In general it's normal for children to be self absorbed as the prefrontal cortex takes about 25 years to fully develop.
This does make a lot of sense to me because I don't remember at what age but suddenly, I just know that at some point, I stopped being self-absorbed and worked on building a friendship with my mum. I didn't even know that this must have been what happened. Thank you for sharing this, that's a added knowledge for me.
These days everyone seems to want to class themselves as being ADHD or on the autism spectrum.
For a while, I've been seeing some similarities between my personality and ADHD attributes. But I had to ask myself, does being able to relate to one or two things about the disorder classifies me as one? The mistake people make is failing to understand that these these are actually mental disorders, maybe it's the woke culture that has blurred the line but there's absolutely nothing fancy about having ADHD, OCD or bipolar disorder. And just like you've rightfully said, it shouldn't be an excuse for bad behaviour, whether one truly has it or not.
But then again, if we are to consider it from the angle of "not fitting in" especially for teenagers and young adults, it can be quite overwhelming and without the proper guidance, you'll be surprised at what length these age groups can go to seek validation and acceptance from society.
I'm neurotypical, right?
I love this perspective as well. However, as much as not everyone with self-diagnosed ADHD truly have the disorder, there must have been some certain or perhaps notable similarity traits for one to even start wondering if they could have the ADHD, and since these traits are diverse in everyone, can we then class them all as neurotypical?
For me, I think let's call a spade what it is, a spade! Like you've rightly mentioned and I guess, the "woke" culture has glamorized these disorders and quite unfortunately, most people use it as an excuse for bad behaviors. Just the same way they'll say, "I'm Leo, I'm naturally proud and blunt", yet, bluntness does not equal blatant rudeness.
There is a reason why there's a spectrum for these things. That is, to decide how mild or strongly one is affected. Just the same way autism is different is two people, it's the same for ADHD. I believe that people who are genuinely affected by some of these disorders never see it as something to show off or be proud of. And that's ALWAYS the first step to knowing who is real and who is not.
Thank you for this beautiful piece, it felt so immersive like I'm actually having a physical conversation with you. Your use of words and cohesiveness is brilliant. Thank you for this experience!
I have a client with bipolar disorder who I've known for over two years now. She's lovely, but recently she's not been doing so well and it's a fun thing to see. Her medication hasn't been working well for her, so they've been trying to adjust that and she's been all over the place. Last week they ended up having to take her onto the mental health ward. I can't imagine why anyone would want to claim having that if they don't. I really don't think she likes who she is when she's having an episode and nasty to everyone around her.
I recently learnt that women/girls are hard wired to empathise and try to fit in as well, which makes them more easily influenced by how the others around them are behaving.
Nobody in their proper senses would desire to lose control of themselves like that so definitely, it must be sad for her. I wish her well.
Oh yes! The societal standards for what is considered beautiful and acceptable for women keeps changing every day and as women, unless you have gotten to a place of emotional maturity, self-awareness, self-acceptance and then self-love, it can be hard to not be influenced by all the noise. It's such a pity, really.