It is a strange reality that more people than you can imagine are walking around with undiagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a neuro-developmental disorder. The truth is that ADHD is more common than perceived and a signifiant amount of individuals particularly women, live with undiagnosed ADHD for most of their lives. You may find yourself questioning this statement or finding yourself thinking of someone you know.
Let’s be honest though, most people don’t really understand what ADHD is beyond the idea of someone who can’t sit still or concentrate. Think back to when you were in school; there was probably a kid who was always running around, making noise, and never sitting still.
You might have thought, "They probably have ADHD," and imagined them being sent to a doctor for a diagnosis by their teachers.It is important to be aware that ADHD can show up in different ways. There are three main types: Hyperactive-impulsive, inattentive and a combination of both.
Among women, the inattentive type is more common. For girls and women with inattentive ADHD they might struggle paying attention to details, make careless mistakes, struggle to pay attention when someone is talking get easily distracted and forget and difficulty completing tasks, disorganised and messy and more.
It can make it tough to stay organised and meet deadlines. Hyperactive-impulsive ADHD might show up as fidgeting, having trouble sitting still, talking a lot, impulsive, interrupting and a much more. This is just the tip of the ice berg. But there are a lot of strength to ADHD as hype-refocus, creativity, resilience, empathy, ingenious thinking and adaptability.
There are many perspectives in the scientific fields when it comes to ADHD that are still being explored but one of the ones I find interesting is the one by Them Hartmann who explains it with his Hunter vs. Farmer Hypothesis. Which suggests that ADHD is a remnant of an ancient survival trait. According to this theory, individuals with ADHD possess traits that were at the time very advantageous to hunter-gatherer societies.
Quick reflexes, adaptability, hype-refocus on immediate threats were essential for surviving.Traits such as impulsivity, hyperactivity and distractibility could have been beneficial in that society, but how it in modern times can prove to be a challenge. He discusses is theory in his book, “ Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception and challenges us to reconsider our understanding of ADHD beyond mere pathology and something that served an evolutionary purpose.
How does building a Book Nook help someone like me who struggles with ADHD? One of the things I struggle with, and most of the time gets me into trouble at work and in school, is that I struggle to pay attention to details and make careless mistakes. As my ADHD is a combination of two types, I am also impulsive by nature.
Building a Book Nook really forces me to sit down and pay attention to what I'm doing in detail; otherwise, it’s hard to recover if I mess up. Following the instructions, focusing, paying attention to the pieces, and the steps I have to follow, all go against my impulses and really work my patience.
I have also found that as it takes hours to build, it really helps me to finish the tasks, as my attention really comes and goes, and I'm always all over the place. When I see it, it forces me to stop for a second to build another step and helps me collect my thoughts. If I really go into hyperfocus mode though, I can have it finished in a few hours.
Check out the resource linked here for more information:
1Antoniou E, Rigas N, Orovou E, Papatrechas A, Sarella A. ADHD symptoms in females of childhood, adolescent, reproductive and menopause period. Mater Sociomed. 2021 Jun;33(2):114–8. doi:10.5455/msm.2021.33.114-118