Mel Robbins has ADHD and credits hyperfocus with building her social media presence and landing book deals. But she says framing it as a superpower ignores the real daily struggles, like having an uncontrollable power that launches you into space at any moment.
Is ADHD a superpower? No. Everyone asks me that. I am so jealous of the people who say that it is. I'm jealous of the people who say that it is. And the reason for that is I feel like there are some things that ADHD has brought me that I wouldn't have otherwise, like being on social media, going to the White House, getting book deals. Like, that is because of my ADHD. That's because of that hyperfocus. That's because I was interested in something and it bled into this area. But there's also things on a day-to-day scale that I feel so limited by. And I feel like the analogy that I give is, it's like a superpower that I have very little agency over. 'Cause it's like, you can fly now and that's your superpower, but you can't choose when or where. So you're just gonna blast off into space at any given time. Oh my God. I love the concept of a positive reframe and I think there is, some beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful things about ADHD. I really do. But I think there's also some things that are really difficult to deal with. And I think when people continuously focus on that superpower trope, it kind of, for me, it diminishes the struggle. And so I feel like the best way to approach ADHD is just realistically. They're good. They, they, just like anything else, there's good stuff, there's bad stuff, and it's how you deal with it.
Oprah Winfrey: How to Find Your Unique Purpose, Authentic Power, and Calling in Life
