Abstract
Abstract The purpose of this article is to describe the subjective experience of the diagnosis of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the cultural meanings that shape this experience. Based on interviews and discussion groups with diagnosed people and their families in Chile and France, this article show that ADHD can acquire multiple meanings. From a thematic analysis, we identified three registers or ways of living and thinking about ADHD. In the deficit register, the disorder is experienced primarily as a failure of certain abilities. In the disruption register, the disorder is experienced as disrupting the person’s life, personality and interactions, which must then be normalized. In the register of hidden potential, on which this article focuses, ADHD is simultaneously thought of as a difficult and valuable condition, a source of exceptional capacities that are often hidden in the ordinary functioning of social life. We therefore invite reflection that identifies the factors of mobilization or non-mobilization of the hidden potential register, with particular emphasis not only on relational configurations, socio-economic variables, and the gender variable, but also on the institutional and political context of each country.
Highlights
O objetivo deste artigo é descrever a experiência subjetiva do diagnóstico de Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção com Hiperatividade (TDAH) e os significados culturais que moldam essa experiência
Taking into account the variability of contexts between France and Chile, what are the subjective experiences of ADHD diagnosis expressed by the people we interwiewed in both countries? We have identified three experience registers that correspond to three ways of living and thinking about the diagnosis of ADHD: the deficit register, in which the disorder is experienced primarily as a failure of certain abilities; the disruption register, in which the disorder is experienced as disrupting the person’s life, personality, and interactions, which must be normalized; and the hidden potential, in whichthe disorder is thought of simultaneously as a difficult and a valuable condition, a source of exceptional and extraordinary capacities that are often hidden in the ordinary functioning of social life
Our analyses revealed that ADHD diagnosis may lead to different subjective appropriations and may have multiple cultural meanings
Summary
O objetivo deste artigo é descrever a experiência subjetiva do diagnóstico de Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção com Hiperatividade (TDAH) e os significados culturais que moldam essa experiência. Com base em entrevistas e grupos de discussão com pessoas diagnosticadas e suas famílias no Chile e na França, este artigo demonstra que diversos significados podem ser atribuídos ao TDAH. O transtorno é vivenciado primariamente como falha de certas habilidades. O transtorno é vivenciado como uma perturbação da vida pessoal, personalidade e interações que necessita ser normalizada. No registro de potencial oculto, foco deste artigo, TDAH é considerado simultaneamente condição difícil e valiosa, fonte de capacidades excepcionais que estão habitualmente ocultas no andamento comum da vida social. Palavras-chave: TDAH; Experiência Diagnóstica; Potencial Oculto; Chile; França
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