ADHD is neither a flaw nor a superpower IMO, (in most, non severe cases)- most ‘ADHD’ is a normal neural varient. Some people are starved of dopamine due to desensitization/lack of rewarding tasks in life, and some people have a clinical lack of neurotransmitters that need to be supplemented.
I struggled for years through highschool and most of college with my ADHD, and it wasn’t until I (somewhat accidently) found myself working in emergency medicine that I could see it as positive at all.
In a hunter gather society, most of what we term ‘ADHD’ would be a huge benefit- the ability to rapidly learn, rapidly switch tasks, and do a little of everything. The issue is our current society doesn’t reward these traits- we are physically sedentary, and ask ever increasing concentration on ever more abstract tasks of our workers. It’s not that you are broken; it’s that society doesn’t play to your strengths- AT ALL.
In the ER, I’m very happy, because most of my work consists on hyperfocusing for super short stents, then moving on to the next thing. Additionally, I actually calm down somewhat and can self regulate much, much better than I can in ordinary life. As you may know, one of the hallmarks of ADHD is a lack of dopamine- part of what makes concentration so difficult for us and why we seek constant stimulation. In the high pressure, high stimulus enviroment of the ER, it’s almost feels like time slows down for me- I feel calm and super focused, which is very rare for me in daily life.
I’m not saying all this to convince you to work in emergency medicine, only to provide a contrast- I used to want to be an engineer, and frankly I would be (even nore) dependent on stimulants if I tried to do a job like that.
ADHD is neither a flaw nor a superpower IMO, (in most, non severe cases)- most ‘ADHD’ is a normal neural varient. Some people are starved of dopamine due to desensitization/lack of rewarding tasks in life, and some people have a clinical lack of neurotransmitters that need to be supplemented.
I struggled for years through highschool and most of college with my ADHD, and it wasn’t until I (somewhat accidently) found myself working in emergency medicine that I could see it as positive at all.
In a hunter gather society, most of what we term ‘ADHD’ would be a huge benefit- the ability to rapidly learn, rapidly switch tasks, and do a little of everything. The issue is our current society doesn’t reward these traits- we are physically sedentary, and ask ever increasing concentration on ever more abstract tasks of our workers. It’s not that you are broken; it’s that society doesn’t play to your strengths- AT ALL.
In the ER, I’m very happy, because most of my work consists on hyperfocusing for super short stents, then moving on to the next thing. Additionally, I actually calm down somewhat and can self regulate much, much better than I can in ordinary life. As you may know, one of the hallmarks of ADHD is a lack of dopamine- part of what makes concentration so difficult for us and why we seek constant stimulation. In the high pressure, high stimulus enviroment of the ER, it’s almost feels like time slows down for me- I feel calm and super focused, which is very rare for me in daily life.
I’m not saying all this to convince you to work in emergency medicine, only to provide a contrast- I used to want to be an engineer, and frankly I would be (even nore) dependent on stimulants if I tried to do a job like that.