Welcome everybody to the next entry of The Rainbow We Fly Over! Again, thank you all who have continuously read. I truly value everyone who takes the time to read my entries! Every reader is greatly appreciated, and there is more to come! We are back with another entry focused on mental health that is very personal to me. This entry highlights October as National ADHD Awareness Month!
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that significantly affects attention, organization, and communication. In 2016, 6.1 million children aged 2–17 years were diagnosed with ADHD in the United States. ADHD can be divided into three different types: attention deficit, hyperactivity, and combined. With attention deficit symptoms, people can experience difficulty paying attention, listening, and organizing. With hyperactivity symptoms, people can experience fidgeting, overactivity, and a lack of patience. However, people with combined type ADHD can also experience both attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms. While the focus of ADHD is mainly on levels of attention, I would love to bring awareness to how deeply mental health can shape people’s lived experiences.
Multiple mental health organizations collaborated to recognize October as ADHD Awareness Month with an orange ribbon in 2004. This month-long event provides education and resources related to ADHD experiences. As a neurodevelopmental disorder, ADHD significantly affects the structure, development, and overall function of the brain. More specifically, ADHD affects the frontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making, logical thinking, and time management. In addition to ADHD symptoms, 64% of children with ADHD were diagnosed with other intellectual, communication, depressive, and coordination disorders. Having that in mind, people with ADHD simply have a different way of navigating their daily lives compared to others without ADHD. ADHD is such a unique experience that even people who have the same diagnosis operate on totally different vibrations. Despite the numerous people who are clinically diagnosed with ADHD, many still live their entire lives without an official diagnosis. In fact, women and girls are significantly less diagnosed with ADHD because of the assumption that “girls don’t get ADHD”.
As a nondiscriminatory condition (aka anybody can get it like these hands), ADHD can affect people of every race, gender, social class, and background. With education and information growth regarding ADHD, we are uncovering the mask of neurodiversity* and exploring the world from a different perspective. During the first few semesters of my grad school experience, I noticed a major shift in how I managed my life. I could barely keep up with the class material. I couldn’t keep up with my sense of time. I was struggling to keep my emotions together when I noticed that I was falling behind. I was always either stressed out and overworked or really depressed and moved like a zombie. It got to a point where I would stress myself tf out and avoid the tasks overall until it was urgent and in my face. It wasn’t until I wrote a paper on ADHD that I felt like I was writing about myself the entire time.
In the summer of 2022, I received my ADHD diagnosis, and it made sense. I spent my entire 23 years living without knowing I had ADHD. Each day I learn how my diagnosis shapes how I navigate the world. In my learning, I have found how ADHD affects how I communicate, maintain relationships, engage in self-care, and manage my overall life as an adult. I used to beat myself up about not being able to do certain things, and I would be even more frustrated because I wasn’t sure why. Even now with my diagnosis, I am still learning what it means for me to experience ADHD because it looks different for everyone.
Neurodivergent research is growing by the day. We are finally shifting our focus regarding mental health from pathologizing* to understanding. With understanding, we can use our knowledge to build empathy and safe spaces to authentically express how we take up space in the world. If y'all would like more information on ADHD and Black youth, feel free to also check out my Parent-Children Interaction Therapy on Under-Diagnosed Black Adolescents w/ ADHD graduate research presentation!
~Cheyenne
*Neurodiversity: refers to the diverse spectrum of the human brain and function. Everyone in the world thinks, feels, and processes differently. This term acknowledges there’s no “right” way of thinking and unique differences are not viewed as problems.
Reference
Resources
Mini ADHD Coach: https://www.theminiadhdcoach.com/
ADDiute Magazine: https://www.additudemag.com/
CHADD ADHD Info for Diverse Populations: https://chadd.org/diversity/