Is ADHD An Advantage?

Could ADHD be an evolutionary advantage?

Written by Amanda Edward, Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown

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Created by Mitchell Moffit (twitter @mitchellmoffit) and Gregory Brown (twitter @whalewatchmeplz).

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[sieltan]

Gonna be fired from a fifth job and dropped out of school three times but good to know I'd do well in a hunter gatherer society thx

[endlesswonders]

Anyone with ADHD knows that during a video they scroll to the comments

[lukep.]

ADHD/ADD people suffer with constant job loss, high emotions, stress, depression, anxiety, less dopamine, odd behavior, breakdowns, forgetfulness, hopelessness, self loathing, panic, terrible organisational skills, fear of failure, awful short term memory.

[theawsomeauger]

Having ADHD makes you realize when you're old enough that you will never be like everyone else and can't interact normally like everyone else and no matter how hard you try theres nothing you can do about it and sometimes you just feel so alone.😞
Edit: wow I never had this many likes before! Also I would like to update that I'm doing much better, I'm making more friends and being more confident in myself!

[HoneyMcDonald]

adhd is like watching a carousel that is running too fast to see the horses. it sometimes feels like as soon as I think of something and try to analyze it, I've already thought of something else.

[TheAmazingElk]

My dad explained ADHD to me a different way. Your brain is like a TV that someone keeps changing the channel. At random times, and a random number of times.

[musicbyshara]

Having ADHD is the farthest away from being an advantage. Yes, it might make u more creative and maybe you can hyperfocus on important things. But what you'll be able to comprehend is how frustrating it is to be constantly be distracted even when ur engaged in a conversation and you CARE about what the other person is saying. Still you don't pay attention and say "what?" Like 10 times during the conversation. It's frustrating when you constantly misplace things and forget to do everything and even forget your thoughts 0.5 sec after having them and move on to the next thought. You can't remember names of people you just met no matter how many times they tell you. You can't study you can't be productive you won't get good grades and keep panicking when deadlines approach. This is just my experience thats why I'm being so blunt.

It's a struggle. It's not an advantage. Oh i so wish it was.

[pookimon]

Having ADHD is like having 50 tabs open across 3 different browsers, you have random music playing and don’t know where it’s coming from, and you have an assignment due at 11:59 PM

[omgryannn]

ADHD isn’t an advantage. Forgetting your homework, getting lower grades, getting screamed at when I can’t control emotions, social skills are down the drain, panic, wheres the advantage?

[Bob-wrmd]

So ADHD is like starting to scroll through the comments, constantly focusing on paying attention while also reading comments, and then a comment says something interesting, and you realize the video is over and I literally have no idea what the video is about.
But I remembered that ADHD people have a higher chance of bringing food home..I think?

[Icecreamandradness]

"You're just making an excuse, laziness is a choice."

Do you really think that if someone could choose between success or repeated failure, they'd choose failure every time? Do you think people choose higher rates of depression, abusive/broken relationships, self harm, suicide, disordered eating, and addiction just because they can't be bothered to 'put in some effort'? Do you think we're choosing a 1/2 chance of being excluded and lonely during most of our childhoods? Do you think we're choosing a more difficult and stigmatised life just because it's convenient?

Please, learn some perspective.

[BrownGeorge-pwxo]

I'm a veteran, was actually addicted to alcohol and cigarettes. I suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Got diagnosed with ADHD. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.

[carnivalissmellsnotgood]

They arent "random" thoughts.These thoughts just come up so fast from other related things that its seems random.

[starinight]

I feel like this video isn't stressing the difficulties that people with ADHD go through.

[ljzilchz]

We all should appreciate this man for making a video for ADHD people despite knowing that many of us wouldn't be watching the video.

[AeroRain]

It’s very exhausting. I can process things quickly but I start jumping from one thing to another. One minute I’d be searching about how to replace a computer’s power supply, and then suddenly I’d have like 10 tabs about who invented the battery and how they function, etc. School is the complete opposite of how I learn things, which explains why I struggled so much. Also it’s as if I’m two different people. I’m honestly a rather shy and calm person but then another side of me wants to be outgoing and relentless. I have a deep desire to control myself but I never can. The fact others can do it so effortlessly makes me very depressed. This eventually lead to anxiety issues. It’s ruined so many aspects of my life I can’t even put it into words anymore 😞

[tomoko]

i _guess_ my adhd would’ve helped me with hunting but idk about helping me graduate

[plursocks]

I`m an English teacher with Adult ADHD. I teach small children, but I always tell people that I can handle chaos well because my mind is in a constant state of chaos. I`m great under pressure so teaching kids is no problem.

[elianamarshall]

i literally started day dreaming about something else within the first minute of the video 💀💀

[yourlocaltoad]

I‘d really like to hear how being unable to eat for hours because I experience Executive Dysfunction and just can’t get up and make something to eat is a advantage.
And how is being a bit more creative an advantage in a academic system that’s built around being able to quickly learn complicated things?