Abstract

Author: Shahad HassanTitle: The meaning of an ADHD-diagnosis Supervisor: Urlika Järkestig-BerggrenAssessor: Torbjörn Forby

The purpose of this study is to show how biographers and chroniclers with an ADHD-diagnosis describe their identity experiences before, during and after diagnosis. The purpose is also to show if these identity experiences can be understood based on deviance and stigma.The result showed that the authors had a negative view of themselves before the diagnose ADHD. The negative views they had come from the environment that negatively affected them. After the diagnosis, the self-image has improved, the authors began to understand themselves much more than before. The results also showed that ADHD- diagnosis gave a confirmation of the identity. Many authors that felt lost said that the diagnosis has led them to being identified.

The conclusion of the study is that the authors have different experiences of the diagnosis. But some of them showed that ADHD may have a connection to stigma and at the same time it also confirms the identity.

Keywords:  ADHD, ADHD diagnosis, identity, stigma, self image, environment