ADHD can also be totally debilitating and I - a person with strong ADHD - don't think this talk of "it's an advantage" is helping anyone. Yeah in very few cases there are some positives, but usually not.

In my case, I was hyper-focused on computers since I was a child, and that got me my career/business and that probably saved my life -- because I was totally unable to do anything in school and wasn't able to finish first year of high school and dropped out of it. I wouldn't call it an advantage even though it's probably the reason why I'm so good with computers.

In many cases like the CEOs you speak of, you see the surface - their success - but you ignore the problems they have in day-to-day life, the ruined childhood and the ruined relationships in adulthood. Many would trade all their success for normal life.

It's definitely a disorder. A weird one that might give you above average abilities in some very specific cases and areas of life, but still a disorder. You wouldn't say autism isn't a disorder just because there are few autistic savants.

Also consider - ADHD is much more often present in highly intelligent people. What you see might be a person that was able to overcome their disorder through their intelligence, but their life would be much better and they'd be way more successful had they not have the disorder. And now imagine how a person of average intelligence with ADHD must struggle with their life.

ADHD really doesn't correlate with IQ, I think what you meant is that adults with ADHD who can get their life together enough to get diagnosed are more likely to also be intelligent, which is true, and those with ADHD and cognitive deficits on top are far more likely to be forgotten and to end up in a prison, which is also sadly true.

I have an IQ of 136, which is considered to be very gifted, but my performance and life success thus far are decidedly average. It's a debilitating condition if it's not detected in time and not managed.

Same here. I'm sure I'd be able to do much better if it was not for my ADHD. I don't even care about business - but I'm really sad about my childhood, and about the adult relationships I ruined before I knew what's up with me.

It is indeed a sad state of affairs and a continuously deteriorating one at that. Ironically unhelpful are all the extra hoops society makes us "neurodivergents" jump through again and again before they'll give us the the things we need that will let us become more like them.

With regards to the second half of your post: I understand how you meant for it to come across and that you posted it with the best of intentions, but it still hurts a little bit to read. To save you the sob story, let's just say it's a bit similar to telling paraplegic to be happy with his cool motorised wheelchair that he gets to ride around in all day, and that some of the greatest achievements in history were made by people who often sat in chairs also :)

Being fundamentally incapable of feeling content, relaxed, and at ease for more than about three seconds is certainly not the most debilitating thing that could happen to you, and it can make you dogged and tireless, but it’s also not the normal human condition.

It’s a cruel paradox. A constant background of quiet anxiety, permanent absence of satisfaction, risk taking behavior combined with gripping fear of failure, and a perpetual quest for more can be a great adaptation in an unstable and insecure environment. However, it’s not exactly a blessing.