ADHD Discourse and Navigation of

Identity/Subjectivity

LiteratureFoucauldian analyses (theoretical perspective on ADHD):[overall body of literature]

Singh 2013 “Brain talk: power and negotiation in children’s discourse about self, brain and behavior.”

Bennet 2007 “(Dis)ordering Motherhood: Mothering a Child with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder”

Social constructionist, disabilities studies:[overall body of literature]GoodleyConrad

Content analysis:[overall body of literature]Broer and Heerings 2013: “Neurobiology in

public and private discourse: the case of adults with ADHD”

Horton-Salway 2011 “Repertoires of ADHD in UK newspaper media”

Schmitz et al. 2003 “Social representations of ADHD, 1988-1997”

Ethnographic work:[overall body of literature]Conway 2008 “ADHD and college students:

Experiencing an illness career”Westwater 2012 “Making meaning: The

diagnosis and treatment of ADHD”Doris 1986 “Learning disabilities” (on mental

retardation)

Questionsdebate between social constructionist and

biological/organic (positivist) takeshow do individuals diagnosed with ADHD

experience it? if ADHD is a “social construction,” do diagnosees experience ambiguity and unsurety of interpretation? if ADHD is a “real condition,” do diagnosees feel adamant about need for diagnosis... (messy thinking)

how does identifying as ADHD subject work out in a context of contested meaning and legitimacy?

Methods40 articles on ADHD from January 2013 to

February 2015random sampling within pool of (national?) articles

pulled from database

5 1-hour long interviews, recorded and transcribed

(recruitment?):advertisement of study to students; volunteers

Findings (in progress)in popular media: a schism between takes on

ADHD; debate very presentdiagnosees rely on social comparisons to

accept or own ADHD statusdistinction between those severely impacted

and borderline casesADHD as a site of contested meaning

table visuals Stance on ADHD Diagnosis

No Referral to Debate

Referral to Debate, Even-handed

Critique of ADHD Diagnosis/Treatment

Defense of ADHD Diagnosis/Treatment

Number of articles

13 (32.5%) 7 (17.5%) 17 (42.5%) 3 (7.5%)

pulled headlines (as examples of different type of articles)No Reference to Debate“A new study shows there’s a strong link between ADHD and premature death”“ADHD diet study suggests healthy eating might help kids”“Can anesthesia cause ADHD?”

Even-handed Discussion of Debate“ADHD pill debate moves to brain”“ADHD follows into adulthood”“ADHD medications improve decision-making, but are they being overused?”

Criticism of ADHD Diagnosis/Treatment“A nation of kids on speed”“Drowned in a stream of prescriptions”“The selling of attention deficit disorder”

Defense of ADHD Diagnosis/Treatment“A desperate cry for attention-deficit”“Are doctors diagnosing too many kids with ADHD?”“Sometimes ADHD is real”

pulled quotes, passagestry to find driving rationales, ideas underpinning different attitudes around ADHD

ADHD as Attribution[parts of interviews which explain how ADHD allows struggling individuals to attribute their difficulties to disorder--provide explanation, maybe externalize a little (but maybe ADHD can’t be completely externalized, either? difficulties are always going to be internal, to some extent?)]

Getting diagnosed:

“It would be just a small reassurance here and

there, like, OK, this is just me, this is just a

thing that I have... Like the thing with [not being

able to listen to] my friends. If I found out I had

ADHD, “Oh, that’s why I do it,” right? Or like...

There would be a new excuse, kind of. Or not

even that, more like, “Oh, this is why I’m doing

this,” or like when I’m studying, “Ohh, this is

why I’m always stuck!”

[excerpt from R2 about relief getting

diagnosed?]

Claiming ADHD“The base thing I do, I compare myself to individuals I know who have been diagnosed with ADHD... If I was diagnosed, I guess it would give me the green card to get prescribed medication and being able to use it, but, like, I think for me, it becomes the issue of, I don’t know if I deserve it, kind of. I know people with more extreme cases, and they need it more than I do, so like, I don’t know, it just becomes, I just get iffy.”

interview analysislegitimacy of adhd as a “specter”basing claim to adhd or validity of status on comparisons to others with adhd (vein of social comparison theory?)problem of medicine for legitimacy of adhd(R1 as exemplar)biological sense of adhd, small amt of social

Conclusionspeople hesitate to claim adhd label; use social comparisons to say that they actually do or don’t have adhdmy feeling is that the presence of skepticism around motivation for diagnosis (use for “sick role, benefits, prescribed drugs) --> difficulty claiming statussee links to content analyzed-----------------------------------E: people don’t question whether depression exists, more so about whether it’s a legitimate disorder