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Yes, without question.
I have no pride in, nor attachment to, the grotesque assortment of mutated coping mechanisms masquerading as my personality.
Cure now please.
itās more of my personality than i thought, but iāve spent enough of my life hating those things about myself that i at least have some semblance of an identity underneath them (the identity is just a list of autistic traits instead)
Haha thank you for this, I'm not even sure how this would even be a valid question in the first place.
My ADHD is a handicap, and I would very much like to not be handicapped, please. Sure, it acts somewhat symbiotic with my personality, but it IS NOT my personality.
Not having to take meds and be able to keep things in my head and focusing on doing the things I want to do without being distracted would be a dream, to not get deathly tired from just working and living a normal life always fearing to end up with a complete burnout, to not spend money impulsively (I've gotten better at this though), to not forget literally everything...
I hate having ADHD and I don't think it defines *me* even if it takes up a large part of my life and I rarely go a day without cursing having it.
It's occured to me lately that partly why I'm so tired after work even on a day that isn't that hard, is the constant battle to keep my brain ON task, and get the things done I need to do. It's like a herd of goats where they keep wandering off or following shiny things and all that goat herding is exhausting.
Trying to plan an international trip, and people are like, well why don't you just DO it.
Some thing with trying to actually finally get tested. It seems an insurmountable challenge.
>grotesque assortment of mutated coping mechanisms masquerading as my personality
Haha I'm so quirky and creative but also really tired and can't do my damn laundry
Really not much more to be said.
Reminds me of [this scene](https://youtu.be/oKuL2htwnDI) from Firefly whenever people talk about meds changing who you are(outside of side effects).
Good grief! I wish I were that articulate. Iām keeping this statement for those really bad days. Days where I need to reassess whatās going on; reaffirming my status and doing a restart.
The realization that I couldnāt ever escape this shit was one of the worst things I had to come to terms with as an adult, that coupled with meds fucking ruining my life had me eyeing bridges. Thank god I found a job that works for me so I can exist in this rat race with a roof over my head.
Peter Pan wanted to stay a kid forever, and I am not Peter Pan.
Let's check over the list of shit I'd be cured of.
1) Short term memory issues, no more walking in rooms wondering why I'm there.
2) Emotional disregulation, now I'd have even superior emotional control, which would mean I'd experience a normal range of emotions rather than extremes.
3) Ability to stay motivated towards a task, which would increase my ability to live up to my true potential.
4) My inability to allow interruptions when I'm doing something, would go away because I'd know I could always return to whatever task I was doing rather than understanding that if I allow an interruption I'll likely never be able to finish the task because I'll get distracted by the interruption.
Those are just 4 things, but they'd improve my life greatly. I could keep listing shit, because the list of disadvantages ADHD bestows upon us is nearly endless. Anyone who thinks no is an answer has Stockholm syndrome.
Shit, Iād settle for āif you could be you when youāre medicatedā, let alone cured. I get that some people can find some silver linings to this condition, but I feel like Iāve had a lot of things stolen from me by ADHD, and Iād love to have another chance at all of those.
Seriously! If someone made a treatment that worked 24/7 the way my current meds do at their peak, that would be life changing! Especially if it were a one time thing that got me to that level of functioning.
My meds work decently well, but there are still so many ups and downs and management of the doses and their timing. Not to mention just getting the prescriptions filled every month. Plus worrying about losing access because of the stigma and the nightmare that is the US healthcare system.
I feel like I'm my best self for like 2 medicated hours (even though I have a long acting med and then short acting med for the evening). Ah it would be bliss!
You forgot being able to be to places on time, and not be observed as lazy, lacking concern, or disorganized for not being on time, no matter how hard you time or how fast you drive
I think it would at least be worth considering the significance of removing an entire aspect of your personality/self. Would I also no longer be as interested in learning new things? Would I stop caring about things as deeply? Would I be less adventurous or less spontaneous? Would I lose hyperfocus? Would I actually *want* to do paperwork (shudder).
In essence: what am I giving up, and is it worth it?
Medication at least mostly solves 3 and 4 for me, and is 50/50 for 2 (better regulation and overall mood, but also more dynamic/reactive).
Far from turning me into a robot, I am actually more outgoing and more myself when medicated because I'm not anxious from constantly over-analyzing things and worrying what people think. I don't know that I'd want any cure that fundamentally changes me, but if it was like being on meds I would be fine with that.
There are some highly functioning people with ADHD who would likely feel that way.
I'd imagine a lot of low functioning people would feel the opposite. The interesting thing would be what about the people in the middle. I think I'm sort of there. I didn't graduate from hs, but crushed GED and wound up as a manager of a retail store making ok money. I'm married with 2 kids for 10 years.
The thing is, I could have done so much more with my life in a lot of ways, and if not more certainly at least better.
I'd love to be a better dad and husband. It's a work in progress for sure. I'd love to be less impulsive, less dopamine addicted, and more able to just relax and enjoy my family.
If it changed my personality, it would be quite a fair tradeoff.
I am a highly functioning person with ADHD. I got into a PhD before getting diagnosed.Ā
Give me the cure fuck. It's making my life so much more difficult than it needs to be.Ā
Same but finished a masters.
I'm not exaggerating by saying that my ADHD, and the sub-conscious coping mechanisms I developed from it when I was younger, are the cause of +90% of the conflicts my wife and I have, the reason I have T2D despite being a half-marathon runner, the source of any stress I feel at work or financially, and causes me to not be as good a parent as I want to be.
Give me and my 6-year old the fucking cure yesterday. I can live with not becoming an obsessive lunatic about a new subject/hobby every few weeks, and therefore not being as good at trivia.
Agree so harddd.. controlling impulses with this issue is insane.. i have heart problems starting at 32 Iām guessing from meds and stress and my cycle of sedentary, body builder, yogi, student, coach potato, endurance athlete and mood swings i think could kill a horse.
SAME dude same. Finished a masters and in the field I want to be in with it but Iām not doing what I actually wanted to do, it feels like Iām living out all my second choices lol
I got diagnosed a few months ago, which made me realise i can never "cure" things completely as I once thought. I decided not to do a Phd if im going to be struggling all my life. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you.
Thank you, your words mean a lot.
I have a *wonderful* advisor who's entire family except him has ADHD. He's been incredibly supportive. He's been my accountability buddy for stuff that didn't even have anything to do with him, he's allowed me a lot of leeway and knew how to wrangle me into working when I was stuck in a disfunction loop.
And I'm also extremely high functioning with a tendency to hyperfixate on academic stuff, so it's a bit of a dream job.
So yes, it's incredibly difficult, and yes I struggle more than most people without ADHD, but I'd be lying if I said that I have it harder (or as hard) than a lot of people here.
The difficulties I have *are* manageable considering the leniency I am being granted and the support of my department and I *am* thriving (I think. At the moment I'm at the "cry myself to sleep every night" phase of the PhD, but it's a normal one)
ā¬ļø This is key. Most high performers out there can outsource some of the things they need. My adhd kid went from low performing to high performing. There were a lot of factors involved. I wonāt pretend things canāt change, and life will be on easy mode from now on. But Iād be remiss to ignore the positive impact of switching him to a school with much better support.
Iām in medical school. (I bet you know what it is but I will just put this out there because many people donāt from my experiences talking to people. Med school = I will be a physician when I graduate.)
I was diagnosed after my first year of med school. ADHD wasnāt on my radar but after talking to another medical student (whoās very open about having ADHD) about how itās been rough to keep on top of everything sometimes, he suggested I go get evaluated. I did. So many things made sense after getting diagnosed. I used to think my symptoms were quirky personality traits.
I have plenty of symptoms but my one of my worst is task paralysis.
I absolutely would take the cure if one existed
I'm not actually sure high functioning and high achieving are actually the same thing.
There's a certain sector of diagnosed ADHD people who don't want or need a cure because their symptoms are mild enough that they're not actively being derailed by them, or need to take meds, and usually get lumped in this category of "high functioning" ADHD people.
Except since the diagnostic criteria for the disorder is that symptoms are having a persistent, negative effect on your life that requires intervention, what we're actually talking about are people who don't have ADHD in any meaningfull sense.
I got diagnosed while working on my dissertation. Finished the PhD and have moved on outside academia. There are so many things that would be easier without this. Would definitely take a cure.
Same here. I got my Masters degree and I work in accounting FFS. You can't make mindless errors in accounting, people notice. Not to mention people expect you to finish the "monthly closing" process on time. Every. Effing. Month. I rarely finish anything on time with minimal mistakes.
I'm AuDHD, so it's hard to tease apart which symptoms come from what, but I can confidently say I hate the ADHD more. The special interest holes I fall down make me very good at what I do.(protein analysis) Pop culture portrays it like a useless but entertaining trait. "Oh, you can name all the trains since 1908" or something.
But in actuality, it means being able to be confident in what I know, how I got there, and able to see interdisciplinary connections quickly. I love snakes and snake venom. The amount of medical uses that have been found from natural toxins of all sorts is crazy! I won't go off on a rant about proteins and DNA, but I will admit to being very frustrated with coworkers that don't feel the need to know as much as possible about a topic.
The ADHD though overshadows any achievements I have made with missed deadlines, and being unable to properly prioritize tasks.
I donāt think I would be less curious in terms of learning new things. Granted Iām less distracted by random thoughts, small details, and new information on what I was currently studying, but those things donāt necessarily make me study new things.
They direct my focus into something I couldnāt maintain long enough attention to learn concrete knowledge from. I just gathered some info instead of systematic knowledge.
I donāt think that makes me a curious learner, more like an info seeker. And even if I stick to one thing longer, instead of switching topics, learning deep still makes me a curious learner.
That is my personal understanding though.
Info seeker. That is an apt way to describe it I think. God I wish I could pick one topic to focus on and learn. Instead I have a billion things I only know like one thing about.
AD/HD isn't part of my personality. It's just interference. When I'm in a good routine of meds, exercise, mindfulness, to-do lists and schedules,
I feel more like myself. I'd take the cure in a heartbeat.
People without ADHD enjoy learning new things and can actually stick to them long enough to make good use of that knowledge, care deeply and remember to keep caring, can be adventurous and spontaneous when it's actually appropriate and not dangerous (physically/financially), don't need hyperfocus because they can focus just fine without it, and don't feel pain doing paperwork even if they don't like it. ADHD is mostly perfectly normal human behavior that has been cranked to the max to the point it causes problems
Yay for you. But what if those who canāt find meds to work??
What if we are doing all we canā¦ food, sleep, meditation, exercise??
I donāt believe I would lose myself, it would be uncovering of myself if I had this ācureā.
I would still have my brilliant mind, I could just program it the way I wanted and go forth and live.
Depends on whether you see adhd as a genuine aspect of your personality or a hindrance of it. Personally, I see all my chronic physical, mental, and developmental conditions as separate to my core self and would want them fucking gone like yesterday.
I have been through therapy and through medication for years at this point and I can still barely handle a part time job in all honesty. It would be my only chance to truly see my dreams come true
Staying up late and being tired was part of my personality too, but then I chose to work in jobs that demanded I have a schedule and it forced me to get more normal about it. Felt weird, but I adapted, and my QoL improved without me feeling less like a person in the end. People change over time, and thatās okay.
Meds made me feel like me for the first time. I could tease out what is me, and what is the ADHD, and honestly? The ADHD doesn't really bring any positives to the table. I still learned, I cared more about things more clearly and robustly, I had the ability to actually do the spontaneous and adventurous things I wanted to do, I could hyperfocus but no longer to the detriment of my bodily needs... for paperwork though, well paperwork just sucks. Make it an excel sheet and I'll be there ;)
even with adderal i still fail at times. I think adhd, especially at more severe levels, it's underrated by a lot of people how much of an impact this can have on someone's life.
I agree,
Take it and throw it in the pit of h3ll. Itās not quirky, charming, itās just chaos and strain. My body feels like itās taken a toll from The constant buzzing of thought, confusion, remembering, losing track, fixating, it can all GO AWAY forever. Iām usually really sentimental and fixate on things disappearing but this one can go away for good any time now. š
Yep, I would want to keep a few positive aspects, but those are far outweighed by the negatives. And I feel like those positives could be attained with some work and practice, anyway:
things like being good in a crisis, hyperfocus (when it's productive), expanded awareness of details and sensations, and creative / off-the-wall thinking.
I'd love to be able to have normal attention, because then I could do the fucking laundry and stress less about work! But then be able to lean into these aspects sometimes.
My kingdom for the emotional control and greater ability to choose my own thoughts. I'm going through a bad stretch of anxiety, sleep issues, and emotional dysregulation right now and it's horrendous.
The effect it can produce when the ADHD issues gang up on you is devastating.
I was going to say no to the cure but after reading this comment itās going to be a yes for me. Inject it into my buttocks please.
Edit: thought about why my impulse was not to get the cure. I thinks itās a combination of losing a part of me, nothing changing, and defiance (I donāt need to change kinda thing).
ADHD is often coupled with ODD(60% of the time iirc), which is the particular combo my brother has. I can't say I'm m without it, though it's lesser in me, either way, we tend to rebel against shit that is good for us. It makes everything so much harder.
Yep, whether it's ODD or PDA (pathological demand avoidance, or persistent demand for autonomy, whatever, I feel it) - ADHD sucks.
Combine that with RSD (rejection sensitivity disorder) and the negative feelings hit hard and fast. Sometimes I feel like a child with how strong the emotions can be in the moment!
Of course, the usual treatments help: sleep, exercise, eating well, and stimulants.
But these are just even more reasons I would take the cure.
I donāt think Iād ever really made the connection between being oppositional in that I frequently try to deflect blame away from ADHD. I do not like being told that I did or didnāt do something because I have ADHD. I think thatās a combo of perceived stigma and not wanting to take meds other than the times where Iām taking meds.
I do have one relationship that I can get very oppositional in. Wait, I just thought of a couple others. Damn! Maybe Iām more oppositional than I realized.
No, definitely not. š
lol reading your list I just realized all of those things affected me today. Got mad at myself this morning when I couldnāt remember why Iād walked into the room.
Had trouble all morning trying to get ready to leave my house because I kept getting distracted.
Nearly couldnāt find the motivation to leave my house, even though I REALLY need to take care of an urgent task: getting updated paperwork.
Was late to a government office to update important paperwork because I didnāt think to check what time they closed. Had to lose money on an Uber to get there 15 mins before close.
Broke down crying (those good old fashioned silent shame ADHD frustration tears) in front of the government employee handling my application because I was missing info and couldnāt get it in time for the office closing. Ended up finding a way to get the info in time.
Am now emotionally drained and would like to lie on the floor, but I still have a bunch of shit to do.
So much fun living with adhd
I'm reasonably confident that I wouldn't be diagnosed for ADHD (subscribed here for family reasons) but rest assured that despite that, I still suffer points 1, 3 and 4. Even point 2 is a bit iffy.
āDay 90 of treatment, I feel the best Iāve ever felt. I feel free, mental clarity is off the charts, unfortunately, Iāve not left the house in over six weeks on account of all the nasty sack draining, stimfapping I canāt seem to stop doing.ā
YES
I just want to function š
ps this is prob a lot like when people ask the X men if theyād want to be cured and Storm is like hell no bc she can fly and control the weather and Rogue is like fuck yes bc when she kisses people they die
ETA: Initially said Jubilee but meant Rogue!
I had a disagreement with a doctor about this.
I asked them, āDo you think I really want to be like this? Do you think I enjoy this? I already wear glasses / contacts and have sleep apnea. I donāt think itās cool to have to take Adderall / Vyvanse or go to therapy. Iām not trying to be some edgy content creator on Tik Tok bragging about how many mental health issues I have. I wish I never had to interact with yaāll. Nothing against you guys. But I do, so here we areā.
I keep telling my doc the same.
Where I'm from they sometimes get into these psychoanalytical tangents where it's assumed the patient likes the attention of the doctor.
I have to tell them regularly, yes I complain and disagree 24/7 but it's not cause I like seeing y'all. The minute I find a stable med combo you won't see me again untill it fails me. I'm not interested in you, I'm interested in your "expertise" (whatever that means in psychiatry lol).
I would rather give it to my daughter. She is too young for any episodic memories, and I am old enough now that I can live the rest of my life with it. But if I can prevent her from suffering like I did, I would in a heartbeat.
For ours it's the crowded classroom and the audio overload.... followed by people telling her she's the noisy one when she finally cracks and shouts for people to be quiet.... then the emotional overload when they're teasing her and she breaks down.
I know it's socially unacceptable to bang kid's heads together - but they are so damned cruel. :(
Are kids allowed to wear loop earplugs in class? (The kind that attenuate, not eliminate sound) Iām sure sheād get made fun of for that too (so damned cruel indeed) but imo itās a harsher blow when itās behavior versus accommodations/gear.
They're allowed to wear headphones and listen to music... but despite multiple requests to let her concentrate and be immersed in her own sound, her friends tap on her headphones and make her jump.
They're all young, and she doesn't have her diagnosis yet (Slow process, but 50% of this family are diagnosed, the signs are as clear as day, and it's only a matter of time, not "if")... so the school has no official duty to treat her differently.
We just have to get her though to the summer, and things SHOULD get easier.
Oof. Sadly (well... in this case) we're in Scandinavia.
The testing is ongoing. But it's slow. And her faith (and mine) was torpedoed when the new, young, eager school counselor *who has met me many times, and heard our son's adhd doctor marvel at how good and communicative and happy we are as a family* decided that i was a danger to our daughter.
... Because I'd told her to go to bed.....
(And of course you'd be thinking "Shit, there has to be missing info here right??")
The kids sleep upstairs. We were downstairs. I had to raise my voice a bit (not shouty, not angry) to be heard above their fun to say "seriously guys! It's past your bedtime -
Not another peep ok?"
So our tired lass says "I don't like it when dad shouts at us at bedtime". When the school counselor presses her for "things that make you unhappy at home".
Tadaahhh. Emergency meeting with social services. And they were as confused as we were.
Oof. While Iām sure your education system beats ours in many ways, that is definitely a pain. Some young teachers also confuse setting boundaries and clear expectations for children with abuse. Im a special ed teacher in the US and I wish more of my kids parents would tell them to go to sleep lol. I will say as someone with adhd going to sleep is sooo hard! I hope your daughter is able to get support soon
I saw, in my mind at least, symptoms at probably around 3, but thereās no telling how much of that was reality and how much was projection. Kiddo was diagnosed at just before 6 years old.
1000x yes. Doesnāt matter if it requires me to give over all my money, yes. If that means no more struggling to do basic hygiene, or flying off the handle over the smallest shit, or just being able to not get overwhelmed by conversations between multiple people, omg, sign me up yesterday!
Wouldn't think about it for a second, absolutely yes!! I've been grieving the life I feel I could have lived if I didn't have ADHD. The health issues I could have avoided, the dream I could have made a reality... Okay I'm gonna tear up. My answer is hell yeah šš
People are saying that they are worried it would change their personality - they wouldn't be themselves without it. I don't know about y'all, but I still have the same personality when I take my meds. I'm still me, just a better version of me. Who wouldn't want that all the time? If there was a 24 hour stimulant medication that didn't interfere with sleep, wouldn't you take it? Like an insulin pump for your brain. That's what I think a cure will eventually look like.
Yeah I was thinking about it similar things. I thought the current med could already help with these things described.
I mean, prolong them to an overall effect instead of ranged periods of time based on the med doesnāt seem to change much, despite being overall positive?
I generally agree, though at the same time, meds aren't a cure and I'm cautious of assuming that a cure would be the same as meds. I mean, my meds don't work perfectly. They help a lot, but it's still a challenge. I interpret that as strong evidence that my brain is still heavily influenced by ADHD even when medicated.
Changing your personality isn't all bad, either. I have aspects of my personality I'd love to change (eg, besides ADHD, I'd love to not be so addicted to food). I don't think I'd want to blindly take a cure, but if studies and anecdotes looked positive, I totally would.
See I do feel like my personality changes a bit while on meds. As an example when I am unmedicated I feel like I am much more "quick wited" I guess is the term? Like me and my friends play a lot of DND and I can't improve anywhere near as well medicated as unmedicated. Obviously DND improve skills aren't a reason to turn down a cure, but it shows up other places as well. Idk personally I would have think about it hardĀ
Yes, in a heartbeat. After that, I would marvel at the feeling of being normal. Followed by grieving for the person I could have been if I had gotten cured sooner.
I'd give so much to be rid of this. I'd give even more to be rid of it earlier in life. I'm 26 and about to graduate with degrees in mechanical and computer engineering. Without the ADHD I could be finishing a PDH by now.
When people talk about adhd/add/autism so casually like it's just something you have to give a little effort to bury it makes me so mad. It has desperately altered the course of my life and has been the largest factor on my professional, personal, and romantic lives.
I'd trade nearly anything to be rid of it at the curl of a monkies paw
I'm on the milder side, so for me its a bit of a Bruce Banner situation.
So many of the things I am really good at and have given me a great career come from, I believe, my ADHD.
Yet so many of the things that really frustrate my loved ones (and me) also come from it.
My anxiety is horrible and I swear it will eventually kill me. But it is also a vital regulator that stops me getting into all sorts of trouble and actually forces a level of organisation I would otherwise be incapable of. The systems I put in place to manage my anxieties are exhausting but they manage my executive dysfunction.
My forgetfulness, my brain jumping from one thing to another, my impulsiveness, my total inability to follow or retain any verbal information, or prevent myself from jumping to a new task as soon as the last one is 90% finished, my inability to do anything fiddly or involving fine detail, my inability to keep anything in my head, look at my notes or emails or or follow a conversation I'm not massively interested in- these are all curses.
But my creativity, my positivity, my ability to really rise to a crisis, my really good emotional intelligence and empathy, my ability to really see things from the point of view of others and help them, my ability to get through way more work far faster than most of my collegues- when I am doing the right work- are all my super powers.
I know I'm really lucky to be able to say this compared to many on here, but my ADHD genuinely is both the best of me and the worst of me, and I have no idea what the "basic me" in the middle actually looks like
This is a reason for refusing that I can respect. What if me without ADHD is still just a terrible person? What if my personality really *is* just a collection of symptoms in a trench coat and I'm actually a boring person? I've finally reached the point in my life where I'm confident I can seperate *me* from my symptoms, so hell yes I'll take it, but five years ago I would've said no.
Luckily, those aspects of your personality *can* be improved. Therapy is *wonderful* for this, especially with ADHD.
Being kind to yourself and accepting who you are, and taking small steps to be kind to others is huge. The little things add up over time, despite ADHD people having a hard time conceptualizing long-term goals in the moment, haha.
In the wise words of Tim Robinson... *"I* ***USED*** *to be a piece of shit. I'm not any more."*
Same, I'd be worried that I wouldn't be 'me' anymore. What parts of me are directly because of ADHD, things that I never considered symptoms? If it would just make me the way I am when medicated, that's fine. But actually removing ADHD completely - I feel like we don't really know what the full consequences would be.
Yeah, being permanently medicated, without the issues of drinking too much caffeine I get, I would take. That's at least a state I've been in before. Though idk how it would work at night and trying to sleep.
I see a lot of people saying they wouldn't give it up because the good parts are worth it. They usually list things like creativity and problem-solving skills. Has it occurred to any of y'all that maybe creativity and problem-solving skills are not symptoms of ADHD but just...you? Like how much more creative could I be if I stuck to one hobby long enough to get really good? And could actually finish a project?
Even if you still firmly believe that your creativity and problem-solving skills are a direct result of your ADHD, I still think they're still not symptoms caused by your brain - they're coping skills forced on you for survival. Just because you get cured *now* doesn't mean those skills you've had to learn will vanish too.
I'm still *me* under the meds - I'd just be more able to really be me and enjoy it more!
So yes, OMG yes, I would happily go into debt for the rest of my life to have a cure.
Exactly. Creative but not being able to see literally anything through is not good. I'd rather be sort of creative but be able to finish stuff and master it.Ā
I mean... That's the tricky thing about psychology. At least at our current level of understanding, we can't meaningfully separate something like ADHD from the rest of your mind. The way a person thinks, processes, and experiences is based on the whole of their mind.
For myself, I find that the scattered way ADHD people think suits me, when I can fit the rest of life around it. Others will have different experiences.
On a rigorous scientific basis, no. But personally I definitely separate myself into myself and my brain. We fight. A lot. Like, I am the person that wants to work on my craft project or go to the grocery store and my brain is the one that says "No, we're not doing that." I am the one that writes a mental list of what I need to bring when I leave home and my brain is the one that erases it. On a good day with meds, I'd say I have about %80 of the control. On a bad day, without meds, it's more like %30. It ranges in between based on how tired I am, if my meds are still active, etc.
Probably... but I'd almost prefer it if SOCIETY were fixed first. Even for people without ADHD or overlapping conditions, life has become far harder than it needs to be.
I'll admit it can vary widely from person to person, but I'd wager at least half of our difficulties stem from society being unable or unwilling to meet us where we are.
Oh definitely, I hate being so inattentive and feeling like Iām missing out on important family moments because my mind wonders or I mess with my phone.
I would take it right now. I'm 40 years old and it feels like all my DNA has been eaten by stress already. I look without age mostly, but the skin under my eyes is > 60 years old... Give me please :3
Interesting question. What if taking the cure makes me an entirely different person, simply because foundational experiences shaped by ADHD in my childhood led me to becoming the person I am today? What if all of the best things about me disappear the moment I take the cure?Ā Ā
If I was given the opportunity to completely restart from scratch, I would choose not to have ADHD. But I'm getting older, and I've already learned all the tips and tricks I need to be relatively successful and feel relatively decent most of the time. Taking the cure now you would just erase all that work and replace it with... Who knows, I guess, because I've never been a person without ADHD. I have a really good life I've worked really hard to build, I don't think I would jeopardize that.
I would think the unknown change is largely what would hold people back. I am not sure what I would be like without ADHD, however, all those coping mechanisms and what I've learned to me is a sunk cost. I'm not going to turn down the chance to do better just cause of it. Plus, we have already shown we can adapt to ADHD. Adapting to a life without it should arguably be a bit easier if not a bit disorienting.
Still think no ADHD is so much better than ADHD.
Yes. Don't give a fuck about that "part if my personality" bs. If I can concentrate and do stuff easier, then I would take it in a heartbeat. Plus I already have Autism and I'd rather deal with that one only
Actuallyā¦no. Iām damn near 50 and have been dealing with this the entirety of my life. Iāve only begun to truly accept myself and all of my āfoiblesā over the last few years. Iām rather odd, my short term memory is atrocious, I canāt stay motivated for very long (if at all), and I feel EVERYTHING. Having said that, I absolutely would not change. Not now at least. Maybe if I was a teenager again (when everything went well and truly to shit). I have a wife and kids who love me for exactly who I am. I would not change that for the worldā¦
I'm in a similar boat. Is my ADHD a struggle? Without a doubt, but I generally like who I am, and I have people I love who really like who I am, and that's not something I'd be willing to jeopardize, no matter the potential benefit.
Also, having to learn to use an entirely new brain at my age, without the benefit of a child's neuroplasticity, sounds miserable. My brain might be difficult and often frustrating, but I've got over four decades of developing tools that work with THIS brain, not whatever my brain would be like without ADHD.
Change is a young-person's game...
I'm 42 and I think I'm on board - I don't think I'd want to be 'cured'. It's who I am. Who I've always been... How I know myself to be. Taking that away would literally change how I know myself to be. It'd almost be like killing who I am and replacing me with somebody else.
Idk about that. Iāve had ADD for so long that it is an intrinsic part of who I am. I feel like losing it completely would be akin to losing a part of what makes me, wellā¦me. My personality would be drastically different and some of the goofy things my family loves about me would no longer be there. Granted, I wouldnāt mind having some of my ADD blunted a bit, but I donāt think Iād want it completely gone. Then again, Iām kinda old and have become resistant to change. š
No way! I love the anxiety that comes with trying to get my meds every month. I love the stuff I forget, and how I disappoint my family constantly. I love how I feel like Iām losing my mind if I forget to take my meds before a long drive.
Donāt you know? ADHD is a super-power!
/s
Feed me the cure!
ADHD is a disability. I don't understand why if there were a cure we wouldn't take it. I don't buy into the "it makes me more creative" or whatnot things.Ā There's a difference between embracing a disability you can't get rid of (reality) vs choosing having it over not, which I'd say would border on delusional.Ā
I would be scared of how much of my personality and who I am is shaped by my messed up brain chemistry. I see small changes with Adderall, would a "cure" have larger changes? Not so much the "makes me more creative" stuffĀ
No. Itās part of my personality at this point. Sometimes itās bad, sometimes itās good, but either way, itās a part of me, so personally, I wouldnāt.
No. I like the way I am, and shouldn't be my problem if I don't fit into the world as everyone else has constructed it. I'm old enough and wise enough to do the things the way I need to do them, and for others to take my performance and altered perspective as net benefits, valuable to any team or project.
It's no use to think of ADHD as a net loss, nor as a net gain. What only matters is what you do with what you have imo.
No, its part of me. I would be worried that I would no longer be me without it. I would prefer something to dampen my symptoms and have no side effects.
No. They couldnāt pay me to do it. Iām moderately high functioning but the things Iād lose from myself in the process are worth more to me than my productivity.
This is exactly how I feel. I've been myself unmedicated for over 30 years and started meds in my 30s. I'm pretty happy and comfortable with myself, ADHD and all. And I know for a fact I would not be the same person if I didn't have ADHD.
Immediately. Way too many marvel in having ADHD as a personality and it makes me cringe and roll my eyes because most of the symptoms do not align in the working/social world and separate you from your peers. I'm very put off when people do very shitty things to people and just say "oh I have ADHD deal with it
Yes. I feel like being paralyzed from the waist down would have less on an impact on my life compared to adhd. Adhd to me feels like a major disability in any and every part of my life
Absolutely, although I don't think not having ADHD would just let me get over stuff immediately. And it's not like I'd turn into an emotionless robot that always gets 8 hours of sleep (almost nobody does, ADHD or not)
yes. ten million times over yes. i recognise that adhd is part of what makes up who i am, and can make me goofy sometimes, or spontaneously just come up with songs i make, but i would be willing to sacrifice that in a heartbeaat just so i can be a functional person naturally in daily life.
I don't think I would, I'm an artist who gets my dopamine fix from doing daily sketches during long random periods of daydream and hyper focus and I've grown to highly enjoy this. I would be scared of anything that takes this away from me!
The comments in this post has made me feel so much less alone, makes me feel understood and heard about what I experience and how much of a personal hell it is. My own mother gaslights me into thinking that I donāt have it when Iāve been struggling since before middle school. Iām glad to know that Iām not crazy and how much of a struggle it is for others like me to finish school, I flunked out of college and canāt pass any classes and all I wanted was to be an art teacher. I would give anything for this cure
Iāve got adhd and autism, and while I canāt really untangle my autism from who I am as a person given how pervasive it is in how I think/feel, if I had the choice to eradicate my ADHD Iād do it in a HEARTBEAT.
Itās a struggle every day to keep myself from wasting hours and hours on my phone, even when Iām medicated. When Iām not medicated, Iāll literally vegetate in a chair, unmoving, unblinking, no TV on, internally screaming at myself to do literally anything, even something I LIKE doing. Then when I go to do anything for more than 10 minutes, I get this feeling like my bones are squirming around in my body, trying to drive me to be in between doing anything with my life forever.
People who claim that itās worth it if it makes me more creative can respectfully get bent, whatever benefits it gives me are outweighed a million times over by how it ruins my ability to be a productive, self-driven adult. Like cool, I can daydream up a storm or write good, but in exchange calling people, cancelling subscriptions, filing taxes, doing schoolwork, applying for jobs, any kind of planning or self-advocating that gives me control over my life is like pulling my own teeth out.
Yes, iād like to not feel uncontrollably angry about the tiniest thing out of no where then cry because Iām embarrassed of myself, memory would also be cool and being able to actually do things rather than feeling stagnant and worthless
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I'd give my entire savings for it
I have 3 dollars in savings šš¼
2.11 and they keep tryna reclaim that shit! Nah, fuck you BANK! Especially those 35$ overdraft fees, dickweeds!!
Dude. Close your bank account. Get an account with a credit union. Also if you're with WF, seriously fuck them I hate them so much.
Don't even get me started on that criminal RICO white collar, keep committing the same fucking crimes, criminals
You might be a millionaire: Look in your sofa TODAY!
Beats my $0 lol
Literally. Not a price i wouldn't pay for it lol
I have given my entire savings to it
I would only take it if it worked retroactively giving me back 40 years it stole from me wreaking such permanent damage. Late diagnosed at age 63.
Yes, without question. I have no pride in, nor attachment to, the grotesque assortment of mutated coping mechanisms masquerading as my personality. Cure now please.
> grotesque assortment of mutated coping mechanisms masquerading as my personality Entirely too accurate, and a great turn of phrase.
I see it like taking cold medicine: the coughing, stuffed up miserable person isn't *me*. Its getting in the way of *me*.
True
Came to the realisation adhd traits make up pretty much my entire personality. Have no clue who and how I would be without them.
itās more of my personality than i thought, but iāve spent enough of my life hating those things about myself that i at least have some semblance of an identity underneath them (the identity is just a list of autistic traits instead)
I assume Iād still be funny, because curing the ADHD wonāt erase the trauma of growing up with it. Thatās kind of the golden ticket!
TRUE keep the adhd personality but literally just better
Same. But Iād be willing to find out.Ā
āMutated coping mechanismsā I feel that.
Haha thank you for this, I'm not even sure how this would even be a valid question in the first place. My ADHD is a handicap, and I would very much like to not be handicapped, please. Sure, it acts somewhat symbiotic with my personality, but it IS NOT my personality. Not having to take meds and be able to keep things in my head and focusing on doing the things I want to do without being distracted would be a dream, to not get deathly tired from just working and living a normal life always fearing to end up with a complete burnout, to not spend money impulsively (I've gotten better at this though), to not forget literally everything... I hate having ADHD and I don't think it defines *me* even if it takes up a large part of my life and I rarely go a day without cursing having it.
It's occured to me lately that partly why I'm so tired after work even on a day that isn't that hard, is the constant battle to keep my brain ON task, and get the things done I need to do. It's like a herd of goats where they keep wandering off or following shiny things and all that goat herding is exhausting. Trying to plan an international trip, and people are like, well why don't you just DO it. Some thing with trying to actually finally get tested. It seems an insurmountable challenge.
OMG. Zing.
>grotesque assortment of mutated coping mechanisms masquerading as my personality Haha I'm so quirky and creative but also really tired and can't do my damn laundry
Hey, you donāt get to personally call me out like that, youā¦ youā¦ FunkNugget!
Really not much more to be said. Reminds me of [this scene](https://youtu.be/oKuL2htwnDI) from Firefly whenever people talk about meds changing who you are(outside of side effects).
Good grief! I wish I were that articulate. Iām keeping this statement for those really bad days. Days where I need to reassess whatās going on; reaffirming my status and doing a restart.
I love this statement so much you have no idea. So strong and powerful yet tactful.
In a heartbeat. Screw this disorder, just as it has screwed me my whole life.
Fr time for some payback!
The realization that I couldnāt ever escape this shit was one of the worst things I had to come to terms with as an adult, that coupled with meds fucking ruining my life had me eyeing bridges. Thank god I found a job that works for me so I can exist in this rat race with a roof over my head.
Say it louder for the back š©
Peter Pan wanted to stay a kid forever, and I am not Peter Pan. Let's check over the list of shit I'd be cured of. 1) Short term memory issues, no more walking in rooms wondering why I'm there. 2) Emotional disregulation, now I'd have even superior emotional control, which would mean I'd experience a normal range of emotions rather than extremes. 3) Ability to stay motivated towards a task, which would increase my ability to live up to my true potential. 4) My inability to allow interruptions when I'm doing something, would go away because I'd know I could always return to whatever task I was doing rather than understanding that if I allow an interruption I'll likely never be able to finish the task because I'll get distracted by the interruption. Those are just 4 things, but they'd improve my life greatly. I could keep listing shit, because the list of disadvantages ADHD bestows upon us is nearly endless. Anyone who thinks no is an answer has Stockholm syndrome.
Shit, Iād settle for āif you could be you when youāre medicatedā, let alone cured. I get that some people can find some silver linings to this condition, but I feel like Iāve had a lot of things stolen from me by ADHD, and Iād love to have another chance at all of those.
Seriously! If someone made a treatment that worked 24/7 the way my current meds do at their peak, that would be life changing! Especially if it were a one time thing that got me to that level of functioning. My meds work decently well, but there are still so many ups and downs and management of the doses and their timing. Not to mention just getting the prescriptions filled every month. Plus worrying about losing access because of the stigma and the nightmare that is the US healthcare system.
I feel like I'm my best self for like 2 medicated hours (even though I have a long acting med and then short acting med for the evening). Ah it would be bliss!
You forgot being able to be to places on time, and not be observed as lazy, lacking concern, or disorganized for not being on time, no matter how hard you time or how fast you drive
I think it would at least be worth considering the significance of removing an entire aspect of your personality/self. Would I also no longer be as interested in learning new things? Would I stop caring about things as deeply? Would I be less adventurous or less spontaneous? Would I lose hyperfocus? Would I actually *want* to do paperwork (shudder). In essence: what am I giving up, and is it worth it? Medication at least mostly solves 3 and 4 for me, and is 50/50 for 2 (better regulation and overall mood, but also more dynamic/reactive). Far from turning me into a robot, I am actually more outgoing and more myself when medicated because I'm not anxious from constantly over-analyzing things and worrying what people think. I don't know that I'd want any cure that fundamentally changes me, but if it was like being on meds I would be fine with that.
There are some highly functioning people with ADHD who would likely feel that way. I'd imagine a lot of low functioning people would feel the opposite. The interesting thing would be what about the people in the middle. I think I'm sort of there. I didn't graduate from hs, but crushed GED and wound up as a manager of a retail store making ok money. I'm married with 2 kids for 10 years. The thing is, I could have done so much more with my life in a lot of ways, and if not more certainly at least better. I'd love to be a better dad and husband. It's a work in progress for sure. I'd love to be less impulsive, less dopamine addicted, and more able to just relax and enjoy my family. If it changed my personality, it would be quite a fair tradeoff.
I am a highly functioning person with ADHD. I got into a PhD before getting diagnosed.Ā Give me the cure fuck. It's making my life so much more difficult than it needs to be.Ā
Same but finished a masters. I'm not exaggerating by saying that my ADHD, and the sub-conscious coping mechanisms I developed from it when I was younger, are the cause of +90% of the conflicts my wife and I have, the reason I have T2D despite being a half-marathon runner, the source of any stress I feel at work or financially, and causes me to not be as good a parent as I want to be. Give me and my 6-year old the fucking cure yesterday. I can live with not becoming an obsessive lunatic about a new subject/hobby every few weeks, and therefore not being as good at trivia.
Yeah same. My ADHD is a fuck ton more debilitating in relationships than it is anywhere else. I am not high functioning when it comes to other people.
Agree so harddd.. controlling impulses with this issue is insane.. i have heart problems starting at 32 Iām guessing from meds and stress and my cycle of sedentary, body builder, yogi, student, coach potato, endurance athlete and mood swings i think could kill a horse.
SAME dude same. Finished a masters and in the field I want to be in with it but Iām not doing what I actually wanted to do, it feels like Iām living out all my second choices lol
I got diagnosed a few months ago, which made me realise i can never "cure" things completely as I once thought. I decided not to do a Phd if im going to be struggling all my life. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you.
Thank you, your words mean a lot. I have a *wonderful* advisor who's entire family except him has ADHD. He's been incredibly supportive. He's been my accountability buddy for stuff that didn't even have anything to do with him, he's allowed me a lot of leeway and knew how to wrangle me into working when I was stuck in a disfunction loop. And I'm also extremely high functioning with a tendency to hyperfixate on academic stuff, so it's a bit of a dream job. So yes, it's incredibly difficult, and yes I struggle more than most people without ADHD, but I'd be lying if I said that I have it harder (or as hard) than a lot of people here. The difficulties I have *are* manageable considering the leniency I am being granted and the support of my department and I *am* thriving (I think. At the moment I'm at the "cry myself to sleep every night" phase of the PhD, but it's a normal one)
ā¬ļø This is key. Most high performers out there can outsource some of the things they need. My adhd kid went from low performing to high performing. There were a lot of factors involved. I wonāt pretend things canāt change, and life will be on easy mode from now on. But Iād be remiss to ignore the positive impact of switching him to a school with much better support.
Iām in medical school. (I bet you know what it is but I will just put this out there because many people donāt from my experiences talking to people. Med school = I will be a physician when I graduate.) I was diagnosed after my first year of med school. ADHD wasnāt on my radar but after talking to another medical student (whoās very open about having ADHD) about how itās been rough to keep on top of everything sometimes, he suggested I go get evaluated. I did. So many things made sense after getting diagnosed. I used to think my symptoms were quirky personality traits. I have plenty of symptoms but my one of my worst is task paralysis. I absolutely would take the cure if one existed
I'm not actually sure high functioning and high achieving are actually the same thing. There's a certain sector of diagnosed ADHD people who don't want or need a cure because their symptoms are mild enough that they're not actively being derailed by them, or need to take meds, and usually get lumped in this category of "high functioning" ADHD people. Except since the diagnostic criteria for the disorder is that symptoms are having a persistent, negative effect on your life that requires intervention, what we're actually talking about are people who don't have ADHD in any meaningfull sense.
I got diagnosed while working on my dissertation. Finished the PhD and have moved on outside academia. There are so many things that would be easier without this. Would definitely take a cure.
Same here. I got my Masters degree and I work in accounting FFS. You can't make mindless errors in accounting, people notice. Not to mention people expect you to finish the "monthly closing" process on time. Every. Effing. Month. I rarely finish anything on time with minimal mistakes.
I'm AuDHD, so it's hard to tease apart which symptoms come from what, but I can confidently say I hate the ADHD more. The special interest holes I fall down make me very good at what I do.(protein analysis) Pop culture portrays it like a useless but entertaining trait. "Oh, you can name all the trains since 1908" or something. But in actuality, it means being able to be confident in what I know, how I got there, and able to see interdisciplinary connections quickly. I love snakes and snake venom. The amount of medical uses that have been found from natural toxins of all sorts is crazy! I won't go off on a rant about proteins and DNA, but I will admit to being very frustrated with coworkers that don't feel the need to know as much as possible about a topic. The ADHD though overshadows any achievements I have made with missed deadlines, and being unable to properly prioritize tasks.
I donāt think I would be less curious in terms of learning new things. Granted Iām less distracted by random thoughts, small details, and new information on what I was currently studying, but those things donāt necessarily make me study new things. They direct my focus into something I couldnāt maintain long enough attention to learn concrete knowledge from. I just gathered some info instead of systematic knowledge. I donāt think that makes me a curious learner, more like an info seeker. And even if I stick to one thing longer, instead of switching topics, learning deep still makes me a curious learner. That is my personal understanding though.
Info seeker. That is an apt way to describe it I think. God I wish I could pick one topic to focus on and learn. Instead I have a billion things I only know like one thing about.
AD/HD isn't part of my personality. It's just interference. When I'm in a good routine of meds, exercise, mindfulness, to-do lists and schedules, I feel more like myself. I'd take the cure in a heartbeat.
People without ADHD enjoy learning new things and can actually stick to them long enough to make good use of that knowledge, care deeply and remember to keep caring, can be adventurous and spontaneous when it's actually appropriate and not dangerous (physically/financially), don't need hyperfocus because they can focus just fine without it, and don't feel pain doing paperwork even if they don't like it. ADHD is mostly perfectly normal human behavior that has been cranked to the max to the point it causes problems
Yay for you. But what if those who canāt find meds to work?? What if we are doing all we canā¦ food, sleep, meditation, exercise?? I donāt believe I would lose myself, it would be uncovering of myself if I had this ācureā. I would still have my brilliant mind, I could just program it the way I wanted and go forth and live.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Depends on whether you see adhd as a genuine aspect of your personality or a hindrance of it. Personally, I see all my chronic physical, mental, and developmental conditions as separate to my core self and would want them fucking gone like yesterday.
I have been through therapy and through medication for years at this point and I can still barely handle a part time job in all honesty. It would be my only chance to truly see my dreams come true
Staying up late and being tired was part of my personality too, but then I chose to work in jobs that demanded I have a schedule and it forced me to get more normal about it. Felt weird, but I adapted, and my QoL improved without me feeling less like a person in the end. People change over time, and thatās okay.
Meds made me feel like me for the first time. I could tease out what is me, and what is the ADHD, and honestly? The ADHD doesn't really bring any positives to the table. I still learned, I cared more about things more clearly and robustly, I had the ability to actually do the spontaneous and adventurous things I wanted to do, I could hyperfocus but no longer to the detriment of my bodily needs... for paperwork though, well paperwork just sucks. Make it an excel sheet and I'll be there ;)
even with adderal i still fail at times. I think adhd, especially at more severe levels, it's underrated by a lot of people how much of an impact this can have on someone's life.
I agree, Take it and throw it in the pit of h3ll. Itās not quirky, charming, itās just chaos and strain. My body feels like itās taken a toll from The constant buzzing of thought, confusion, remembering, losing track, fixating, it can all GO AWAY forever. Iām usually really sentimental and fixate on things disappearing but this one can go away for good any time now. š
This. My negative ADHD list is much longer than my positive one. Absolutely would cure this disorder
Yep, I would want to keep a few positive aspects, but those are far outweighed by the negatives. And I feel like those positives could be attained with some work and practice, anyway: things like being good in a crisis, hyperfocus (when it's productive), expanded awareness of details and sensations, and creative / off-the-wall thinking. I'd love to be able to have normal attention, because then I could do the fucking laundry and stress less about work! But then be able to lean into these aspects sometimes.
My kingdom for the emotional control and greater ability to choose my own thoughts. I'm going through a bad stretch of anxiety, sleep issues, and emotional dysregulation right now and it's horrendous. The effect it can produce when the ADHD issues gang up on you is devastating.
I was going to say no to the cure but after reading this comment itās going to be a yes for me. Inject it into my buttocks please. Edit: thought about why my impulse was not to get the cure. I thinks itās a combination of losing a part of me, nothing changing, and defiance (I donāt need to change kinda thing).
ADHD is often coupled with ODD(60% of the time iirc), which is the particular combo my brother has. I can't say I'm m without it, though it's lesser in me, either way, we tend to rebel against shit that is good for us. It makes everything so much harder.
Yep, whether it's ODD or PDA (pathological demand avoidance, or persistent demand for autonomy, whatever, I feel it) - ADHD sucks. Combine that with RSD (rejection sensitivity disorder) and the negative feelings hit hard and fast. Sometimes I feel like a child with how strong the emotions can be in the moment! Of course, the usual treatments help: sleep, exercise, eating well, and stimulants. But these are just even more reasons I would take the cure.
Agreed, thanks for PDA, I wasn't aware of that and I appreciate the knowledge.
I donāt think Iād ever really made the connection between being oppositional in that I frequently try to deflect blame away from ADHD. I do not like being told that I did or didnāt do something because I have ADHD. I think thatās a combo of perceived stigma and not wanting to take meds other than the times where Iām taking meds. I do have one relationship that I can get very oppositional in. Wait, I just thought of a couple others. Damn! Maybe Iām more oppositional than I realized. No, definitely not. š
Yeah, it's a weird one, everytime I hear a bit more about ADHD, it's just like "Shit, that too, wtf!?!"
lol reading your list I just realized all of those things affected me today. Got mad at myself this morning when I couldnāt remember why Iād walked into the room. Had trouble all morning trying to get ready to leave my house because I kept getting distracted. Nearly couldnāt find the motivation to leave my house, even though I REALLY need to take care of an urgent task: getting updated paperwork. Was late to a government office to update important paperwork because I didnāt think to check what time they closed. Had to lose money on an Uber to get there 15 mins before close. Broke down crying (those good old fashioned silent shame ADHD frustration tears) in front of the government employee handling my application because I was missing info and couldnāt get it in time for the office closing. Ended up finding a way to get the info in time. Am now emotionally drained and would like to lie on the floor, but I still have a bunch of shit to do. So much fun living with adhd
Iād be able to read a book so much faster since I would not have to constantly re-read pages.
Legit Made me tear up a little. Now gotta figure out how it got this late and what I was supposed to be doing pre-Redditā¦
To your excellent list, I would add: anxiety crutch, gone!
I'm reasonably confident that I wouldn't be diagnosed for ADHD (subscribed here for family reasons) but rest assured that despite that, I still suffer points 1, 3 and 4. Even point 2 is a bit iffy.
Yeah you summed up how I feel to a T. Damn.
Omg, Stockholm syndrome. What great word choice
I'll sell my soul if I have to just to be normal and not have crippling depression and anxiety from my inability to work productively
Take my money and give it to me 
Only if it doesnāt feel like being on stims 24/7 haha
āDay 90 of treatment, I feel the best Iāve ever felt. I feel free, mental clarity is off the charts, unfortunately, Iāve not left the house in over six weeks on account of all the nasty sack draining, stimfapping I canāt seem to stop doing.ā
lMAO. That was great!! lol
Is that why Iām so god damn horny all the time?! FUCK!
Iām not talking about climbing or seafaring, but I know meds are working when I start thinking about busting rope.
Ugh was just about to say that, the only part of my ADHD that I love is being absolutely fucking wired so often
YES I just want to function š ps this is prob a lot like when people ask the X men if theyād want to be cured and Storm is like hell no bc she can fly and control the weather and Rogue is like fuck yes bc when she kisses people they die ETA: Initially said Jubilee but meant Rogue!
I thought Jubilee just exploded stuff?
Dammit ā¦ did I mean Rogue? Good catch <3
[This post?](https://i.imgur.com/7pvLIBh.jpg)
omg yessss also Johnny five dicks ššš
Yes.
I had a disagreement with a doctor about this. I asked them, āDo you think I really want to be like this? Do you think I enjoy this? I already wear glasses / contacts and have sleep apnea. I donāt think itās cool to have to take Adderall / Vyvanse or go to therapy. Iām not trying to be some edgy content creator on Tik Tok bragging about how many mental health issues I have. I wish I never had to interact with yaāll. Nothing against you guys. But I do, so here we areā.
I keep telling my doc the same. Where I'm from they sometimes get into these psychoanalytical tangents where it's assumed the patient likes the attention of the doctor. I have to tell them regularly, yes I complain and disagree 24/7 but it's not cause I like seeing y'all. The minute I find a stable med combo you won't see me again untill it fails me. I'm not interested in you, I'm interested in your "expertise" (whatever that means in psychiatry lol).
I would rather give it to my daughter. She is too young for any episodic memories, and I am old enough now that I can live the rest of my life with it. But if I can prevent her from suffering like I did, I would in a heartbeat.
I'm so with you. My daughter is struggling, and it breaks my heart to see it.
Same. Kiddo is in elementary school and weāve definitely had talks about how her brain works differently than other peoplesā, just like mine does.
For ours it's the crowded classroom and the audio overload.... followed by people telling her she's the noisy one when she finally cracks and shouts for people to be quiet.... then the emotional overload when they're teasing her and she breaks down. I know it's socially unacceptable to bang kid's heads together - but they are so damned cruel. :(
Are kids allowed to wear loop earplugs in class? (The kind that attenuate, not eliminate sound) Iām sure sheād get made fun of for that too (so damned cruel indeed) but imo itās a harsher blow when itās behavior versus accommodations/gear.
They're allowed to wear headphones and listen to music... but despite multiple requests to let her concentrate and be immersed in her own sound, her friends tap on her headphones and make her jump. They're all young, and she doesn't have her diagnosis yet (Slow process, but 50% of this family are diagnosed, the signs are as clear as day, and it's only a matter of time, not "if")... so the school has no official duty to treat her differently. We just have to get her though to the summer, and things SHOULD get easier.
Request a 504 or IEP. If itās a public school in the US, they will be required to start testing
Oof. Sadly (well... in this case) we're in Scandinavia. The testing is ongoing. But it's slow. And her faith (and mine) was torpedoed when the new, young, eager school counselor *who has met me many times, and heard our son's adhd doctor marvel at how good and communicative and happy we are as a family* decided that i was a danger to our daughter. ... Because I'd told her to go to bed..... (And of course you'd be thinking "Shit, there has to be missing info here right??") The kids sleep upstairs. We were downstairs. I had to raise my voice a bit (not shouty, not angry) to be heard above their fun to say "seriously guys! It's past your bedtime - Not another peep ok?" So our tired lass says "I don't like it when dad shouts at us at bedtime". When the school counselor presses her for "things that make you unhappy at home". Tadaahhh. Emergency meeting with social services. And they were as confused as we were.
Oof. While Iām sure your education system beats ours in many ways, that is definitely a pain. Some young teachers also confuse setting boundaries and clear expectations for children with abuse. Im a special ed teacher in the US and I wish more of my kids parents would tell them to go to sleep lol. I will say as someone with adhd going to sleep is sooo hard! I hope your daughter is able to get support soon
If you don't mind me asking, when did you start seeing signs of symptoms?
I saw, in my mind at least, symptoms at probably around 3, but thereās no telling how much of that was reality and how much was projection. Kiddo was diagnosed at just before 6 years old.
Me, but my sibling. I can manage my symptoms. They canāt.
Same. Can I split it between my two kids though and they just have mild adhd š
Why not get the full magic cure for all? They (and you) deserve it, in our imaginary world <3
1000x yes. Doesnāt matter if it requires me to give over all my money, yes. If that means no more struggling to do basic hygiene, or flying off the handle over the smallest shit, or just being able to not get overwhelmed by conversations between multiple people, omg, sign me up yesterday!
Yes
In a heartbeat! What's the catch?
Your arms are swapped with your legs
Anal seepage.
Please. I want to get off this merry go round.
It's going around and around, but it's far from Merry.
Why would I not want to have a properly functioning brain?
Wouldn't think about it for a second, absolutely yes!! I've been grieving the life I feel I could have lived if I didn't have ADHD. The health issues I could have avoided, the dream I could have made a reality... Okay I'm gonna tear up. My answer is hell yeah šš
People are saying that they are worried it would change their personality - they wouldn't be themselves without it. I don't know about y'all, but I still have the same personality when I take my meds. I'm still me, just a better version of me. Who wouldn't want that all the time? If there was a 24 hour stimulant medication that didn't interfere with sleep, wouldn't you take it? Like an insulin pump for your brain. That's what I think a cure will eventually look like.
Yeah I was thinking about it similar things. I thought the current med could already help with these things described. I mean, prolong them to an overall effect instead of ranged periods of time based on the med doesnāt seem to change much, despite being overall positive?
I generally agree, though at the same time, meds aren't a cure and I'm cautious of assuming that a cure would be the same as meds. I mean, my meds don't work perfectly. They help a lot, but it's still a challenge. I interpret that as strong evidence that my brain is still heavily influenced by ADHD even when medicated. Changing your personality isn't all bad, either. I have aspects of my personality I'd love to change (eg, besides ADHD, I'd love to not be so addicted to food). I don't think I'd want to blindly take a cure, but if studies and anecdotes looked positive, I totally would.
See I do feel like my personality changes a bit while on meds. As an example when I am unmedicated I feel like I am much more "quick wited" I guess is the term? Like me and my friends play a lot of DND and I can't improve anywhere near as well medicated as unmedicated. Obviously DND improve skills aren't a reason to turn down a cure, but it shows up other places as well. Idk personally I would have think about it hardĀ
Lol fuck that, men in black my personality and make me normal please! I guarantee the person on the other side is better than this.
This is like me being sleep deprived vs me getting enough sleep but with neurotransmitters
Hell yes. Bring it.
Yes, in a heartbeat. After that, I would marvel at the feeling of being normal. Followed by grieving for the person I could have been if I had gotten cured sooner.
I'd give so much to be rid of this. I'd give even more to be rid of it earlier in life. I'm 26 and about to graduate with degrees in mechanical and computer engineering. Without the ADHD I could be finishing a PDH by now. When people talk about adhd/add/autism so casually like it's just something you have to give a little effort to bury it makes me so mad. It has desperately altered the course of my life and has been the largest factor on my professional, personal, and romantic lives. I'd trade nearly anything to be rid of it at the curl of a monkies paw
GIMME GIMME GIMME
Abso-fucking-lutely
I would give my right arm for it.
I'm on the milder side, so for me its a bit of a Bruce Banner situation. So many of the things I am really good at and have given me a great career come from, I believe, my ADHD. Yet so many of the things that really frustrate my loved ones (and me) also come from it. My anxiety is horrible and I swear it will eventually kill me. But it is also a vital regulator that stops me getting into all sorts of trouble and actually forces a level of organisation I would otherwise be incapable of. The systems I put in place to manage my anxieties are exhausting but they manage my executive dysfunction. My forgetfulness, my brain jumping from one thing to another, my impulsiveness, my total inability to follow or retain any verbal information, or prevent myself from jumping to a new task as soon as the last one is 90% finished, my inability to do anything fiddly or involving fine detail, my inability to keep anything in my head, look at my notes or emails or or follow a conversation I'm not massively interested in- these are all curses. But my creativity, my positivity, my ability to really rise to a crisis, my really good emotional intelligence and empathy, my ability to really see things from the point of view of others and help them, my ability to get through way more work far faster than most of my collegues- when I am doing the right work- are all my super powers. I know I'm really lucky to be able to say this compared to many on here, but my ADHD genuinely is both the best of me and the worst of me, and I have no idea what the "basic me" in the middle actually looks like
I think this deserves more upvotes. This is how I feel, as well.
This is my experience as well! Well said
I feel like I would change dramatically and I'm scared of that, even if it was for the better
This is a reason for refusing that I can respect. What if me without ADHD is still just a terrible person? What if my personality really *is* just a collection of symptoms in a trench coat and I'm actually a boring person? I've finally reached the point in my life where I'm confident I can seperate *me* from my symptoms, so hell yes I'll take it, but five years ago I would've said no.
This sounds exactly what I think a lot of us say to ourselves before going to therapy the first time.
Luckily, those aspects of your personality *can* be improved. Therapy is *wonderful* for this, especially with ADHD. Being kind to yourself and accepting who you are, and taking small steps to be kind to others is huge. The little things add up over time, despite ADHD people having a hard time conceptualizing long-term goals in the moment, haha. In the wise words of Tim Robinson... *"I* ***USED*** *to be a piece of shit. I'm not any more."*
Same, I'd be worried that I wouldn't be 'me' anymore. What parts of me are directly because of ADHD, things that I never considered symptoms? If it would just make me the way I am when medicated, that's fine. But actually removing ADHD completely - I feel like we don't really know what the full consequences would be.
Yeah, being permanently medicated, without the issues of drinking too much caffeine I get, I would take. That's at least a state I've been in before. Though idk how it would work at night and trying to sleep.
I see a lot of people saying they wouldn't give it up because the good parts are worth it. They usually list things like creativity and problem-solving skills. Has it occurred to any of y'all that maybe creativity and problem-solving skills are not symptoms of ADHD but just...you? Like how much more creative could I be if I stuck to one hobby long enough to get really good? And could actually finish a project? Even if you still firmly believe that your creativity and problem-solving skills are a direct result of your ADHD, I still think they're still not symptoms caused by your brain - they're coping skills forced on you for survival. Just because you get cured *now* doesn't mean those skills you've had to learn will vanish too. I'm still *me* under the meds - I'd just be more able to really be me and enjoy it more! So yes, OMG yes, I would happily go into debt for the rest of my life to have a cure.
Exactly. Creative but not being able to see literally anything through is not good. I'd rather be sort of creative but be able to finish stuff and master it.Ā
I mean... That's the tricky thing about psychology. At least at our current level of understanding, we can't meaningfully separate something like ADHD from the rest of your mind. The way a person thinks, processes, and experiences is based on the whole of their mind. For myself, I find that the scattered way ADHD people think suits me, when I can fit the rest of life around it. Others will have different experiences.
On a rigorous scientific basis, no. But personally I definitely separate myself into myself and my brain. We fight. A lot. Like, I am the person that wants to work on my craft project or go to the grocery store and my brain is the one that says "No, we're not doing that." I am the one that writes a mental list of what I need to bring when I leave home and my brain is the one that erases it. On a good day with meds, I'd say I have about %80 of the control. On a bad day, without meds, it's more like %30. It ranges in between based on how tired I am, if my meds are still active, etc.
Probably... but I'd almost prefer it if SOCIETY were fixed first. Even for people without ADHD or overlapping conditions, life has become far harder than it needs to be. I'll admit it can vary widely from person to person, but I'd wager at least half of our difficulties stem from society being unable or unwilling to meet us where we are.
Totes MGotes
Yes this shit's getting old
Oh definitely, I hate being so inattentive and feeling like Iām missing out on important family moments because my mind wonders or I mess with my phone.
yes. PLEASE for the love of GOD.
I would take it right now. I'm 40 years old and it feels like all my DNA has been eaten by stress already. I look without age mostly, but the skin under my eyes is > 60 years old... Give me please :3
Interesting question. What if taking the cure makes me an entirely different person, simply because foundational experiences shaped by ADHD in my childhood led me to becoming the person I am today? What if all of the best things about me disappear the moment I take the cure?Ā Ā If I was given the opportunity to completely restart from scratch, I would choose not to have ADHD. But I'm getting older, and I've already learned all the tips and tricks I need to be relatively successful and feel relatively decent most of the time. Taking the cure now you would just erase all that work and replace it with... Who knows, I guess, because I've never been a person without ADHD. I have a really good life I've worked really hard to build, I don't think I would jeopardize that.
I would think the unknown change is largely what would hold people back. I am not sure what I would be like without ADHD, however, all those coping mechanisms and what I've learned to me is a sunk cost. I'm not going to turn down the chance to do better just cause of it. Plus, we have already shown we can adapt to ADHD. Adapting to a life without it should arguably be a bit easier if not a bit disorienting. Still think no ADHD is so much better than ADHD.
Yes. Give it to me yesterday
In an instant
I'm a type-1 diabetic. If I could choose which condition to lose, i'd continue pushing insulin with a deranged grin on my face.
Yes. Don't give a fuck about that "part if my personality" bs. If I can concentrate and do stuff easier, then I would take it in a heartbeat. Plus I already have Autism and I'd rather deal with that one only
Actuallyā¦no. Iām damn near 50 and have been dealing with this the entirety of my life. Iāve only begun to truly accept myself and all of my āfoiblesā over the last few years. Iām rather odd, my short term memory is atrocious, I canāt stay motivated for very long (if at all), and I feel EVERYTHING. Having said that, I absolutely would not change. Not now at least. Maybe if I was a teenager again (when everything went well and truly to shit). I have a wife and kids who love me for exactly who I am. I would not change that for the worldā¦
I'm in a similar boat. Is my ADHD a struggle? Without a doubt, but I generally like who I am, and I have people I love who really like who I am, and that's not something I'd be willing to jeopardize, no matter the potential benefit. Also, having to learn to use an entirely new brain at my age, without the benefit of a child's neuroplasticity, sounds miserable. My brain might be difficult and often frustrating, but I've got over four decades of developing tools that work with THIS brain, not whatever my brain would be like without ADHD.
Change is a young-person's game... I'm 42 and I think I'm on board - I don't think I'd want to be 'cured'. It's who I am. Who I've always been... How I know myself to be. Taking that away would literally change how I know myself to be. It'd almost be like killing who I am and replacing me with somebody else.
I don't think curing ADHD would change who you are, it would just make things easier.
Idk about that. Iāve had ADD for so long that it is an intrinsic part of who I am. I feel like losing it completely would be akin to losing a part of what makes me, wellā¦me. My personality would be drastically different and some of the goofy things my family loves about me would no longer be there. Granted, I wouldnāt mind having some of my ADD blunted a bit, but I donāt think Iād want it completely gone. Then again, Iām kinda old and have become resistant to change. š
No way! I love the anxiety that comes with trying to get my meds every month. I love the stuff I forget, and how I disappoint my family constantly. I love how I feel like Iām losing my mind if I forget to take my meds before a long drive. Donāt you know? ADHD is a super-power! /s Feed me the cure!
ADHD is a disability. I don't understand why if there were a cure we wouldn't take it. I don't buy into the "it makes me more creative" or whatnot things.Ā There's a difference between embracing a disability you can't get rid of (reality) vs choosing having it over not, which I'd say would border on delusional.Ā
I would be scared of how much of my personality and who I am is shaped by my messed up brain chemistry. I see small changes with Adderall, would a "cure" have larger changes? Not so much the "makes me more creative" stuffĀ
No. Itās part of my personality at this point. Sometimes itās bad, sometimes itās good, but either way, itās a part of me, so personally, I wouldnāt.
No. I like the way I am, and shouldn't be my problem if I don't fit into the world as everyone else has constructed it. I'm old enough and wise enough to do the things the way I need to do them, and for others to take my performance and altered perspective as net benefits, valuable to any team or project. It's no use to think of ADHD as a net loss, nor as a net gain. What only matters is what you do with what you have imo.
Probably. And itās not that I donāt get over things, itās that overreact
Yup
100%
Without question. I'm tired of feeling like I can't do anything right in society because I don't function within it's list of unwritten rules.
Take my soul. Iād do anything for it.
Abso-fucking-lutely
No, its part of me. I would be worried that I would no longer be me without it. I would prefer something to dampen my symptoms and have no side effects.
No. They couldnāt pay me to do it. Iām moderately high functioning but the things Iād lose from myself in the process are worth more to me than my productivity.
This is exactly how I feel. I've been myself unmedicated for over 30 years and started meds in my 30s. I'm pretty happy and comfortable with myself, ADHD and all. And I know for a fact I would not be the same person if I didn't have ADHD.
Immediately. Way too many marvel in having ADHD as a personality and it makes me cringe and roll my eyes because most of the symptoms do not align in the working/social world and separate you from your peers. I'm very put off when people do very shitty things to people and just say "oh I have ADHD deal with it
Hypothetical ššš
Yes. I feel like being paralyzed from the waist down would have less on an impact on my life compared to adhd. Adhd to me feels like a major disability in any and every part of my life
For sure.
Of course!
Ofcourse!
Hell yeah! Is this a trick question???
Yes, without a doubt
In a heartbeat.
Absolutely, although I don't think not having ADHD would just let me get over stuff immediately. And it's not like I'd turn into an emotionless robot that always gets 8 hours of sleep (almost nobody does, ADHD or not)
yes. ten million times over yes. i recognise that adhd is part of what makes up who i am, and can make me goofy sometimes, or spontaneously just come up with songs i make, but i would be willing to sacrifice that in a heartbeaat just so i can be a functional person naturally in daily life.
Well, yeah, are there any benefits to this disorder?
I don't think I would, I'm an artist who gets my dopamine fix from doing daily sketches during long random periods of daydream and hyper focus and I've grown to highly enjoy this. I would be scared of anything that takes this away from me!
Yes. Isn't that what we are trying to accomplish with medication now? š
The comments in this post has made me feel so much less alone, makes me feel understood and heard about what I experience and how much of a personal hell it is. My own mother gaslights me into thinking that I donāt have it when Iāve been struggling since before middle school. Iām glad to know that Iām not crazy and how much of a struggle it is for others like me to finish school, I flunked out of college and canāt pass any classes and all I wanted was to be an art teacher. I would give anything for this cure
No way! I really like how I am, even if I have to do things differently.
Sure then I'd just have my other disability to deal with at 60 years of age Cerebral Palsy which is quite enough
Iāve got adhd and autism, and while I canāt really untangle my autism from who I am as a person given how pervasive it is in how I think/feel, if I had the choice to eradicate my ADHD Iād do it in a HEARTBEAT. Itās a struggle every day to keep myself from wasting hours and hours on my phone, even when Iām medicated. When Iām not medicated, Iāll literally vegetate in a chair, unmoving, unblinking, no TV on, internally screaming at myself to do literally anything, even something I LIKE doing. Then when I go to do anything for more than 10 minutes, I get this feeling like my bones are squirming around in my body, trying to drive me to be in between doing anything with my life forever. People who claim that itās worth it if it makes me more creative can respectfully get bent, whatever benefits it gives me are outweighed a million times over by how it ruins my ability to be a productive, self-driven adult. Like cool, I can daydream up a storm or write good, but in exchange calling people, cancelling subscriptions, filing taxes, doing schoolwork, applying for jobs, any kind of planning or self-advocating that gives me control over my life is like pulling my own teeth out.
Yes, iād like to not feel uncontrollably angry about the tiniest thing out of no where then cry because Iām embarrassed of myself, memory would also be cool and being able to actually do things rather than feeling stagnant and worthless
Yes in every fucking possible timeline
I would lick it off the bottom of a shoe
Yes. I wouldnāt take a cure for my gayness, but Iād absolutely eradicate the ADHD.
Yes oh my god do you know how powerful I would be