Is ADHD a superpower?

There’s absolutely no way, in my opinion, that ADHD is a superpower. That’s because it causes far more distress and, very often, total despair as opposed to a positive experience for the majority of people. 

That’s not to say that it doesn’t come with silver linings though.

But for most of us, the silver linings can only be truly enjoyed IF:

• YourADHD symptoms are not severe
• Your social environment, especially your  family and school are supportive
• You don’t end up with terrible mental health issues

ADHD can be a gift in some ways but for most of us, it is not and this depends on so many other factors. 

For those of us who grew up not knowing we have ADHD it’s been HARD, really hard for the majority of us. Though we still expect we should just be able to get on with things and stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We gaslight ourselves, because we’ve been gaslit by others – often not intentionally – our whole lives. 

Fingers crossed for the kids who are identified reasonably early and get enough support at home and at school, it will be a different picture. 

We SHOULD celebrate our strengths!

Some of our challenges definitely also have an amazing flipside to them. Impulsiveness can also make us very spontaneous and lots of  fun.

Our difficulty managing emotions can also show up as passion and determination, boundless enthusiasm and tonnes of empathy

But the main one in my mind is what I refer to as ‘limitless thinking’. We don’t just think outside the box at times like other creative folk. For many of us, there literally is no box! 

This can be a huge strength in settings where divergent thinking is highly valued. 

Divergent thinking, a particular type of original, creative thinking, is a highly sought-after skill in design and innovation that you can’t really teach. 

There are loads of other ways that our differently wired brains are also very cool and I’d love to hear from you what you like about your mind. 

But, for now at least the more ADHD is talked about as a “superpower” the less support and understanding people with ADHD are likely to receive. It’s really important that it is recognised as the very serious disorder that it is because there’s currently nowhere near enough support for most of us. 

Thankfully, though,  when it is well managed, ADHD doesn’t have to have a terrible impact on your life. Here’s hoping that in the future this is the reality for most.