I’ve a debilitating situation — it’s not a ‘superpower’

TikTook informed me that my ADHD was a superpower. And I believed it – however just for about 5 minutes.

Scrolling on the app after I used to be first identified, I used to be determined to seek out ‘my people’ – those who would make me really feel seen. Less like a jigsaw puzzle that merely didn’t match, and extra like an individual who merely thought in a different way.

My feed was all of a sudden inundated with individuals who had been similar to me: chaotic, artistic, chatty, and crucially, late for every part.

But then, on numerous podcasts and social media posts, I noticed different neurodivergent folks encouraging their fellow ADHDers to view their situation not as one thing to carry them again, however as a ‘superpower.’

For a fleeting second, I wished to consider it. Understanding my true self and unlocking the solutions to questions I’d chased after for therefore lengthy was liberating, however afterwards got here a heavy realisation: I’d spent greater than 20 years not understanding my very own mind. I mourned that lack of time.

The drawback is that that model of ADHD doesn’t exist for me. I wished to consider that I might sugarcoat this analysis – and that reframing it’d by some means make it simpler. I might let the next grief destroy me, or I might take one other spin on it.

Pretty shortly, although, I realised that it merely wasn’t going to work for me.

Looking at ADHD like some type of Marvel origin story is poisonous positivity at its best, attempting to drive us to perennially see the ‘good’ within the situation whereas ignoring the difficulties that include it.

It performs into the concept, for folks residing with ADHD to be palatable, we solely have to play into our strengths – and ignore how debilitating residing in a world designed by and for neurotypical folks is. 

That’s why I consider that now’s the time for us to cease perpetuating this rhetoric – as a result of not solely does it misrepresent ADHD as one thing that may and may predominantly be used to our benefit, nevertheless it additionally means that we will virtually ‘girl boss’ our means out of the ableism that also oppresses neurodivergent folks each single day. 

Trying to lean on my ‘strengths’ on a regular basis is exhausting – and this mentality doesn’t remedy the truth that this world wasn’t constructed for a mind like mine.

For so long as I can bear in mind, I’ve perpetually run late (which was so widespread that my buddies had developed a time period for it: ‘Ellie time’); I’m so clumsy that I journey over my very own toes; I go away just about each process till the final doable minute, and I’ve all the time struggled with my psychological well being.

I vividly recall telling my mum at 15 that if a physician had been to take a look at my mind, the scan would mild up in vibrant, vibrant hues. I used to be satisfied that I used to be hard-wired to course of data in a different way and all the time felt that I skilled feelings on a deeper spectrum than the common individual. 

Doctors thought I had anxiousness and despair, and I used to be prescribed SSRIs, beta blockers, and really useful meditation and speaking remedy. Nothing labored, as a result of none of it addressed what was really happening.

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Finally, in November 2021, aged 23 – after an evaluation with a psychiatrist – I received a analysis of mixed ADHD. There are three forms of ADHD: inattentive, hyperactive, and mixed, which implies that I show parts of each hyperactivity and inattentiveness.

I’ve hassle focusing, however my thoughts can be extremely frenzied. I might be fairly disorganised at the very best of occasions, however there’s equally a whole lot of power passing by means of me: my leg is all the time jittering up and down, and I’m usually fidgeting.

Hearing these phrases come out of his mouth was an entire aid, as if years of wrestle had been validated in a single fell swoop. It taught me that I wasn’t damaged – my mind was just a bit bit completely different. For the primary time, every part made sense.

Don’t get me fallacious: I utterly see why somebody – neurodivergent or in any other case – would attempt to deal with the numerous positives that residing with ADHD can deliver. 

It’s not a one-size-fits-all expertise, however I personally know that I’m consistently overflowing with concepts, I can bounce into motion in a disaster, I’m extremely artistic, and I’m extremely passionate. So a lot in order that I can find yourself hyperfixated on my particular pursuits for hours. 

But once I’m crying on my bed room ground as a result of my room’s a large number and I bodily can’t tidy it up; I’ve forgotten to pay a invoice, or my thoughts has been racing a lot that sleep has been changed by insomnia, these positives don’t all the time come to me. And in these low moments, I definitely don’t really feel as if I’ve a superpower. 

All I can really feel is frustration. It’s darkish, and it may be lonely. These aren’t moments that pattern on TikTook.

Calling ADHD a superpower would possibly sound optimistic, nevertheless it glosses over the truth that residing with it may be genuinely debilitating. It suggests we will flip our struggles into belongings if we simply strive laborious sufficient.

When we take into consideration superheroes and particular ‘powers,’ we would conjure up photographs of benevolent saviours in capes. In a technique or one other, they’re often there to save lots of the world.

I don’t see how I’m supposed to suit that trope. The actuality is that ADHD nonetheless holds a lot stigma and misunderstanding – and likening it to a ‘superpower’ utterly downplays the truth that the estimated 3 million Brits residing with it face each single day. 

In 2024, one examine from pharmaceutical firm Takeda discovered that 96% of individuals with ADHD stated they had been hesitant to inform their office about their analysis. 

Almost three-quarters attributed this in direction of concern of judgment, whereas round half apprehensive that it may very well be used towards them. 

Against that backdrop, we’re perpetually inundated with deceptive headlines about our neighborhood: that ADHD is being ‘overdiagnosed’ now. In 2023, the BBC went so far as to ship a reporter out to personal ADHD clinics to see if he might acquire a analysis, regardless of not having the situation. 

In the aftermath, charity ADHD UK polled 2,203 folks residing with the situation and located that 90% believed that ADHD stigma elevated within the aftermath of its airing, whereas 88% had been involved that it wasn’t honest in its illustration. 

The neatest thing that we as a neighborhood can do for ourselves is to depart behind this ‘superhero’ narrative. I wouldn’t change my analysis for the world; understanding who I’m and the way my mind works has eternally modified my life. But ADHD doesn’t want a motivational spin or a cape; it simply wants understanding.

To recommend that it’s not a very disabling situation that so many proceed to misjudge is, for me, an entire falsehood. Society owes us greater than that.

Originally revealed October 6, 2025

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