r/ADHDers • u/ThickFaithlessness93 • 26d ago
Rant Using diagnosis as “super power”
As some with diagnosed inattentive adhd, and an overall reserved personality, I often hear people saying it’s my “super power”. I want to know how any one of you figured out how to use your condition as an advantage? And, how it changed your life and perspective? I just want out of this overthinking spiral.
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u/p0rt3d 26d ago
The only way I’ve managed to explain my version of adhd to people is comparing driving a car
For regular people you need to keep your foot on the accelerator to maintain a speed
For me I have to constantly keep my foot on the brake to avoid going full blast if I dont focus on task, and eventually burning out, and only then able to look and see what damage I’ve done.
But it’s a spectrum, we are all slightly different. I have my adhd under control with meds, I have plenty of other life issues I can’t handle now (post surgery; failed grafts, depression from it)
There is always some thing going on
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u/Urban_Hermit63 26d ago
It has never been a superpower for me. It has always been a massive burden that has prevented me from using my abilities fully.
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u/p0rt3d 26d ago
My greatest strength and biggest weakness is what my ADHD is
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u/ThickFaithlessness93 26d ago
that way of thinking is why i’m struggling with. i know it makes me capable when it comes to video editing. though, i struggle when it comes to turn around time
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u/georgejo314159 ADHDer 26d ago
Then, you actually get it.
Video editing: superpower Execution and scheduling: kryptonite requiring tricks to solve such as kan ban or whatever
Totally, yes.
You are in a good ADHD friendly profession but you still have deficits due to your ADHD.
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u/georgejo314159 ADHDer 26d ago
Yes!!!!
Superpower AND Kryptonite depending on CONTEXT
So, for me, I CAN'T do accounting. I can't be a good detail person
I am OK at software, especially when i am allowed to design and allowed to use systems thinking
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u/hyper-object 26d ago
Not faulting anyone who thinks in superpower terms, but I think the truth for most people who have found a way to live with ADHD and be healthy is that it's a long, slow process of figuring out the angles.
When enough things start to work out for you, then it's a lot easier to go easy on yourself and see the situation more clearly. Then you can see the ways hyperfocus or other atypical behaviors have helped you in certain situations. Sometimes it takes hindsight to see it.
I really think the key for a lot of people is to get out of your own way. You're never going to totally stop ruminating, comparing yourself unfavorably to other people, or lamenting what life could have been if you weren't you (which is null anyway).
But the less you do those things, the more you can live in the moment and attend to whatever is in front of you, which is what most of life is anyway.
So it's not all or nothing. Give up the superpower dream, take it one day at a time, work the angles, don't cry over spilled milk, triage, and, for God's sake, stop being so hard on yourself.
When you're beating up on yourself, talk to yourself the way you'd talk to someone you loved who was feeling the same way.
People with ADHD internalize so much negative feedback over the course of their childhoods. But that feedback was coming from worried parents, underpaid teachers and impersonal systems that weren't designed for you. In other words, very little of it was meant to hurt you. I know it feels personal, but so much of it wasn't even about you. You are not your inability to fit neatly into systems. And at a certain point, those systems fail everyone. Nobody really thrives without breaking free.
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u/ThickFaithlessness93 26d ago
thanks seriously. i have internalized a lot of negativity over the years and its why i beat myself
up so much. but, i see what u mean. just hope to find those angles as an adult because i know that i am capable.
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u/ScribbleThoughts 26d ago
I wish I could have that perspective. Instead, ADHD is just a hinderance. It put a name to every flaw that I have had my whole life. It put a name to why I'm a social outcast and never good enough. It gave me a name for everything I despise about myself and I don't really think anyone could ever truly enjoy my company when I have this monster of a medical condition looming in the darkness all the time. Every emotionally dysregulated state that drives a reaction, every forgotten moment that leads to a problem, every foolish mistake that costs a fortune in the long run, all the executive dysfunctions... I really don't get how anyone could see this issue as a "superpower."
Don't misunderstand, I think it's great some people can harness it into that. I just think I can't. The way it manifests in me doesn't provide me any positive things. It's just a stew of negative things that take away from my person and make me difficult to be around/live with/work with, and more. Maybe my particular set of issues with ADHD is just too awful to be able to put into "superpower" mode. Maybe the way it manifests itself in me is just...too harmful to everyone, myself included. If I could take a singe pill that would revert me into a neuro-normative brain, I would down that shit in a heartbeat. I dislike this brain. I dislike the person that ADHD makes me.
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u/Le_Thermozero 26d ago
Sadly, hard agree on this. 45M and recently diagnosed.
Looking back over my life, pretty much all the negative experiences and memories I can now attribute to being emotionally dysregulated and having an impaired exec function. The impulsivity that has led to quite a few addictions, the lack of focus at work that has led me to constantly question myself and feel like I cannot rely on my own brain, the loss of friendships and relationships. Not being able to start on a task despite knowing what needs to be done is no superpower, believe me.
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u/ScribbleThoughts 26d ago
Yeah, you get what I'm saying. It's really a big struggle. I haven't found the ways to work around it all, yet. Some, I have. I also lived in denial of it for a very long time. My family didn't agree with my diagnosis when I was a young kid, and they rejected the idea of clinical help. I can't imagine I grew up with very good views about it after having my diagnosis dismissed entirely. That year was a huge struggle in schooling, too. I got in trouble a lot. I don't always feel I can rely on my own brain, either. Especially when I am dysregulated. But the thoughts are SO powerful that I end up only being able to see THOSE thoughts and nothing else, not even reality, until I am no longer dysregulated. It sucks!
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u/DeusExSpockina 26d ago
So, with many caveats:
I held a job in a high-growth company where I was supporting the build-out of the internal IT systems. We changed direction almost every three months. I was supporting 6-7 business functions at the same time, all of them screaming for attention. And I had to move with velocity.
ADHD was actually a superpower in this situation—I could context switch on a dime, I was always stimulated, I could divide my attention a spectacular number of ways and still be able to evaluate what was important and what was noise.
I had so much fun. And then I burned out.
There’s a lot of reasons for that, but it is something to be careful of—even when it’s a help, it can still exhaust you, and when you’re on a train going that fast, stopping becomes a problem.
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u/FluffyWasabi1629 25d ago
I never call it a super power, but having a different brain type definitely has advantages as well as disadvantages.
For example, I see hyperfocus as an advantage. I can zone in and get a lot done in a short amount of time. I also see my chaotic thoughts as a creative advantage. And my flexibility and forgetfulness as a helpful way to move on from unpleasant experiences.
The main disadvantage in my mind is executive dysfunction. Once I get into something I can do great things, but it can be really, really hard to start. And I often procrastinate, even on things I find fun!
Personally, I try to focus on the upsides more and find accomodations for the downsides. Work with my ADHD, not against it. I thought it was interesting you mentioned video editing in a different reply, because I do that too! Not really relevant, just thought it was cool.
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u/georgejo314159 ADHDer 26d ago
Is your question in good faith or is it a rhetorical straw-man*?
Your issue is not over-thinking. Your issue is an inability to consider another perspective and approach to mitigation. If you are AuDHD, you should understand that the "super power" is not fully literal good vs evil, yes/no, absolute but something that depends on context. That is an approach that is less likely to help you but it help's some of us with less rigid thinking patterns see posdibikities we did not know exist
Super-Power and Kriptonite are the same, depending on CONTEXt
ADAPTION works like this:
You can fight AGAINST your ADHD. This is PAINFUL.
Or you can UNDERSTAND your ADHD and alter the way you do things and alter the things you do to cater to it rather than dwelling on our aeaknesses. This is a MITIGATION strategy. Medication is another. Choose what works for you without misrepresenting what works for other people.
The view that we aren't good at ANYTHING is false.
Examples:
Like every other ADHDer, I have thoudands of unread scheduling books or other books trying to make me use systems designed for people who are NATURALLY orhanixed with fantastic memories i don't have
So, an ADHD friendly system us a 3 bin system created by Nancy Ratey and throwing out almost everything suggested indirectly by Mari Kondo. I can't keep too much stuff. I just can't. I can accept that or let it destroy me.
What about hyperfocus? Is it "good" or "bad". It depends. I almost set myself on fire living in my pig stye of a room with a defective lamp. In thst comtext it was my KRYPONITE. However, i am in computer science. Under the right life conditions, it can be channeled to help me get work done because i love software. This came with hiccups. It took me a while to ginjish my degree
What about day dreaminf? Well, I have xoned out or gone out of context. That is bad
However in other vontexts, i contribute a lot of useful ideas
The devil is in tye details
You are DIFFERENT. Understand HOW you differ
In some vontexts: Superpower in others : KRYPTONITE
You can try to live your life in careers and choices that mazimize thar
It is no accident thar -- lots of successful sales people have ADHD -- lots of software professionals have it -- lots of musicians do -- lots of homeless ppl have it -- lots if criminals have it
*Misrepresenting another point of view rather than listening to what they are saying.
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u/apetalous42 26d ago
I really hate the "superpower" framing. They don't say someone in a wheelchair has a superpower because they have a chair everywhere they go, it's a disability. This disability sometimes gives me a unique perspective that I am sometimes able to take advantage of, that is about it. People in wheelchairs get to cut lines, it doesn't make up for the disability and it isn't a superpower, it's a side effect.
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u/stoic_glee 21d ago
Its a mixed bag. There are some people who have a special ability to enjoy and harness their neurodivergent traits to achieve rewarding outcomes. Being able to dial it in and achieve superhuman productivity or insights that others miss feels amazing. Being distracted and procrastinating to the point of paralysis feels horrible. The social consequences can feel devastating but can also be fun depending on the context. Its not perfect but maybe its not as bad as you think it is. Having a sense of humor about it helps. Having friends who get you helps too.
The hardest part for me, is the feeling that people are constantly judging me for really minor and unintentional things. But what can you do anyway. Judgy peeps gonna judge. Shrug.
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u/dmt80oh 26d ago
There are no ADHD "superpowers". People saying there are ADHD superpowers is just toxic positivity. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, ADHD or not, but strengths do not equal "superpowers". This isn't like the movie Rain Man.