Hello Brains!
I've been wanting to do this episode for a long, long time.
I have thoughts about how ADHD is represented in the media.
I'm around a lot of people with ADHD on a regular basis.
And I can tell you that...
...what it's like in terms of lived experience of people with ADHD...
...and what ADHD is portrayed as in the media...
...are often two very different things.
So, I just wanted to watch some clips...
...of ADHD being portrayed in the media...
...and react to them.
♪ [Intro music] ♪
I - I'm nervous already.
Oh God, it's gonna be so bad!
Or maybe it's good. Maybe, I don't know...
Maybe there are shows now and I just haven't seen them.
We'll see!
I've seen this show. I auditioned for this show.
"I'm bored. - You said you wanted my help."
"Can we draw boobs on the chalkboard? - You did that already."
"No. Like really big boobs."
Alright. Ergh... I already have a problem with this.
The - the problem with this that I'm seeing already...
...is that this person is
...Neil Patrick Harris, what are you doing?
Uhm. He's
...as if this person is not ashamed of having ADHD.
As if they haven't gone their whole life...
...being told it's inappropriate to say these things.
As if they aren't masking. Which most of us do.
Most of us are not gonna be
And this obviously silly.
Unless we know that it's safe. And we're accepted for it.
I mean in the acting world they would call this
It's too on the nose.
"How do you spell blah-blah-blah. H's or no?"
"Wow. You were just like, the
"They said I had A D - something. Can we have class outside?!"
Okay. Yeah. I'll - hmmm.
Not only is this character unabashedly doing...
...ALL of the things that are "stereotypically" ADHD...
...but the professor just labeled him a bad student.
I think my biggest problem with this is...
...it's almost like he doesn't know it's inappropriate.
And the truth is: we often do.
We often
And so, the fact that he's doing all this...
...without any masking. Without any shame.
That he's being labeled "bad".
It just- it almost seems like this behavior is intentional...
...as opposed to how his brain is wired. And he's fighting against it.
You know?
It bothers me so much that this is on television.
"Mr. and Mrs. Simpson."
"I think what we have on our hands here is a classic case of fear of failure."
"As a result, Bart is an underachiever and yet he seems to be proud of it."
Okay. The thing about being proud of it.
So sometimes - sometimes ADHD students...
...will actually embrace the fact that they are the "bad student"...
...or the "class clown" or whatever.
Because after a lifetime of being corrected...
...and constantly failing at trying to meet expectations...
...they might lean into it.
It's a way of accepting
This is how the world sees me.
So, you know what? I'll just have to be fine with it.
"Crippling as it may be, I'm afraid my recommendation...
...is for Bart Simpson to repeat the fourth grade."
"What? You can't hold me back. I'll do better. I promise."
"Oh sure. That'll be the day - No. I mean it. You can't hold me back."
"I swear I'm gonna do better. Look at my eyes. See the sincerity?"
"See the conviction? See the fear? As God is my witness: I can pass the fourth grade!"
This is heartbreaking. This is heartbreakingly accurate.
That - that
As if it's intentional. As if it's a matter of a lack of effort.
When a lot of the time, it's really not.
A lot of the time, ADHD students are working harder than their neurotypical peers.
And they're just not - they're not as effective.
Because of all the challenges that we face.
Yeah, this breaks my heart.
"Hi there! What's your name? My name is Abernathy Darwin Dunlap."
"But you can call me ADD. On account of the fact that I have ADD."
"Which is Attention Deficit Disorder."
"You know everyone used to think it was just an addiction to sugar when.."
Yeah. I already hate this.
I already hate this portrayal.
Again, there's absolutely no attempt to mask.
I'm guessing these two don't actually know each other.
'Cause he just introduced himself to somebody.
And I have not met anybody with ADHD...
...I'm not saying they don't exist.
But I've not met anybody with ADHD that is so
...without trying to hide it
"This is no longer a mental health facility."
"I'm so sorry, we can't help you. Good luck to you pal."
[yelling] "I don't need a hospital!"
Also they're making him - they're also making him manic...
Which is not - that's not what ADHD is.
This also really bothers me.
Because it's clear that this character...
...only exists in this scene like as a joke.
This person is just clearly a joke.
And they kind of exist just for the other person to roll their eyes at.
And be like "oh my God, at least I'm not him."
They're not treating him like a human.
They're treating him like a caricature, again.
"Listen to these symptoms of ADHD and tell me it's not Luke."
"Alex. - Easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli."
Okay, I got excited for a second.
'Cause I saw a girl walk in with a laptop...
...going
Oh wow, they have like, a female character portrayed with ADHD.
Nope. She's diagnosing her brother, I'm assuming.
That's disappointing.
"Often impulsively abandons one task for another."
Okay, they're going the genetics's route again...
"A tendency to act without regard of consequences."
"Often at the expense of personal safety."
We tend to be risk takers. Accurate.
[laughs] This is so relatable!
There are so many times I've climbed on something...
...that I really should not have climbed on.
I think the difference in this portrayal - he's not trying to
...he's trying to get to the thing that he's trying to get to.
And then all of these things happen along the way.
Yeah. That was pretty good.
"Our old nanny wrote a terrible book about me. - Oh no."
"It's bad. - Tracey, we need to start doing damage control on this."
"What does she reveal in the book?"
"Everything. My addiction to prescription glasses."
"The fact that I suffer from Attention Deficit Diso - Jack, your shoes are shiny!"
No. No. No.
We can finish a word. Come on!
Okay, I wanna point out that a lot of shows do this.
If you are a showrunner, do not do this.
Please. For the love of everything that is good and holy.
Where the person with ADHD
...in the exact sentence where they're talking about their ADHD.
And - and no other time. Why?!
We don't
We have ADHD all the time.
And probably when we're talking about our ADHD...
...we're real self-conscious about it.
And that's the time we're trying to hide it.
"If I wrote a blog about my job and anyone at work ever read it..."
"...I mean, hello. - This is good!"
"On top of which, the whole idea of writing a blog..."
"...is to get away from what I do all day."
The way that cooking is a way I get away from what I do all day."
I love playing the game of, like...
...
It's a fun game.
"I'll cook my way through the Julia Child cookbook...
...and write a blog about it."
"But I'll probably need a deadline. - Why?"
"Let's face it. I never finish anything."
"Hey! - Well it's true!"
"You know why I think it is? ADD. - You have ADD?"
"Yes. It's why I'm so bad at housework."
This one's interesting.
Like, she said she had ADD but, like, and the words said it...
...but I don't get my ADHD spidey-senses tingling on this one.
But, that's kind of valid.
Because a lot of women have more internalized presentations of ADHD.
And you
If this character has ADHD...
...I would say she's learned to mask
Which is interesting.
But she's with somebody who she's in bed with.
So I wouldn't expect her to mask that hard in front of them.
Yeah. I haven't seen the full movie so I don't know for sure.
Just going off the one clip, I don't see anything that makes me feel like...
...this character actually does have ADHD.
That doesn't mean she doesn't.
And I'd be curious to see the rest of the movie.
But this to me honestly came across as a neurotypical person...
...talking calmly about how they've been diagnosed with ADD.
I - okay - I wanna say I've seen the entire Kimmy Schmidt series.
I loved the show.
I have a feeling I know which episode this is.
And I have a feeling I don't like it.
"Parcours attack! - How are you feeling sweetheart?"
"The label on your, uhm, special candy..."
"...said you'd be much calmer by now."
Okay. Special candy? Please, parents.
Tell your children what it is that they're taking.
Because they're the ones who have to manage their brain.
And eventually, you're gonna have to tell them.
Because ADHD is not something that kids generally grow out of.
And by hiding their diagnosis from them...
...not telling them what is actually being done to treat it...
...a lot of kids end up being really resentful of that.
And resistant to actually treating their ADHD later on.
"I am going to make that into a waterslide!"
"This is my structure! Grow fire! [loud screaming]"
Oh my... I forgot how bad this was.
"Mother. May I please go again?"
[sighs] Okay.
ADHD medication is not meant to turn children into compliant zombies.
If somebody is blunted in affect which is essentially what it is...
...where they're not themselves anymore.
Their personality is completely dimmed by the medication.
That is the wrong medication. Or the wrong dose of medication.
It is not supposed to do that.
This is incredibly, incredibly harmful.
Because it perpetuates a narrative that is inaccurate.
That ADHD meds are meant to replace parenting.
Her kid doesn't need discipline. He needs Dyziplen.
As if discipline would be a replacement for medication.
It's not.
In fact, ADHD kids tend to respond more poorly to punishment.
The carrot and the stick.
We respond really well to carrots.
We respond really well to praise.
We respond really well to immediate, positive feedback.
We actually don't really respond well to punishment.
So this idea that you should punish your kids...
...that you should discipline your kids.
Then
It's really inaccurate. It's really harmful.
And the idea that this medication is an alternative to discipline...
...is so, so bad.
And is why a lot of parents get shamed or feel ashamed...
...as if they're taking the "easy way out" for treating their child's medical condition.
When they should be supported in that.
I really like this show. I
Full disclosure, I know this show. I love this show.
"My first impression is that you have a debilitating spending problem."
"Jake, you have six massage chairs. - Well, they don't make a massage couch."
"Okay. But you also have three turntables. - Ooh! Yeah! I'm learning how to spin."
"All I have are my grandma's old Klezmer records..."
"...and I still haven't quite figured out how to sync up the beats."
"But it's not bad, right?"
Excessive, but yeah.
Impulse spending is definitely something people with ADHD do.
And I definitely have multiples of things...
...that I probably do not need multiples of. So.
For the sake of comedy, it's heightened. But I will give them this.
And I know in another episode Jake mentions that he has a bathtub full of bills.
That he hasn't opened.
And I think that was the moment where I laughed...
...and was like "yeah, this character clearly has ADHD."
"This is so unfair. I've lived in this building 15 years."
"And then all of the sudden they're deciding to go co-op with zero warning."
"It seems illegal they didn't tell you this was happening."
"Well, it's possible I missed a letter, but I doubt it."
"Oh! Let's check the mail tub! - Mail tub?"
Oh yeah! There it is. The mail tub.
Yeah. Yep. I often talk about my paper monster.
And my paper monster keeps growing.
And then I deal with it. And then it starts growing again.
Where it's just, like, all the mail that I just don't want to open.
Just goes in a pile. Until it's overwhelming...
...and it grows eyes and scary teeth.
I really like this portrayal of ADHD in the media.
I don't know if they even ever say if he has ADHD.
But so many of the struggles are
That I'm like "I'm not a doctor, I can't diagnose you, but you have ADHD."
That's actually something I would like to see.
I'm seeing a lot of, like, we're
...but it's an absolute caricature.
Or we're
...and it's actually a pretty good representation.
I'm not seeing a lot of BOTH. And I would like to.
And I would like for there to be characters on TV...
...that talk about their ADHD that also
Like, one of the things I like about Jake Peralta and that show...
...is he's treated with respect by his peers.
And the fact that he has ADHD doesn't mean that he's less-than or a failure.
He's actually quite successful at what he does.
But he does struggle. The impairments are real.
And you get to see the extent of those impairments.
And I think that we need more of that on television.
I only saw one woman in this entire show that had ADHD.
I saw no girls. I saw one woman, again...
...didn't really come across to me as ADHD.
Just because somebody doesn't look ADHD doesn't mean they don't have it.
But in a situation like that, where she's in bed with the person that she loves...
...I wouldn't expect her to mask to that extent.
Doesn't mean she doesn't. But, you know.
I would like to see some visibly ADHD characteristics...
...in characters that are identified as having ADHD.
As common as ADHD is in the general population...
...I'm really surprised that we don't have more of that.
Thank you to my Brain Advocates and all my Patreon Brains.
My lovely Creative Director who now has the time to do this.
Because we're hopefully about to hire her on full-time.
That's thanks to your support!
Like, subscribe, click all the things.
And I will see you next video!
Bye Brains!
♪ ♪