Conveying ADHD
<Warning> Do not misrepresent this disorder in a written or verbal fashion, and be mindful of everyone's feelings.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or rather ADHD is a collection of behavioural symptoms that affect attentiveness, hyperactivity and various impulses. Generally ADHD can be represented by people in written form who just want an excuse as to why their character is constantly very chatty or fidgety and jumping about etc. All in all it can be used to make a snowflake. Naturally this is unfair on those that have the condition in real life, and it also takes away from the realism and immersion that others have from the character.
Generally the symptoms of ADHD improve with age, so an adult who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child will be no where near as affected as when they were younger. Generally as a child, they are prone to phases of restlessness or inattentiveness. Thus making it difficult to learn from class room environments or from people just giving them information in one or two formats.
Now whilst you could have your character randomly have the condition without explaining why they were born like that, you should at least know some factors that could contribute towards the condition. For example, being born prematurely, having a low birth weight so potentially being malnourished whilst in the mothers womb, and smoking/alcohol/drugs throughout pregnancy.
Roleplaying ADHD can be quite fun to do so, but you should be mindful of everyone around you. It's a very common condition so there's a good chance someone you meet has the condition in real life and you want to make sure you don't offend. Make sure not to go overboard with the symptoms and try not to make your character /all/ about the condition. Sure allow it to shape them a little, but your character is more than just someone with ADHD, just like anyone with ADHD is more than just that condition. Everyone is unique and different in their own way, and everyone is composed of more than just one thing.
Please bare in mind that many with ADHD in real life do not go jumping about randomly or jumping out of windows! Your character shouldn't either! Tone it down and consider roleplaying it as minorly as possible. If you can do it as subtly as possible, but still have people recognise it as something slightly different about his behaviour, you're writing it well~
Symptoms:
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or rather ADHD is a collection of behavioural symptoms that affect attentiveness, hyperactivity and various impulses. Generally ADHD can be represented by people in written form who just want an excuse as to why their character is constantly very chatty or fidgety and jumping about etc. All in all it can be used to make a snowflake. Naturally this is unfair on those that have the condition in real life, and it also takes away from the realism and immersion that others have from the character.
Generally the symptoms of ADHD improve with age, so an adult who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child will be no where near as affected as when they were younger. Generally as a child, they are prone to phases of restlessness or inattentiveness. Thus making it difficult to learn from class room environments or from people just giving them information in one or two formats.
Now whilst you could have your character randomly have the condition without explaining why they were born like that, you should at least know some factors that could contribute towards the condition. For example, being born prematurely, having a low birth weight so potentially being malnourished whilst in the mothers womb, and smoking/alcohol/drugs throughout pregnancy.
Roleplaying ADHD can be quite fun to do so, but you should be mindful of everyone around you. It's a very common condition so there's a good chance someone you meet has the condition in real life and you want to make sure you don't offend. Make sure not to go overboard with the symptoms and try not to make your character /all/ about the condition. Sure allow it to shape them a little, but your character is more than just someone with ADHD, just like anyone with ADHD is more than just that condition. Everyone is unique and different in their own way, and everyone is composed of more than just one thing.
Please bare in mind that many with ADHD in real life do not go jumping about randomly or jumping out of windows! Your character shouldn't either! Tone it down and consider roleplaying it as minorly as possible. If you can do it as subtly as possible, but still have people recognise it as something slightly different about his behaviour, you're writing it well~
Symptoms:
- Short attention span
- Short attention span and being easily distracted.
- Making careless mistakes.
- Appearing scatty or losing things.
- Inability to stick to task tedious or time-consuming.
- Appearing to be unable to listen to or carry out instructions.
- Constantly changing activity or task.
- Having difficulty in organising tasks.
- Restlessness
- Being unable to sit still.
- Constantly fidgeting.
- Being unable to concentrate during tasks.
- Excessive physical movement.
- Excessive talking.
- Inability to wait in line.
- Acting without thought.
- Interrupting convo's.
- Little concept of danger.
- Impulsiveness
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
References:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/Pages/Symptoms.aspx
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