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Things you should never say to someone with ADHD

Things you should never say to someone with ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a developmental disorder that affects approximately 2–5% of adults worldwide. Symptoms of the condition usually appear before the age of 12, and those with ADHD typically demonstrate problems with concentration and sitting still, among other characteristics.

The misconceptions surrounding ADHD often provoke questions from uninformed people that can hurt the feelings of those with the disorder. So, what things should you never say to someone with ADHD?

Click through and learn more about the condition and the questions and comments you should never voice.

What is ADHD?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder the symptoms of which usually start before the age of 12

Consequences of ADHD

These symptoms involve a person’s ability to pay attention to things (being inattentive), having high energy levels (being hyperactive), and their ability to control their impulses (being impulsive).

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms of ADHD in kids and teenagers include an inability to sit still, especially in calm or quiet surroundings.

Overactive personality

A youngster who’s constantly fidgeting and displaying overactive physical movement may be demonstrating symptoms of ADHD.

Excessive personality

Excessive talking, interrupting conversations, and being unable to wait their turn is typical of people with ADHD.

Limited concentration

Difficulty in concentrating on tasks, even for short periods of time, is another sign that a person may have ADHD.

Hyperactive behavior

Not paying attention and being impulsive or overtly hyperactive are also symptoms associated with the conditio

Other character flaws

And finding it hard to listen to others, acting without thinking, or the incapacity to follow instructions are other character flaws linked to ADHD.

Treatment and management

Standard treatments for ADHD in adults typically involve medication, education, skills training, and psychological counseling.

Misconceptions and what not to say

But misconceptions about ADHD are common and can lead to even well-informed people sometimes using hurtful, unproductive comments and clichéd phrases when trying to be supportive of someone with the disorder.

Unproductive comments

Even if your intentions are good, some of these expressions can be terribly frustrating and even offensive to a person with an ADHD diagnosis.

“ADHD isn’t a real disorder”

For example, insisting that ADHD isn’t a real disorder can be very detrimental to someone with the condition.

“Isn’t everyone a little ADHD?”

Claiming that everyone is a little ADHD only compounds the issue and can be hurtful for several reasons. Flippantly describing everyone’s life experiences as “a little ADHD” implies that you have no idea of the serious difficulties that someone with ADHD faces every day.

“Everyone gets distracted sometimes”

Similarly, telling somebody with ADHD that everyone gets distracted once in a while can come across as very disparaging to a person struggling with the condition.

“ADHD is a problem only kids have”

ADHD was originally called “hyperkinetic reaction of childhood,” and historically was often seen as a childhood disorder that people grew out of. Advances in medical research have since determined that the condition can persist into adulthood. To claim that it’s a problem only kids have can create challenges for those with ADHD in school, at their workplace, and in their home lives.

“ADHD is just an excuse for not doing well at school”

Blaming someone diagnosed with ADHD for falling short academically is unfair and demonstrates a complete lack of understanding as to the complexities of the condition. ADHD is certainly not an excuse for not doing well at school. Instead, it’s something that affects your entire life in making decisions, completing tasks, and carrying out simple everyday things.

“People with ADHD are just less intelligent or lazy”

Similarly, anyone who believes people with ADHD are less intelligent or just lazy are failing to recognize that the condition affects their executive functions. These are skills that you use to manage everyday tasks like making plans, solving problems, and adapting to new situations. To accuse people with ADHD of not pulling their weight or being stupid is quite wrong and plainly inaccurate.

“Why can’t you just focus?”

A comment like “Why can’t you just focus” implies that concentrating is simply a matter of will power. But to say so totally disregards the neurological challenges that individuals with ADHD face. With ADHD, the inability to focus doesn’t mean a lack of desire to do so, and to be called out like this can make the person feel judged, frustrated, and misunderstood.

“You only focus on what you want to”

Conversely, some people with ADHD also experience what’s called “hyperfocus.” This refers to an intense fixation on an interest or activity for an extended period of time, and happens with activities the person finds interesting or exciting. Telling someone with ADHD that they only focus on what they want to implies that they’re simply choosing not to focus on certain tasks, which is untrue.

“You don’t seem to have a problem focusing on TV/video games/mobile devices”

For example, the ADHD brain can focus for long periods on a television broadcast or video game. But telling someone that they don’t appear to have a problem doing so is to miss the point and the complex reasons behind the phenomenon known as hyperfocus.

“You aren’t even trying”

ADHD can also cause hyperfocus on the negatives. “You aren’t even trying” is a common response by those who assume that someone with the condition just isn’t pulling their socks up. And the worst aspect of this accusation is that a person can start believing it themselves.

“You just need to be a better listener”

For adults with ADHD, listening can be a challenge. Inattention and being easily distracted are two well-known symptoms of the condition that make focusing on a conversation or a lecture doubly difficult.

“It’s not that big of a deal”

For adults and children alike, being told that ADHD is not serious can be upsetting and, frankly, insulting. The consequences of living with ADHD can cause a huge amount of distress to those diagnosed with the condition.

“You don’t need extra time, you just need to work faster”

ADHD can at times be totally overwhelming. So much so that it can take forever to get just one thing done. This is due to what’s known as “sluggish cognitive tempo,” the result of under-arousal in the part of the brain associated with focus and planning. Anyone who believes those with ADHD should work faster needs to step back and allow them more time to accomplish tasks.

“Stop overreacting”

Emotional imbalance is a core ADHD symptom. Being told to stop overreacting only serves to further fuel this kind of response in people with the condition. Even the smallest of setbacks and challenges can make someone react disproportionately.

“You’re trying to be difficult”

To the uneducated eye, people with ADHD can appear as if they’re behaving the way they do to bother you, as if on purpose. But they are not trying to make you mad or interrupt you. It’s just that their brains simply work differently. They are not trying to be difficult.

“How could you forget about something so important?”

To accuse a person with ADHD of forgetfulness is to dismiss a fundamental symptom of the condition. The ADHD brain tends to process information in a disorganized manner. While people with ADHD do their best to remember, obligation and responsibility often fall through th

“Have you tried using a to-do list/planner?”

Even the best intentions can backfire. Ordinarily a reasonable question to ask, suggesting that someone with ADHD should trying using a to-do list is to overlook the fact that organization can be especially challenging to a person with ADHD. Again, it’s a problem rooted in executive functioning.

“Nobody needs to know you have ADHD”

While it’s certainly true that people don’t need to disclose their ADHD diagnosis to anyone, it’s their decision to make and theirs alone. Suggesting that someone with ADHD should keep their condition a secret can be very damaging. It can make them feel ashamed of their ADHD and cause embarrassment and distress.

Don’t criticize ADHD symptoms

The takeaway is not to criticize ADHD symptoms. Uniformed people can hurt feelings and cause distress by uttering the most offhand of remarks. To avoid anger, resentment, and embarrassment, don’t connect ADHD to a character flaw.

Sources: (Everyday Health) (NHS) (CDC) (Attention Deficit Disorder Association) (World Federation of ADHD) (HuffPost) (Healthline)

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Saudi Arabia’s Tawakkalna app offers Hajj services in 19 languages

Saudi Arabia’s national digital platform Tawakkalna is providing Hajj-related government services in 19 languages for pilgrims and workers during the 1447H Hajj season, as part of wider efforts to improve the pilgrimage experience through advanced digital solutions.

The initiative comes within the efforts of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority to strengthen integration between government service entities during Hajj and support pilgrims throughout their journey, from arrival in the Kingdom and entry into Mecca and the holy sites to visits to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah and departure back to their home countries.

The app supports Arabic, English, Indonesian, Hindi, Urdu, Turkish, French, Bengali, Persian, Malay, Russian, Chinese, Filipino, German, Dutch, Japanese, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

Pilgrims can access a range of services through the platform, including Hajj permits linked to the unified digital Hajj permit platform “Tasreeh”, as well as permits related to entering Mecca, work authorisations, volunteer permits and vehicle permits issued by various government entities.

According to officials, Tawakkalna is designed to serve as a trusted digital companion for pilgrims by supporting daily movement and offering a smoother and safer digital experience during Hajj and visits to Madinah after the pilgrimage.

The app also allows users to book visits to Al Rawdah Al Sharifah through the Nusuk gateway service integrated into the platform.

Additional services available during Hajj include multilingual access to the Arafah sermon, an emergency assistance service called “Assefni”, live weather updates for the holy sites, Qibla direction, prayer times and digital Quran services.

Saudi authorities said the services are part of broader efforts aligned with the Pilgrim Experience Programme under Saudi Vision 2030, which prioritises improving services for pilgrims and Umrah performers through smart technology solutions.

The Tawakkalna platform currently offers more than 1,300 services in cooperation with over 350 government entities across sectors including health, education, justice, tourism and professional services, with more than 35 million users registered on the app.

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Do your lungs regenerate after quitting smoking?

It used to be thought that the lungs couldn’t regenerate,” says Dr Charlotte Dean, head of the lung development and disease group at Imperial College London. “But we know now that’s not the case. Broadly speaking, they can repair when you quit smoking.”

Smoking is in effect damaging your lungs, Dean says, and the lungs have a substantial capacity to heal themselves. They have evolved to cope with pollution or getting infected by bacteria or viruses. “Because they’re so vital – you can’t survive without your lungs – they needed to have this capacity,” she says.

Dean says this shouldn’t be used as an excuse to smoke, though; smoking and vaping expose your lungs to more toxic particles than they can cope with. Importantly, everyone is different and some people’s lungs will not be able to regenerate as well as others and so will be much more susceptible to permanent tissue damage from smoking.

“While it’s broadly true that if you stop smoking you can revert to having much better lung health, it doesn’t mean you’re completely out of the woods. You may well have triggered mutations or genetic changes or tissue damage, and those things can affect your overall lung health, meaning that the decline as you age will come quicker or could lead to cancer.”

She would encourage smokers to quit as early as possible as – similarly to how your bones don’t mend as well as you age – your lung tissue gets less effective at repairing itself as you get older. A healthy lifestyle can help. “Exercise is really important,” says Dean. “Just like how when you exercise you keep your muscles healthy, in a way the lungs are the same. You build up the capacity for gas exchange to happen more effectively, to provide oxygen around the body.”

The Guardian

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Older than the dinosaurs

On a spring evening along the banks of the River Thames, thousands of mayflies can be seen engaging in what may be one of the world’s oldest dances. In the fading light, the males make a steep vertical climb, flip over and float back to Earth – wings and tail outstretched in a skydiving posture so as to drop slowly through the sky.

Mayflies are among the world’s oldest winged insects, emerging roughly 300m years ago – long before dinosaurs walked the Earth. Even the Mesopotamian poem the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest pieces of literature, makes reference to the short-lived mayfly. Over the epochs, the insect’s basic design has changed very little compared with the fossils of their ancestors.

“They have retained these odd characteristics and we can probably assume that they’ve been doing this [dance] for hundreds of millions of years, and yet we don’t really know why,” says Samuel Fabian, a research fellow at the University of Oxford who studies the aerial behaviours of insects.

Now, Fabian and his colleagues at Imperial College London think they finally have an answer. In new research published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, the scientists reconstructed the flight behaviour of the common mayfly, filming large swarms in the London borough of Richmond in 3D and analysing the insects’ flight paths.

In further simulations, the scientists found that male mayflies would stop their pursuit of any target that dropped beneath the horizon

“The problem is that the males have almost no filter,” Fabian says. “You can give them a beach ball – which, as far as I’m concerned, looks quite different from a female mayfly – and males will go right up to that much larger object and try to mate with it.”

Things get even trickier in low-light conditions, as females look almost identical to males even at close range. By staying below the females, males ensure their romantic energy is well spent. This is especially critical because mayflies do not have much time, only living from a few hours to a few days, during which they must pass on their genes.

Acing such reproductive goals is crucial to the species’ long-term survival. There are more than 3,000 mayfly species living in the world’s freshwater creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes. But many of Britain’s 51 species are now in a state of decline – another victim of what scientists call the “insect apocalypse”.

A 2019 global review estimated that 40% of the world’s insects were declining, while another study suggests more than 1 in 10 species could be lost by the end of the century.

From 2015 to 2021, the nonprofit conservation group WildFish carried out a riverfly census of Britain’s chalk streams. These streams are some of the cleanest waterways, fed by cool springs that flow from aquifers through chalk, a form of limestone. The species that live here are often very sensitive to pollution.

The census found that Britain’s chalk streams had lost 41% of their mayfly species on average compared with 1998. “In many lowland catchments, the spectacular hatches that once defined early summer have diminished dramatically, reflecting decades of mounting pressure on freshwater ecosystems,” says Janina Gray, head of science and policy at WildFish. “Pollution, sediment runoff, reduced river flows and rising water temperatures are all eroding the conditions these insects depend on.”

Other research suggests that even modest pollution in many English rivers may be enough to kill up to 80% of mayfly eggs, laid in riverbeds.

For now, Fabian encourages Britons to relish the ancient spectacle while they still can.

“This behaviour is something that pretty much everyone, at certain times of the year, should be able to see,” he says.

“These are quite urban places with lots of traffic, but they’re still hanging on and they’re still doing this dance that they have probably been doing since before Britain was separated from mainland Europe.”

The Guardian