Celebrity ADHD?

I thought I had absolutely no interest in blogging about Kanye West, who seems to be the number one topic of conversation in the blogosphere over the last few days.  I don't have TV, much less cable, and haven't watched MTV in decades.  One celebrity was mean to another celebrity because they got an award they thought should have gone to yet another celebrity... yawn.  I'm usually interested in looking at any kind of racial analysis in the media but I care so little about the celebrities involved that I didn't muster up the energy in this case.

Then I read this post at the Republic of T that casts the episode in a different light...

In fact, four of the five most common social problems experienced by kids with ADD/ADHD could easily apply to West.

* Interrupting others – One of the primary symptoms associated with ADHD is impulsivity. The uncontrollable urge to speak makes it hard to listen. Additionally, kids with ADHD have difficulty focusing on one thought for very long, therefore getting their thought out may be more important than joining in the rhythm of the conversation.
* Failure to understand others anger – Kids with ADHD don’t perceive their inconsiderate actions as rude. They may not be able to understand why the schoolmate they interrupted 10 times in a five minute conversation was angry. After all what’s wrong with joining in on the conversation.
* Being Perceived as Self Centered – Self centeredness can be a serious problems both for kids and adults. The ADHD personality may come across as one that doesn’t understand the feelings or needs of others. If this trait is carried forward into adulthood it can be very problematic in personal relationships. For kid with ADHD it often causes problems with schoolmates, parents, and teachers.
* Not respecting others space – Little Johnny sat behind Sara in class. He continually bumps her chair and when no one is looking pulls her hair. Little Johnny doesn’t understand why he keeps getting in trouble, after all he likes little Sara. Kids with ADHD struggle with the concept of personal space. When you combine the disregard for others personal space with ADHD symptoms such as hyperactivity and inattention, classmate Sara should ask for a different seat assignment immediately!
* Poor sportsmanship – One of the common traits of ADHD children is becoming easily frustrated. Frustration can spill over into other activities such as sports; leading kids with ADHD to cheat if they fall behind and throw temper tantrums if the outcome isn’t acceptable. Often poor losers have trouble finding others to interact with socially thus adding to their already unpredictable behavior.

And in West’s behavior, I recognize at least one symptom of ADD/ADHD.

Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequence

I have mixed feelings about using ADHD as a label. I think it's used too often to label and limit kids. But there's also power (for the good) in understanding the way they think and benefiting from the experience of others with similar conditions.

All the above behaviors also apply to Sunny. I do think he has ADHD. After talking with NN, I think it runs in his maternal family, just like it runs in mine.  As I've often said, I don't think Sunny's ADHD is as severe as my cousin's or my uncle's. ADHD is just a bracketed subset along a mental spectrum. Sunny has a lot of problems with interrupting, personal space issues and so on, but he can function in a normal classroom with a fairly light set of 504-plan accommodations.

I almost hate to say it, but Sunny's personality seems rather Kanye-ish. He has a strong and very rigid sense of fairness. He interrupts others and speaks loudly. He expresses whatever he feels at any given moment, whether it's love, sadness or anger. He has a huge amount of confidence and thinks he's great at everything. He's very popular with other kids, but they also get mad at him at all the time. Sunny's ten-year-old friend often gives him lectures about his behavior! If he had a blog it would probably be in all capital letters.

This is not to say that he's helpless to change the more negative aspects of his behavior. We work on sportsmanship all the time and we've made some decent progress. He's capable of good sportsmanship, it's just more difficult for him than for the average child.

I agree with the blogger Terrance that if Kanye has ADD/ADHD, it isn't an excuse. He was still acting like a jackass (as Obama said). Or maybe he was drunk. Likely it was all three at the same time: he was being a drunk jackass with ADD/ADHD.

Terrance, who has ADD, offered this piece of advice for challenging situations based on his own experience. It's one I'm going to keep in mind for Sunny.

My strategy, for those times, is to fall back on a rule I taught myself years ago: “If I don’t say anything, I can’t say the wrong thing. If I don’t do anything, I can’t do anything wrong.”

And I almost forgot, my stepfather was diagnosed a few years ago (in his late fifties) with ADD plus PTSD.  He has horrendously bad impulse control.  I love him, but he's totally helpless in many ways and if it wasn't for my mother he'd probably be sleeping in a ditch somewhere.  Medication (a varying combination of Ritalin, Wellbutrin and Lexapro) has vastly improved his quality of life.  He had to discontinue the Ritalin for a while because of his Hepatitis C, but he wants to get back on it.