The Return of Bootcamp! Saturday Essay - The Weird, Scrambled and Unlovely World of ADHD
Why neurodiversity isn't as fun as it sounds.
We are meant to be entering an age when we can celebrate those whose minds operate at a different end of the spectrum to so-called ‘ordinary’ or neurotypical people. We are told that those experiencing autism and Aspergers and dyslexia and even Down’s Syndome should celebrate their ‘difference’.
I’m not so sure.
I am ‘neurodiverse’ . I suffer from ADHD. Which is, of course, great fun.
For other people, anyway.
Because people with ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - are often very entertaining. I spoke to the manager of a comedy club once, and I asked him how many of his comedians suffered ADHD. ‘All of them’ he replied.
Yeh, it’s a great spectacle, if you like that sort of thing. ADHD sufferers ( they include my highly creative and entertaining daughter) tend to be quick-witted, make surprising connections and often have superlative verbal skills. They’re fun to be around, so long as you don’t get too close to them.
Because that’s when the problems begin.
ADHD sufferers ( and I use the word ‘sufferers’ advisedly since, as I say, we are now invited to celebrate neurodiversity) tend to have lives scattered with broken relationships, ( I have been divorced twice) unplanned children and bouts of depression ( ADHD is ‘comorbid’ with depression, meaning that the two are highly correlated. Depression is three times more common among adult ADHD sufferers. )
So not that much fun after all, at least for those who go through it. But what is the inner experience of a sufferer?
It’s hard to describe, and if you don’t have ADHD, hard to believe. And even harder to sympathise with.
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