I see a lot of people blaming tiktok and “brain rot” content for the increasing ADHD diagnoses, but I think its a matter of better detection, similar to how OCD and autism diagnosis have increased too.
Also as someone with ADHD, it feels like shit that it could be “my fault” or that I have brainrot.
People are looking for it more than they used to. NOBODY was looking for it when I was young. I was probably in high school when I first heard of ADD. (They hadn’t added the H yet) and the general understanding was that ADD = a spastic kid that can’t sit still and makes too much noise, and that medication just sedated them to the point of complacency.
I was quiet, and liked to read, so when my third and forth grade teachers said that they were concerned about my ability to pay attention, my mom got offended that they would imply there was something wrong with her smart boy.
I wonder how my life might be different if she had listened to them instead of letting me figure it out on my own 30 years later.
This was me as well. Literally hiding other books inside school books in 4th grade because the class reading went way to slow. Didn’t realize myself until I was 26. Would have been great to learn earlier and maybe avoid the college burnout
“The quiet girl who is clearly not stupid and reads A LOT but has trouble organising herself will be fine, she’ll be able to sort herself out, especially with the help of her parents who are both teachers - no cause for concern here, there are kids who very obviously need more help.”
I don’t exactly blame them, there really were kids who needed all their attention so I fell through the cracks.
This is almost the story of my boyfriend’s childhood.
“My son don’t need any drugs!”
Now he’s over 40 and finally putting all the pieces together. But not before going tens of thousands of dollars into debt, which is forcing him to keep a job he hates so that he can pay rent. Have I mentioned the daily panic attacks and constant stress on his body?
But he still hasn’t seen anyone to get a proper diagnosis because “I am barely making it right now, but seeing someone is something I can’t handle right now. Seeing someone might make it worse, and I’ll just go further into debt.”
So here we are. Quickly dying, and not fixing it.