This is no way disregards the difficulty of living with an actually severe case of ADHD but is not what most of these people are dealing with.
EDIT: many seem to have misunderstood what I mean by this. I’m not saying these people are only claiming to have ADHD to use it as an excuse. What I mean, is that they may very well do have, and they’re using it as an excuse. Mostly to themselves.
As a person with (yes, diagnosed) ADHD, this is pretty harmful. Idk how you’re gonna go get tested if you don’t at least think it’s something that might apply to you.
No one ever thought I had ADHD except my ADHD wife, but the shame of thinking you’re just useless and lazy is incredibly damaging. Even with a diagnosis I can’t afford medication, so my quality of life hasn’t improved at all because I can’t access treatment. My parents said they would “never have thought” I had ADHD despite my assessor saying I fit the symptoms basically to a T.
Most clinicians won’t suggest ADHD as a diagnosis because the patient might not even realize that they have executive dysfunction or problems noticing things. They might have come in for depression and anxiety, not knowing that those are side effects of not being able to manage their ADHD. This is why specialists are necessary, not because ADHD is uncommon.
Edit: Also this opinion is extremely popular, btw. It’s kind of the dominant view everywhere except in very online spaces, where people with ADHD tend to congregate for support and community.
Not sure if I should upvote for being properly unpopular, or downvote for being absolutely fucking wrong.
In countries where people actually have easy access to ADHD testing, the numbers diagnosed are higher than anyone expected (~20%). It’s still underdiagnosed in most countries IMO.
And the high numbers cast doubt on whether it’s actually a disorder, or rather a symptom of our society being increasingly incompatible with human nature.
The first part is great. The “cast doubt” part sounds like naturalist bullshit.
If 1/5 of people can’t “correctly” function in society in some specific way, you have to at least wonder if it’s them who is wrong or society.
What are you getting at? It’s simply human nature to desire to toil under capitalism. Those who struggle to devote 1/3 of their waking lives to making other people money are the wrong ones!
For many the symptoms mimic a lack of discipline so convincingly that they’ve spent their entire lives being reprimanded and disregarded this way.
That what one sees is all there is usually characterizes the easy, face-value opinion. How is it unpopular?
I mean, yeah it’s an unpopular opinion. That’s because it’s utter bullshit, and a good bit douchey tbh.
You confuse self discipline with executive function. Most people with ADHD have plenty of self discipline, it just isn’t always enough to overcome a neurological difference.
Self discipline is about building habits, and setting up tools to assist in executive function. That is where the self discipline comes in to adhd, and there’s a shit ton of success at it.
But what if those people that claim having ADHD actually do have it but never have been diagnosed with it? What are you gonna say then, do they also only lack self discipline as demonstrated by not making an appointment?
You can have ADHD and still use it as an excuse for not getting things done. It may be a contributing factor but not the entire reason. It’s not binary, there are more and less severe cases of it.
I don’t think you have a strong understanding of ADHD.
I do think you’re looking at the outsized influence of a very tiny subset young influencers that are making ADHD content.
Even if it were the case that people are using the “excuse” to be lazy, what do you think that has to do with the “you must constantly produce to be a contributing member of society” outlook on labor in latestage capitalism. Or how this could be the youth’s response to feeling undervalued and under compensated for their labor.
Here’s a source that’s guaranteed to be milquetoast enough for you to believe https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/06/03/inflation-hit-gen-z-hardest/73901354007/
A large number of people are using it as an excuse. I don’t see how this in any way refutes my claim. I think you’re arguing against a point I haven’t made.
I see you are getting a lot of flack but this point I think can be better understood if they think of the classic story about someone who gets messed up in an accident and does not have the will to do physical therapy because they tell themselves they just can’t do it. I do think you will get that with things like this. Still the answer is not necessarily to kick the person out of the wheelchair although in the movies with that trope you do see that.
I think people want simple explanations for the world around them but more often than not the truth is not simple. A person without ADHD can suffer from poor self-discipline. I don’t see any reason why someone with ADHD couldn’t. It doesn’t make them immune to the other personality quirks that people commonly have. I personally just don’t think that a diagnosis gives anyone the excuse to stop trying. Play with the cards you’ve been dealt.
Even in this thread there are gatekeepers implying that because I’m not a completely dysfunctional wreck myself I must therefor not have ADHD.
