Fictional characters who prob had ADHD
I should have run this list by Becca first, but yolo.
Is it just me or does ADHD feel like the hot new accessory that all the cool kids have right now? Like a matching cropped sweatshirt set or Gucci belt.
I’m kidding, of course.
ADHD is a very real diagnosis and not some kind of quirky mental health gimmick used to generate relatable content. Believe me, I am not trying to make light of it. But I’ve noticed that the diagnosis is a lot more prevalent these days. My observation is very skewed of course, because:
Almost all of my favorite humans have ADHD
Because of point #1, I am now deeply ingrained in Instagram ADHD culture. I watch a ton of ADHD reels and get sent a bunch of memes, and this content is wild to me. I find myself asking, Is this how their brains actually work? How do they get anything done? It’s a miracle they’re not in jail for tax evasion by just forgetting to mail that shit in.
The reels and memes help me understand ADHD brains a lot better (which, phew!) and they also show me that wow…I think a LOT of people out there have ADHD…
With this new lens and new knowledge about the condition, I’ve been evaluating some of my favorite shows and characters through the lens of, “Hmmm…might this fictionalized person or anthropomorphized cartoon have ADHD?”
So I am gonna play my favorite game (and the favorite game of mental health professionals everywhere) and diagnose some fictional characters with a very non-fiction disorder based on stereotypes! What could go wrong!?*
**Ok, but seriously this whole post is a joke. ADHD is legit and not something that should be minimized or made fun of.
Maria, The Sound of Music
Late everywhere and very scattered
Fellow nuns (aka coworkers) annoyed with her being flakey and inattentive
Wants to be a nun. No wait, she doesn’t. Wait, yes she does.
“Let’s do a puppet show! Let’s sing a song! Nevermind, now I’m gonna hyper-fixate on sewing play clothes for seven children out of curtains!”
There’s a whole-ass song about how she is a cloud you cannot pin down, (a very poetic way of describing ADHD).
The White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland
Late everywhere even though he has a clock right in front of his face
Jittery and harried energy; frantically running around and forgetting everything
Always shouting random, internal thoughts
Lives in a constant state of panic; too stressed by the demands of the Queen of Hearts to organize his life (although with the threat of being beheaded, I suppose we can’t begrudge him too much for this)
Kramer, Seinfeld
Patient 0 for ADHD
Always has 80,000 random projects going at any given time (Calvin Klein model, coffee book author, running an alternate Movie Phone number, owner of Kramerica Industries, etc. forever)
Never knows where any of his things are
Bad at boundaries and reading the social cues of his friends
Super distracted: he’s always falling asleep in hot tubs, leaving his jacket in the oven, setting his friends’ cabins on fire etc. forever
The Cat in the Hat
The poster child for hyper impulsivity, the Cat in the Hat barges into this random family’s home and the amount of drama he causes is astounding.
Delights in chaos and mess.
Unable to focus on singular tasks; has 900 games and arguments going at any given moment (Juggling! Flying a kite! Carrying his friends around in a wooden crate?????)
Cannot and does not listen to the children or the goldfish (the voice of reason in this book).
Tracy Jordan, 30 Rock
Super charming and charismatic, but his unreliability is also an ongoing joke throughout all 7 seasons
Like Kramer, always has 900,000 projects and ideas going on at one time
Constantly making random outbursts and pursuing impulsive ideas
Amelia Bedelia
Misunderstands pretty much everything; highly distracted and confused; should definitely not be taking care of children.
Takes everything literally and doesn’t understand the nuances of social conversations.
Poor organizational skills.
Is this woman ok? I honestly think this is less ADHD and more brain damage.
Who am I forgetting? Add your theories and takes to the comments.
Kramer for sure has ADHD, i randomly internally debated whether he does have ADHD and I think he really does and maybe that is why i associate myself with him. He's unemployed and delves into projects that are rarely completed either because it turns out to be difficult to complete or because he just has to jump into another project before he loses interest.
I think everyone nowadays think they have ADHD but that is not always the case, I believe that it is the use of technology specifically smart phones and social media that is making them have those ADHD symptoms. Think about it this way, your on Tik Tok or watching reels and you swipe and swipe and swipe almost continuously for hours which gives your brain a short attention span because the majority of the time you are not really learning anything from social media. After a while your mind acclimates to this behavior which is a short attention span and unable to focus and that may escalate to fatigue, laziness, mental restlessness. I'm speaking from experience but that is just what I have realized in my own behavior. I knew I had ADHD since I was a kid but was never medicated and recently started on medication but it was not as effective as when I recently stopped using a smart phone and decreased my social media usage from an average of 8 hours throughout the day to 2 hours maximum only at night when my day is done. The difference I have seen in myself is shocking to say the least, it’s been 6 months of not using a smartphone and in those 6 months of being very present in life I feel like I was reborn.
This is great!! Completely cracked me up. --> "'Let’s do a puppet show! Let’s sing a song! Nevermind, now I’m gonna hyper-fixate on sewing play clothes for seven children out of curtains!'" I love your sense of humor and observations, Elyse.