ADHD: WHAT'S IN A NAME? HELPFUL INFORMATION ABOUT EVERYDAY DISORDERS.

The name Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder could not be any more contradictory to what the disorder really is. My problem is with the word, "Deficit". Here's why...

I am a 40 year old woman with ADHD. There are a lot of people who, upon learning this, would assume that I simply lack the ability to pay attention to anything; like my mind is mostly blank as I wander about this world...

I WISH! That would be so much less tiring than the reality of it. Here's what most people who do not have ADHD (and even some that do) don't understand; The deficiency, when it comes to attention and focus, is in the brain's filtration process, not the brain's ability to pay attention.

The non ADHD brain has a very reliable filtration system that allows them to concentrate on the subject of their choice, like say, cooking dinner, and filters out other irrevelent sounds, sights, smells, feelings, & even thoughts for them. So, dinner gets done without a hitch and all usually goes smoothly. The brain of someone with ADHD has a filtration system that is faulty and unreliable. This means that, while trying to focus on a subject of their choice, like say, cooking dinner, they are being bombarded with other information. The non adhd-er will have the sound of the dryer buzzer automatically filtered out for them, and they simply continue on with cooking dinner. However, for the person with adhd, the filtration process fails, and the sound of the dryer buzzing instantly becomes the top priority. At this point, getting back to cooking dinner depends upon what other distractions get through next. This is how something as seemingly simple as cooking dinner can get so muddled for those of us with adhd.

So, you see, what is termed as a deficit is actually more of a problem of overload. There are so many more misconceptions about adhd, and you can bet I'll take them on in future blogs. See you then!