Dude. I have a friend JUST like this.

They always think they are bugging me by merely sending me messages - regardless of how often I tell them that's what friends do (chat, that is).

Doesn't stop them from apologizing....

This is why I was convinced up until the last few years that I didn't have it. I'm certainly not fucking hyperactive, so how could I have ADHD? is what I used to think.

For people trying to get a diagnosis, mainly mention the internal and social aspect of your disorder not the obvious stuff. Doctors can see highly visible symptoms without you saying. The only reason I have one is because I opened with "the social issues from ADHD are killing me..." nobody knows how to complain about those without actually having the disorder.

I understand that hyperactivity and attention deficit does not take into account the experience of fear of losing friends. In fact, I agree with this post in an unexpected way: I think the DSM is a joke, especially when the DSM authors themselves say it should not be used for diagnoses and treatments. Especially when they say that the theoretical bases for the DSM, the neo-Krapelian model, has not found the evidence it needs to justify itself (i.e. reliable biomarkers in the brain).

But I think it’s fair to evaluate the post. The goal is to evaluate its accuracy, the truth behind it.

If we do it, my mind immediately goes to the literature on the effects of attention. Attention training has all sorts of benefits. You see it in mindfulness training. You see it in focusing-on-the-breath training. You see it even in focusing-on-your-feet training.

Attention is not trivial. It is quite literally your experience of your existence, of your life. It determines what you notice and what you don’t. It determines what you do and what you don’t.

Heck, even I have struggled with attention. I know what it is to lack it and to train it.

All of this makes me think that, yeah, maybe ADHD is not called “my-friends-might-hate-me-and-I’m-terrified-of-that disorder”, but the attention part is accurate. Attention matters profoundly.

More broadly, I think it’s easy to dismiss psychology. Yes, it is a fraught science. Yes, it carries the baggage of Freudian and psycho-analytic bullshit, as well as neo-Krapelian bullshit. However, not all psychology is unscientific. And not all psychology is inaccurate.

Even with these problems, psychology has noticed something. It has noticed that there’s a cluster of symptoms. And it turns out that there’s a defining feature of this cluster of symptoms: a lack of attention (and hyperactivity).

In calling this cluster of symptoms this way, psychology made a choice. It chose to emphasize the defining feature. It did not choose to describe its symptoms or its effects. And I don’t think that is a problem.

It’s similar to how cancer is not called “you-will-get-scared-shitless-and-lose-your-hair disease”.

I think the OP has a stick-it-to-the-man sentiment. And I agree that there’s plenty of space for that in psychology. But I really don’t see that in the naming of ADHD. I would much rather sticking it to Freudian bullshit and the bases of the DSM.

The hyperactivity describes what goes on in afflicted people's heads, not (necessarily) that they can't sit still.

Because hyperactivity is a well documented symptom associated with the neurodevelopmental disorder?

Yes, because when we deal with psychological issues, most people focus on treating the symptoms.

That framing actually explains a lot more than the name ever did

Who is "they" in this context?

The death of a thousand cuts. Every day. 🥲🤷🏼‍♂️

True for most disabilities they center the "ideal norm".

Idk how I went from genocide all normies, to ok, maybe I will try to build a community and help people. But that is one of the reasons I was where I was.

ADHD Hitler for a time.