Do you share the Majority Perception?

[tudorose]

How do you personally view having ADHD?

Don't worry about being PC however if you can relate your answers to yourself specifically and refrain from telling other people how they should think or feel about their ADHD it would be much appreciated

There are no wrong answers here coz everyone is in a different place.

[tudorose]

For me personally I feel it gives me certain abilities that I wouldn't have otherwise if my brain worked in the 'right' way so I see solutions to problems that others miss because of this.

On the other hand I experience some real difficulties particularly in relation to social understanding, social cues, understanding why people feel the need to socialise. Also have a lot of difficulties understanding things and need several explanations plus lots of other things.

I don't feel totally negative about it because I'm medicated but if I wasn't and I couldn't understand what I was reading or hold down a job then I would have voted that it was ruining my life.

[SquarePeg]

Seeing as I never knew I had adhd until aged 47 I find it hard to equate it with my life´s experiences. I´m going through the adjustment period.

I had no idea that I could attribute my problems, failings, sieve like, non functioning brain to anything other than "well that´s how I am". Consequently I have never actually tried to fix any of these things until now, when I realise that my kids need me to buck up. I have been living in the clouds.

Maybe not knowing actually gave me an advantage, I don´t know. I couldn´t blame anything other than myself for my messes, problems, chaos and crap, which meant I had to take responsibility for myself and find solutions or just ignore stuff.

[amberwillow]

I'm too tired to clarify my feelings properly. I just got home from work and my daughter was in a car accident today. It's been a hell of a week.
I am one of the positive people who needs to post very carefully (apparently)... Tis a pity I find that challenging... Making myself understood, tact AND timing... Wow, unlikely.

[stef]

This sums it up well (although there a probably a few more deficits than abilities...)

ADHD gives me abilities and deficits. I make the most of the abilities and work around the deficits.

[RogerL63]

I know mine sounds negative, but I'm 48 and wasn't diagnosed until last week. I'd have to say that it has ruined my life, at least up to this point. I'll have to see what my life is like once I find effective treatment.

[sarahsweets]

Originally Posted by SquarePeg

Seeing as I never knew I had adhd until aged 47 I find it hard to equate it with my life´s experiences. I´m going through the adjustment period.

I had no idea that I could attribute my problems, failings, sieve like, non functioning brain to anything other than "well that´s how I am". Consequently I have never actually tried to fix any of these things until now, when I realise that my kids need me to buck up. I have been living in the clouds.

Maybe not knowing actually gave me an advantage, I don´t know. I couldn´t blame anything other than myself for my messes, problems, chaos and crap, which meant I had to take responsibility for myself and find solutions or just ignore stuff.

Of course you can't blame yourself. You have a chronic life long brain disorder that you've only just begun discovering. Now that you know you can begin to see what can be attributed to adhd and what can't.

[sarek]

For me elements from option 2, 3 and 4 all apply. I therefore settled on voting 50/50 and picking option 3 although that is not the whole story, its more like an average.

In every conventional sense of the word ADD has hurt my life tremendously, especially career wise but also educationally and socially.
It has forced me to choose a line of work quite different from what I first intended and even so its still an everlasting struggle to keep up.

Its literally cost me many tens of thousands and I am merely trying to survive every new day whereas financially I should and easily could have been thriving(again in the conventional way of defining that word).

On the other hand, for me ADD does not feel like a tacked on disease or the consequence of brain damage.
On the whole and seen from my own perspective I feel ADD has given as much as it has taken from me. I quite simply can not in all conscience deny that I am able to think in ways that many people in my RL can not do.

From a personal experience point of view the D stands as much for Difference as it stand for Disorder. I feel the disorder part is very much more a maladaptation than an actual deficiency.

I do think that its important to state that I have so far been pretty fortunate when it comes to comorbidities. Basically the only additional problem I face is pretty bad social anxiety.

[tudorose]

For me how I've felt about my ADHD has changed over time.

Every option has applied to me at some stage of my life.

I remember going through the very positive phase and the negative phase (not so long ago).

I've arrived at option 3 after a long journey to acceptance which this place helped me get to.

Looking at the results of the poll so far I'm not sure there is a majority view.

[Lunacie]

Originally Posted by tudorose

For me how I've felt about my ADHD has changed over time.

Every option has applied to me at some stage of my life.

I remember going through the very positive phase and the negative phase (not so long ago).

I've arrived at option 3 after a long journey to acceptance which this place helped me get to.

Looking at the results of the poll so far I'm not sure there is a majority view.

I don't expect there is a majority view. We are all at different stages, eh?

Because I was blamed for my problems until I was in my 50's, getting no

support or understanding, no diagnosis or treatment, I am left feeling that

"ADHD gives me more deficits than abilities. I struggle a lot to overcome

them" best describes my perception of having ADHD.

It probably has been changing since I've learned that very few of these

failings are my fault, but it will take time to overcome a lifetime of experiences.

[ginniebean]

I've known all my life I had ADHD yet because it was before there was no real understanding of adhd back then and ADHD in adults wasn't recognized I self blamed az many of us do.

I chose adhd gives me more deficits than abilities because for me this is objective truth. I do think that growing up with a disorder creates conditions for alternative means of doing things and even the possibility that qualities develop that wouldn't have developed otherwise.

It is possible that on average people with adhd do have creative ability, the studies done suggesting this is not true used as part of their metrics areas that encompass our deficits, and much like intelligence testing don't reflect accurately because of penalties imposed in some areas.

On the whole tho, Adhd has made my life more difficult. I fail to see how this can be challenged, being set apart is rarely beneficial.

[Fuzzy12]

I also chose that it's given me more deficits than benefits but keep in mind that I might not actually have ADHD (just stuck with the symptoms )

So far, this forum is the only benefit I've got out of having (maybe) ADHD.

In my case though I think the co-morbids make it worse. If I had to choose I'd rather have ADHD than depression but again, maybe that's because I don't really have ADHD so can't guess how bad it can really be. For my taste though, whatever I've got is bad enough and I'd love to just not have any disorder at all but a brain that works most of the time and more importantly that I can trust and rely on.

I guess a lot depends on the level of impairment and the support you've got for it. If someone is mildly impaired or has enough support to mitigate the effects they might not be as negative as someone who is more at the extreme end of the ADHD spectrum, highly impaired and without any support.

[Flory]

i voted-ruined my life...a little bit dramatic i know but,, in my current position im finding it difficult to see anything positive about it at all...i think its been compounded further by my co-morbid conditions but the adhd is the worst...

im at a point in my life know where im just accepting that i am who i am i've got to work with the tools i was born with instead of trying to fit into societies mold for me

[Lisa_Mac]

I chose the last one because I've always felt that my anxiety has been the most destructive in my life. That being said, my anxiety is also related to my executive function deficits and low self esteem issues, which are all part of ADHD. It's a Catch 22 situation unfortunately.

[DvlsAdv0c8]

I agree with Sarek. I waver between the 2nd, 3rd and 4th but voted the 3rd.

I also agree that we tend to think of things differently and see things others don't, which can be good OR bad.

Having just recently been (re)diagnosed at age 41, I can't help but wonder how much different we would be today had my parents stuck with meds and treatment when my sister and I were originally diagnosed at ages 2 and 7.

I like the goofy flightiness sometimes but get so tired of struggling just to do the basic things I need to do to get through a day that come so easily to NT folks. ANY "extras" thrown into my day completely shut me down.

I guess I have a love/hate relationship with ADHD.