I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 19 but nobody really did anything with that information, and I to this day refuse to use it as an excuse for why I can or can’t do things.
I think it made parts of my life harder, and if I had ever ended up in a seriously bad place I would have taken it more seriously, but I very much didn’t want to define myself in terms of any one aspect of who I was.
Now, my adaptations make me an awesome combo of ADHD strengths with only the charming and quirky downsides, rather than the debilitating ones, and I am immensely proud of that fact.
You can acknowledge and treat it without "using it as an excuse". And there's certainly no need to define yourself by it. Imagine having that same mindset with other treatable disorders. Cataracts. Eczema. Addison’s disease. Cavities. There's a million examples where most folks wouldn't even consider ignoring - let alone embracing any "quirkiness".
I didn't say one couldn't treat ADHD without "using it as an excuse" and I didn't say there was any need to define oneself by having ADHD.
I said I didn't want to define myself by my ADHD and because of that, I ended up finding non-pharmacological ways to treat my ADHD to the point where I've been able to have the best of both worlds. What I was able to accomplish has nothing to do with you or with anyone else.
I think it made parts of my life harder, and if I had ever ended up in a seriously bad place I would have taken it more seriously, but I very much didn’t want to define myself in terms of any one aspect of who I was.
Now, my adaptations make me an awesome combo of ADHD strengths with only the charming and quirky downsides, rather than the debilitating ones, and I am immensely proud of that fact.