Introduction

ADHD is an often misunderstood condition. Due to an increase in recognition during the 90’s there is a lot of misconceptions and hurtful stereotypes surrounding it. We have decided to compile together 5 things that people with ADHD wished you knew!

Hopefully, this helps breaks some of the hurtful misunderstandings and ignorance around ADHD. You never know, you might even learn something new!

1. ADHD doesn’t mean I can’t concentrate… it means I can’t control what I’m concentrating on.

Often the concentration issues that come with ADHD isn’t actually to do with concentration itself. It’s to do with the environment the person is trying to concentrate in. If someone with ADHD is working in a loud room with a lot of stimuli, they might be distracting by all the different types of information coming into their brains. However, if they work in a more comfortable environment (maybe in a quiet room or wearing ear defenders, for example) they essentially would be able to concentrate better.

2. ADHD affects all aspects of life … not just school.

ADHD is often thought about in a school setting. This is because it’s most commonly thought about as just a childhood condition, which it’s not. It’s a condition that can affect every part of your life, from punctuality to friendships to your health. Children who had trouble remember their homework often become adults who struggle to remember stuff like paying bills on time.

3. #NOFILTER… We don’t want to offend you.

People with ADHD sometimes can’t filter their thoughts before they come out of their mouths. This might lead to people’s feelings being hurt due to the lack of impulse control, They don’t mean to hurt you or offend you, they literally cannot control it. Also, if someone with ADHD drops off, it doesn’t mean they personally don’t like you, it just the very nature of ADHD increases introspection.

4. Timing is hard

And this can have a very real impact on school, work and general everyday life. People with ADHD can struggle with knowing how long something is going to take them. This is partly due to the fact that they don’t know how many times their attention will be diverted or how many times they will have to check to see whether they have missed anything. This is also impart due to struggling with executive function, this means that the struggle of organising and executing tasks can be extremely difficult.

5. Medication doesn’t give us an advantage, it makes just work at a non-ADHD pace.

Taking ADHD medication doesn’t give people extra focus, it gives them a closer level of focus to those without ADHD. It’s not a recreational drug to give you an extra boost before an exam or important talk at work. It’s an insult to people who need the drug to say that, you wouldn’t tell someone in a wheelchair, “Oh let me just hop on for a ride down the street please?”… Nah, didn’t think so. ADHD medications aren’t a full-blown solution either, even when the medication is taken if there is too much stimulus around the person they can still get distracted.

Conclusion

As you can see, many of the stereotypes above can be extremely damaging to someone’s self-confidence and outlook on life. It can make them feel isolated and misunderstood. What people with ADHD also wish you knew is that we don’t mind if you ask us questions, as long as you are respectful and genuinely interested in finding out about the condition. It helps us feel included!

To find out more about ADHD why not check out our 6 ESSENTIAL ADHD Blogs For Parents, Caregivers & Teachers!

https://blog.chewigem.com/6-essential-adhd-blogs-for-parents-caregivers-teachers/