People Are Getting Convinced They Might Have ADHD After Seeing This Illustration About 6 ADHD Moods
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders affecting children, and it affects many adults too. However, society knows very little about what it actually means to live with this condition and how to care for the people who have it.
Moreover, Len Adler, M.D., one of the leading researchers in adult ADHD and a professor of psychiatry at New York University, believes that at least 75 percent of adults who have ADHD do not know that they have it. Adults with undiagnosed ADHD get fired from their jobs more frequently, or they impulsively quit, or they underachieve, slowly losing self-esteem, confidence, drive, and joy in life, resigning themselves to a life with less happiness than it could have been if they were diagnosed and treated.
So, to raise awareness of ADHD, a 26-year-old artist from the UK, who has been diagnosed with it, has created a comic series, titled ADHD Couple, where she shares both medical information and her own personal experiences.
Recently, one of her strips has been going viral all over the Internet, and people have been thanking her for opening their eyes to what’s happening to them.
Image credits: adhd_couple
“I’ve got diagnosed with ADHD last year, and honestly, the diagnosis was life-changing,” Ingri told Bored Panda. “It helped me to accept myself, knowing why my brain works a certain way, has helped me to look at my struggles with more compassion. Also, getting the right treatment, helped with many uncomfortable ADHD symptoms, and made life more manageable.”
The artist said that living with undiagnosed ADHD is very hard. “I’ve constantly felt out of place, like there was something wrong and I’m somehow different from everyone else. I constantly felt overwhelmed and emotionally drained. For many people, undiagnosed ADHD can bring comorbidities like anxiety and depression, therefore it is especially important to get the right treatment as soon as possible. Also finding the community of people going through the same things really really helps! It made me feel less alone.”
Image credits: adhd_couple
Image credits: adhd_couple
Image credits: adhd_couple
Ingri thinks that one of the biggest misconceptions the public has about ADHD is that only children have it. “The truth is that most people with ADHD continue to have symptoms as adults too. However, many adults are shamed and not taken seriously for the symptoms they experience. I know for myself, it was quite hard to accept the fact that I have ADHD because all I knew about this condition were the misconceptions and stigma surrounding it. I didn’t fit the ‘hyperactive boy’ image, therefore it was hard to understand this diagnosis for myself, as well as explain it to others.”
Another big myth is that everyone with ADHD is visibly hyperactive. The artist said there are three types of ADHD, and one of them is ‘the inattentive type’ (which she also happens to have)—it doesn’t have an impact on activity levels. “Many girls and women tend to have this type of ADHD, therefore they are usually diagnosed later in life, as the ones who get noticed first are hyperactive boys.”
Image credits: adhd_couple
Image credits: adhd_couple
Image credits: adhd_couple
Ingri has based the characters we see in this and other ADHD Couple comics on herself and her boyfriend Jay. “I’ve started this Instagram account with the comics from our daily life portraying the struggles that ADHD brings into our relationship with a bit of humor (like our kitchen being constantly messy, or me waking him up every night because I can’t sleep, or us constantly forgetting things and ruining our date nights).”
“If anyone who reads this article recognizes these symptoms in themselves… you’re not alone!” Ingri added. “There’s a whole community of us going through similar things, we understand and support each other! Connecting with others and learning as much as you can about ADHD is key.”
If you want to learn more about ADHD, fire up this article by the American Psychiatric Association.
People think the comic is super accurate
This is a partial list, there are many more symptoms, such as hyper awareness of small sounds, getting distracted by things everyone else isn't see or hear. Soft repetitive sounds. In high school, 1970's, I knew something was wrong. I would get everything ready to start my homework, then was unable to do the work. Try harder wasn't the answer, it quickly into headaches and physical ailments preventing me from accomplishing anything. At times I cant read because I can't remember the sentence before, which made things like homework more difficult. There was no way other people had so much trouble. This is minor, full blown ADHD is much worse. Adderal calms me, gives me patience, the ability to focus and I don't get angry easily. It isn't an upper.
i have really awful a.d.d. and that is totally correct. especially with small sounds. all of what you've just described is exactly what i am going through right now. my mother won't let me get meds for it though
yeah so do i. my dad wont let me take meds and its suuuuper hard to do school work
i have a.d.d too and it is bad i have to take meds so i can do my school work. it is correct
Not allowing you to have treatment (is it all treatment or 'just' meds?) is neglect. I hope you dant have too long until you can make those decisions for yourself. Just remember when it gets really hard that you won't have to listen to her forever.
anxiousPansexualnightmare yes
anxiousPansexualnightmare lol
Same !!! I have almost extreme symptoms. But my parents don't believe in mental health issues.
What you say resonates so true with me too. But I've been tested and only show 'traits'. I'm convinced I have add because of all the issues I face that holds me back as I watch other people get on with things so easily. What you say about reading really hits the nail on the head. Sometimes I have to read a sentence 10 or more times because my brain just fails to process it. And it wont be a challenging sentence either, it could be anything. It frustrates me, especially when I'm reading something with other people and they'll start talking about what they just read and I'm not even part way through yet. Then I get distracted and far too frustrated to even finish. School was a major challenge, I hardly ever completed homework on time because I found it so difficult to focus, and absolutely impossible if I didn't understand the task
same i really just get good grades because I'm smart but when I run into something i cant to its a 50-50 chance on whether I im or ex plode
I never knew that my hyper awareness for sounds was due to my ADHD..
Megan Romero-Herman easy
Adderall IS a stimulant but if you truly have ADHD, it doesn't act as an "upper" for you. If you do not have ADHD, it will get you high if enough is taken. I SERIOUSLY recommend against it though.
Yes, there's definitely a lot more to it than just those six things but if someone strongly recognises them it's definitely reason to look into it. That physical inability to do homework killed me (and my MA thesis, may it rest in peace). My dad telling me 'you've got to make motivation, you don' t just get it for free' made me feel like the laziest, stupidest person ever. There are some things that just do not stick in my mind, no matter how often I look them up, or have it explained to me, it just will not make sense. Specific noises make me aggressive and if music is too loud it makes me feel sick and panicky. I get lost in my own head all the time and I can spe d all day battling myself to get up and do the thing. I think one of the worst things for me is how quickly I get bored of things once I know how to do it. And I mean 'this is bordering on torture I do not want to do this, it is causing me pain' level bored, which is mighty inconvenient when you don't want to be homeless.
There is more to ADHD than what is depicted and it also varies in severeness. Yes everyone has these traits but they are usually mild and don’t significantly effect your daily life. ADHD often negatively effects the person day in and day out and can significantly effect your education, employment, relationships, and have high risk of mental health issues. etc.
This!
i have a high risk of mental health issues? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I just want to give you an example of how ADHD can affect someone whilst reading a book. My almost 7yo son takes approx 30 mins to read a 5 page book with 3 words on each page. 15 words in total, that is like one word every 2 minutes. Do you know why? Well, for a few reasons. He cannot sit still and I mean literally. He will swing his legs, sit down stand up, rock back and forth, flick his hands, stand up and jump etc. We have tried everything we and the OT can think of including some therapy equipment, without success. He is also easily distracted. He would be half way through a word and then suddenly ask a completely random question, or sees something more interesting and focuses on that, or all of a sudden start chatting about something completely irrelevant. And he is extremely forgetful so if there is a sentence that says "sit, Sam, sit" he would say the first word but forget it by the last word which is the exact same word. I hope that makes sense. I know he can't help it but it can sure test ones patience. And I will admit I have lost my s**t on more than one occasion. Not my finest moments and I have no excuses. But I am trying my best, I am human and I am not perfect.
i have been diagnosed with adhd. i cant read this! its too long and i got distracted...
Samee! It's not so much the fact that I would get distracted with external stimuli, its mainly the fact that I would read the same sentence over and over again, but the words would not sink into my brain. I would be sort of lost in thought while reading, and then when I finally snap out of my thoughts, i would be like "Wait what did I just read??" and have to re-read everything lol
😂😂lolll the irony! I couldn't read it either... I just saw the massive paragraph and my brain just said NOPE...
yeah
Me too. I could only read a few lines of people's comments.
My daughter was like this. We tried her on Adderall, and wow... just wow. She went from being recommended to fail a primary grade to dean's list in college now. She takes it when she has schoolwork - not during the summer or vacations. I know not everyone is going to agree with medication, but she changed froma stressed, school-anxious child to one who started to enjoy learning.
My daughter has just started trying Vyvanse and so far we aren’t seeing any changes but she hasn’t been at school whilst on them, so we don’t know how it will effect her schooling. She starts back at school next Wednesday, so only time will tell. Our son isn’t on anything coz we need a formal diagnosis which they won’t do until the child is around 7 years old. So he is getting his formal assessment this year as well as being assessed for dyslexia.
Raising a ADHD kid can be challenging (I know, I was one) and I'm sure you're doing a great job.
Daphne Williams no
The more pages you have to read, the longer each one takes. In high school reading text book chapters, I would max out around 30 minutes per page.
Oh poor kiddo. I was similar to this when I was little (but diagnosed as ADHD-I a few months ago at 29). It would take me half an hour to eat a single slice of bread because I'd keep forgetting about it, and I'd get lost in my head three letters into reading, which I found very hard to learn because the whole letter/sound correlation made no sense to me. I have no idea how hard it is to raise a little adhd human (or any human for that matter) but I do know how it felt being the little adhd human being raised and boy do I feel for my parents.
Oh dear. My ADHD creates struggles with reading but none like this...
Amelija Janavičius, is a troll with a stolen pic. This type of deranged person takes glee in aggressive comments and stirring abuse from others. Please can we let this poor poor person know that they are loved because they are most likely missing this in their real off line life, hence the need of attention through miss behaviour. So to whoever you may be know we are here for you.
This is a partial list, there are many more symptoms, such as hyper awareness of small sounds, getting distracted by things everyone else isn't see or hear. Soft repetitive sounds. In high school, 1970's, I knew something was wrong. I would get everything ready to start my homework, then was unable to do the work. Try harder wasn't the answer, it quickly into headaches and physical ailments preventing me from accomplishing anything. At times I cant read because I can't remember the sentence before, which made things like homework more difficult. There was no way other people had so much trouble. This is minor, full blown ADHD is much worse. Adderal calms me, gives me patience, the ability to focus and I don't get angry easily. It isn't an upper.
i have really awful a.d.d. and that is totally correct. especially with small sounds. all of what you've just described is exactly what i am going through right now. my mother won't let me get meds for it though
yeah so do i. my dad wont let me take meds and its suuuuper hard to do school work
i have a.d.d too and it is bad i have to take meds so i can do my school work. it is correct
Not allowing you to have treatment (is it all treatment or 'just' meds?) is neglect. I hope you dant have too long until you can make those decisions for yourself. Just remember when it gets really hard that you won't have to listen to her forever.
anxiousPansexualnightmare yes
anxiousPansexualnightmare lol
Same !!! I have almost extreme symptoms. But my parents don't believe in mental health issues.
What you say resonates so true with me too. But I've been tested and only show 'traits'. I'm convinced I have add because of all the issues I face that holds me back as I watch other people get on with things so easily. What you say about reading really hits the nail on the head. Sometimes I have to read a sentence 10 or more times because my brain just fails to process it. And it wont be a challenging sentence either, it could be anything. It frustrates me, especially when I'm reading something with other people and they'll start talking about what they just read and I'm not even part way through yet. Then I get distracted and far too frustrated to even finish. School was a major challenge, I hardly ever completed homework on time because I found it so difficult to focus, and absolutely impossible if I didn't understand the task
same i really just get good grades because I'm smart but when I run into something i cant to its a 50-50 chance on whether I im or ex plode
I never knew that my hyper awareness for sounds was due to my ADHD..
Megan Romero-Herman easy
Adderall IS a stimulant but if you truly have ADHD, it doesn't act as an "upper" for you. If you do not have ADHD, it will get you high if enough is taken. I SERIOUSLY recommend against it though.
Yes, there's definitely a lot more to it than just those six things but if someone strongly recognises them it's definitely reason to look into it. That physical inability to do homework killed me (and my MA thesis, may it rest in peace). My dad telling me 'you've got to make motivation, you don' t just get it for free' made me feel like the laziest, stupidest person ever. There are some things that just do not stick in my mind, no matter how often I look them up, or have it explained to me, it just will not make sense. Specific noises make me aggressive and if music is too loud it makes me feel sick and panicky. I get lost in my own head all the time and I can spe d all day battling myself to get up and do the thing. I think one of the worst things for me is how quickly I get bored of things once I know how to do it. And I mean 'this is bordering on torture I do not want to do this, it is causing me pain' level bored, which is mighty inconvenient when you don't want to be homeless.
There is more to ADHD than what is depicted and it also varies in severeness. Yes everyone has these traits but they are usually mild and don’t significantly effect your daily life. ADHD often negatively effects the person day in and day out and can significantly effect your education, employment, relationships, and have high risk of mental health issues. etc.
This!
i have a high risk of mental health issues? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I just want to give you an example of how ADHD can affect someone whilst reading a book. My almost 7yo son takes approx 30 mins to read a 5 page book with 3 words on each page. 15 words in total, that is like one word every 2 minutes. Do you know why? Well, for a few reasons. He cannot sit still and I mean literally. He will swing his legs, sit down stand up, rock back and forth, flick his hands, stand up and jump etc. We have tried everything we and the OT can think of including some therapy equipment, without success. He is also easily distracted. He would be half way through a word and then suddenly ask a completely random question, or sees something more interesting and focuses on that, or all of a sudden start chatting about something completely irrelevant. And he is extremely forgetful so if there is a sentence that says "sit, Sam, sit" he would say the first word but forget it by the last word which is the exact same word. I hope that makes sense. I know he can't help it but it can sure test ones patience. And I will admit I have lost my s**t on more than one occasion. Not my finest moments and I have no excuses. But I am trying my best, I am human and I am not perfect.
i have been diagnosed with adhd. i cant read this! its too long and i got distracted...
Samee! It's not so much the fact that I would get distracted with external stimuli, its mainly the fact that I would read the same sentence over and over again, but the words would not sink into my brain. I would be sort of lost in thought while reading, and then when I finally snap out of my thoughts, i would be like "Wait what did I just read??" and have to re-read everything lol
😂😂lolll the irony! I couldn't read it either... I just saw the massive paragraph and my brain just said NOPE...
yeah
Me too. I could only read a few lines of people's comments.
My daughter was like this. We tried her on Adderall, and wow... just wow. She went from being recommended to fail a primary grade to dean's list in college now. She takes it when she has schoolwork - not during the summer or vacations. I know not everyone is going to agree with medication, but she changed froma stressed, school-anxious child to one who started to enjoy learning.
My daughter has just started trying Vyvanse and so far we aren’t seeing any changes but she hasn’t been at school whilst on them, so we don’t know how it will effect her schooling. She starts back at school next Wednesday, so only time will tell. Our son isn’t on anything coz we need a formal diagnosis which they won’t do until the child is around 7 years old. So he is getting his formal assessment this year as well as being assessed for dyslexia.
Raising a ADHD kid can be challenging (I know, I was one) and I'm sure you're doing a great job.
Daphne Williams no
The more pages you have to read, the longer each one takes. In high school reading text book chapters, I would max out around 30 minutes per page.
Oh poor kiddo. I was similar to this when I was little (but diagnosed as ADHD-I a few months ago at 29). It would take me half an hour to eat a single slice of bread because I'd keep forgetting about it, and I'd get lost in my head three letters into reading, which I found very hard to learn because the whole letter/sound correlation made no sense to me. I have no idea how hard it is to raise a little adhd human (or any human for that matter) but I do know how it felt being the little adhd human being raised and boy do I feel for my parents.
Oh dear. My ADHD creates struggles with reading but none like this...
Amelija Janavičius, is a troll with a stolen pic. This type of deranged person takes glee in aggressive comments and stirring abuse from others. Please can we let this poor poor person know that they are loved because they are most likely missing this in their real off line life, hence the need of attention through miss behaviour. So to whoever you may be know we are here for you.