Based on the ADHD-content I get recommended online, I agree there seems to be a bunch of people wrongly self diagnosing with ADHD and romanticizing it. It's really cringe and annoying. However, I can assure you that it exists and that people really do suffer from it. I would never use it as an excuse for anything, I actually never mention my diagnosis IRL, but it is useful to know why I struggle with some things that others seem fine with.
Only comment I upvoted so far. But just want to clarify that I never said it doesn’t exist. Just the majority of people don’t have it. I’ve only met 2 people who really have it and they could barely function without drugs. But I’ve met multiple dozens of people who say “oh I have adhd” like it’s fashionable simply because they get bored at work. It bothers the hell out of me knowing there’s people who truly have adhd and suffer to various extents.
> I’ve met multiple dozens of people who say “oh I have adhd”
People say a lot of things. How many of those people are actually diagnosed and actively treated for ADHD? There is diagnostic criteria they need to meet to be diagnosed. Watching videos on tiktok isn't a diagnosis. It is quite evident when people are "faking" ADHD.
As someone who has struggled with ADHD my whole life and got a diagnosis in my 40s, I would much prefer children are overdiagnosed than not - and I really don't think thats as frequent a thing as is made out.
I guess it may be different in the US where there is a financial incentive to prescribe medications, but in the countries I have lived with universal healthcare its more likely underdiagnosed, IMHO.
I think you might be confusing visibility with existence. Someone with a partially treated disorder very much looks on the outside to be faking it. Someone who is managing their ADHD by orienting their life around it with a complex system of high-effort strategies to get by and isn't visibly ADHD (especially the inattentive variant which is more common in women) around others nonetheless deserves to not have to do all that if possible. They shouldn't have to perform their rock bottom for you to take them seriously.
I'm sure there are people who are knowingly or unknowingly "faking it" but there's no one to be offended on behalf of, I have pretty severe ADHD and I couldn't care less. They're not hurting anyone least of all me.
I work with 2 people who both have meds for ADHD who just take it at random. Could go a couple of weeks then be like “I’m adhding today I need meds”. I don’t believe for 1 second they have ADHD because those who truly have it don’t go through a week of “I’m fineeee” then “I’m feeling a like todays a difficult day I think I’ll take meds”. They need the meds to function.
