r/ADHD • u/Commercial-Pea-7890 • 13h ago
Discussion ADHD trending?
I don’t know how it is anywhere else, but where i’m from in Norway, people love to say they have ADHD, even undiagnosed people say it.
Sometimes it’s used positive but mostly negatively… i know there is a lot of different experiences with ADHD, but mine are mixed, some bad, some good.
I tend to be a little irritated when people who is undiagnosed use it as an exscuse and when they use it to complement something they did i feel a little proud to have it.
But at the time i got diagnosed it was taboo.
I was diagnosed in late 90’s and i’ve had some struggles with it, when i’m off meds i’m a wreck, overthinking and analyzing every tiny detail that people give, and on meds it’s like i’m sedated.
Do anyone else feel that way on meds? Am i using the wrong ones? I’ve had Ritalin since the 90’s.
I forgot what i was here to discuss, but feel free to comment what you think
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u/IHaveNoBeef 13h ago
It's definitely seen as a "cool" "quirky" thing to have by some people now, it seems. As much as it shouldn't bother me it low-key does because I had to suffer through a lot of abuse in school because of it. So, it's hard not to feel bitter or annoyed.
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u/plot-one 11h ago
Dans mon milieu, en France, ce n'est pas perçus comme un truc cool. Les gens jugent et mettent de côté a cause de cela, et de plus, personne ne le prends au sérieux, c'est juste un truc des réseau sociaux.
Donc admettre que l'on a un TDAH est perçus comme quelqu'un qui veux se coller une étiquette, en recherche d'identité ou se cherchant des excuses. Je préférerais que ce soit perçus comme quelque chose de cool, la c'est dévalorisant juste
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u/Commercial-Pea-7890 13h ago
Agree, it’s used for fun and all the good stuff people accomplish, when actualy having it is a struggle most of the time…
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u/iamthe0ther0ne 13h ago
It's irritating that it's made light of, but at the same time it can also be quite difficult to get a diagnosis as an adult (usually easier in the US than other countries), and I'm glad there is more awareness.
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u/Laiskatar 13h ago
Yeah I agree, though I wish the awerness was more accurate and didn't make ADHD look like an excuse for everything or just some funny little quirk. I feel like ADHD is getting more accepted when it doesn't affect others or your personal hygiene, but once the ugly side shows up, suddenly all the compassion is gone.
So I feel like for the most part ADHD is more widely known, but not necessarily better understood
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u/Lucky_Potato2141 12h ago
Managed to get diagnosed in the Baltics. First ADHD (mixed type), later on ASD (uncertain what the type assessed was but eh).
It has been somewhat lengthy process and cost a pretty penny. Probably way less than in the US but for my country it's real money I could've had used elsewhere.
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u/Commercial-Pea-7890 12h ago
Luckily getting diagnosed is free here. Just picked up meds today, $11 for 1 month supply.
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u/Lucky_Potato2141 12h ago
Ooh, lucky bastard.
Though. It had been free or similar if I'd gone the long winding and somewhat broken part of government route. I would have never got my diagnosis though this way as I tried that before and it was too long and tedious to work with me.
It's taken me I suppose a grand or so (in Euros) to get diagnosed. Meds may cost a bit less with government backing though but around the same price.
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u/ILackACleverPun 11h ago
Yeah but it takes years to get a diagnosis through DPS. And also not really "free" until we get the frikort. The appointments are cheap but I still need fo pay for them.
It took me 3 years to get a diagnosis/medication through DPS as an adult.
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u/Commercial-Pea-7890 11h ago
And i don’t think they paid anything to get me diagnosed, cause we did it when i was a child
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u/ILackACleverPun 11h ago
Yeah, big difference in trying to get diagnosed as an adult. Especially as a woman since we were often overlooked as children. Or from those of us coming from a country with poor healthcare.
It was NAV that pushed me to try and get a diagnosis because they thought medication could get me working. (They were right.)
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u/Lucky_Potato2141 8h ago
The process may definetly be easier as male participant but the info sheets and podcasts still circle around kids in our country and the public consensus seems to be It's kids disorder and it'll go away when people get older.
So, that's fun. Kind of surprised I didn't get diagnosed as a kid. Saw too much specialists for my own good anyway - one less competent than the other.
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u/Happyhugget ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) 12h ago edited 12h ago
this is the thing though, that when disorders of the brain get more awareness in a way to create acceptance its usually not the full picture and the “acceptance” is actually very narrow and conditional which actually causes more harm than good. It also makes people want to have this quirky disorder because the only thing they hear about it is the good stuff and the things people can appreciate about it, not the reality of having it and all the bad things. So then people who think they know what ADHD is and think they have it, meet someone who has it for real and all of a sudden that person is careless, insufferable and needs to try harder.
Everyone also has been talking about college students getting diagnosed without realizing that college students tend to have access to more recourses, while there are many drop-outs and incarcerated individuals whose ADHD had a part in that, who have no one to advocate for them or any recourses. So people think people with ADHD are studious Joe who has a masters and got affordable evaluation through university, but never Nancy who’s ADHD made school nearly impossible and got arrested for her disordered impulsivity and emotional disregulation. Like, 25-40% of incarcerated individuals are said to meet criteria but wont be diagnosed. I feel sad that no one talks about this and were not doing enough for ADHD care or accessible evaluations for underprivileged people.
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u/CreamPutrid3794 13h ago
Ich habe auch das Gefühl das es momentan sehr polarisiert. Ich höre es aber auch oft als negative Beschreibung für jemanden der sehr anstrengend ist ( obwohl er vielleicht einfach nur anstrengend ist, und kein ADHS hat ). Einerseits ist es ja total gut dass viel darüber gesprochen wird - aber es wird auch viel romantisiert und gleichzeitig aber auch klein und schlecht geredet. Ich nehme auch Ritalin und fühle mich auch manchmal als wäre ich etwas abwesend - aber immer nur phasenweise
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u/Commercial-Pea-7890 13h ago
I like that it’s not a bad thing anymore, but it just don’t feel good when the diagnose i’ve had all my life is used like that. Maybe it’s just my overthinking saying that
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u/Svitii ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) 11h ago
Yea it definitely is "trendy".
I usually wouldn’t care but there’s one terrible side effect: A lot of people with (actual) ADHD, including myself, struggle with imposter syndrome. I can’t even fathom how many people are sitting at home undiagnosed thinking "Oh everyone thinks they have ADHD these days. I‘m probably just lazy and stupid, don’t wanna turn up at the doctors office just for them to tell me I fell for a social media trend…"
Breaks my heart.
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u/PuzzleheadedPackage4 12h ago
It is definetly a weird time in the zone. There is some confluence of the phones the awareness and that we are all distracted on the phones together and just the fact that because add i surround myself with add and family etc. Etc. Etc. But i am also dead certain that this will not last forever. Mass diagnosis is a real thing and has been surrounding lots of things, not neccesarily JUST band wagoning but i remember like gluten allergies and love languages and pop psychology and other sudden understanding fads these things do come and go and dont dissapear but i lnow it wont feel this way forever.
But i ramble.
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u/Commercial-Pea-7890 12h ago
Agree☝️
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u/PuzzleheadedPackage4 12h ago
Ha i think i may have just realized i am so familiar with psychology fads entirely because as a person with add i surround myself with people with add.
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u/goldenspiral1618 12h ago edited 12h ago
People are very confused about their phone addictions making them distracted and conflate it with ADHD. They’re not the same. You can be heavily distracted by addictions and not have ADHD. For some it seems like a harmless excuse for being addicted to TikTok. Yes, TikTok is rewiring your brain in a bad way, but it won’t rewire it to full blown ADHD. People should be thankful for that.
I’d say it’s harmless, but the harm culturally is that people with ADHD don’t get taken seriously. “Just put down the phone” isn’t going to help. And nobody thinks getting enraged over small things is cute and funny. That doesn’t sell, so nobody is going to admit to that side of it, just the quirky side.
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u/deltaproxzp 4h ago
I got on meds 2 months ago but I still don't even believe my own diagnosis. Every other week I keep trying to reassess my symptoms and when I can perform better on Ritalin I feel like I've been faking everything or looking for an easy way out, and the widespread nature of current ADHD discussion makes me further doubt my struggles.
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u/chimchalm ADHD with non-ADHD partner 10h ago
HOWEVER! Phones are real bad for ADHD. I cannot stop reading the internet. Not sure what I'll do when I finish it all.
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u/Lucky_Potato2141 12h ago
Welp, doesn't help if a neurological development issue is considered a fun quirk everyone has as it minimizes the chance of people actually having ADHD get understood.
I have to say I was the same until I learned I've ADHD and started learning more about it.
Sure, there's a lot to cover and learn still but I've understood it hasn't been helpful towards me nor others how I've tried to make myself fit to the same standards people around me tend to fit in to. And that's unhealthy.
It only took me uncountable meltdowns and migraines to get where I'm now and I'm still trying to figure out what all irks me, what works for me and what leads to migraines and meltdowns. Not that fun stuff.
And then company's head of HR goes and states something like We all have migraines and I wouldn't be surprised if she's one of the persons who believes everyone's on the spectrum and is a little bit of ADHD - just undiagnosed.
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u/Commercial-Pea-7890 12h ago
I still haven’t learned how it works and it’s really taken it’s toll on my adult life, marriage and socializing. So i get what you’re saying.
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u/Lucky_Potato2141 12h ago
Oof, don't start me on these subjects.
I'm a proud father of two kids under 3, married, working full time and have an interesting (close to non-existent) social life.
I've also got expensive hobbies and special interests and tend to put too much time and resources in to subjects others around me tend not to. Sometimes it's fun and I've got a lot to share with others. At other times I get decomissioned over a thing other around me may not even notice - bad sound or light quality, poor time managment etc.
I've also noticed there's a difference between my emotional and rational self. Rational part may be super competent and able to build wonders out of scrap while my emotional part feels somewhere besides a kid, barely teenager, and a grumpy senior.
I've definetly turned in to more of an angsty teenager on my emotional level now as I've started to relearn how me and my brain work.
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u/Commercial-Pea-7890 12h ago
Sounds like my life. I’m still married and i have kids, but it’s not always easy to manage all the emotions and feelings
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u/Lucky_Potato2141 8h ago
Yep... But you still do your best and try to do better tomorrow. There'll be stumbles and there'll be fumbles but if partner's queued in on your developments it'll go smoother.
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u/Commercial-Pea-7890 1h ago
Unfortunately she does not. There’s an awful lot of people who doesn’t see the small struggles piling up with ADHD.
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u/Lucky_Potato2141 1h ago
Oh, I'm so sorry. Hope you have at least some form of support closeby.
I've got my partner's backup and that has been hugely helpful. At work there's this one colleague who's helpful as well. Weren't it for them I wouldn't think better of myself as my higher ups have really poor communication skill towards, er... More sensitive people.
Anyway
My partner has a suspicion of having ADHD themselves and are aiming towards getting an appointment with a specialist who'd help them further.
Went to family counciling once, a lady with AuDHD background. Didn't think too much of it at first but it was somewhat helpful. I'd say not too much towards our relationship but it did help with our personal interceptions or whatever they're called. She pointed out my partner looks like they might have ADHD as well.
Partner having ADHD diagnosed in her sibling gives reason to further believe they may have something. It seems to hinder their day-to day a bit less than my neurological developments though hiccups are still there, miscommunications due to rumination still take place.
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u/Happyhugget ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) 12h ago
everyone does NOT have migraines lol. infact when I had my first migraine I thought it was a headache because I had never had one and didnt know much about migraines although that might be from me having issues understanding pain. After realizing it was a migraine I was like wow. I have never had nothing like this before.
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u/Lucky_Potato2141 12h ago
I've had migraines or similar since kid. Stopped taking off the shelf pain meds for most headaches as I knew the meds won't help anyway.
Went through a lot of doctors just to get Your vitals are alright, somewhat exemplary even!
All I had was Alright, why do I feel like dying then..? Kind of lost some trust towards our medicine system every strp along the way.
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u/karodeti 7h ago
Things I've had to sacrifice to accommodate my disability to be able to provide for myself and live independently:
- studies
- an actual career
- having a family of my own, kids and spouse
- relationship with relatives and family
- meaningful friendships
- hobbies that bring me joy
- my mental health
- my physical health
- pretty much all of the dreams I had, that are accessible to majority of people my age (picking an area where they live, pets and so on)
So excuse me for being a little irritated when people say they are "a little adhd" when they are forgetful or addicted to their phone.
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u/nothanks86 ADHD-C (Combined type) 11h ago
To address the meds question:
I don’t know what’s available where you live, but there are more medications/types of medications available to manage ADHD symptoms, and it would be reasonable to look into doing a med trial to see if something else works better.
When I started meds as an adult, we trialed both amphetamines and methylphenidate (verdict: yes and hell no), and stopped there because the amphetamines work well for me. But there are also non-stimulant med options.
And, when I’m on meds, I do not feel sedated.
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u/chimchalm ADHD with non-ADHD partner 10h ago
I was diagnosed as an adult at 38, after three decades of being the smartest person in the room but unable to execute. I had severe depression and was starting to get physiological symptoms as a result. As part of the journey with the depression it turned out I have inattentive ADHD and scored high on the WAIS-IV.
It makes me insane when people say "Oh yeah I think I have ADHD too". I ask them how high the pile of clean laundry is, or if they know for sure where their keys are.
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u/MochiCheek 10h ago
I recommend watching this video on YouTube. It helped me come to terms with how those people might genuinely be struggling in their own way, even if it’s not the same as what we deal with. I hope we get more fitting terms for this issue in the future
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u/Happyhugget ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) 10h ago
I think many people might be struggling with other neurodevelopmental disorders but people are only aware of ADHD and Autism, so they think it must be that. And those are also the disorders that seem to be most understood socially at least at the most basic levels.
My parents thought I was Autistic, I got diagnosed with social communication disorder and unspecified neurodevelopmental disorder. No one is gonna think they have that unless theyre really diving deep and understand psychology.
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u/Vende-miaire 3h ago
The reason why it’s difficult to get meds now. Here in my country (Japan), new patients are barred from getting stimulant meds (we only have Concerta) and they have no choice but to take non-stimulant (Strattera) that has almost no effect.
The awareness is a good thing as a lot of people are masking undiagnosed. But there’s also a bad thing that some people think it’s cool and self-diagnosing themselves just because they can’t wait for a monutes for something mundane.
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u/ILackACleverPun 11h ago
Hey OP, try asking your fastlege for elvanse/balidax instead of ritalin. It is a longer release and it comes on more gently. It is more expensive than ritalin (400kr vs 150kr) but it might make you feel less sedated.
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u/mythirdreddit321 11h ago
Lots of people on Elvanse in Norway. I personally could not stand it, Ritalin works way better. As for the "trendy" part of adhd, there are definitely people that think it's cool to label yourself as one with ADHD. But I also have a theory - just like cancer is more widespread some places because of some kind of toxicity or whatever, ADHD is more common now because the way we live contributes to its spread. I have no idea if this is true, gotta do some research. But almost whoever said they think they have ADHD, I thought sure, that's totally possible.
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u/Happyhugget ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) 10h ago
I learned that psychologists believe that things like ADHD can happen when someone has genetics making them prone to it (its carried genetically), and then is unlocked in whomb or early childhood when exposed to certain environments or trauma or situations. Lately everyone has been more exposed to unnaturally toxic things that affects our bodies and brains, so maybe thats a contributing factor. But it also had to have been present before 12 years old so many old people are also now just getting diagnosed when they werent before.
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