Overcoming ADHD Stigma

Welcome to Thriving with ADHD dear ADHD community. We are back and we’ll be talking about the stigma surrounding ADHD with Animo Sano’s PA-C Stefanie Solomon.

Tune in as we will discuss:

• Common Misconceptions: Myths around ADHD, like being a disorder only affecting children or relating solely to hyperactivity, and how they hinder understanding and care.
• Impact of Stigma: We'll learn about the effects of stigma on those with ADHD, including challenges in seeking diagnosis or treatment.
• Differences Across Demographics: we'll also explore how ADHD stigma varies among different age groups, genders, and cultural backgrounds.
• Role of Education and Awareness: Finally, we'll identify strategies for increasing ADHD awareness and reducing stigma.

Thanks for listening!

Thank you for listening to Thriving with ADHD. This show is produced by Animo Sano Psychiatry. For more information about our clinic, please visit animosanopsychiatry.com.

Animo Sano Psychiatry has introduced new services for enhancement of our patients' mental health - ASP Concierge and Health & Wellness Program. Please visit our website to learn more.

Animo Sano Psychiatry is constantly looking for the talent in behavioral health. If you are a psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or mental health therapist, we'd love to hear from you. Visit our Careers pages to learn more about the available positions. https://animosanopsychiatry.com/careers/

Transcript

       📍 Welcome to Thriving With adhd, a podcast we'll share every day practical tips to thrive in life as an adult with adhd.  This podcast is brought to you by Animo Sano Psychiatry, a behavioral health practice with a specialist ADHD clinic based in North Carolina. And this is your host Nada Pupovac.



Welcome to Thriving with ADHD, dear ADHD community. We are back and we'll be talking about the stigma surrounding ADHD with Animo Sanos PA-C Stephanie Solomon. As always, before we jump into this conversation, here's a bit more about Stephanie. Stephanie brings a unique combination of educational and clinical experience to her role as a physician assistant. 

She is involved in all aspects of patient care, including taking detailed histories and physical exams, developing and implementing treatment plans, and prescribing medications. Stephanie's commitment to providing comprehensive and compassionate care is evident in all that she does.

Stephanie, welcome back to Thriving with ADHD. We are here to discuss the topic that's always relevant for the ADHD community and that's the stigma associated with the condition.  Yeah, for sure. It's, it's a big, it is a big issue and I'm happy to be here today to talk about it. Okay, let's jump right into our first question.

So, in your experience, what are the most common misconceptions about ADHD among the general public and healthcare professionals? And I suppose this is a two part question. So another part of this question is, how do these misconceptions contribute to the stigma?

 Sure, um, so there are many misconceptions about ADHD that contribute to stigma. Um, but first I just want to explain a little bit about what stigma is.

Um, stigma is a negative stereotype or perception towards a person or group, um, about certain characteristics, often based on misinformation or misunderstanding, um, ADHD stigma involves negative stereotypes about the characteristics of a person with ADHD and other things like treatment. Um, stigma related to ADHD shows up in beliefs, behavior, words expressed by.

Anyone from peers, colleagues, family members,  friends, health care providers, and even from oneself, um, despite, you know, growing public knowledge and awareness of mental health conditions, there are still several common misunderstandings about ADHD that persist and lead to stigma. Um, some myths around ADHD include for one that it's not a real disorder.

So as far as it being a real disorder condition, despite medical evidence that ADHD is in fact real. Some people believe it's not a real medical condition. Um, they see it as an excuse for sloppiness or laziness, or that people just aren't disciplined enough. You may hear comments such as there never used to be this much ADHD or they just invented it to sell drugs  and these comments can be difficult to hear when you're imPA-Cted enough by symptoms.

If they can't see physical evidence, it can be hard for some people to believe that mental health conditions such as ADHD exists.  It's not like if you break your foot, you have to be in a cast.  Um, there is an ailment. That's an ailment. You can see physically. Um, this public opinion can even cause doubt in the person who has ADHD themselves.

There's also the misconception that it only affects children and not adults. So some people say that it's a disorder of childhood, and it'll go away or you'll grow out of it. But this is a lifelong disorder, and a lot of the symptoms do continue into adulthood. Recent studies indicate that 90 percent of children with ADHD have persistent residual symptoms of ADHD into adulthood.

And this misunderstanding that it doesn't affect adults leads to significant stigma, where symptoms in adults are misinterpreted as personal flaws rather than manifestations of a neurological condition. Um, a few other misconceptions. Um, it only affects boys or isn't as severe and girls and women, it's often stereotyped as a behavioral problem or as a lack of discipline or poor parenting rather than a neurodevelopmental disorder.

And it's common for parents having kids with ADHD to be blamed by other parents or family members. Um, some people claim that it results from watching too much television or playing too many video games.  Some people might say that people with ADHD just need to try harder or aren't motivated or lazy.

ADHD is a condition involving differences in brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. So trying harder doesn't compensate for brain structure and neurotransmitter differences. It's not the result of a lack of effort. In fact, people with ADHD try extremely hard to control their symptoms and be motivated. 

People who haven't experienced ADHD don't know how it feels to be overwhelmed by a task or to do list.  Some people believe that ADHD is over diagnosed, but actually it's highly under diagnosed, especially in adults.  And then there's the stigma around medications.  Some might think that medication is an easy way out.

They might think that medication is over administered or people with ADHD are over medicated.  They might think that medication leads to other negative imPA-Cts, or that medication is not the natural way to overcome ADHD symptoms.  But the truth is that medication compensates for neurotransmitter imbalances in ADHD the way that glasses can correct vision or you know, high blood pressure medications can help with high blood pressure.

So in general, there's still a significant lack of awareness and education surrounding ADHD, which can contribute to the stigma.  So, I'm moving on to the next question. So can you explain how the stigma surrounding ADHD affects individuals on their daily life, in their daily lives, particularly in terms of seeking diagnosis and treatment?

Everything that you said previously, I can imagine it makes it very, very hard.  Yeah, so stigma can definitely interfere with diagnosis and proper treatment leading to worse health outcomes. Um, it can lead to people with ADHD and caregivers to avoid seeking care, which means delayed diagnosis and treatment and delayed symptom control.

In adults, this can happen when they don't want to be seen as having something wrong with them. They might worry about others finding out they have ADHD, or they might feel resistant to taking medication. Um, for children, stigma from their own parents may get in the way of their healthcare needs.  If the parents worry that a diagnosis or treatment will stigmatize their child, or if they have fears about stimulant medication for ADHD, they might  Put off having them evaluated and getting them the help that they need.

Um, stigma can also result in inaccurate or misdiagnosis or over or under medication. Um, adults with ADHD often encounter barriers and healthcare systems where their symptoms  are misattributed to other mental health issues or overlooked entirely. This mis, misattribution can lead to inappropriate or ineffective treatments and, you know, further exacerbating the individual's struggles.

A lot of people are diagnosed with depression or anxiety when they actually have ADHD and,  you know, are put on medications for those conditions when often the depression, anxiety is actually a byproduct of the uncontrolled ADHD.  So stigma and embarrassment towards one one's own mental health problems is a major barrier for treatment seeking and young people and adults. 

Additionally, adults with ADHD may have developed  ways to cope with or mask their symptoms. So, you know, They may mask their symptoms to avoid stigma and to be more accepted. And these coping strategies can make it even more difficult to detect and diagnose ADHD through typical means. Um, public misperception about medications may make people with ADHD less likely to seek treatment  and, you know, untreated ADHD is linked to several negative outcomes such as increased anxiety, depression, um, low self esteem, problems at work and school, relationship difficulties, and even a higher risk of substance abuse. 

Um,  so stigma may also affect how a person with ADHD views themselves, especially if they start believing the negative stereotypes about ADHD.  This is called internalized stigma or self-stigma. Mm-Hmm, . So this internalized stigma occurs when we absorb messages present in society and adopt them as the truth.

Those with mental disorders are already vulnerable to feelings of guilt, inferiority, and shame. So they're more prone to internalizing the negative, um, public attitudes that often occur with A DHD.  And this causes the greatest harm because when one constantly hears people say things like ADHD isn't real or that medication isn't necessary,  they may start to doubt that they even have the diagnosis and not want to take the medication or learn more about the condition.

ADHD sigma also might cause challenges in one's daily life and social job and school settings. They may experience workplace discrimination or they may not even disclose at all due to it. You know, their condition due to a concern of being labeled a certain way and miss out on certain accommodations that they otherwise could utilize 

that there's a lot of things to swallow here, I'd say, um, you mentioned this. When answering the first question, but can we  talk more about differences between,  various demographics such as age, gender, even  people from different cultural backgrounds? Are there any differences?  Yeah, definitely.

So stigmatization can affect anyone who has ADHD, but the burden often falls heavily on girls and young women. Um, people continue to think of ADHD as exclusively a male problem.  Um, according to this stereotype, if a girl exhibits common ADHD traits, there must be really something wrong with her. Um, and it's less socially acceptable to receive an ADHD diagnosis. 

Some will say that women don't have ADHD because they're  They aren't physically hyper or are told that they can't have ADHD for this reason.  A lot of girls and women with ADHD may mask their symptoms and try and maintain the image of a neat and organized girl in order to avoid social repercussions.

This may include silently pushing themselves to work harder, even though they're extremely overwhelmed and stressed.  Um, on the surface, many girls and women with ADHD, um, have a lot of confidence in themselves. May have, um, may also appear to be socially well adjusted, have good grades or have successful careers. 

This makes them seem like they have no issues with daily functioning and can result in a misdiagnosis and delete treatment. So these gender gaps lead more women to blame themselves for their symptoms, which may be part of the reason why. Rates of depression and anxiety can be higher in females with ADHD.

Children with ADHD may find it challenging to engage in various tasks and make friends at school as they may feel judged by their behavior, judged for their behaviors by their peers.  The fear of being stigmatized and the misunderstanding they might have. of the risks of untreated ADHD can interfere with parents being able to make informed and educated decisions around how to best support their child with ADHD and may affect treatment adherence and treatment efficiency.

Um, it might even influence whether a parent decides to have their child assessed for ADHD at all. And, um, Undiagnosed and untreated HD can affect a child's self worth and self esteem.  Adults may fall victim to stigma in that as ADHD is commonly thought of as a childhood disorder, adults who are diagnosed or struggle with it might  be doubted by others. 

Adults with ADHD might have already internalized beliefs that they're simply not working hard enough when in reality they're dealing with untreated ADHD symptoms.  And then there's the issue around prejudice of people of color. When people of color do decide to disclose or seek professional help, their claims are often met with skepticism.

This often leads children and adults  of color undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, and untreated. And that brings negative outcomes.  Studies have found that  Although African American children in, um, in the studies exhibited more, more symptoms of ADHD than white children, they were diagnosed less frequently. Other studies have shown that white children with ADHD are more likely to be diagnosed  and treated for it compared with black, Hispanic and Asian children with ADHD. 

And this disparity extends to ADHD treatment to, um, researchers, researchers have found that racial inequalities related to treatment have persisted over time, um, because of racial differences and screening tools and provider biases.  Clinicians may interpret identical behaviors displayed by. black and white children differently based on racial stereotypes and expectations.

This could result in the behaviors being identified as disordered among, among white kids, but inappropriately labeled as normal among black kids.  Um, and then there's the difference in cultural, different cultural beliefs that can play a role in hindering people from getting the help they need.  Um, some people hold  whole cultural beliefs that seeking mental health treatment will bring shame and dishonor to their family, which leads some people to internalize their symptoms instead of seeking therapy. 

A DHD may be misunderstood or misinterpreted. So behaviors associated with A DHD, such as impulsivity or hyperactivity, may be seen as signs of disrespect or disobedience or a lack of moral character rather than symptoms of an of a neurodevelopmental disorder. In some families, it might not be acceptable to discuss emotions or feelings.

Um, this can make it difficult for children to share their struggles with their parents, and so diagnosis can be missed.  So, cultural beliefs can shape preferences for treatment approaches. Um, some cultures may prefer traditional or alternative therapies over conventional treatments like medication and behavioral therapy.

So, as you can see, a lot of different, um, there are a lot of different ways that stigma can affect these different.  These different demographics, for sure.  Let's now change the tide and talk about some solutions and the way out  of stigma. And I think it's very important to have this conversation. So, can. 

education and increased awareness play a role in reducing the stigma around ADHD? And what are some effective strategies for achieving this?  Yeah, so educating and informing others about the condition and treatment can be a really powerful tool that can help reduce stigma. By giving accurate information about the condition, um, a lot of the time, it's simply a lack of knowledge about the disorder, which has informed people's misconceptions about it.

Increased knowledge of ADHD would lead to more accurate perceptions of the disorder and subsequently less stigmatization. Um, spreading accurate information about ADHD treatment options can help reduce the fear and misconceptions associated with medication and therapy.  This can also support informed decisions for individuals with ADHD and their families, um, directing people towards reliable sources of information.

can facilitate greater understanding of ADHD. Inform others that medication is not a way to compensate for symptoms, but instead it works by correcting ADHD, you know, brain chemical differences,  and it's usually effective.  Sharing information about ADHD research can help reduce stigma by demonstrating the medical validity of the condition.

We need to inform others that A DHD is a real neurobiological disorder and that the brains of people with a DHD function differently than those without the condition. So, for example, you know, sharing different things in facts like, um, there was a a 2017 brain imaging study that revealed neurological differences in boys with A DHD when compared with their neurotypical peers.

So sharing. You know,  concrete data about ADHD with others can be helpful. Um, another thing we can do is raise awareness about ADHD by using social media, attending community events and utilizing other platforms to raise awareness. Um,  these are, there are organizations you can join, such as, um, children and adults with attention deficit.

hyperactivity disorder, CHAD. Um, this organization is an information center for evidence based information ADHD and provides local face to face family support groups  for families and individuals as well as virtual support groups and is an advocate for public recognition and policy. There's also the Attention Deficit Disorder Association, ADA. 

This is another group that provides virtual support groups, different educational and supportive webinar series, newsletters, a voice to policymakers, and support for research.  We can also advocate for policy change by supporting policies that improve access to diagnosis, treatment, and support services for individuals with ADHD, advocate for accommodations in schools and workplaces to help individuals with ADHD succeed, and Chad and Ada are good resources, and there are more, such as the ADHD Foundation.

ADHD aware and the National Resource Center on ADHD. Um, and these work to raise awareness and understanding of ADHD and provide support to those who need it. And then advocating for yourself. Self advocacy plays a key role in improving the quality of life for adults with ADHD.  It allows you to secure the accommodations you need at work or school.

Receive appropriate treatment and build supportive relationships,  um, and then share your story. So those living with ADHD or caring for someone with ADHD can share their stories and create awareness about ADHD.  Personal narratives can be very powerful to show the realities of ADHD. These stories can foster understanding, dispel myths about the condition and the treatment, and provide support and comfort to those sharing similar experiences. 

Also, listening to stories of others living with the same condition can help one gain knowledge about how other individuals with ADHD are dealing with the condition, which can keep them motivated. It normalizes ADHD when people admit that they have it.  Getting to know people with the disorder is highly effective in combating the stigma.

as hearing directly from someone who has ADHD can help people see the condition in a new light. And another way to overcome stigma is to find a support system within the ADHD community. Connecting with others who share similar experiences can be a powerful way to overcome the stigma of ADHD. Um, joining support groups or online communities allows you to exchange stories, strategies, and coping mechanisms with people who understand your challenges. 

Uh, local groups in particular can provide emotional support in a safe, non judgmental setting. Um, building a network of supportive individuals can help you feel less isolated and more empowered.  So thank you so much for, for sharing this. These are all great ideas. Um, you know, you have a rich experience with Animal Sanos ADHD specialty clinic.

You see patients on daily basis. So  can you share any personal stories or observations from your practice about the ways that overcoming the stigma of ADHD has positively imPA-Cted your patients lives? 

Yeah, well, I found that my patients who educate themselves on ADHD and join the community Some form of support groups have more success in overcoming the personal stigma they might have. The more educated you are, the more equipped you'll be in educating others on what ADHD is really about.  Um, I run a psychoeducation support group for, for women with ADHD.

And from what I've seen, um, them learning more about the condition. And hearing other stories about the things they go through and the struggles they experience is really validating, because they can really resonate with each other. Additionally, a lot of my patients also come to me with a certain connotation attached to medications, but most of them find that when they give it a chance and see the difference that can make, it cancels out the stigma in a way, because they're finally happy and thriving.

That's all, you know, any of us really want right is to be happy and doing well. Um, and then there's the patients, you know, who advocate for themselves in the workplace and at school, they end up having a better quality of life as they. you know, get the accommodations that they deserve so they can perform to their, um, to their potential. 

That's, that's just amazing. And, uh, kudos to you for, you know, leading this group and doing your part in  empowering our patients and,  erasing the stigma one day, one, , workshop at a time. So that's really, really great. Um, Let's wrap up and if there is. Um, one thing that you would like our listeners to take away from this episode, what that would be. 

Yeah. So I would say own your ADHD and stand up for yourself. Um, if you think you have it, but haven't been evaluated, get an evaluation and it may just make a huge difference in your life. If your medical provider blows it off, but you still have this feeling in your gut that something's not right, don't be afraid to get a second opinion.

Um, and then, you know, embrace your ADHD as Learn as much as you can about it. By educating yourself about the science behind ADHD, you can begin to reframe your perspective and view it as a part of your identity rather than a limitation. So strive to understand your individual ADHD and how it affects you.

Openly communicate your needs to others and stand up for your rights. Um, it's about knowing when to push harder, when to take a break and when to ask for help. And lastly, um, recognize your strengths. Your strengths are what are best and true about you. So highlighting your strengths will energize you and enable, enable you to perform your best at work and in relationships. 

That was more than one, but. No, thank you so much.  This was exactly right. And , empowering. And. I hope, , our listeners  come out from this episode with a  Bit more of hope for their situation and  empowered to, , stand up for themselves, to speak openly about the condition and to face challenges.

, thanks to this conversation that we had. So thanks again, and I hope to have you in some of the next episodes.  Thanks so much, Nada. I look forward to it. 

    📍 Thank you for listening to Thriving with adhd. This show is produced by Animo Sano Psychiatry. Please follow, rate or share our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or any other streaming app of your choice. Music is by Daddy's Music music from Pixabay. For more information about Animo Sano Psychiatry, please visit animosanopsychiatry.com