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1 Rory Hill November 8, 2023 Word Count: 746 Empowering Adults with ADHD, Breaking the Stigma I sat in my chair bouncing my knee up and down. My thoughts were running wild, everywhere but where they needed to be. It was our third Zoom meeting that day, but I had only been in Japan for the past week and could barely handle having a conversation. “--ster Hill… Sister Hill!” My mission companion nearly shouted as I snapped back to reality. “Sorry…,” I rushed as I tried to remember what we had planned for me to say. She rolled her eyes at me as I said my part, my thoughts fading into nothing as another brain wildfire began. ‘No, not now.’ I thought to myself knowing I’d miss the whole conversation if I spaced out for even a second. I began to fidget with a bracelet on my wrist, giving me just enough stimulation for my head to clear. I managed to finish the rest of the discussion without a hitch. I even felt proud… for a second. “Why were you messing around the whole time?” My companion asked with her usual glare of judgment. “My bracelet?” I responded in broken Japanese, “It was helping me focus because of my ADHD.” “Hmm, well it seemed to me like you weren’t paying attention.” She scoffed and looked away. “I’m sure they thought you were rude too. Have more self-control will you?” I could only nod as my former pride turned to shame. Experiences like this are a common occurrence in the lives of adults with ADHD, but

2 why is there so much judgment? The reason lies in the stigma surrounding ADHD in adults. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder affects more than 366 million adults worldwide (Wirth, 2023). Unlike children with ADHD, adults exhibit distinct symptoms as they age. According to the Journal of Neuro Transmission, "Adults are more likely to be emotionally dysregulated, to show a higher distractibility, working memory deficit and poorer sustained attention, reduced focusing, and a consequent greater impairment in completing specific tasks" (Mucci et al., 2021, pp. 1085-1086). These less conspicuous symptoms contribute to the misunderstanding and stigma surrounding adults with ADHD. Many adults with ADHD are labeled as irresponsible or disorganized due to struggles with working memory and distractibility. I face these struggles often with my roommates as they face minor inconveniences caused by my disorder such as beginning chores but leaving them unfinished or asking them to repeat themselves many times because I don’t catch what they are trying to say. As much as I wish I could just ask them to blame it on my ADD, I feel that it might take a lot more for them to fully understand my perspective regarding these mishaps because of the stigma surrounding ADHD. In an attempt to uncover the stigma, another study in the Journal of Neural Transmission found that ADHD in children enjoys a healthier public perspective. However, adults are often unjustly cast into the same category. "The media generally portrays the symptoms of ADHD using a classroom setting and focuses on the learning difficulties associated with ADHD, leading to an underrepresentation of the adult side of ADHD" (Godfrey et al., 2020, p. 994). This results in adults with the disorder being unfairly labeled as immature, irresponsible, and childlike. So, how can we combat this gross misunderstanding created by stigma? Here are my suggestions. First, educate yourself and increase awareness. Psychoeducation is a practice used

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