Thread on recognizing #ADHD symptoms:
One of the most common criticisms I've received is, "The way you describe it, ADHD can be anything, & anyone can have it!"
The problem is that ADHD can look so different in different ppl.
Here's some SPECTRUM traits #TheVulcan & wrote down:

( #TheVulcan insisted I put Empathy & LTR stability in there, even though it's not on any official list. I love him. )
The person w/ the above symptoms has ADHD.
BUT.
These people do as well:

See the difference? Imagine if all 4 of these people approached you. Would you even guess that all 4 of them were impaired *differently* by the same condition?
Let's do an example.
Meet Jacques. He has his unique symptoms, 3 kids, & a supportive NT spouse:

Jacques is a rising star chef, very creative, & beloved by his employees. His kids & spouse don't see him regularly, but that's part of the restaurant business, & his spouse knew that going in.
There's just a few problems:
(Same pic---see if you can guess them.)

Jacques has a horrible habit of texting & driving. He never got around to getting disability insurance, & as a self-employed small business owner, took the lowest-quality plan for himself, while getting a super-duper good one for his employees. His spouse covers the rest of the

...family on a separate plan. One day, Jacques gets into a car wreck, breaking both his legs and fracturing his pelvis & two of the discs in his cervical spine. He has damage to his nerves that connect to his right arm, & has lost a lot of motion in his knife-work hand

His distract ability (driving) suddenly collided w/his bad long-term planning & money management, & even with his high empathy! He thought about the consequences for his employees, but not for himself. Soon his coverage runs out, & he has to declare bankruptcy for his biz.

Since his spouse has a great job, they decide Jacques will stay home w/the 3kids until they can figure out his next plan. Sadly, he finds out that when he's not in a structured environment, like his kitchen, his organizing is beyond bad, & he loses his patience w/Kids easily.

All of this could have been avoided if Jacques' mom hadn't read that stupid book abt how "French Kids Don't Have ADHD," & gotten him treated earlier. They were afraid he would lose his creativity. They bought the lie that ADHD was a gift. Jacques even married a super-organized

...spouse who had no problem taking over some of the more boring detail-oriented tasks. But, w/Jacques out of his routine, & in an environment w/ lots of boring tasks & no creative stimulus, his problems surface quickly, especially his temper:

#ADHD might seem like a gift, if and only if you have the privilege of everything going well, or plenty of money to clean up your disasters.
Now let's look at Henry:

Henry is from multi-generational wealth, & his dad insists it's because he's willing to take risks and be brutal w/his employees. Henry thinks his dad is an asshole. However, he has a really good relationship w/his doting mom, who knows Henry is special.

Henry graduates from Harvard, & seems to have an uncanny ability to communicate w/tech people. He becomes a superstar at a social media company, bc he can bridge that difficult gap between techies & non-techies.
He has a hired driver (after wrecking 4 cars before he turned 20) &

...great health coverage, as well as a trust fund from his dad for when he turns 25. He's not ostentatious, has a lot of friends, but can't seem to find the woman who is right for him.
Henry is gonna be fine if he's injured, unlike Jacques.
However, Henry is the victim of a

...scam artist, who only takes 2 months to make Henry believe that she loves him. She steals millions from his accounts, and vanishes into the wind.
Henry locks his heart & his money away in his super-organized apartment, & decides women are the problem. He joins a MGTOW

...online group, which he's happy to fund, & allows his legitimate wounds to fester & generalize into a hatred of women.

Henry's mother could afford all the ADHD coaches, therapists drivers, secretaries, etc., but she had no idea he & his dad BOTH could have benefited from a prescription that would have cost $35/mo w/their health plan.

Now, let's look at Nurse Nancy:

Nancy is late to everything, EXCEPT caring for her patients. She had leukemia as a child, and it was the nurses who made it bearable until a cure could be found. Nancy works in pediatric oncology. She is dedicated, intelligent, creative, and determined to make a difference.

Her spouse doesn't mind the lateness--"That's just Nancy!"---but when the hospital is bought by jerks, they change the policy to track attendance by the minute. They demand charting on more strict schedules, which Nancy is always turning in late. They slash support staff &

...increase shift length. Everyone on the floor is stressed, but only Nancy seems to be *falling apart*. After a series of write-ups for scheduling infractions, she's *fired* from her dream job. Her supervisors say hurtful things like, "It doesn't matter if you care, if you

"....cant show up on time." Nancy becomes depressed, & wonders if she was cut out to be a nurse at all. Since Nancy is in Oncology, she has NO WAY of knowing that anti-depressants increase ADHD symptoms if you're not ALSO taking a stimulant.
She drives Uber now.

#TheVulcan made a #SherlockBBC Lego minifig of himself when we went to Legoland a few years ago. (Get the Teddy Bear reference?)

This was #TheVulcan'a symptom cluster before meds. He was tagged as autistic, special, "a math guy" & an "absent-minded professor", but...

...was only recognized as #ADHD + #OCD + autism after 2013, & ONLY thanks to @GinaPera. (Who is also married to a PhD w/ #ADHD.)
After finding the right medication combination, his symptoms went to this:

Here's my before-treatment symptom scale:

And after being diagnosed w/ #ADHD, #PMDD, & starting #Vyvanse: (Notice my empathy scale actually went *down* a bit. I finally feel like I'm allowed to take care of myself. Like my empathy is becoming more appropriate.)

So, that was a long thread, sorry! But I've wanted to do a "sliding scale" presentation like that for a while. I made up the stories on the fly---that creative writing degree comes in handy---but despite dumbasses like this, the symptoms, consequences, & life outcomes are REAL.

For more resources, go to http://Adhdrollercoaster.org , & type literally any of your questions into the search bar on her blog.