In our modern culture today, we have labels for numerous actions we call "mental disabilities." By definition, a mental disability is “a wide range of mental health conditions…that affect your mood, thinking and behavior.” One of these many disabilities, most common especially in young children, is Attention Deficit Disorder. More commonly known by its abbreviation, ADD, it's a disorder in which the individual has trouble paying attention, especially if he or she is uninterested in something they're supposed to pay attention to. ADD is also triggered when there's a quick movement, a sound, an object or anything else that not only distracts the individual, but also grabs their attention with a gripping and nearly unbreakable force.
Even though this is most common in children, it can become a problem if this continues into adolescence, early adulthood and adulthood. It's a problem that needs to addressed, and otherwise leads to unsuccessful individuals who can't concentrate on anything and will do horribly in school and need to be monitored. At least, that’s what society wants you to think.
There's no argument that ADD can pose a problem without learning how to properly control it. I'm also not disregarding those extreme cases, where ADD needs to be treated someway. What I am suggesting is ADD is not as bad as our society says it is.
From someone who has ADD, at first it caused me to struggle to pay attention in class, finish homework and even listen to a sermon on Sunday morning. When I started to lose attention, I would begin to think of literally anything and everything else. However, this led to three things that have developed me into the person I am today.
First, it helped me to become creative. Every single day in high school, I would carry an extra notebook with me and would write in it when I couldn’t pay attention in class. What did I write? Stories. From the time I was a freshman until I graduated, I handwrote 17 stories, equaling over a thousand pages in total. I was able to develop characters, create worlds, imagine epic battles and penned some of my most emotional scenes. This creativity helped with my ability to create unique projects for class with just a small thought that sparked into a wildfire, always resulting in a project I was proud of and received an A on.
The second way ADD developed me was it allowed me to find what I was passionate about and focus on that. As previously mentioned, ADD is easily triggered when a subject becomes uninteresting to the individual. This helped me to find my passion. I slowly discovered I had a passion for God, youth and of course, writing. As of now, I'm in school earning a degree in Biblical Studies, majoring in Youth Ministry. I've participated in writing events (most notably National Novel Writing Month, where the goal is to write a 50,000-word story in one month’s time) and currently have plans to write over 40 completely new stories, most of which are interconnected to build a broader universe.
Lastly, it has caused me to be hyper aware of my surroundings. What I mean by this is that I'm able to pick up sounds and movements that, to other people, are undetectable. As an example, when playing a first-person shooter game online, I am able to notice even the slightest twitch from an enemy avatar halfway across the map. If that sounds too easy, they were also invisible, except for a very slight outline of their body. In a real life scenario, I'm able to detect the smallest details in something and point it out. On multiple occasions, this has saved myself and my friends in a group project. When writing, it has helped me to become my own editor. And it has also aided me in my fair share of dead spiders that were otherwise undetected by the others in my house.
Someone might ask me how I controlled it and how I'm able to pay attention in class. My answer is that I haven't controlled it, and I don’t always pay attention in class. Knowing my ADD can lead to failing courses, I was able to compromise with myself. I no longer allow myself to write stories or get extremely creative during class. I do, however, have a notebook I carry around exclusively for jotting down quick notes so I don’t forget a creative idea, and one I can expand on and develop further outside of class during my free time.
What started out as a “disability” has become something that not only am I proud of, but something that defines me and makes me unique.
Diagnosing someone with ADD doesn't necessarily mean they're without hope. It means they may very well have a world of creative potential and imaginative possibilities.
