Fahadh Faasil, Alia Bhatt, Jim Carrey – is ADHD a fad?

Take the case of 16-year-old Sahil (name changed) who was brought to see us (a mental health service for children and youth) after he was suspended from school for bringing weed in his school bag. He had already been identified as being a part of the “troublemaker gang” who would get into frequent fights inside and outside school, would have severe anger outbursts where he would hurt others and himself, would bully his younger sister and was caught stealing money from home. He was also showing an increasing interest in alcohol and substances of abuse. In addition, he was bunking classes, arguing with his teachers, hardly submitting assignments and failing exams. It became important for us to know Sahil’s backstory once he came to us; we figured that he was not always like this.

At eight, he was an avid reader and was often called “a walking talking encyclopaedia on animals and dinosaurs”, loved music although he dropped out of guitar classes, was caring and affectionate and well-liked by friends and family. At the same time, he was distracted in class and found dreaming in his own world, would not complete his class- or homework, would make careless mistakes and lose his belongings often. Feedback from teachers would constantly highlight that he was underachieving, that he was “bright but lazy” and “unmotivated”. There was tell-tale evidence of Sahil’s attention difficulties for anyone who would choose to be curiously empathetic about a child’s neurodivergence. But instead, his toys and books of interest were taken away while both parents and teachers doubled down to make him learn, write and perform in class. By the time he was 13, Sahil was resentful and angry, proclaiming frequently that he hated school and studies, his readings and music had become dark and disturbing, and he was rebelling and questioning everything, especially the education system. Guess how the adults around him reacted? They came down more heavily with grating criticism, uncompromising judgement and more restrictions.

It was fortunate that Sahil got the help and understanding he needed just when most people in his life were ready to give up on him. Most young people with neurodivergence (which includes autism and learning disabilities, besides ADHD), are miserably failed by the world; it tries to to fix them to fit into societal norms of normativity and success, undermining their (out-of-the-box) talents and robbing them of all agency, causing unimaginable suffering and injustice. It is not surprising that many of them, by the time they are in their late teens or young adulthood, begin to show signs of oft found complications such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic symptoms and substance misuse. Some of the others choose the path of retribution and begin to hit back at the systems and institutions that they perceived as being harsh and punitive, eventually crossing boundaries of society and law in unacceptable ways. Systematic studies amongst the adult prison population in the UK and some other European countries have revealed that nearly half were neurodivergent and showed better outcomes when identified and given the help they needed even at that advanced stage.

Neurodiversity is real and it is time that we realised that a good section of us are more divergent than others, and may not fit into the structures and narratives of success that the mainstream of society provides. We can ignore it at our own peril and face the consequences in the form of the exponential rise in mental health problems and crime that we see in today’s world. On the other hand, we can consider the exciting diversity, potential and possibilities these people bring for all of us; given the illustrious “Hall of Fame” that ADHD (and other neurodivergent conditions) can boast of, it is puzzling as to how and why we, as a larger community, have chosen to marginalise them.

The writer is child and adolescent psychiatrist and co-founder, Children First