How trends influence ADHD and ASD presentations

There is a lot out there now about these two conditions. Sometimes I think no-one has another mental health problem anymore.

And that’s today’s post: how do trends and prevailing conversations influence presentations? A great deal, is my view. Particularly when, if you go online and see the latest checklist, you fit within it.

Could that be focus? By that I mean if the laser beam of public attention currently ‘constructs’ particular difficulties to fit inside a certain envelope, how do you think outside that envelope? Previous posts have touched on the idea that there are many reasons why you might not be able to concentrate: ‘wiring’ set up, anxiety (many causes), ‘executive’ problems (wide causes) and toxicity amongst many others. Why are all those put in the ADHD envelope? I would say because it’s easier to do that and lots of people will join in to confirm that’s pretty much how they feel and struggle too. Pretty much – not exactly. A wave starts.

Can we say the same about ‘Autism?’ I think so. There is a huge swell in cases of people thinking/realising/wondering if they have ASD/ASC. They have heard or read about other peoples’ conditions and experiences that ended with an ASD diagnosis. And they think they have it too. But how is the ‘it’ defined and what exactly does ‘it’ consist of? That is a very complicated and intricate question and hard to address in bite-sized posts. But I will talk about some cases in future posts that throw some light on this from my perspective.

This is not easy stuff, and I am as confused as many. But I know that it is not helpful to just end up diagnosing any difficulty people struggle with as either ‘ADHD’ or ‘Autism Spectrum.’ Consequences follow, and they may not all be positive. On the other hand, the sense of belonging to a ‘recognised group’ can be enormous rather than struggling every day alone.