To live with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is to wage a constant battle on two fronts. First, one must live with the symptoms that accompany the neurological disorder. This entails a struggle to prevent one’s life from being derailed at any moment by a dysfunctional brain that is constantly foraging for dopamine.
But there is another battle that takes place too: an outward battle against a wall of polite scepticism. Indeed, one of the first things I discovered upon being officially diagnosed with ADHD in 2020, aged 37, was that many people simply refuse to accept that the thing is real. “Isn’t everyone a bit ADHD?” they would ask me in sceptical tones. Sometimes this would be followed by a phrase carrying a more hostile note, along the lines of “everyone” having a disability these days.
Subscribe to the New Statesman this summer - 2 months for only £2