I've met a lot of people with Attention Deficit Disorder, but I've also come to the realization that many of those around us don't know exactly what it means to live with that kind of disorder. The misconceptions about ADHD only make things harder to explain—not to mention understand.
First and foremost, there are two subtypes of Attention Deficit Disorder. There's the hyperactive type and the inattentive type. These used to be separated by different terms—ADHD and ADD—but now they're usually combined under the "umbrella" term ADHD. The main difference between the two is that those with the hyperactive type manifest their attention issues externally while those with the inattentive type internalize most of it. (It is, of course, a little more complex than that, but immensely simplified, that's how I'd describe it.)
The aspect of ADHD you're most likely familiar with is the lack of regulated attention. This is a common aspect of ADHD, but there's also a lot more to it. Other things that could go right up there with the attention issues are also the emotional dysregulation and the chemical imbalances. Those with ADHD have brains that either don't produce enough or don't register enough dopamine. This usually results in the person hyperfixating (imagine a really intense fixation. That's essentially hyperfixation similified) on anything that gives them dopamine. This desperate search, in a sense, creates the scatterbrained appearance of ADHD that stereotypes have so perfectly encompassed (that was sarcasm, just so you know).
Along with the imbalance in the dopamine, those with ADHD have an issue with serotonin too, but in a bit of a different way. As a background, know that serotonin is the other "happy hormone." It's a neurotransmitter (or brain chemical, if you will) that neurotypicals get when they complete a task. Those with ADHD don't get serotonin from completing tasks. They still have to do the same things as the neurotypicals do, but they get no reward from completing it.
Because of this, those with ADHD may resort to other matters to get themselves to do things. One common thing that they'll use is adrenaline. To accomplish this, they have to either yell at themselves until you do it or even straight up scare themselves into doing the task. They do get the task done, but over a long span of time, this can lead to other issues such as OCD-like behaviors, anger issues, self-hate, and panic/anxiety struggles. Unfortunately, as an ADHD-er, you usually learn that acceptance and praise comes only when you do "the thing," and you must do "the thing" or else, even if it causes a lot of pain.
A lot of people don't know all this stuff about ADHD and only hear the common misconceptions, and because of all the false information that goes around about ADHD, people can often be hesitant to approach getting a diagnosis. Some even skip being diagnosed altogether because they don't want the label. Every one of these people, if they were to be diagnosed, can then pursue treatment for their ADHD if they so desired, but the stigma and stereotypes drive them off and they are left continuing to have the same issues but with no real answer as to why.
One of the misconceptions that I hate the most is the idea that smart people can't have ADHD. That's entirely incorrect. ADHD does not—in any way, shape, or form—make a person dumb. A lot of the time, those with ADHD are really knowledgeable because they hyperfocus on things that they're interested in and just learn all this crazy information. Maybe it's not the most useful information ever, but they still have it. Some ADHD-ers have really good grades because they're trying to compensate for their social ineptitude (which I also don't believe is entirely true, but that's to be argued a different time) with intelligence. Eventually, they can't keep up the grade average with the intensity of the schoolwork—or essentially can't overcompensate as much as they used to—and the grades drop. "All of a sudden they're not really smart." (Again, this is incorrect. This is also known as "gifted kid burnout," which I may go over another time.)
There is also—however—the absolute opposite of being super "gifted" in school, where they can't sit down and do the work, they can't pay attention in class, they never turn in homework, etc. A lot of the time that's what happens to ADHD-ers after they "burnout," but it doesn't make them dumb in the slightest!
(Also, please note that this isn't just a thing in school. It happens in work, whether you're too young to be in school or too old to work... the whole range of ages and everything else. You overcompensate, things get harder, you can't overcompensate anymore, you crash hard, and suddenly you feel like you're a failure.)
Another misconception (or rather, a group of them) that people have are the ideas that ADHD is a personality type or a behavioral problem. That's entirely incorrect. A person with ADHD isn't someone who's driven by fun and chaos; they're driven by the "little gremlin" in their mind who needs dopamine to survive (a little dramatic, but you get the point). Other misconceptions along these lines are that ADHD-ers can't behave and that ADHD is a learning disability. In response to the latter, despite dyslexia being seen as something that goes hand-in-hand with ADHD, dyslexia is the learning disability, not ADHD.
The real problem with a person having ADHD isn't that they can't behave—that they are incapable of ever being anything except fidgety and excitable—the real issues are the "tagalongs" that come with ADHD and make life difficult. Some of those are:
- executive dysfunction
- rejection dysphoria
- hyperfixations
- a multitude of issues that come along when you don't treat the ADHD (that list is rather terrifying and long and therefore isn't included here)
But there you have it, the short(ish) summary of the common truths and lies about ADHD. Hopefully that cleared some things up! :)