A friend recently called my adhd a disease and it got me extremely angry and hurt. They didn’t have bad intentions, I don’t think they think that I need to be “cured” but it probably came from a more ignorant perspective.
But how do you feel about it? How would you handle that situation?
To me calling it a disease implies that my neurodivergence is wrong, that I should seek some sort of cure, which I find stupid and mostly laughable, but I guess hearing it from them hit some nerve and it felt like a personal attack. As if they were saying that as long as I have adhd I am not okay and that my struggles are my fault for not seeking a cure.
Just somehow it instantly made me so hurt and angry and I couldn’t help but feel insulted and small.
I don’t really mind it? Disorder/disease: I kinda feel like you’re splitting hairs.
ADHD is treatable, and I’m glad it is (otherwise I’d not be functional at all), and there are plenty of diseases you also can only treat (versus cure).
I dunno, that’s just not a distinction that’s ever bothered me.