ADHD-ADD: The Gift or Curse Debate with Dr. Russell Barkley

There’s a lot of discussion, perspectives, and concepts concerning whether ADHD is a gift or a curse, and it comes with a great deal of polarization on both sides. In our interview on the topic, Dr. Russell Barkley shares his expert insight and defines a strategy to put the discussion in a context that may move toward destigmatizing ADHD.

Labeling leads to prejudging, and nobody wants to be stigmatized. It makes people want to reduce their suffering, and one way to do that is to reframe the disorder so that it’s seen as less of a problem. According to Dr. Barkley, in trying to help people cope with the diagnosis, it may be helpful in terms of acceptance, but in the record of scientific literature, it’s a misstatement to consider it as some great gift. It’s not something you would wrap as a present, but there is hope, which is what drives the resiliency to help people move forward.

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2 thoughts on “ADHD-ADD: The Gift or Curse Debate with Dr. Russell Barkley

  1. That was on target! Dr Barkley is my kick butt go to data scientist. I was at the CHADD conference in Atlanta when I got my first exposure to him. He put my whole life on the board and never met me.
    “Emotions are the conductor of executive function” Shame is the big one! Thank you for what you do.

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