The positive qualities of ADHD
When reading or talking about ADHD, the focus almost always seems to be on the problems that come with this diagnosis. Here is why I think that is a problem.
Many people are familiar with the problems that come with ADHD. The well known (inattention, not being able to sit still), and the lesser well know (fear of failure, perfectionism). Some people are diagnosed at an early age while they are still in school, others only after they recognize themselves in their children who are diagnosed. In all these cases the emphasis is on the problems people with ADHD, and to lesser extent the people around them, have to deal with. In general the idea seems to be that something needs to be fixed. People have to take medication in order to focus, and therapy to learn to deal with the other problems associated with ADHD. This was also the case for me. I wasn’t diagnosed until a few years ago. On the one hand it was a relief, because it explained to me why I never could keep a journal, had a tendency to be late or really early for all kinds of appointments, and kept failing at other things, no matter how hard I tried to improve. On the other hand it confirmed for me that I didn’t just have a problem, but that society also had a problem with me. This came on top of the fear of failure, perfectionism, low self esteem, and anxiety that I had developed during primary school. One of the biggest problems with ADHD is often not the disorder itself, but the damage that occurs because of the way people with ADHD, and especially children, are treated. It has been estimated by ADHD experts that by age 10, children with ADHD receive 20,000 more negative messages than they do positive messages, and not being diagnosed makes this problem worse. For some time I really saw my ADHD as a problem that could, and therefore should, be fixed. I understood it was something that was permanent and that there was no cure, but still, with some help those problems could be managed and I could function normally. Now I don’t see ADHD in that light anymore, and it would have helped me a lot if someone had told me that it is not so much a problem, as that my brain just works differently from most people. There are also many positive qualities people with ADHD have that do not get enough attention. While I see the importance of psycho-education on this subject for people who have been diagnosed, I think there needs to be way more attention focused on these positive sides. In preparation for this blog I googled ‘positive qualities of ADHD’ and the list seems to be endless. Of course not everyone with ADHD has all these qualities, but in general the number of positives seem to outweigh the negatives by quite a lot. These include qualities like resilience, out-of-the-box thinking, kindness, creativity, being good at finding solutions to all kinds of problems, cheerfulness and spontaneity, and being good in a crisis. If during my childhood the emphasis had been on my positive qualities in stead of on why I seemed to be lazy and unmotivated, that would of course have made a world of difference.
At the moment our school system isn’t very ADHD-friendly. Forcing students to sit still for long periods of time is a real problem when you can’t sit still. Humans weren’t made for a sedentary lifestyle. Research shows that movement in the classroom is actually important for all students, for several reasons. Apart from learning more efficiently, it helps with stress relief and mood elevation as well. This doesn’t change when we enter adulthood but still we are expected to sit behind a desk and work with a computer for long stretches of time. Sitting has been labeled the new smoking by some people, because of the negative impact it has on our health. The way in which the subject matter is presented to students can also be a problem. People use different learning styles to learn new information, and although the idea that people have a preferred learning style seems to be a myth, using a combination of different kinds of instructions can help people learn more easily. This might ask for some creativity from teachers, but can make it easier for students with ADHD to focus.
There are of course more problems associated with ADHD. But my point here is that in stead of labeling these people as ‘the problem’, it might be time to see ADHD in a new light, and make some changes to the way we approach how people learn.
