The Gift of ADHD? Life in Extremes

According to Webster’s definition, a”gift” is a natural capacity, talent, power, or ability.  Lately I have been thinking about that “gift of ADHD.”  What natural capacities, powers or talents does ADHD endow me?

Intense focus & concentration- Yes, I can get into the “flow” and completely lose all sense of time and space.  It happens often while writing this blog.  It’s quite addictive and somehow emotionally reassuring.   Here is the rub, I can get into the groove to the detriment of my other life roles like mom and wife.  I can forget to pick up the kids from school.  I can wile away my day researching and writing, when I was suppose to stop and go to a doctor’s appointment. Okay, you’re thinking, at least you were doing “work,” because somehow labeling it as work justifies the neglect of the other aspects of my life.  There is a reason your mom always said, “too much of anything is a bad thing.”

Spirited personality- I’d like to think this would be part of me regardless of having ADHD or not- but I suspect it wouldn’t.  I am outgoing, talkative, and opinionated.  I speak from my heart, and don’t not say things because it’s uncomfortable.  I am usually gentle and supportive, but very truthful and direct. I don’t think long enough about what I’m gonna say, to be frightened to say it. That said, catch me on a bad day, like when I am tired or sleep deprived, and just call me, “Joe Bidden.”  I will likely talk your ear off- so long I am late to my next appointment, and often communicate what I have too say too directly.  Again, it’s all about finding balance.

Outrageous sense of humor- This quality goes hand in hand with the spirited personality, and let’s be honest, it is often what draws people toward the commonly positive-spun characterized ADHD individual, “they just have so much charisma.”  These extraverted folks, just don’t have as big a filter as most: put that lack of filter together with some intelligence, and they are hilarious… think Robin Williams.  Again, consider what happens when these hilarious people can’t stop.  Jokes are only funny when against a back drop of sobriety and balance.

Intelligence- I wrote this one, because everyone likes to think that most ADHD kids, who eventually become adults are bright.  We aren’t!   Research, done at Yale University showed that people with ADHD and a high IQ, had difficulty accessing their talents because of their executive functioning deficits associated with ADHD.   ADHD happens to people with high, low and average IQs.  In a 2004 article publish in the American Journal of Medical Genetics, during a twin study, researchers found that their was a genetic link between the co-occurance of low IQ and ADHD.  In short, ADHD does not cause you to be smarter.

Now you could be at the end of this post and be saying to yourself, that was very depressing.  ADHD doesn’t give me anything?  And my answer is, we are not defined by one thing.  We are defined by how we chose to use our strengths, and how we chose to respond to our challenges, regardless of what label you put on it.  The gift of ADHD is opportunity!

Related Posts:

The Joy of ADHD?