ADHD may be the worst named thing ever
Steve August
2X Acceleration for B2B Business Founders | Helping ADHD Entrepreneurs sustainably 2X productivity in 30 days | Took my first startup from idea to exit | Rocket Ship Founder Podcast Host ???
As I’ve been diving into the deep waters of ADHD research, I’ve come to one inescapable conclusion:? ADHD is the worst named disorder ever. Not only does the wording provide an? inaccurate description, it also stigmatizes it and diminishes the awareness of the positive traits that come along with this brain type.?
ADHD stand for “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.”
Let’s break it down word for word:
Attention Deficit - It turns out people with ADHD don’t have a deficit of attention, they have a surplus. Sometimes that attention is sprayed all over the universe in a million directions at once. Sometimes it’s hyper-focused on going deep on one thing to the exclusion of all else. There’s an abundance of attention, the challenge is directing and focusing it.?
Hyperactivity - yes, kids with ADHD often display that hyperactivity, but not all, especially females. And adults show it less. Now the brain may be hyperactive, which is called hyperactive verbal. But adults with ADHD are usually not hyperactive in the traditional sense of constantly bouncing of the walls. Often it's more like waves of intense activity followed periods of recovery.
Disorder - This is the part that I find less and less useful. It may the term that doctors and scientist use, but it’s not a very helpful term as an ADHD person living life. It leads to thinking thinking we are broken and need to be fixed. ?
It’s no wonder people don’t understand ADHD or minimize it as laziness and excuses. It’s no wonder that people don’t recognize it. The name is truly unhelpful.
I think of ADHD as a different brain type, with different strengths and challenges. It just needs tending and managing to be able to harness the brilliance and take advantage of life’s compounding.
But it could use a different name. Fortunately, one has been proposed.?
Dr. Edward Hollowell? and Dr. John Ratey, the co-authors of ADHD 2.0 propose a new term that for people with ADHD symptoms: ?
Variable Attention Stimulus Trait or VAST.?
The VAST approach considers ADHD brain types as is a mix of assets and liabilities.
Per Dr. Hallowell:
“ADHD is an inaccurate — and potentially corrosive — name. The term “deficit disorder” places ADHD in the realm of pathology, or disease. Individuals with ADHD do not have a disease, nor do they have a deficit of attention; in fact, what they have is an abundance of attention. The challenge is controlling it.
VAST symptoms can, of course, negatively impact a person’s life, work, and relationships…But with VAST there are always pairs; you can hyper-focus and then you can’t focus. You are distractible, but you’re also curious. If individuals with VAST tend to succumb to perceived rejection, they can just as easily thrive with perceived recognition, an experience we call “recognition responsive euphoria.”
In other words, ADHD/VAST is a set of traits. Each trait have positive and negative expressions.
Here's a table from the Asian Journal of Interdisciplinary Research that shows some positive and negative expression of traits.
I think embracing this framing is a really positive thing. When ADHD/VAST is framed as a disorder, the underlying idea is that it needs to be" fixed." But that's a problem because there is no way to "fix" for an ADHD brain.
The game is to leverage the positive expressions and manage the negative ones. Just like any brain types.
Some free resources for you:
The Doing Tribe ADHD Co-Working Community
The Focus Formula Course - 30 days to get out of overwhelm, claim your focus and start working to your potential. Special price for ADHD Entrepreneurs Newsletter Subscribers
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