New Controversy
More recent controversy about ADD ADHD – about the harm of “labeling”.
Is there a difference between a label and a diagnosis?
Boy, when I got a label I grabbed it and held on – “Oh, I have ADD! Now I understand why all the index cards, why I couldn’t make model planes, why I killed the pregnant guppy.”
It was such a relief to make sense of it, and it gave me a more focused approach to making things better once I knew what I was dealing with.
Everyone is labeled, automatically
When I worked in the emergency room, I taught that everyone gets labelled but we can chose with what: “He’s not the suicidal patient; he’s the temporarily unemployed carpenter.” or “He’s not the neglectful father, he’s the hardworking fisherman.”
Then we would use metaphors from the labels to work with people.
My labels:
“I’m not the guy who never finishes things; I’m the guy who is learning to cope successfully with ADD.”
From Oren on labeling:
-
Author and Educational Speaker
“Doug, some parents in my practice were conferring with their son’s teacher about a recommendation to undergo diagnosis for an apparent attention problem. The parents objected, “But we don’t want anyone to label our son.” The teacher responded, “He’s already collecting a lot of labels that you might not like, such as “lazy”, “unmotivated”, “class clown” and “weird”. Wouldn’t you prefer that his issues receive a label from someone who has his best interest at heart and can help him deal with the issues?””
I love it!!
doug
Moral o the Day : The more of us who come out, the less stigma there will be.
Quote o the Day: “People tend to act the way we expect them to act.”
If you missed Jerry Bair’s good tips on improving
“A rose is a rose is a — Look! – is that an orchid?”
ADDadultstrategies 
Well said! I like to think in terms of “distinctions” rather than “labels” — but we are saying the same thing: knowing what you are dealing with is the key to moving on with power.
“Can’t” and “won’t” are quite different things — only the first one allows us to figure out what we CAN do to work *around* what we “can’t.” Without THAT particular distinction, we’re forever tethered to the “stop this nonsense and just try harder” treadmill, which is a recipe for lousy self-esteem leading to a lousy life.
With the ability to reframe that comes with looking our challenges squarely in their beady little eyes, we have what we need to be able to begin (at last!) to move onward and upward. And everybody’s for THAT, right?
xx,
mgh
Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com
– ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
“It takes a village to transform a world!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Madelyn- yes. i like your “work around”.
thank you for commenting
doug
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure. Thank YOU for writing something worthy of comment. xx, mgh
LikeLike
I love that, too. Labels can be very good!
LikeLike
homey-
“if ignorance is bliss, why are there so many unhappy people?”
isn’t it better to know?
thanks
doug
LikeLike