i've almost definitely got adhd. there are very few people in this world who would argue with this. two of them are my parents. some silly fun facts:
- my older brother had at least one (possibly more) teacher growing up recommend that his parents get him tested and medicated. however, his dad told my mom that the meds would drug him into such a stupor that he wouldn't be able to do anything, and he'd be unable to learn. this is the same man who my mom divorced for being a lying sack of shit and also an abusive fuckhead, so why she was still believing that several decades later is beyond me
- all 6 of their kids have acted the same way. clearly i can't have adhd, since it would mean that all of us have adhd. its almost like its genetic or something
- my parents and their siblings all acted the same way me and my siblings do when they were younger. if i have adhd then my parents and all their siblings have it too. its almost like its genetic or something
- my dad's usual work-from-home set-up back when i still lived with them:
- work laptop with work things
- personal laptop with a news article
- tv on, playing either fox news (hissssss) or whichever tv show he's currently bingewatching
- sudoku puzzle open on his phone
- conversation with whoever's in the room
- eating a snack
- petting a dog
- preventing the dog from eating his snack
- all of these elements are crucial. if anything is missing he replaces it with more of another (ie if he doesn't have a snack, then he might have a conversation with my younger brother about sports and a conversation with me about what marvel movies are coming out next. yes at the same time. no he did not mix up the conversations, they were in a stack so it was fine)
- my mom needs the tv on for background noise at all times. is she in the kitchen and barely able to hear the tv over the sound of doing dishes? doesn't matter, tv Must be on, and it Must be on to whichever tv show she's currently rewatching
- my mom has never been able to sit still while watching tv. over the years she's crocheted:
- a large blanket for each of her kids, herself, one of my aunts, and one of my cousins. we're talking blankets the size of a twin mattress here
- half a dozen doilies for her mom
- multiple baby blankets for my cousin
- several shawls for my aunts, me, my younger sister, both my grandmas, and herself
- all through the power of nightly episodes of whichever medical and/or crime dramas her and my dad are watching and and needing things to do with her hands
- my older brother has sat still for maybe 5 minutes in all the years that i've known him. usually he paces. when he does sit its to eat or drive a car or to reach a cat for ear scritches. but sitting still, not moving his hands or anything? maybe 5 minutes. total. in over 2 decades.
- my older sibling brought stim toys when they came to our younger brother's graduation, and apparently when they were a teen they picked up and dropped hobbies like changing clothes
- every single one of us self medicates in some way whether we realize it or not. my parents, both my brothers, and my sister have all chewed, smoked, or vaped tobacco. my older sibling, younger brother, and younger sister have all smoked or vaped weed/thc. my parents and i drink So Much Coffee (i'm unsure of my older siblings' caffeine intake, and the only reason my younger sibling stopped is cuz of other meds they're on). my mom is a decades long alcoholic, and at different points all 3 of my younger siblings were on the way to joining her.
- when my dad gets into a show, he Gets Into It. he will watch every episode of the show until its finished or it stops producing happy chemicals.
- he made it through all of game of thrones in 2 weeks. partly due to having the tv on being required for him to work, and then watching it in his free time too
- my younger sibling made it through all of supernatural in about a month during quarantine. partly because they had a deadline of wanting to watch the final episodes as they came out, partly because hyperfocus
- every family gathering has at least 3 conversations happening at a time, with everyone jumping between different conversations as they please. its perfectly normal to hear someone mention a thing across the room and shout a joke to them before going right back to talking to the person next to them
- when my gf (Extremely adhd) has attended my family gatherings she fit right the fuck in.
- i asked my gf for her thoughts on the matter and she said its very funny how there's a visible divide between those of us who Know about the adhd and those of us who Don't. everyone present made jokes about how we're All Like This, but when we briefly split off into just me and my siblings (and our partners) we all immediately acknowledge the adhd in the building while our parents and piblings talk about whatever tv shows they're binging in the other room
- this list has jumped around a whole bunch but i've lost the spoons/focus to spend on editing it into a more coherent form so i won't. good luck reading it <3