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As a person who has ADHD, it feels weird when people who obviously do not have it, claim to have it, while there's very little I wouldn't do to "get rid of it"

As a person who has ADHD, it feels weird when people who obviously do not have it, claim to have it, while there's very little I wouldn't do to "get rid of it" (in quotes because it makes me, me but it's very hard to be me).

spicyusername 18d ago
I mean... like most spectrum disorders, most people experience and can relate to at least some of the core symptoms, even if they don't express the full spectrum or severity. So when someone says they feel like they have ADHD, they are probably not inaccurate.
- egeozcan 18d ago
  No, great, I'm not offended or anything (why would I be), and I wish I could relate back, it's just a weird feeling, that's all.
  - spicyusername 18d ago
    No doubt. When you have it, ADHD is such a dominant factor in the way your life is organized and experienced, its not surprising that it can become a core part of your identity. I do think it's easy for those with it to over romanticize what it's like to not have it. The lack of ADHD isn't a magic bullet for success and good life outcomes. Like so many of life's real or perceived barriers, when one gets removed, you'll often find there is another one with a different shape just behind. The challenge, for anyone, is pressing forward anyways.
- oceansweep 18d ago
  How can someone say they have a disease or affliction while not understanding what exactly that affliction is as opposed to what they think it is/have been informed by media/society/non-professionals?
  - spicyusername 18d ago
    How can anyone say anything at all...? That generalizes all the way. Everyone's just working off what they've experienced or what they think is true, for mental health or where to find good lunch. There is no universal truth. Everything is moving relative to everything else. New year, new DSM. It would be more surprising if our shared experience was more different than more the same.
- Ydarbleoj 18d ago
  I think this is a good point. My only push back would be that when people say they have ADHD, in my experience, they're speaking about inattention (and yes, it's one of the big factors). And while I don't love that aspect in me and often eat cold toast as result, I find that to be the least of what I struggle with (hitting every wall while walking from point A to B or constantly counting / tapping on my fingers or pulling the skin off my fingers or the anxiety or the hyper focus (love it too!) to where I lose hours upon hours...). All this to say, I'm never offended when people use it but typically it's rooted in a narrow understanding of something that's used as a pejorative. I think there's research that by age 12 kids with ADHD have heard 20,000 more negative or corrective comments than there peers. I mean, I can read quite a bit but if my agent / harness is producing monographs the fix has nothing to do with my ADHD. So to me, this repo seems lame.
- wiseowise 17d ago
  You know what other thing that those with this fake ADHD can also relate to? Wasting hours a day scrolling on garbage resources.
r_lee 18d ago
I guess it's just become a term for ADHD-like or popularly believed to be ADHD behavior.
bwhiting2356 18d ago
science is still early here
phishin 18d ago
I have it and it is absolute gift that I wouldn’t trade for anything. It has taken years to figure how to harness it though.
- dymk 18d ago
  Look, I’ve got it too. I’m glad we’ve figured out how to “game” the adhd. But it’s not a gift.
- engineer_22 18d ago
  fighting that fight right now... was doing great until I got to a level with self directed work
- dentemple 18d ago
  It's a gift until it's a curse, and ADHD crashout/burnout is an absolute monster to overcome when it arrives. And for any person who's tasked with any sort of responsibility, it WILL arrive at some point. It's not a question of if, only a question of how well you can prepare for its arrival.
  - bflesch 18d ago
    At its core it has striking similarities with a freeze response, which is overcome by increasing heart rate (e.g. stimulants, exercise, temperature shock). Big overlap with CPTSD symptoms as well.
- chasd00 18d ago
  i have it too and it sucks, I have to take medicine every day for it. Why would an attention deficit and hyperactivity be a gift? Maybe you're talking about something else.
- phainopepla2 18d ago
  Can you explain what about is it a gift? What are the benefits you get from it?
  - 18d ago
thenewnewguy 18d ago
I fully agree with you, and I think this trend of glorifying disabilities is cringe - ADHD, autism, etc. are life-altering medical conditions and not desirable. However, I don't think this specific project is intending to glorify ADHD or help people claim they have it - it's just piggybacking on the idea that telling current-gen LLM models that you have ADHD (allegedly) produces better results for everyone.
bityard 18d ago
It turns out that most of the things that ADHD people use as coping strategies just to be functional, are actually things that most (non-ADHD) people can use to be more effective and productive in their lives and work. So, no, not everyone can or should be diagnosed as ADHD. But the tools are (mostly) universally applicable. I don't see the downside in popularizing those. (Since you posted a top-level comment instead of a reply to someone claiming to have ADHD, I have to assume that's your complaint, at any rate.)
on_the_train 18d ago
Ah yes the old "I have it but you don't"
- flexagoon 17d ago
  Yeah, that's called diagnosis
- wiseowise 17d ago
  So do you have an official diagnosis?
  - on_the_train 16d ago
    Yes.
    - wiseowise 15d ago
      So what is your complaint then?
VCFundedGenYer 18d ago
Same. It started on Tumblr around 15 years ago when people were "self-diagnosing" themselves then it spiraled out of control. It really bothers me because I see a lot of of obviously-not-neurodivergent folks try to use it as an excuse (I am diagnosed formally + can easily detect if someone is just spouting nonsense about it)
Sohcahtoa82 17d ago
> while there's very little I wouldn't do to "get rid of it" I'd be satisfied with removing the crippling executive dysfunction.
wiseowise 17d ago
Finally. It is scary that this is not the top comment in the thread. The “I can’t bother to read a paragraph therefore ADHD lolzzz” crowd is really fucking annoying.

spicyusername 18d ago

I mean... like most spectrum disorders, most people experience and can relate to at least some of the core symptoms, even if they don't express the full spectrum or severity. So when someone says they feel like they have ADHD, they are probably not inaccurate.

egeozcan 18d ago
No, great, I'm not offended or anything (why would I be), and I wish I could relate back, it's just a weird feeling, that's all.
- spicyusername 18d ago
  No doubt. When you have it, ADHD is such a dominant factor in the way your life is organized and experienced, its not surprising that it can become a core part of your identity. I do think it's easy for those with it to over romanticize what it's like to not have it. The lack of ADHD isn't a magic bullet for success and good life outcomes. Like so many of life's real or perceived barriers, when one gets removed, you'll often find there is another one with a different shape just behind. The challenge, for anyone, is pressing forward anyways.
oceansweep 18d ago
How can someone say they have a disease or affliction while not understanding what exactly that affliction is as opposed to what they think it is/have been informed by media/society/non-professionals?
- spicyusername 18d ago
  How can anyone say anything at all...? That generalizes all the way. Everyone's just working off what they've experienced or what they think is true, for mental health or where to find good lunch. There is no universal truth. Everything is moving relative to everything else. New year, new DSM. It would be more surprising if our shared experience was more different than more the same.
Ydarbleoj 18d ago
I think this is a good point. My only push back would be that when people say they have ADHD, in my experience, they're speaking about inattention (and yes, it's one of the big factors). And while I don't love that aspect in me and often eat cold toast as result, I find that to be the least of what I struggle with (hitting every wall while walking from point A to B or constantly counting / tapping on my fingers or pulling the skin off my fingers or the anxiety or the hyper focus (love it too!) to where I lose hours upon hours...). All this to say, I'm never offended when people use it but typically it's rooted in a narrow understanding of something that's used as a pejorative. I think there's research that by age 12 kids with ADHD have heard 20,000 more negative or corrective comments than there peers. I mean, I can read quite a bit but if my agent / harness is producing monographs the fix has nothing to do with my ADHD. So to me, this repo seems lame.
wiseowise 17d ago
You know what other thing that those with this fake ADHD can also relate to? Wasting hours a day scrolling on garbage resources.

r_lee 18d ago

I guess it's just become a term for ADHD-like or popularly believed to be ADHD behavior.

bwhiting2356 18d ago

science is still early here

phishin 18d ago

I have it and it is absolute gift that I wouldn’t trade for anything. It has taken years to figure how to harness it though.

dymk 18d ago
Look, I’ve got it too. I’m glad we’ve figured out how to “game” the adhd. But it’s not a gift.
engineer_22 18d ago
fighting that fight right now... was doing great until I got to a level with self directed work
dentemple 18d ago
It's a gift until it's a curse, and ADHD crashout/burnout is an absolute monster to overcome when it arrives. And for any person who's tasked with any sort of responsibility, it WILL arrive at some point. It's not a question of if, only a question of how well you can prepare for its arrival.
- bflesch 18d ago
  At its core it has striking similarities with a freeze response, which is overcome by increasing heart rate (e.g. stimulants, exercise, temperature shock). Big overlap with CPTSD symptoms as well.
chasd00 18d ago
i have it too and it sucks, I have to take medicine every day for it. Why would an attention deficit and hyperactivity be a gift? Maybe you're talking about something else.
phainopepla2 18d ago
Can you explain what about is it a gift? What are the benefits you get from it?
- 18d ago

thenewnewguy 18d ago

I fully agree with you, and I think this trend of glorifying disabilities is cringe - ADHD, autism, etc. are life-altering medical conditions and not desirable. However, I don't think this specific project is intending to glorify ADHD or help people claim they have it - it's just piggybacking on the idea that telling current-gen LLM models that you have ADHD (allegedly) produces better results for everyone.

bityard 18d ago

It turns out that most of the things that ADHD people use as coping strategies just to be functional, are actually things that most (non-ADHD) people can use to be more effective and productive in their lives and work. So, no, not everyone can or should be diagnosed as ADHD. But the tools are (mostly) universally applicable. I don't see the downside in popularizing those. (Since you posted a top-level comment instead of a reply to someone claiming to have ADHD, I have to assume that's your complaint, at any rate.)

on_the_train 18d ago

Ah yes the old "I have it but you don't"

flexagoon 17d ago
Yeah, that's called diagnosis
wiseowise 17d ago
So do you have an official diagnosis?
- on_the_train 16d ago
  Yes.
  - wiseowise 15d ago
    So what is your complaint then?

VCFundedGenYer 18d ago

Same. It started on Tumblr around 15 years ago when people were "self-diagnosing" themselves then it spiraled out of control. It really bothers me because I see a lot of of obviously-not-neurodivergent folks try to use it as an excuse (I am diagnosed formally + can easily detect if someone is just spouting nonsense about it)

Sohcahtoa82 17d ago

> while there's very little I wouldn't do to "get rid of it" I'd be satisfied with removing the crippling executive dysfunction.

wiseowise 17d ago

Finally. It is scary that this is not the top comment in the thread. The “I can’t bother to read a paragraph therefore ADHD lolzzz” crowd is really fucking annoying.