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I’m not diagnosed with ADD. So, what? It was another great reminder that the ADD and ADHD diagnoses are a way of talking about a constellation of traits. Everyone can be rated on those traits and if they clump in a particular way you get to be labeled ADD.

 

I got lost in a project – hyper focus? I put off getting my other work done – procrastination? I began the computer project without stopping to consider other responsibilities – impulsive?

 

The point is to be careful of labels, whether they are being applied to you or you’re applying them to others. Labels don’t come close to telling the complete story of who we are. A label begins to create a simplified and necessarily incomplete picture of us, and try as we might they can begin to affect how others see us and how we think about ourselves.

 

A label can also be a relief. All those challenges that never really made sense before or that just felt like some severe form of laziness can be brought into focus with the help of a label.