ADHD is Awesome: A Guide to (Mostly) Thriving with ADHD

by Penn Holderness

ADHD, which stands for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,

We do not suffer from a deficit of attention. Just the opposite. We have an abundance of attention! Our challenge is to control it. Once we do that, the sky is the limit in terms of what we can do in life.

(I prefer a different term, one that is accurate without overly pathologizing what is a potentially advantageous condition. I call it VAST or variable attention stimulus trait. This term casts it as a trait, not a pure disorder, and highlights three of its core elements: variability, the meandering of attention, and the search for high stimulation.)

The same brain that gets restless and easily bored allows you to make rapid-fire connections, think creatively, innovate, and entertain. When life throws a lot at you, you’ll be equipped with the tools to make your way through.

As bestselling author and social scientist Brené Brown has taught us, guilt is feeling bad3 about something you’ve done, while shame is feeling bad about who you are.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a chronic but manageable neurodevelopmental disorder that affects the development and function of your brain. Your brain differences can result in three main categories of symptoms: inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.

In fact, if you have ADHD, you may be better at focusing than your neurotypical friends, as long as you’re actually interested in what you’re doing.

“What we have is an abundance of attention6, the very opposite of a deficit problem. Our challenge is to control it.”

The ADHD brain is not terrible at paying attention. It’s terrible at choosing what to pay attention to.

Keeping your devices nearby sets you up for failure. Smartphones were designed by some of the smartest people in the world to capture and hold your attention, slicing and dicing it into tiny increments until it’s mush.