Well, I don’t know you. And if you have no troubles in your life related to focus or attention at all then, all righty then! You can have every last symptom and still fail to get a diagnosis if they don’t significantly impair you.
But I’ll bet that like a lot of people who are not diagnosed with ADHD and who do not have family members with that diagnosis you aren’t actually very familiar with how it looks in adults, particularly AFAB adults. It is very possible to have ADHD and be strictly organized – lots of people with ADHD are super organized because it’s the only way they can function, they need to have a system. It’s very possible to have ADHD and still complete tasks on time. It’s not like being part of a hive mind. Neurodiverse people are still people, we’re individuals.
And on a similar note, ADHD (and autism, and a whole bunch of other co-occurring conditions that cluster in a big lump together) are highly hereditary, and neurodiverse people tend to primarily associate with other neurodiverse people. I’m pretty sure that’s how my own parents met, actually! But the result of this is you have perfectly sensible people who say things like “Oh, don’t most kids start reading at the age of two? I mean, everybody I knew was doing it, even the ones who were totally nonverbal until the age of four” or “Don’t most kids line up their toys? How can they say that’s a sign of autism, that’s just how kids play!” (That latter is a quote from my mother.)
It’s like being a fish, and never knowing that you’re wet. Why would you? You’re a fish, and everybody is wet! At least they are as far as you know.
It’s just something to think about. As I said, I don’t know you, and I certainly don’t have any way of knowing if you’re ADHD-adjacent or anything. If you think this explanation may explain some things about yourself then you should look it up so you can know. Or if you don’t, then don’t.
The coffee thing in particular is, as far as I’m concerned, practically diagnostic – ADHD brains do not react the same way to stimulants like caffeine or ritalin that NT brains do.
Quite seriously – though I don’t think that the comic intends to go in this direction – this is 100% a symptom of ADHD. If you’re reading this thinking “Ah, yes, I too do my best work at the very last minute when in a panic” then, well, that’s a very possible explanation. Doubly so if you drink coffee to fall asleep :)
Well, I don’t know you. And if you have no troubles in your life related to focus or attention at all then, all righty then! You can have every last symptom and still fail to get a diagnosis if they don’t significantly impair you.
But I’ll bet that like a lot of people who are not diagnosed with ADHD and who do not have family members with that diagnosis you aren’t actually very familiar with how it looks in adults, particularly AFAB adults. It is very possible to have ADHD and be strictly organized – lots of people with ADHD are super organized because it’s the only way they can function, they need to have a system. It’s very possible to have ADHD and still complete tasks on time. It’s not like being part of a hive mind. Neurodiverse people are still people, we’re individuals.
And on a similar note, ADHD (and autism, and a whole bunch of other co-occurring conditions that cluster in a big lump together) are highly hereditary, and neurodiverse people tend to primarily associate with other neurodiverse people. I’m pretty sure that’s how my own parents met, actually! But the result of this is you have perfectly sensible people who say things like “Oh, don’t most kids start reading at the age of two? I mean, everybody I knew was doing it, even the ones who were totally nonverbal until the age of four” or “Don’t most kids line up their toys? How can they say that’s a sign of autism, that’s just how kids play!” (That latter is a quote from my mother.)
It’s like being a fish, and never knowing that you’re wet. Why would you? You’re a fish, and everybody is wet! At least they are as far as you know.
It’s just something to think about. As I said, I don’t know you, and I certainly don’t have any way of knowing if you’re ADHD-adjacent or anything. If you think this explanation may explain some things about yourself then you should look it up so you can know. Or if you don’t, then don’t.