I have heard that ADHD is only a problem on modern society and in the past we were the hunters as opposed to the farmers. We needed the ability to hyper focus on the landscape and watch for threats but suck at farming as it requires long term effort.

That said, what is the alternative to being medicated if we have to live in this society?

For the first 39 years of my life I was a failure and only when medicated has my life improved infinitely.

I don’t hate my task paralysis because of society. I hate it because it stops me from doing the things I love. It’s also the only thing stopping me from taking the steps to be medicated. You might personally dislike the phrasing of “normal”, but try to consider how invalidating it can come across to say that I should learn to appreciate this part of myself instead of doing things to change it.

White, Western (capitalist) heteronormative

I feel like you have a bone to pick here. There are people with ADHD who are all of those things who still need medication to function.

I’m sorry if it seems like I’m trying to derail your post, it is not my intention

And yet here you are.

I agree. Society was not built upon accomodating the neurodivergent, and we’ve had to struggle a lot as a result. I’ve also thought about it a lot as well, so there’s nothing wrong with that.

I spent a lot of time growing up wondering why I wasn’t “normal”, like everyone else. I grew up unable to socialise well with my peers and unable to keep up academically with the demands of my academic environment. I was always struggling to stay awake in class, or focus on a subject I desperately needed to learn. I had to drop out of the sciences because I was struggling horribly and my teacher treated me quite badly for my lack of ability to keep up.

I wonder now if I could’ve done better if my parents were aware of ADHD and had gotten me the help I very desperately needed, because my mother is still in denial to this day that I’m anything but normal, only lazy, selfish and inconsiderate. I was called a lot of horrible things because of things I couldn’t control. I developed depression, but frequent therapy and counseling as of late has reduced how intense the mood swings are.

So, given a choice, I likely would’ve wished to be more normal in my own eyes.

When I went into university and met incredibly accepting and loving people, I really thrived. It’s just sad that many like us have to struggle undiagnosed for such a long time, only to realise that with medication, managing our shortcomings would have been made so much more achievable.

I still spend a lot of my time unmedicated because I’ve come to accept and love myself, including the ADHD diagnosis that I got on my own last year. The diagnosis helped me find mechanisms that actually work for me, and I’m better off for that.

I am no less of a person in my own eyes, but the judgement of a society is a lot of weight to bear.