March 29, 2024

Saingfamily

Don't Mess With Baby

ADHD Superpowers? Don’t Romanticize a Disorder and Its Symptoms

4 min read
Young man in superhero costume sitting on top of building

Apparently, I have superpowers. But contrary to common superpowers — invisibility, condition-shifting skills, laser-beam eyes — my superpowers are a bit extra prosaic.

So prosaic, in fact, they really do not seem much like superpowers at all: Lethargy. Impulsivity. Material abuse. Continual distractibility. Abject frustration. Unemployment. Neuroses. Irritability.

The Misadventures of ADHD-Guy

Who can forget about Marvel Comics #27? ADHD-Person rises following midday to defeat leftover takeout and doom scroll on Twitter though nursing a nagging urge to do anything effective.

That definitely is not a serious comic. And ADHD isn’t a serious superpower. Not when I was a kid, and not today as many others proudly brandish the irony-tinged proclamation across social media.

Never get me incorrect: I realize why some individuals would refer to their ADHD signs or symptoms as superpowers. I understand that it is intended, in section, to communicate the neuroatypical positive aspects we have, like hyperfocus, boundless power, and creativity. But these features are a modest aspect of the ADHD puzzle. For the reason that what fantastic is a imaginative mind, say, if it’s not able to utilize itself? That isn’t neat that is Kafka.

[Read: 7 Myths About ADHD… Debunked!]

And sure, I also get that “ADHD is my superpower” is a defiant two-finger salute to a earth that attempts to tear neurodivergent people down. It’s also a wonderful detail to say to little ones who are having difficulties with id and ADHD.

I know what you are wondering: Why am I acquiring labored up about a thing pretty benign? Since I was ADHD-Male for a prolonged time. In my darkest times of pre-therapy, I was a compound-abusing, suicidal mess. I didn’t come to feel like a superhero. I didn’t even feel human.

Let us Be Straightforward: There’s Absolutely nothing Passionate About ADHD

Historically misunderstood situations love larger recognition currently than ever before. But there is substantially more get the job done to be completed. I’m certain a “What is ADHD?” vox pop on my city’s streets would generate additional than a number of shoulder shrugs and remarks like, “Oh, is ADHD the 1 where by all the kids run about outrageous and the mom and dad give them ricin, or vitamins, or what ever to calm them down? That one?”

In the ongoing fight to increase a lot-required awareness all-around ADHD, it’s essential we really do not romanticize it. Pithy expressions do minor to help men and women with ADHD when they are known as unproductive at function or disruptive in the classroom. Alternatively of getting adorable, we should really be crystal clear.

[Read: 10 Things I Wish the World Knew About ADHD]

We need to demonstrate the unlimited enjoy-loss sample of hyperfixation that scuppers our likelihood of getting proficiency in a passion and normally leaves us with clutter: unstrummed guitars in the closet squash-racquets-turned-fly swatters forgotten knitting needles threatening to rise from beneath the sofa cushions. Other people must know about our interior chaos and whole incapability to implement ourselves despite possessing the need to do a little something, something, other than accomplish an infinite start off-stop loop.

We ought to demonstrate the actually unappealing aspect of ADHD. The things that, still left unchecked, can cap a person’s possible and spoil their life. The outcomes of missing a prognosis in childhood. The yo-yoing employment standing in adulthood. The susceptibility to compound abuse and other negative outcomes.

But nobody’s heading to put all that in a Twitter bio.

Treatment Is the Actual Superpower

The antidote to ADHD is not #slogans it’s medicine, therapy, and exercising. It is formulating a video game system and managing it each and each and every day so you really don’t conclude up like ADHD-Guy.

When I feel back to my everyday living ahead of I was identified with ADHD at age 32, it tends to make me doubly grateful for where by I am now.

To me, the legitimate superheroes are the individuals — significantly cleverer than I — who were being ready to devise alternatives to aid those like me. Many thanks to them, I’m equipped to choose a tablet every single morning that enables me to make healthier decisions, gives me greater manage of executive features, and will help me concentrate on responsibilities to a degree that ADHD-Male never ever considered doable.

ADHD Superpowers: Subsequent Measures


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