are some things that are harder for me to do. But, I’m really good at my EMS job, and a significant portion of the most competent individuals I work with are also ADHD. I would not be as good as I am without being ADHD. Though, it would have been easier to get through the class to get my license without it.

Gabu,

Nobody does, it’s a white lie so people don’t feel as bad about being born with irregular brains.

WoodlandAlliance,

deleted_by_author

    •
    Gabu,

    Advantageous irregular traits are still irregular.

    Surdon,

    ADHD is neither a flaw nor a superpower IMO, (in most, non severe cases)- most ‘ADHD’ is a normal neural varient. Some people are starved of dopamine due to desensitization/lack of rewarding tasks in life, and some people have a clinical lack of neurotransmitters that need to be supplemented.

    I struggled for years through highschool and most of college with my ADHD, and it wasn’t until I (somewhat accidently) found myself working in emergency medicine that I could see it as positive at all.

    In a hunter gather society, most of what we term ‘ADHD’ would be a huge benefit- the ability to rapidly learn, rapidly switch tasks, and do a little of everything. The issue is our current society doesn’t reward these traits- we are physically sedentary, and ask ever increasing concentration on ever more abstract tasks of our workers. It’s not that you are broken; it’s that society doesn’t play to your strengths- AT ALL.

    In the ER, I’m very happy, because most of my work consists on hyperfocusing for super short stents, then moving on to the next thing. Additionally, I actually calm down somewhat and can self regulate much, much better than I can in ordinary life. As you may know, one of the hallmarks of ADHD is a lack of dopamine- part of what makes concentration so difficult for us and why we seek constant stimulation. In the high pressure, high stimulus enviroment of the ER, it’s almost feels like time slows down for me- I feel calm and super focused, which is very rare for me in daily life.

    I’m not saying all this to convince you to work in emergency medicine, only to provide a contrast- I used to want to be an engineer, and frankly I would be (even nore) dependent on stimulants if I tried to do a job like that.

    Perhapsjustsniffit,

    I was a paramedic for years. Same situation. Bouncing around from job to job was the best part. After leaving being a medic I’ve had a bunch of jobs. So many. I just can’t stay interested.

    SendMePhotos,

    It’s less important but this is why I’ve been so successful in fast paced retail environments. Go go go, figure it out on the fly. Been called one of the most adaptable managers ever seen.

    Unless I forget… Which I do forget what I call P5 things. Priority 1 is critical, P5 is non important non urgent. Those tasks seem to just disappear.

    Surdon,

    Very similar to the ER in that case- every patient is put on a priority scale between 1 and 5 as well. We don’t forget about the 5’s, but it’s definitely a constant battle to remember what I consider non emergent. One of the biggest issues of ADHD is almost toddler levels object permanence…

    SendMePhotos,

    Omg I feel that in my soul.

    soundimus,

    I’m the same but IT for hedge funds. Everything to them is an emergency and I can learn new tech almost over night.

    Ask me to take a test on the finite details of the tech and I’m screwed (so no certs).

    I am the go to guy for anything urgent or new because they know I’ll focus on nothing else until I’m done. Sometimes they will Door dash my lunch because they know I’ll forget.

    I took wanted to be an engineer but I cannot study at all.

    b0gl,

    When I’m sending emails with files attached. I check the file like 10 times before clicking send.

    Ataraxia,

    The fact that you even have the hyperfocus to try and fix the technical aspect was due to adhd. Most people don’t even bother to understand the computer they’re using.

    goatmeal,

    Superpower is a stretch. It’s more that if you can understand your ADHD you can maybe find jobs/pursuits that match up better with it.

    My gf has ADHD and has found that the only way for her to stay engaged is to be in a situation of high impact/high complexity/high urgency. ADHD isnt always inability to concentrate, its switching back between that and hyper-concentration, often involuntarily, so finding an environment that fits that has helped her.

    She works at the same company as me in medical software (im a dev were pretty opposite) and basically puts out customer fires. Its highly urgent and impactful (medical issues need to be fixed ASAP) to keep her engaged and complex enough that it doesn’t get boring or monotonous. She’s really fucking good at it and makes good money, but it does come at a cost. Its pretty stressful but she acknowledges this is the type of thing she can best excel at. And in other areas that arent like this - like in her personal life - she’s always slipping and needs other people to help her out (I’m pretty organized and can assist there).

    I’d recommend the book ADHD 2.0. The authors, who also have ADHD, kind of echo what we’ve seen. One of them calls it a curse as the only careers that keep him engaged are stressful and relentless. But its what he does.

    They had a pretty good analogy - ADHD is like a car with a super powerful engine but no breaks. You can do some things better than other people but its incredibly easy to get way off track faster than you can blink, so its important to understand how yours works and have the right guardrails in place in your professional and personal lives. And of course meds help a lot too.

    Ataraxia,

    That’s the problem though. I’m really good at emergency dispatch and I can do a lot of multitasking but I’m at a point where at almost 40 I need a long break if not retirement. Unless I can do my job 4 hours a day and sleep a lot more lol.

    goatmeal,

    Damn can’t imagine. Hope you can find a way to get that break

    woefkardoes,

    Im already in my mid 40’s. For me it helps to have a solid maximum cap of 4 things to juggle at a time. 2 is good 3 is great, 4 is OK but only 1 or more than 4 is looking for trouble.

    OwlYaYeet,

    Can you give an example of what things you juggle?

    woefkardoes,

    It varies quite a bit. People management, creating documentation, architecture, coding, problem solving etc. I make pretty broad jumps so it helps with resetting my focus to a new challenge. I’m a department head so it gives me some freedom in what I do. I still have the hyper focus days as well where I ignore everything but the task at hand but those are harder when you get into people management.

    xmunk,

    It’s definitely not, but I like to be optimistic so while I’d never call it a super power I do celebrate things that it makes easier for me.

    ChexMax,

    I feel like I’ve yet to find anything my ADHD makes easier for me. Only my triple checks and balances systems make things not as stressful but it’s at the cost of extra time and energy. I’m great at my job, but I never have any energy left for myself outside my job. I’m just limping along, doing my best to succeed half as much as everyone else because I’m so tired.

    AdmiralShat,

    I think the people who have mild ADHD symptoms are just trying to find a positive, but for those of us who have deeper issues it can seem like an insult when people talk about it in a positive way.

    bigFab,

    It is a superpower, just not in the mandatory education decree we live in nowadays.

    I guess the worst part must be that everybody sees you as defficient, when actually it’s the society they build which blocks and hurts your hyperfast brain.

    agent_flounder,
    @agent_flounder@lemmy.world avatar

    One thing I am really good at is getting shit done miraculously quickly.

    You know, because of all the years of experience procrastinating and having to work my ass off quickly to make it look like I’m not debilitated. Lol

    So when emergency projects come up at work or timelines are laughably aggressive, I’m all “I got this” 😎

    To be clear, I don’t cut corners or do the wrong thing. I do things by the book just fast. I know how to pull out the stops and get the help I need quickly. Ok sometimes I might schedule the review a little late but only after checking with the main stakeholder. To do all that you have to have built am good reputation for quality, thorough work and be empowered and authorized to make some decisions on your own and whatever.

    Other than that ADHD is a curse.

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