"Over the top" ADHD

It's a common experience when you have ADHD to be described as "over the top." The problem is that it isn’t a choice. It is something completely out of our control. Whilst being "over the top" is often a criticism of those of us with ADHD, most things that ADHDers do are “over”, even when you can't physically see them.

We can overthink every minute detail of our day analysing what was said, what it meant, and what we did wrong. 

We can over commit to things for fear of letting people down and being perceived as lazy or disinterested. 

We can overdo it when we hyper focus. This can often be seen as a skill by neurotypical people, but it is exhausting and is a major contributor to feelings of tiredness and overwhelm. 

We can over mask, which means that people don’t see the struggles we are facing and how they impact every minute of every day. 

ADHD can be overstated in the media. There has been a great deal of media coverage recently, and this has generally been very extreme. We've seen children jumping over sofas and apparently causing carnage. Whilst some ADHD does present in this way, it is not always the case.

We so rarely see understanding of different presentations of ADHD in the media, meaning that there are lots of us who are left to suffer in silence because their ADHD isn’t recognisable to anyone else. 

ADHD  has a lot of “overs” but sadly, it isn’t overly understood. 

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