Since taking an active interest in ADHD and reading various texts, research etc it’s become clear that there is a popular belief oft repeated on social media that having ADHD in some way means you have superpowers.

In one way it’s a nice way of trying to take some positives from what is essentially a neurodevelopmental disorder and highlighting that it’s not all bad.

Some of the superpowers that get attributed to those with ADHD include creativity, empathy, getting stuff done quickly, intuition, innovation, listening skills etc.

Now I’ve no doubt that some or many of these positive traits will exist in people with ADHD but if they are truly ADHD superpowers aren’t we saying that there is some kind of link between the two? If we accept that a strong reason for having ADHD is in the genes then are we truly saying that genetically there are some very positive traits that come too?

Or

Do people with ADHD work harder on such positive traits to get by given that their brains work slightly differently and some simple tasks are harder for them? Nature versus nurture to some degree.

It matters because imagine getting a diagnosis of ADHD and feeling that you don’t have any superpowers? This could be due to a lack of self awareness or that they don’t have that many of those traits – or are really bad at recognising what they are good at!

It would seem likely that someone who has done well in life even though they have ADHD didn’t get there because of ADHD but perhaps because having it knowingly or not meant they had to try harder to overcome their circuitry differences.

ADHD is described as a disorder not a blessing, and if a person with ADHD found they’d been misdiagnosed and it wasn’t ADHD is there a chance that they would suddenly no longer have those ‘superpowers’ – bit of a placebo effect in some ways.

From personal experience I believe that you have some natural talents that you may inherit as well as learned ones that are more nurture. I don’t know that people with ADHD have an additional set of related strengths but do believe that they have to innovate, be creative, listen harder, work quickly just to cope in the world around them.

I found it interesting reading about what is in someone’s control and what isn’t aimed at empowering people to use their energy for what they can impact. I didn’t think it was very useful for neurodivergence as there are additional things the folks struggle with that coaching to change how you look at something won’t necessarily resolve.

If you believe that you have superpowers as someone with ADHD then great, but let’s be careful not to make light of the fact that many with ADHD find life hard a lot of the time and they may not show any such superpowers or recognise them in themselves.

You won’t know what powers/talents you’d have if you hadn’t had ADHD as it’s with you for life so it’s hard to prove either way anyway.

Some of the thinking outlined here is inspired by the book ‘ADHD Unpacked’ by Alex Conner and James Brown and they also have a podcast – they hit this issue head-on in the book.

We’re all super in our own ways whether neurodivergent or not and our brains are amazing. So many neurons and connections along intricate pathways. So complex that whilst we hear of organ transplants commonly I don’t think we’ve ever heard of a successful brain transplant!