Take this example; We are having a conversation about your favorite fruit. You swear by honeycrisp apples, but I say cotton candy grapes are the best. Naturally, we debate with no real goal of convincing the other to change, just that we are right and they are wrong. However, halfway through our conversation about fruit, I start talking about how good the movie “IT” is, and that you should totally watch it. Hm, one moment we were on grapes, now we’re on horror movies. To your average person, these things have absolutely nothing in common and I just randomly changed the subject. But to the ADHDer, this transition makes perfect sense. 

Let me explain.

The word “Therapy” most likely creates a certain mental image for you. Often we think of the older man with a long, white beard, rounded glasses, and a suit vest. Then there's the old saying, “Tell me how that makes you feel.” While not all therapists look like that image (in fact, most of us try to avoid it), and we are generally more creative with asking about your emotions, these ideas of therapy have made it into the mainstream. However, one huge part of clinical mental health that hasn’t entered pop-psych is session rapport. Or put another way, trust in your therapist. 

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, is a condition many have heard of, but few truly understand. Even those diagnosed sometimes struggle to fully grasp how far such a condition changes everyday functioning. Now, despite the word Disorder, ADHD only describes a deviation from the norm rather than a profound dysfunction. At least in most cases.

The 5 human senses of smell, taste, touch, sight, and hearing are essential to our understanding of the world around us. That day at the grocery store reminded me of how powerful these senses can be. Now I am not particularly sensitive to smells, however many individuals on the autistic spectrum are. An inconvenient experience like mine could have been a deeply troubling one for someone with scent sensitivity.