The other day something happened to me that I had never experienced before, and I wanted to tell you a little about it. I went for a festive gathering and got talking to a lovely woman who mentioned that she had ADD. I excitedly told her that I have ADHD because you rarely find people who are so open about it in real life for various reasons.
During the festivities, I told her about this blog saying she may be interested in checking it out if she wanted. Her response was a little unexpected; “I’m more interested in ADD than ADHD.” Of course, she probably meant nothing by it, and I don’t get easily offended by people choosing not to read my stuff as it comes with the territory of being an author and a blogger.
“For me, the differences between ADD and ADHD don’t matter, but I can understand why this woman may not want to be associated with having ADHD.”
~ADHD Girl
However, it really got me thinking as to me there are very few differences between ADHD and ADD. In fact I would argue that ADD is probably a version of adult ADHD, which is just presented a little differently. After a little research I found out that (not to sound big headed) I was right! The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (what is used to diagnosis and define ADHD in the medical world) states that ADD, and ADHD are actually just subcategories of the same condition. That ADD is merely a way to describe more introverted ADHD types.
I wonder if the woman I was speaking to knew this, of course I didn’t pursue it further because a festive gathering isn’t really the place and also she’s entitled to her opinion. What amazed me is the way she spoke about ADHD made it sound like she considered herself to be in a higher class with having ADD instead. Perhaps I’m just being paranoid.
Having given it some thought I think the answer may likely be that she associates only boisterous boys/ men having ADHD and doesn’t feel she associates with that. It’s sadly a very common issue for girls/ women who are sick of their symptoms being ignore because they are not loud enough or crazy enough to have ADHD. As I’ve said before, ADHD doesn’t have to mean outwardly hyper where we all bouncing around, but our brains can bouncing around instead.
I’ve never been an outwardly hyper person, bubbly perhaps, but I was too lazy as a child to be extremely energetic, and I’ve always slept well which I rejoice about. So some may identify me as having ADD, but I argue against it. My brain is still bouncing all over the place, just not in a way that people can see. Ultimately, to me the differences between ADD and ADHD don’t really matter, what matters is we support each other and raise awareness of a generally misunderstood and undiagnosed condition.
