Reproducing a Linkedin post in response to an ill-informed article in The Times where a psychotherapist-cum-agony aunt saw fit to offer an opinion on ADHD and self-diagnosis:
#ADHD is a FAD
Dear Agony Aunt
I need some advice (do psychotherapists give advice?) about a "friend" who has put her foot in her mouth. Should she apologize, and does she know what she is apologising for?
Please help!
Philippa Perry is an integrative psychotherapist who woke up one morning and decided that she would throw shade at the #ADHDcommunity.
If her apology is anything to go by, it’s not THE community but the posers somehow infected with a social contagion (if ever there was a BUZZ phrase, “social contagion” would certainly qualify!)
Or rather that she was only warning against self-diagnosis, because the NHS has more than enough capacity to formally diagnose presumed ADHDers? Should they wait until they get an official diagnosis before exploring their experiences? What about those who don’t have access to treatment, should they suffer in denial?
Or maybe it’s that its now more fashionable to claim having ADHD, because, you know, bipolar disorder is so yesterday. I’m wondering whether I’d prefer 2015 to 2023, making hay with mania and depression, rather than hyperactivity and impulsivity. Could it be that Agony Aunty is gearing up for a new Channel 4 documentary?
What she didn’t apologize for was falling back onto the old stigma – “labels give you an excuse not to take self-responsibility” – because as an ADHDer, we know what it’s like to be called lazy.
The ADHD community themselves gets frustrated with the notion that “everyone is a little ADHD”. Because if you have ADHD you know that it is so much more than leaving your car keys in the fridge (though it’s certainly useful so that you don’t forget to take your lunch to work). ADHD impacts every aspect of our lives and to diminish it to niggly traits is so damn frustrating.
Let’s talk about self-diagnosis, and why I am tired of professionals trotting out this line.
The value of self-diagnosis in the absence of access to a professional diagnosis does not suggest finding an excuse for not taking responsibility. In fact, self-diagnosis is only the start of a journey of discovering what our challenges are and how we can best navigate life. Self-diagnosis can validate our experiences and empower us to take charge of those aspects that make our lives difficult.
And if some want to embrace their biological disposition as a label, why should it matter to Philippa? Labels are frameworks for understanding, understanding brings acceptance, and acceptance leads to empowerment. We are more than our diagnosis, but we are also not not our diagnosis, please do not insult our experience.
My own journey sees how your own profession is divided on mental disorders, and yet claims to hold the truth. I’ve explored the politics of the DSM, the contribution of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, and the work of @EPSIG-UK in The Empowered ADHD Mind – this journey is far from shut down.
Lady Perry, please check your privilege next time.
