120 Famous ADHDers

By Dr. Jeff Chamberlain, MD
From the Living With ADHD Blog Series

10 Comments

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• E.M. Wollof

  It always surprises me how often someone being bored with the daily tedium or just not showing any interest in the majority is diagnosed with ADHD. The actual thinkers in this group that have had an impact on humanity weren't ADHD, they just didn't view the world the same way and we have prospered because of their originality. Oddly enough, the symptoms of this extremely popular disorder tend to point towards "outside of the box" thinking. Is it any wonder that we are trying to medicate that very quality out of our future generations?
  Commented on HelloLife December 12 2011 at 9:09 am

• Erin Froehlich

  E - I respect what you're saying here, but isn't it just as unfounded to say that these people did NOT have ADHD as it is to say that without a doubt they did? For those famous people on this list that are no longer living and were never actually tested, we can't know one way or the other. The main thing is though each of these people reportedly experienced ADHD symptoms, they overcame them and became very successful.
  Commented on HelloLife December 12 2011 at 11:13 am

• E.M. Wollof

  Considering that this exact list can be found around the net pushing t-shirts and posters for schools, I would say the list mirrors the function of the disorder quite well...a massive money maker.
  Commented on HelloLife December 13 2011 at 8:20 am

• Erin Froehlich

  Creating profit doesn't make a thing wrong. Are apples wrong? Is milk? What about clothing? Or cars? Or homes?
  Commented on HelloLife December 13 2011 at 10:56 am

• E.M. Wollof

  Creating a disorder to make a profit is most definitely wrong. Using products grown from nature is not. We struggle to characterize and compartmentalize our lives because when they are in order they make more sense, in this struggle the ideas that we have trouble explaining cause us extreme panic. This panic causes us to latch onto the best option available to us. With so much of our information coming from the modern media there is a great opportunity for less than reputable means to determine the definition of these ideas. Is it so hard to believe that these massive companies may have put a name to your fear and then charged you to control it?
  Commented on HelloLife December 14 2011 at 11:16 am

• Erin Froehlich

  But that immediately assumes that the disorder was created to make money. Do you know who "created" it? While the idea is not impossible, I'd say it's unlikely and would be very hard to prove.
  
  As humans, we understand the world around us and the problems within us by identifying patterns. Naming a disorder is a just a way of describing a symptom pattern and I have no doubt that as time goes on, they will find newer more accurate ways to describe the group of people now characterized as "ADHD" into smaller pattern subsets, "creating" new disorder with new names and new solutions.
  
  Disorder IS extremely subjective, but by definition, the set of symptoms characterizing ADHD are not a disorder until they cause a significant problem in a person's life and I believe that when people have a problem, they ought to do what they can to overcome it and be successful. Having the diagnosis is a good first step.
  
  In obtaining name to their set of problems, they are being given a starting point. By describing all their symptoms in a single word they can then far more easily discuss and learn about it. Of course, it is up to them to then decide what to do with the wealth of information we have out there regarding this common set of symptoms known as ADHD.
  
  Out there are a lot of people out there with a lot of different ideas, and yes, products, meant to help the people that are struggling to be successful with these symptoms. And yes, no argument, some are better than others. It'd be a mistake to think that all offering solutions are in it purely for the goodness of their heart, but then again it seems outrageously cynical to say that all are purely in it for profits and greed and the desire to control - an unlikely idea as well.
  Commented on HelloLife December 14 2011 at 2:48 pm

• E.M. Wollof

  Those that think that the desire to control is an unlikely idea haven't read up on their history. Take a nice glimpse at this list and notice the man that changed the way we interact and view our world forever...Albert Einstein. Common knowledge dictates that Oppenheimer was the man responsible for the A-bomb, and he was responsible for the manufacturing, but Einstein's theories were the motor behind this engine of destruction. In his lifetime, there was never a larger regret that he had than allowing something like that to come from his work. The greed and rise to power (as Nietzsche wrote) that man embodies can not be denied and it is plain ignorance to think that it doesn't directly affect our everyday lives. We are the umbra of the puppet masters, inexorably pulled into a future of our own design.
  Commented on HelloLife December 15 2011 at 8:08 am

• Erin Froehlich

  I didn't say the desire to control was an unlikely idea. It's out there, and it's in us all, but it's not always even a bad thing. We control in positive ways as well. Creating art is a form of control. The unlikely idea is that ALL the information and resources being offered for ADHD is motivated chiefly by the desire to control for personal gains.
  Commented on HelloLife December 15 2011 at 10:16 am

• Dr. Jeff Chamberlain, MD

  E.M. I find it interesting that you state "The actual thinkers in this group that have had an impact on humanity weren't ADHD." Is this because you do not believe ADHD exists or is it because you do not believe a person with ADHD could be a "thinker" or have the abilities to make "an impact on humanity?"
  Commented on HelloLife December 20 2011 at 3:33 pm

• E.M. Wollof

  I don't believe that ADHD exists...period. I believe that what you call ADHD is a symptom of an archaic education system that no longer knows how to educate. A society that has aligned itself with the boisterous hero. A medical institution that is more concerned with insurance money than actual health care.
  Commented on HelloLife April 25 at 11:01 am

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