Do you tell people you have ADD?

[xraylady33]

Originally Posted by kwalk

I tell people I get to know or want to know better, that I have it.. being the quiet type. I'm sure it's obvious anyway because it's pretty easy to catch me in a spacey act, but anyways I think it helps them understand that your faults aren't just rude or that lots of things you do aren't on purpose... Though it looks like an excuse most of the time, I hope my "excuses" get better on meds as I figure them out.... because I drive new friends crazy especially.... let's just say I come off quite *****y at times! Atleast 70% of those things I apologize for though.

What you said hits very close to home..my daughter is so different on meds..they she will often offend people because she seems grumpy..I have told her..you are 14..step out of the mood box..will yourself.
All things are possible..it takes a lot of work, but she is working on it. her biggest thing..she will sit slumping during a happy moment..and it goes right through me. Yes, I am hard on her..but i know her potential..and mine. Good Luck...I appreciate your honesty.

[xraylady33]

Originally Posted by Mantis

I haven't known about my ADD for long, but the people I've met since I've known about it I dont really tell. I'd tell them if I get closer to them though!

The thing is, if I tell people I have ADD it's like showing off; like getting a trophy out and going "ooh by the way, look what I've got!" It's my super power and I dont want to be all big headed telling everyone 'bout it!

I like that..super powers..you are on to something!

[xraylady33]

Originally Posted by mykill

Awesome. Do you have a cape? We should get capes.

I want the pink cape!!!

[xraylady33]

Originally Posted by Mindspin

Im not ashamed of my DX , no.... but it's nothing that I advertise.

Me either....thats what i was getting too!!!

[vixthenomad]

I have told most people I know that I have ADHD, but I try not to talk about it more than I have to. My employer knows and I'm currently in the process of trying to get them to understand the concept beyond the fact that it puts a tick in the disabled employee box for them (ie that it affects my life and that I need to adjust what I do to make room for it). My parents know and have not bothered to try to understand the condition or to help me in any way; in fact my dad actually told me that being a parent would probably cure me of it, which says it all really. Most of my friends try to evade the subject and just look uncomfortable whenever I mention it. The only person I can really talk to about it is my husband, who is fantastically compassionate and very patient; he's also dyslexic, which I guess gives him some insight!

It's really comforting to have found this forum and to know that there people in the world who actually get it, ecause they've GOT it, so to speak!

[xraylady33]

Originally Posted by speedo

My friends and family know. Other than that I don't discuss the details, and the world at large does not have a need to know.

ME

I have not even told my family....whats a gal to do!? they just think I am random, hyper, busy, and headed toward bigger and better things. It is my largest secret..wow did I just say that?

[MissAdhd]

I'm not ashame of it or anything like that. But i also don't want ppl to asume that i cant do something well or require specialattention to get jobs done.. so why tell anyone if i think it will bit me in the behind later

[Mantis]

Originally Posted by Mantis

I do actually have a cape with Praying Mantis head I painted on the back : D

Just incase you didn't believe me, I took a photo...



MANTIS WARRIOR!

Ummm, yeah...you can't see the Mantis head I painted on so well, so I got a close up of that...



Now I just hope to god no one I know looks on this site!

[xraylady33]

Originally Posted by MissAdhd

I'm not ashame of it or anything like that. But i also don't want ppl to asume that i cant do something well or require specialattention to get jobs done.. so why tell anyone if i think it will bit me in the behind later

Thats the answer I was looking for...thank-you.

[mykill]

Originally Posted by Mantis

Just incase you didn't believe me, I took a photo...

MANTIS WARRIOR!

That's kick***... i already believed you, but thanks for the pics, awesome!

[Michiko74]

My answer is pretty much the same as everyone else's.

While I'm not ashamed of my ADHD, it certainly is a private matter.

[walkingmedley]

i decided to stop telling people just because their responses frustrate me. when i finally built up the courage to tell my boss "i have add" his response was a laugh and a "dont we all". i hear that a lot from people, it drives me crazy.

[MECMR]

I'm with everone else, only a few people know. My DH, a few close friends, my HR director (only because it came up when setting up my medical savings plan: "Why can't you do the mail in prescription plan? Controlled substances...what?"), and that's about it.

When I suspected ADD years ago, and had a tentative diagnosis, I told a lot more people, including my mother. My mother was not supportive at all, and so I just dropped it and stopped discussing it with her.

I have too much of my own stuff to deal with as I learn my way around this new way of looking at things, I don't have the energy to spare on defending myself to others who don't agree with the diagnosis and dismiss it. However, I will stick up for ADD in general, such as when I hear someone dismiss it as a diagnosis I will tell them why they are mistaken. However, I avoid discussing it on a personal level.

[qhcowgirl]

Originally Posted by walkingmedley

i decided to stop telling people just because their responses frustrate me. when i finally built up the courage to tell my boss "i have add" his response was a laugh and a "dont we all". i hear that a lot from people, it drives me crazy.

OH Gosh! THat makes me insane!!!

Get that one all the time.

A few people are pretty supportive but yeah, I hate that.

[kilted_scotsman]

Hmm I do discuss it with people but keep WELL away from the ADHD label, finding that describing the neurochemical and environmental issues sems to make people more accepting of my "differences" and my journey towards a fulfilling life.

Talking about it and also pointing out that the same issues can face people who have had a head injury leads to most (but not all) people taking on board the fact that admitting and discussing mental health should not carry the stigma it does.

I have found that blurring the edges between environmental, genetic and injury as reasons for my mental makeup has made it alot more difficult for people to be dismissive...... specifically because t leaves them WIDE open to ridicule by their peers who instantly see the link between belittling someone who has suffered an invisible brain injury and belittling someone who's lost a leg.

Once that link has been made it becomes increasingly difficult for the belittler to appear to be anything other than uninformed and crassly insensitive.

After all no one would give the time of day to someone who told a car crash survivor with a spinal injury to get up and walk because anyone can do it, and neither would they countenance being around someone who belittled someone with cerebral palsy for spilling a drink.

Speaking out about mental health is tough.... and when things are tough it pays to be smart about how one does things. Following my diagnosis I am now acutely aware of how people are influenced to regard those perceived to be "different" by the ill-informed and those with agendas and axes to grind.

Time and again I have felt that those who react most strongly against tolerance and acceptance of the differences in the human condition are those who feel most insecure and threatened by some deeply hidden imperfection in themselves.

I feel this could be why mental health issues evoke such strong responses, for every human knows just how tenuous is their own grip on "reality".

kilted