I've noticed that the white therapists I've had will do this thing where they dismiss my ADHD diagnosis in an attempt to be progressive

They automatically assume that I was mistakenly diagnosed as a child

(I was diagnosed by a Black woman when I was 22 years old)

But what they don't realize is that they're straight up perpetuating stereotype while claiming to do the opposite

like instead of assuming how, when, and why I received my ADHD diagnosis, you could just...ask?

This isn't to discount how ableism & misdiagnoses have been used to uphold anti-Blackness

We definitely need to take a critical look at why getting a certain diagnosis opens the door for mistreatment in the first place

and I think we can also hold multiple truths at once

There are Black children who get misdiagnosed with ADHD, *and* there are Black children with ADHD who get misdiagnosed with highly stigmatized (and questionable) disorders like Oppositional Defiant Disorder

And then there are also those who had zero blueprint and just spent our lives thinking there was just something inherently wrong with us

racism in mental health doesn't show up in one way

I could do a whole thread on why I resent the fact that ODD even exists

it's completely dependent on adults' perception of children's behavior and most of the "symptoms" sound like understandable reactions to an overwhelming environment (e.g. traditional classrooms)

Idk I've been having a really hard time articulating my thoughts for the past few weeks, so I'm all over the place

the whole concept of diagnosis is super messy, and I wish the mental health field would be more open to new possibilities

Shout-out to all Disability Justice organizers for the work they have done and continue to do