#adhd character

Writing characters with ADHD…from someone with ADHD

(part two!)

since my last post with advice for writing adhd seemed to be well received by many, i figured i would do a part two.

again, same disclaimer as last time; these are just my experiences, and do not apply to everyone

• Burnout. While adhd is usually known for its hyperactivity, a side that is rarely shown is the burnout from it. It is tiring.It can befrustrating.There are lots of days where you just want to sit alone in a quiet room.
• People with adhd are usually master procrastinators. Seriously. I often put off tasks until the last possible minute, because my brain doesn’t find it ‘interesting’ enough without the pressure of the deadline.
• Sitting down to do five hours of work and only being able to do five minutes is just as common as sitting down to do five minutes of work and looking up and realizing it’s been five hours
• The ‘hyperactivity’ part of adhd looks different for lots of people. It isn’t necessarily bouncing off the walls, running around the room and disrupting everyone - it could also be fidgeting relatively unobtrusively
• Speech patterns. While adhd often means talking fast, it doesn’t always. For example, I only tend to talk fast when really excited- but I talk a lot. There is a lot of ‘looping back’ on things that have already been said, and lots of ‘hey did i tell you-‘ ‘yes, you did.’
• conversation with adhd has two settings, in my experience; simultaneously having and maintaining four conversations at once, or not being able to hold a conversation if someone else is speaking in the same room
• Distractibility. This is the one im most tired of seeing in media. It is not just “hey so i was talking to Julian the other day about- oh look, SQUIRREL, LETS GO SEE THE SQUIRREL!’ *jets off to go see the rodent*. No. I feel like i speak collectively for adhd people when i say that we of that shit. What it is more like is; “hey so i was talking to Julian the other day- oh remind me to give him his textbook back- and he said that his brother told him- wait no it was his sister, anyway- she told him that…”
• Coffee does not make all of us wildly hyper all the time. One coffee actually helps me focus.
• We are not airheads. Seriously. Quit writing adhd characters as stupid, childish and incapable of doing important things. cut it out.

NOTE: as always, having adhd should not be a characters main personality trait. that is damaging representation, and really frustrating to read. an easy test is to remove the adhd and see if the character is still a fully fleshed out and in depth character. if they aren’t, congrats, you created a character who’s only trait was having adhd. however, if they still are a well rounded and interesting character without the adhd, you’re probably good!