[ad_1]
As is true for children and adolescents, many adults experience substantial challenges related to having ADHD. These challenges typically embody relationship problems, educational and work challenges, difficulty adhering to long-term plans and targets, and time and money management difficulties.
Given these well-documented difficulties, it’s not surprising that ADHD deal withment with adults has massively undertakeed a deficit model that emphasizes reducing the symptoms and impairments associated with the situation.
Whereas these are important deal withment targets, and the main focus of a lot deal withment analysis, little attention has been given to positive features of ADHD that some could experience. Attending to that is important, because it may scale back stigma, professionalvide concepts a couple of strength-based approached to deal withment, and perhaps contribute to reducing the demoralization that some adults with ADHD expertise.
A examine published currently in BMJ Open, titled Silver linings of ADHD: a thematic analysis of adults’ positive experiences with living with ADHD, professionalvides interesting new information on the positive features of ADHD that some adults report.
Participants had been 50 adults in Norway–practically 90% had been girls; media age = 34 years–with self-reported ADHD who had been participating in a examine of a brand new on-line, self-directed deal withment for ADHD in adults (examine summary right here).
During the examine, participants had been requested to explain what they experienced as “positive features of having ADHD” and 4 thematic categories emerged from their responses.
1) Recognizing the twin impression of some ADHD traits:
Many participants stated that core ADHD characteristics like hyperactivity and impulsivity could possibly be experienced as positive features. Under are some relevant quotes:
“I’m energetic. I’m typically in a position to do quite a bit in a brief period of time after which I get to expedience extra.”
“Whether it is somefactor I actually like, I’ve guesster endurance than others. I can work on somefactor I take pleasure in forever without stopping.”
“I’m spontaneous/impulsive. I can easily simply ‘leap into it’ and that has given me a whole lot of nice experiences.”
Hyperfocusing was additionally commonly malestioned as an ADHD advantage, albeit with some important caveats.
“I feel my ADHD has helped me by way ofout the examination period. If it had not been for a sort of hyperfocus, it will not have labored. However then once more, I may not have submitponed the learning for so long as I did if I didn’t have ADHD.”
“The one positive is hyperfocus on duties which are actually exciting, however for ADHD to be considered positive on this setting, the duty must be somefactor useful, similar to faculty or work.”
It’s wordworthy that solely a single participant noted any positive side of their inattentive signs.
2) Unconventional considering:
Unconventional supposeing and behavior had been additionally commonly noted as positive features of ADHD. These included being creative, having novel concepts, seeing issues from a different perspective than others, and being good at discovering solutions. Participants additionally emphasized, however, that the social contextual content and expectations of others could possibly be an obstacle for utilizing these strengths. Quotes related to this theme are proven beneath.
“I’m creative and solution-oriented and really passionate concerning the issues that I’m interested in.”
“I take pleasure in striveing new issues, and if I don’t get it proper the primary time, I’ll examinationine the possibility of striveing a simpler technique.”
“I’m pretty forward, and I’m not afraid to take up area after I want a little bit of attention. I do know a whole lot of people and that’s probably as a result of I’m not scared to say hello to new individuals.”
3) ADHD & the pursuit of latest experiences:
Participants felt that having ADHD contributed to their being adventurous and searching out novel experiences; this contributed to really feelings of being courageous. Listed below are some relevant quotes:
“I search new environments the place I can be taught new issues”
“I take pleasure in striveing new issues, and if I don’t get it proper the primary time, I’ll examinationine the possibility of striveing a simpler technique.”
“I’ve experienced issues that solely would have happened by taking a threat ”
4) Constructing resilience and private development:
Especially powerful was the sense that though having ADHD was challenging, efforts to deal with these challenges additionally contributed to their resilience and personal development. This theme is evidently expressed within the quotes beneath.
“Being diagnosed with ADHD made me be taught quite a bit about myself. Issues I perhaps have been aggravated about, I can now settle for and suppose that it’s not ‘my fault’ in a method.”
“I’m guesster at handling resistance or challenges now, as a result of I’ve realized to handle such challenges, it’s a part of life to have ups and downs.”
“I discovered that I’ve ADHD in grownuphood, so I lived most of my life within the perception that I’m like eachone else. I’ve had excessive expectations to myself, compared myself to others, and achieved quite a bit (…) So after I came upon about my challenges, all of it turned like a bit of cake. I may with good reasons lower the expectations to myself and remainingly relaxation with a transparent conscience.”
One participant who labored as a instructor felt that “I discover that I can meet children with ADHD with extra beneathstanding, in order that they really feel protected with me fastly, and I do know I may also help them in challenging situations, or prepare them a bit further, in order that they’re able to get by way of their faculty day.”
Abstract and implications:
This interesting qualitative examine exploring adults’ experience of the positive features of having ADHD affords an important perspective on the disorder. Whereas clearly acknowledging that ADHD created challenges for them, their perception that ADHD additionally made positive contributions to their lives is an important counterweight to focusing solely on deficits.
One implication of those discoverings is that the assessment and deal withment of ADHD in adults ought to embody an exploration of any strengths and assets that individuals really feel ADHD has contributed to. That is consistent with the view that essentially the most effective psychotherapy will embody a concentrate on purchasers’ strengths and resilience in addition to ameliorating symptoms and deficits.
Because the authors word, “by placing an emphasis on the total vary of experiences related to ADHD, each good and dangerous, one would possibly be capable of supply deal withment interventions extra consistent with the wants of adults with ADHD, which can be favorin a position for deal withment interactment and clinical outcomes. As an illustration, therapist may assist adults with ADHD to identify strengths, which can be beneficial for vanity and self-efficacy.”
Within cognitive-behavioral therapy, one may additionally use positive experiences with ADHD to reframe negative automatic ideas or maladaptive cognitions. These speculations ought to certainly professionalvide interesting highics for further studies. A concentrate on positive sides to ADHD within analysis may have societal implications by changing social perception round ADHD and by this reducing stigma related to the prognosis.
There are several points with this examine to recognize. First, the sample is relatively small, predominantly feminine, and Norwegian. Thus, the extent to which these discoverings would generalize to males with ADHD and adults from the US and other countries isn’t sure.
In addition, by framing the immediate to have participants to explain what they experienced as “positive features of having ADHD’, some participants could have generated positive features to comply with the question, and never necessarily as a result of they actually experienced positive features of ADHD. Asking “Are there any features of having ADHD that you’ve got experienced as positive” may have decreased the demand characteristic of the query.
Remainingly, it ought to be noted that participants perceptions aren’t necessarily objectively true and positive consequences they described from having ADHD conceivably may have little directly connection to the disorder. Even so, however, one may argue that what people perceive to be the case about their lives is what matters most.
Whereas these are all important points to consider in subsequent analysis. attending to what some adults experience as positive features of ADHD is an important subject to pursue. Because the authors word, exploring the total vary of experiences associated with ADHD in adults could extra fully capture what their life is like and should improve adults’ interactment in remedy.
This perspective may contribute to incorporating the recognition of strengths and resilience into deal withment, reasonably than a extra exclusive concentrate on symptoms, impairments, and deficits.
– Dr. David Rabiner is a baby clinical psychologist and Director of Beneathgraduate Studies within the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He publishes the Attention Analysis Replace, a web based newsletter that helps parents, professionalfessionals, and educators sustain with the latest analysis on ADHD.
The Research in Context:
[ad_2]
Source link