Fashion for the disorder: why the term ADHD has become popular
Among the most popular words and phrases of the past year were such terms as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, narcissistic trauma and cognitive flexibility. Russians were particularly interested in these concepts last year. What fashionable terms mean, why they got into the popular rating, and whether people who are far from medicine always interpret medical diagnoses correctly — in the Izvestia article.
From harrasment and gaslighting to hyperactivity
Fashionable terms change from year to year, but they have nothing to do with the picture of real requests for psychological help, says clinical psychologist and body therapist Sergey Volkov.
— Such statistics reflect trends in information on the Internet, and they are shaped by bloggers' content, not people's problems. These queries can be used to track advertising, pricing, traffic, and audience interest, but not their needs," the clinical psychologist comments.
Judging by the links on the Internet, terms such as abuse, gaslighting, neglect and harassment were popular in 2024. In 2023 - conformity, fabbing, rigidity, assertiveness, orbiting, gatsbing, ambivalence.
—Every year, bloggers change their content to stay relevant and in demand," continues Volkov. — Old topics are "wearing out", getting worn out and exhausting themselves, and new, unknown words like "ignorance" or "assertiveness" attract attention. The audience responds with interest. However, the online community is only a small part of our real world. It doesn't make sense to judge the whole society based on these requests.
As for the real state of affairs, according to Sergey Volkov, statistics show that from year to year people are concerned about the phenomenon of anxiety. They are also more likely to show interest in thinking and communication skills that allow them to be more effective in working with teams.
The interest in diagnoses and the tendency to apply professional medical terms to the place and out of place is now inherent not only to pensioners, but also to very young people. The main reason for this phenomenon, the clinical psychologist considers people's distrust of healthcare in cases where the quality of medical services is formal and bureaucratic.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
What is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and why is it so popular lately?
—ADHD is a neurological and behavioral disorder of human development that occurs in childhood," explains Sergey Volkov. — This phenomenon is neurological, that is, it is based on changes in body tissues. Conventionally, there are three major types of ADHD. The first is hyperactive, when the child needs to constantly actively move, and this is not his arbitrary desire. The second is a type of attention deficit, when it is difficult to concentrate on a certain action. Such children have difficulty remembering new information and are instantly distracted. And the third is combined, which includes approximately the same signs of the mentioned symptoms.
According to the clinical psychologist, the causes of ADHD are still being clarified, there are contradictions in its interpretation, but we can name the main ones.:
— genetic changes;
— early lesions of the child's nervous system, which are affected by the mother's bad habits (smoking and alcohol), infectious diseases she suffered during pregnancy, taking powerful drugs, early but not severe impairment of the development of brain structures;
— psychological factors: mainly pressure from parents, heavy loads that the child cannot cope with, as a result — constant failure.
Sergey Volkov emphasizes that the latter reason divides the community of doctors and psychologists into two camps. Some believe that psychological conditions can cause ADHD, while others do not.
Organic changes cannot be outgrown, the syndrome does not go away with age, warns Volkov. Therefore, it is necessary to seek help from specialists such as neurologists and psychiatrists. Working with a psychologist cannot get rid of organic disorders — it's like treating a broken leg with breathing, but psychology teaches such children to adapt their characteristics to the real world.
Inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity (making rash decisions) are the main external symptoms of ADHD. However, they can easily be confused with other disorders or even some features of normal behavior.
— It is normal that a four—year-old child does not want to learn a foreign language and does not even understand why he needs it, but runs around the room and laughs. It's not normal if he doesn't want anything, he's sad, but he keeps running," comments Sergey Volkov.
Inattention, according to the expert, can be both a personal feature and a consequence of shock trauma or early depression, or it can become a manifestation of fatigue due to some serious illness. But if the child is always inattentive, then this is already a reason to sound the alarm. ADHD requires a comprehensive study and the exclusion of many other diseases and disorders, the clinical psychologist emphasizes.
— Most often, ordinary people use this diagnosis when they want to justify their behavior or explain personal failures, — continues Volkov. — The US National Institute of Mental Health (the largest in the study of ADHD) estimates that up to 70% of such diagnoses are misdiagnosed due to the lack of comprehensive diagnosis.
According to Sergey Volkov, parents often give their children impossible tasks, and then come to the conclusion that if a five-year-old cannot study for eight hours in a row in clubs and sections, then he has ADHD. But in fact, it simply "does not take out" such loads. "We must admit that we adults demand almost the impossible from young children in pursuit of our parental ambitions," Sergey Volkov sums up.
— Five years ago, it was fashionable to attribute depression to oneself, then "bipolar disorder" (bipolar disorder). The fashion for diagnoses appeared a long time ago. This allows people to absolve themselves of responsibility and not be responsible for their behavior. Like, it's not me who's inattentive, it's me who has ADHD. And everyone around me should understand and forgive my mistakes," says Sergey Volkov. — The easiest way to assess the reality of a diagnosis is to ask for information about it. Most people do not understand and do not know what kind of syndrome it is and how it differs from an anxiety disorder or simply from an excess of strength and energy.
What is narcissistic trauma?
Narcissistic trauma ranks second in the ranking of popular psychological terms. This concept has nothing to do with the very narcissists who terrorize loved ones because of a mental disorder.
—The concept of narcissistic trauma was introduced by Sigmund Freud,— comments Sergey Volkov. — This is a type of mental trauma in which self-esteem is impaired, depending on external factors and other people's opinions. People who experience it have short periods of self-confidence and a sense of superiority, but most of the time they feel shame, fear, and anxiety about the perceived "exposure" of their own insignificance.
The very term "narcissism" comes from the name of the Greek mythological hero Narcissus, the essence of the concept is self—love. However, it is not necessarily a question of constant narcissism and a sense of superiority over others. Narcissism is any form of self—love, both healthy (positive self-esteem and self-confidence) and unhealthy (narcissistic personality disorder), the expert emphasizes.
— It is important not to confuse narcissistic trauma with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), — warns Sergey Volkov. — NRL refers specifically to psychiatric disorders. This is an ingrained relationship style that represents a mania for superiority, one's own exclusivity at the level of obsession, often with denial of reality and replacing it with fantasies about oneself and one's imaginary qualities. Narcissistic trauma can be cured, but the disorder is questionable.
According to Volkov, narcissistic trauma most often occurs as a way to endure childhood, in which adults do not give the child any emotional support, deny his uniqueness and endlessly demand to prove the right to love and recognition. In this scenario, he is recognized as a person only if the parent sees his "correct" behavior or actions. The child grows up convinced of his own insignificance and always tries to prove the opposite, the expert emphasizes. Oddly enough, this has its advantages: people with narcissistic trauma often achieve heights and become very successful. But getting rid of it is necessary. With the help of specialists, these people gradually learn skills that change the concept of "being perfect and right" to "being happy," says the expert.
Cognitive flexibility and its benefits
The most positive of the fashionable psychological terms is cognitive flexibility. This is the name given to the brain's ability to adapt to new conditions and quickly switch between ways of thinking to solve problems. Anna Guseva, a practicing psychologist, calls cognitive flexibility one of the most interesting topics of our time — it's not for nothing that this term is very popular.
"In our unpredictable world, cognitive flexibility is the most valuable investment in oneself,— Guseva continues. — Flexible people do not break down, they adapt to difficulties, find ways out of any situations, create new opportunities. Where others see the end, they see the beginning of new opportunities. Let's imagine that we are driving on the navigator, and the road is blocked. A person with low cognition will persist in trying to drive the usual way or will fall into despair. And the owner of the developed flexibility will instantly change directions: find a detour, switch to public transport, or postpone the trip.
Cognitive flexibility protects not only from external crises, but also from internal ones, helps to get out of toxic relationships, abandon non-working strategies, not get stuck in resentments, and change your usual job.
— The prefrontal cortex, responsible for the flexibility of thinking, is finally formed by the age of 25. But that doesn't mean that you can't develop cognitive flexibility afterwards," the practicing psychologist encourages. — The brain is plastic. He can be trained for a lifetime.
A practicing psychologist assigns a significant role to the diversity of life experience, calling it a kind of library of solutions. The more you travel and communicate with different people, the more flexible your thinking becomes. Monotonous life, according to Guseva, gradually cements neural connections. A person who has lived in the same city all his life, worked in the same place, walked the same roads and communicated with the same circle of people has fewer options in his head.
A practicing psychologist draws attention to the fact that the flexibility of thinking is influenced by the principles of upbringing adopted in the family. If in early childhood a child was raised in a strict framework, urging him to act only in a certain way, rejecting all other possible options, then the brain gets used to the same algorithm. — And if he was allowed to experiment, make mistakes, and find his own ways, then he had the opportunity to train flexibility from an early age. Of course, we are not talking about security installations: they are important in any case.
A practicing psychologist also advises paying maximum attention to the effects of stress. Chronic stress destroys the flexibility of the brain — our main organ goes into survival mode, in which only rigid mechanisms of automatism, a certain set of actions work, which does not contribute to the development of thinking abilities. Flexibility and the ability to let go of a situation help in dealing with stress, make it possible not to cling to negative thoughts and emotions.
— When you encounter a problem, try to find at least three solutions, even if the first one seems perfect. It trains the brain to find an alternative. And it is important to communicate with people who are different from themselves — of other views, other spheres and ages. You should not argue with them, but you should sincerely try to understand their logic.: This is how the worldview expands," Anna Guseva continues.
It is advisable for people of any age to learn new things: foreign languages, music, dancing, drawing — everything that is unusual for a person. The brain, which is constantly learning, remains flexible, the expert emphasizes.
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