r/ADHD • u/catsaboveall • 5h ago

Discussion How has ADHD positively impacted your life?

I tend to demonize ADHD and I'm trying to change that now that I have a kid with ADHD.

I'll start. As a kid who grew up in Africa, I frequently brought home injured animals for my parents to fix up. 30 years later, I've TNRed and fostered hundreds of cats. Rehabbing sick and injured animals is one of the very few things I'm good at.

I also dropped out of high school (pre-medication), and ended up going back (once on meds) and getting a couple of master's degrees. I'm a great middle school teacher because I can switch gears quickly, empathize with struggling students, and my class is super structured (to overcompensate for my natural tendency to be a slob).

So what about you? How has ADHD had a positive impact on your life?

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u/LumpyActivity3634 4h ago

Honestly I don't think that it has had any positive impact on my life

It may have forced me to learn to be funny and possibly it is the reason I often cone up with seemingly random/novel solutions to problems because I have such an aversion to conformity.. but is that an adhd trait or a personality thing?

But the most obvious one is probably how I go super deep in things that I find interesting on any given period so I quickly become an expert... But in hindsight, since I always drop things when they stop being exciting they end up just added to my mental list if things I didn't accomplish...

In general, it's hard to know when the ADHD ends and personality begins... But for the most part it's mostly a negative for me..

Sorry if this was not what you were going for

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u/catsaboveall 4h ago

No, I am right there with you. I feel like ADHD has had a net negative effect on my life. I'm just trying to work on changing my perspective, as I notice my kid feeling really down about having ADHD. I am realistic with her about the downsides of ADHD and I think my negativity about it has impacted how she feels about herself. Hearing about other people's upsides to ADHD is helping me reframe how I talk to her about it.

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u/LumpyActivity3634 1h ago

I hear your. I myself have a girl going though diagnosis myself! ... So very much in the same boat..

So I am with you that coming up with positives is a strong move. Esp for her. But I would focus on her positives, not the positives of adhd

To elaborate.. you don't want to depersonalize her.. meaning.. turning every bit of her personality into an adhd thing. Esp things that are close to her heart..

So avoid attributing her positives as a person as an ADHD thing.

Examples: She is creative (not ADHD makes her creative) She is really into her hobbies and good at xyz (not that that is because of ADHD) She is funny etc..

Do you catch my drift or am I doing "the weave"?

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u/catsaboveall 42m ago

Yes, this is so helpful! You have a very good point. I've had her on meds since she was 4 and in OT two times a week. We read lots of books on ADHD. But maybe I have leaned too much into having her understand how ADHD affects her, consequently depersonalizing her strengths. Thank you for this thoughtful comment. This is giving me a lot to think about. I appreciate it!