ADHD sucks, but not really | Salif Mahamane | TEDxUSU

hi everyone I don't have too much time so pay it pay attention what's wrong with you focus for someone so smart you can be so stupid I mean how could you forget about that we just talked about it cutting something wrong with your brain do you even think I do think actually um in fact I'm finishing a PhD in experimental cognitive psychology or literally the scientific study of thinking but I have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder predominantly inattentive I mean I've spent so much time distracted by extraneous things you may notice that one of my eyes has almost permanently dedicated itself to my periphery but seriously okay as of 2011 the CDC reported that eleven percent of children ages 4 to 17 had been diagnosed with ADHD that's six point four million kids three houston's and unlike fruity cereal ADHD is not just for kids but four percent of adults had been diagnosed nine point eight million people New York City plus Philadelphia one thing I forgot to mention all of the expressions that I began with have something in common they've all been said to me by people who have proven time and again their unconditional love support and willingness to do anything for me but in those moments they were extremely frustrated so being so common where does ADHD come from long before I knew my cognitive traits were called ADHD I began studying how natural environments affect attention compared to urban environments where research consistently shows is that natural environments can restore even improve your ability to sustain focus that's because they attract or they contain more item that attract what's called involuntary attention sudden movement noise and not odor bright colors anything that breaks the consistency of your environment that you reflexively turn your attention to is engaging involuntary attention and that's the kind that's cranked up in people like me so it doesn't take a loud noise or a bright color to distract us but any noise or any color engaging in voluntary attention like natural environments do gives the other kind of attention voluntary attention a break that's the kind we use to stay focused on long mundane but important tasks that make us feel mentally tired because it runs out it's the kind you pay it's also the kind that ADHD folks particularly suck at but it's kind of important not to suck at in modern society but it's likely that involuntary attention was adaptive during human evolution the ability to notice slight movement in the brush the color of ripe fruit behind leaves detect the faint trickle of water or catch sight of a distant herd of prey just before they disappear over the horizon and the impulse to follow them would have contributed to your eating lunch and not becoming it a few years ago scientists discovered that men of a certain nomadic group in Kenya who had a genetic variant that's implicated in the restlessness and shifting curiosity of ADHD were better nourished than their counterparts without the variant but in a group of those same people who split off to live sedentary lives the men with the variant were undernourished compared to their counterparts interesting this is this information has Kindle discussion as to whether ADHD should even be pathologized I mean if it was adaptive for survival then it's supposed to be here and whether you know it or not humankind you're grateful for us so could we at least start going by potential hunting-and-gathering badasses instead but what good would that do us right I mean the sixteen point two million people in America alone with ADHD can all abandon Modern Life for hunting and gathering I mean I'm definitely considering it but it just gets one thinking is ADHD inherently dysfunctional or is it more of a fish out of water condition imagined traits that were once potent fuel for the fire of nomadic success are now remnants glowing embers waiting to be stoked nurtured back to life what if the stigma of ADHD and its exclusion from mainstream ideas of functionality is a prohibitive drizzle suppressing those embers though unable to extinguish them in this fire light I've noticed from my own experience several benefits of ADHD that are applicable in the modern world for one brainstorming sure my mind is rarely quiet but I'm comfortable in that the sheer number of thoughts and ideas is astounding even if a lot of them are bad or half-baked they're great jumping-off points for deeper thinking one distraction can lead to an unending train of thought fueled by intrigue for each next thing it's like popping popcorn one kernel goes and then they all take off I'm also good at navigating outside my comfort zone if something's intriguing I can't not pursue it so my interest often trumped any anxiety from exploring something foreign I have to know what's over there that culture that school of thought that hobby or lifestyle or literally beyond the next mountain so instead of being encamped I've explored to know what I love and hate about opposing political ideologies or parenting styles or subcultures and yeah it's scary to explore but scarier by far is the thought that I still don't know what I don't know and I'm resilient I have to be parts of having ADHD in this world really really suck but I quickly get distracted from them well whether it's a conflict with a family member or frustration with my own shortcomings it's true emotionality is higher and self-regulation is more of a challenge but I find I'm able to move on from negativity pretty quickly by a simple change of setting or activity sometimes I even forget I was upset and I'm adaptive with inattention you have to embrace the fact that you will forget misplace overlook put off constantly so you learn to bounce back from the consequences quickly and creatively I'm kind of a damage control expert I often without ruminating will jump to not salvageable what about this problem is useful even for the few that aren't my fault and finally my passion is authentic I'm really bad at feigning interest because I can't inhibit my natural intrigue so if I'm showing interest in a person activity or idea that's real I don't have to try to pursue my passions that's all I can pursue people often don't realize that ADHD includes the capacity to hyper focus and absorb information like a sponge just not to choose upon what you're hyper focused but it is not laziness and it's not changing so again with all these pluses is it really a disorder well it does result in significant distress and is characterized by diminished functioning an ordinary life but what is that distress come from not fitting well within the narrowly standardized educational and instant industrial institutions of our society well not without pharmacologically dulling some of my own favorite traits anyway what if some disorders aren't of individuals but of whole groups maybe even whole cultures or societies I think that as a society we suffer from what I like to call p you d pro uniformity disorder or affectionately PUD despite my superpowers a month and a half ago I was up late standing in my kitchen while my family slept and was in a bad way I could see my traits affecting my partner my son I was not making progress on work long overdue trying medication overdoing it on self-care taking time to recharge but still unable to focus and I thought to myself wow I'm supposed to give a TEDx talk in six weeks about why I'm glad I have ADHD but I'm not shortly thereafter a suspiciously timely image came through social media that really impacted me I'd like you all to just take a moment with me and reflect on it with respect to your own lives are you rebelling are you helping the people around you win their own rebellions are you helping the children around you never have to fight one the suicide rate is higher in people with ADHD and their families my clinical colleagues have shared with me that many children they see with ADHD have already begun at young ages to self love even having thoughts in often actions of self-harm or suicide the youngest example shared with me was 7 years old daily thoughts of self-harm the stress of not being able to function in an environment for which you're not adapted while expected to is heavy people often think the comorbidities of ADHD like self-loathing and depression are purely inherent to the condition but I'd argue they're in large part due to how Outsiders react to us so if you're the parent Guardian teacher sibling friend of or care about a child who is a potential hunting-and-gathering badass or a literally unstoppable brainstorm ER help them win their self-love rebellion check your frustration if instead of punishing their shortcomings nurture their abilities if you find they're distracted ask them what were you just thinking about not because they're in trouble but because it could be fascinating and get them outside in nature it can actually be as good as Ritalin I'm still fighting my rebellion everyday and it's far from one but it's even further from lost so I'm going to leave you with a very simple tactic for fighting your own rebellion whatever your battlefield may be since I was a kid whenever I feel completely misunderstood or unappreciated alone because I don't think right I'll seek out a mirror look straight in my eye and reassure myself not narcissistically or egotistically but genuinely I love you because as long as you do somebody does and as long as somebody does Cuddy you gonna be alright thank you you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 1,220,560

Rating: 4.9592295 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, United States, Social Science, Achievement, Brain, Children, Cognitive science, Disability, Humor, Intelligence, Learning, Mental health, Parenting, Youth

Id: fWCocjh5aK0

Length: 13min 23sec (803 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 18 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/procrastinaterebate]

Thank you for posting this. It was exactly what I needed to hear today.

[u/karen18195]

I am so interested in this video but then 15 seconds in I opened 6 other tabs and it took me like 3 minutes before realized it was still playing. Send help

[u/shutupimsmarter]

this was interesting but difficult to finish because I got bored after 2 minutes.

but damn, that advice to ask them “what are you thinking right now?” is so good because it sure is fascinating! i’ve kind of started to do that to myself if i catch myself drifted away from what i’m supposed to be focused on.

maybe it means a lot for someone, they can tell about their funny random thoughts and ideas that are running through their mind. at least i would!

[u/milmand]

Obligatory: I was there for that! It was great.