I am fully aware over the last few months there has been an explosion in ADHD awareness across social media platforms and the news.
If you have also thought this you would be correct, on TikTok alone, there have been 28 thousand posts featuring #adhd and this content has amassed 125.4 million views. Nuts I know.
But it's not just confined to social media, ADHD is now filling up leading news outlets along with being discussed very recently in the UK parliament.
So what is the cause of this rise in ADHD awareness? And will this continue or do we feel it's just in vogue or even worse attention seeking...I
like many suffered during the pandemic, but the levels were more than just missing the pub and my mates. It was painful. The lack of stimulation other than Houseparty, home workouts and trying to create my favourite takeaway was torture.
ADHD feels like you are a balloon that's being filled to the brim with air, you can't escape it, and you sometimes feel like you need to 'burst out' in some way, when that's illegal you feel trapped and lost, it affects every fibre of your body, from sleep to mental wellbeing.
Many think of ADHD as being an illness kids have that they grow out of, not something you worry about in your 30s (or later) and not if you are a woman (4.2% of women are diagnosed as opposed to 13% of men).
This pandemic entrapment and newly found free time have led many people to finally seek help, that in turn has led to more diagnoses and awareness which snowballs meaning more people are exploring if they would like an assessment.
This surely is a good thing, right? Well according to the media no. Type in 'ADHD explosion' into Google and have a look at the news section. It's full of comments from those that think they know better.
Let's take a recent article from everyone’s 'favourite' newspaper The Daily Mail. Here Dr Max Pemberton uses the phrases ' I just don't buy it’, 'craze' and 'must have' concerning diagnoses, and suggests the increases are due to celebrity endorsement along with the fact many have gone private so it's in the benefit of the doctor to confirm your illness.
In a particularly disgusting comment he mentioned 'A few years ago, we had a host of celebrities claiming to have bipolar disorder. This seems to have fallen out of fashion now in favour of ADHD'.
Wow.
But you know what we have heard this all before, in fact, our entire lives.
There's nothing "wrong" with us we are just "attention seekers".
For those that are not au fait with how ADHD works, in layman's terms your dopamine (brain's reward chemical) is in short 'off' which means we find things, not mentality simulating very hard to complete, to the point we can fully shut off. I cannot tell you how many times I've sat through a chemistry lesson and not heard a single word the teacher has said, the ability to zone out for 30 mins is quite something.
Many say 'you talk too much', 'why can't you just behave' and 'please sit still', and it hurts, because you don't understand why when these things make you feel more 'normal' you get punished. Your body is desperately trying to find that stimulation others get with ease but whatever you do it's not what's expected and frowned upon.
Think about how that must feel as a child, being constantly told you don't fit the norm and your behaviour is stopping others from learning, basically everything is your fault.
These problems exist way beyond the classroom if you even manage to get past that hurdle. It is estimated that in America 35% of those with ADHD don't make it past high school, for those that do the dropout rate at the university is far higher than non-ADHD.
Outside of education, you are twice as likely to get divorced, three times more likely to be addicted to drugs or alcohol and a whopping ten times more lightly to end up in jail.
Sounds like something you want to have for credibility right?
I admire those like myself seeking help and then following up on their diagnoses. There is no shame in asking questions and certainly no credibility in 'sucking it up' despite what some 'newspapers' might tell you...
I hope this has given some perspective on the condition that has plagued me and how I'm now using its benefits to try and help others online.And next time you may think, 'Oh not another person with ADHD' just count your lucky stars you didn't have to go through what that person did to get to that point.
And P.S I am seeking attention for this article ;)