Why ADHD is a Blessing and a Curse

Image Above: Feels Like I’m Rushing Slow, 2024, by Vivian Nho, digital collage

These days I’ve been feeling sick and tired of being ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and letting my malfunctioning prefrontal cortex run my life in maladaptive ways. Despite my current high levels of shame, I decided to write this article as a way to put some of my dank and dark experiences to good use. My intent is for neurospicy readers to feel heard – clearly – like the random lyrics rotating in their head. This post is geared towards newly diagnosed Gen-Z’rs who may be venturing into Vyvanse, late or undiagnosed Millennials, adults wanting to be assessed, and the “absentminded” Boomers who got by alright without even knowing they had ADHD. 

By the way, ADHD is a very real mental illness. Although there has clearly been a lot of advancement in awareness, many are misinformed or uneducated about ADHD.  There is evidence of ADHD being medically documented in 1775, during the Age of Enlightenment (Faraone et al., 2021).  Unfortunately, we are in a historical Interlude of Idiocracy. Now I can’t take credit for the term Idiocracy (it’s a dystopian comedy film) but I call it an interlude to be optimistic about mass ignorance being a temporary phase. I take qualm with the notion that ADHD and autism are “trendy.” They shouldn’t be. Why? Because of the serious health and life consequences correlated to being on the spectrum.

I wanted to share some of my experiences and insights to help readers feel better informed and prepared to deal with the disorders of their fascinating and frustrating brains. I make the assumption here that most people with ADHD have other mental health disorders. A recent review of 32 research studies found that up to 80% of people with ADHD also have: 1) substance use disorders; 2) mood disorders; 3) anxiety disorders; and 4) personality disorders (listed in order of prevalence)(Choi, et al., 2022).

But before I lose your attention, let’s talk about:

Why You Are Blessed (Badass)

• You are likely hilarious, talented, creative, intelligent and eloquent. This makes you stand apart from the crowd and beloved by many.
• You are naturally curious and have a lot of interests and inspiring role models. This can help stave off loneliness and depression that occurs when one has no interests.
• You know how to have fun and are willing to take risks. This gives you opportunities to experience pleasure to the highest, earthly degree.
• Your ability to think outside the box coupled with your willingness to take risks means you are capable of achieving a lot – more than the norm.

Unfortunately, there’s a “but.” Yes, you are a shining, shooting star. But you are also plagued by challenges that sometimes (ok often) make you feel cursed. To be clear, I am not saying you are actually cursed in any witchy way (no offense to all the wicked cool witches out there). But in the spirit of creating and reframing perspectives, let’s refer to the curses as the “very real CONSequences” that come with having a neurodivergent brain.

The Very Real CONSequences

You can get depressed or anxious easily, because levels of motivation and confidence wax and wane A LOT. This will cause you to have poor self-esteem and self-worth, even when you are crushing many aspects of your life. You might also anger, blurt out, tune out, or interrupt easily. You feel regretful, ashamed, guilty, and embarrassed about your emotional reactivity, short fuse, and mood swings.

Your mood and energy instability may make you vulnerable to dependency and addiction to psychoactive substances. In my case, cannabis was incredibly addictive and effective in treating depression, anxiety, stress, and social anxiety. If you are young, be beware that the consequences of daily cannabis use become apparent and bothersome after years of use, in my case more than a decade. Neuroscientific research is showing that people with ADHD are also likely to self-medicate with nicotine and/or caffeine because they can alleviate ADHD symptoms through their effects on dopaminergic and/or serotonergic systems, as well as norepinephrine (Taylor, et al., 2022). ADHD may also make you vulnerable to Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD); one study found that up to 43% of people with ADHD had AUD (Luderer, et al., 2021). Trigger warning: especially if you have health anxiety. ADHD has implications for mortality. A review of eight studies found that people with ADHD were twice as likely to die prematurely (Rattay & Robinson, 2024). A recent cohort study in the U.K. found that life expectancy for people with ADHD was reduced by 6.78 years for males, and 8.64 years for females (O’Nions, et al., 2025).

Dopamine-seeking impulsivity makes you do things for instant gratification. Unchecked, this could make you unintentionally pretty selfish and self-centered. Compulsive behaviors lead to isolation, poor decision-making, financial stress or insecurity, loss of jobs, relationships, academic statuses, and major risks to health and/or life.

Unfortunately there are more problems, but the following are less scary and you likely have more power to change them on your own. Self-awareness will sadly not suffice. You will need to conjure a lot of acceptance, commitment and discipline to change your thinking and behavior.

Personality-Related Problems that May be Pestering or Painful

Lack of patience and intolerance of boredom may prevent you from having enriching experiences that are born out of discomfort and long-term thinking. You value traits in others like being talented, smart, interesting, and fun. These people may seem rare to you, especially due to the current degree of alienation humanity is experiencing, so you may often feel like a lone wolf. Loneliness can be exacerbated by introversion, leading you to miss out on friendships with people who are very different from you. 

If you are gifted, intelligent and/or lucky, you could develop a superiority complex or sometimes get a smidge of the ‘ssism – narcissism. Luckily, your high sensitivity and empathy keep that in check.

Your aversion to boring tasks can make you bad at daily life – daily human maintenance. It can cause you to procrastinate to the point of needing to be extremely stressed and pressured in order to do something that needs to be done. Formal education can be very challenging for some. 

ADHD didn’t click until my late thirties, and it may never have clicked if my wonderful therapist had not figured it out in consultation with a psychiatrist whose name also started with a V, I think. My V name is Vivian, and in case you were wondering who I am, I am a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), visual artist, published author and audio engineer by trade. I treat a lot of adult ADHD in my practice VIVID Psychotherapy, as well as at Radcliffe Psychotherapy Clinic, which specializes in ADHD, anxiety and anger. My approach to therapy is integrative and person-centered. In one run-on sentence, that means I apply a wide range of theories and modalities in collaboration with, and tailored to, each client’s personality and preferences. For more resources on ADHD including assessment and treatment, please do not hesitate to shoot me an email at vivian@vividpsychotherapy.com or check out the resources on my website www.vividpsychotherapy.com. I’d also love to hear what else others would add to my lists to even them out. In my next post, I will dare to get directive on how to deal.

References:

Faraone, S., Banaschewski, T., Coghill, D., Zheng, Y., Biederman, J., Bellgrove, M. A., Newcorn, J. H., Gignac, M., Al Saud, N. M., Manor, I., Rohde, L. A., Yang, L., Cortese, S., Almagor, D., Stein, M. A., Albatti, T. H., Aljoudi, H. F., Alqahtani, M. M. J., Asherson, P., Atwoli, L.., & Wang, Y. (2021). The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement: 208 Evidence-based conclusions about the disorder. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 128, 789–818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.022

Choi, W.S, Woo, Y.S., Wang, S.M., Lim, H.K, & Bahk, W.M. (2022). The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in adult ADHD compared with non-ADHD populations: A systematic literature review. PLoS ONE 17(11): e0277175. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277175

Taylor, M. R., Carrasco, K., Carrasco, A., & Basu, A. (2022). Tobacco and ADHD: A Role of MAO-Inhibition in Nicotine Dependence and Alleviation of ADHD Symptoms. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 845646. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.845646

Luderer, M., Ramos Quiroga, J. A., Faraone, S. V., Zhang James, Y., & Reif, A. (2021). Alcohol use disorders and ADHD. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 128, 648–660. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.07.010

Rattay, K. & Robinson, L.R. (2024).  Identifying risk factors for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): a public health concern and opportunity. Prevention science: The Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research, 25(Suppl 2):195-202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-024-01667-w

O’Nions, E., El Baou, C., John, A., Lewer, D., Mandy, W., McKechnie, D. G. J., & Stott, J. (2025). Life expectancy and years of life lost for adults with diagnosed ADHD in the UK: matched cohort study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 1–8. doi:10.1192/bjp.2024.199