Frustrated with your ADHD? Here are some ADHD strengths
ADHD can be hard and I don’t want you to think this is just some toxic positivity thing where I dismiss everything that you find difficult every day. But it can be true that despite its challenges, ADHD brings so many wonderful benefits and strengths and I really want to dedicate a post to talking about how wonderful we are.
Firstly, this blog today is based on a YouTube video I put out. If you would prefer to watch instead of read, you can find the video here:
Before we get started, I want to share that I, too, have ADHD and of course it has shaped a big part of my lived experience. I do want to take the time first to acknowledge that having ADHD is not easy. Some days I get so frustrated with myself when I can’t muster the executive function to put the laundry away or just tidy up my desk so my work space is a bit less chaotic.
In some ways it’s more frustrating post diagnosis because I actually can feel it happening and know that I have to struggle through it. But despite this frustration, I firmly believe that my ADHD is a net benefit in my life and I’d love to tell you why.
I also will preface this by saying that this is in no way meant to discourage you from asking for accommodations at work or even feel bad about those days you feel frustrated. Give yourself some grace, ask for the help you need because your struggles are as valid as your strengths.
I definitely know a lot of ADHDers who weightlift, but that’s not the kind of strength we’re talking about here
With that acknowledgement, here we go:
Number one: We’re really funny.
Actually part of the reason why I feel compelled to make this post is because there are so many funny memes and jokes online about our ADHD. We send these jokes back and forth because they’re relatable, they’re hilarious and they help us accept ourselves, because if we can laugh at difficult things then they don’t seem so bad.
But focusing so much on these negative points, even if we are poking fun at them, causes us to internalise these drawbacks and start to affect how we feel about ourselves.
I recently put together two posts about our self-perception, how it can limit us and what we can do about it. You can find them here and here.
But the same sense of humour that creates hilarious ADHD jokes is the same sense of humour that cheers our friends up when they are sad, that causes laughing fits with our significant others and means we are just fantastic people to be around.
We are great at adding humour to situations to make the people around us smile
Number two: We are entrepreneurial.
There are so many aspects of ADHD that lend themselves so well to entrepreneurship. Firstly, we love learning. We go through so many different interests and we go deeply into them in intense bursts, collecting that knowledge as we go along.
We are amazing problem solvers and I’m going to go into that a little further in a later point. We are also more willing to take risks than other people due to that impulsivity trait which means we’re way more likely to dive in and give the business the commitment it needs to see it through. In fact, people with ADHD are 300% more likely to start their own businesses (Garret LoPorto in The DaVinci Method).
Number three: We go through hyperfixations.
Hyperfixations are short bursts of intense interest in certain topics. We dive into them and learn all about them quickly and we also rotate them out on a regular basis. While going through this routine we are collecting so much knowledge about a variety of disparate domains.
This seemingly oddball collection of knowledge means that we can make links between different topics that people without that knowledge overlap would never be able to make. These pockets of overlap create space for innovation and new ideas that move businesses and research forward.
One of my favourite things about ADHD are all the cool and unusual hobbies that we acquire
Number four: Our hyperfixations make us interesting
Speaking of that wide variety of interests... That makes us interesting people! Sometimes I will meet someone new and they’ll bring up their interest that I spent two months diving into at some point three years ago and I can have a whole conversation about that topic with them making instant friends.
Or maybe I bring up that time that I got really into pro-wrestling for six months and dedicated the majority of every weekend into my wrestling training. That’s such an unusual hobby to acquire that it leads to fascinating conversations.
The fact that we pursue these topics with such passion means that we also talk about them with pure enthusiasm and that enthusiasm is infectious.
Number five: We are amazing problem solvers
There have actually been studies showing that the addition of someone with ADHD in a group makes the group better problem solvers.
This study allocated groups of students so that there were some control groups where all children were thought neurotypical and then the rest of the groups all had a child with ADHD symptoms (diagnosed ADHD children were not part of the study as they did not want potential medication to interfere with the results).
Of the groups containing a student with ADHD symptoms, 88% of the groups solved both problems they were presented with, despite going off topic more regularly, and none of the six control groups did. This is a huge difference and a one in 10,000 chance that this occurred by chance.
Part of our problem solving abilities could come from the fact that we are problem solving every day. We handle our ADHD challenges in a neurotypical world and are always solving the problems that come up. We also aren’t given a map for how to do this so have to be much more creative in our solution finding.
When I searched the word “problem solving” I knew the first thing that would come up would be a Rubik’s cube and I was right. Also, I love Rubik’s Cubes!
Number six: We have so much energy, excitement and enthusiasm that it inspires others.
I have a story of when I was 13 years old I decided I wanted to enter a band competition. I didn’t have a band, although I was a serviceable guitarist for a 13 year old, but I had a group of friends and a ridiculous amount of enthusiasm. I still to this day can’t believe I assembled these friends, taught one how to play bass, another how to play guitar, and one got a drum lesson just to enter this band competition with me.
Because as I mentioned before, our enthusiasm is infectious. We make great leaders because we can bring people with us. We build people up and our passion shines through and I personally think those traits make for fantastic leaders.
Number seven: Hyperfocus
I’m always a bit reticent to talk about hyperfocus because I find it gets misinterpreted regularly when people make guides on “advantages of neurodivergent employees” and also hyperfocus can have its drawbacks like forgetting to eat or going to sleep. But I do have to acknowledge that when we get drawn into something that we are interested in then wow are we efficient at getting things done!
The things that we can create when we’re in our flow and hyperfocusing are truly exceptional and I find there’s something that feels amazing about being so totally engaged in something that it takes up 100% of our attention. And I love the satisfaction of completing a project that I have hyperfocused on in all my spare time for a week straight.
When we are hyperfocused all of the usual distractions melt away
Number eight: We are exactly the kind of person that you want in a crisis.
Tight deadline? Something has gone wrong and immediately needs someone to drop everything and get it done? This is the kind of situation that delivers a huge amount of dopamine that kicks our brains into power mode.
When things get tough we don’t panic. We are amazing at dropping into gear and doing what needs to be done to get the situation resolved. It’s rare for us to get a clear head but this is definitely one of those times!
Number nine: We think differently
There’s been so much focus in recently years about how important diversity is in decision making, in leadership and in running of companies. Our different thinking gives us a unique lens and way of thinking that makes us incredibly valuable for thinking outside the box and bringing true diversity of thought into the conversation.
And that concludes my list of reasons to feel good about our ADHD. I really believe we should be talking about this more. For one thing, feeling good about ourselves helps us builds our confidence and allows us to step out and be who we want to be. But we also need workplaces to recognise just how valuable we are. And in many ways, it will help us even more with asking for help with the things we do struggle with if they can see the amazing things that come out of providing that help.
Sources:
The positive aspects of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a qualitative investigation of successful adults with ADHD (Sedgwick et al, 2018) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12402-018-0277-6
The positive apsects of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a qualitative investigation of successful adults with ADHD (Sedgwick et al, 2018) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12402-018-0277-6
ADHD Symptoms, Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), and Firm Performance (Yu et al, 2019) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1042258719892987
Entrepreneurship and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a large-scale study involving the clinical condition of ADHD (Lerner et al, 2018) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-018-0061-1
ADHD symptoms, entrepreneurial passion, and entrepreneurial performance (Hatak et al, 2020) (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-020-00397-x
Social Behavior in Cooperative Groups: Students at Risk for ADHD and Their Peers (Zentall et al, 2010) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220670903567356
ADHD and crisis is something that is largely anecdotal. Some sources have collected and published this information, although no studies have officially been done on this. Relevant sources include: https://www.additudemag.com/benefits-of-adhd-crisis/ and https://totallyadd.com/5-superpowers-of-adhd/
If this resonates with you and feel you would be interested in talking to an adhd and autism-friendly coach, feel free to get in touch. If you’re looking for more blog posts, you can find them here.
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