DEAN HAS ADHD or ADHDean, a Thread*

*i am not a professional, merely an adhd person with a lot of time to project. please take my words with a grain of salt!

Rejection Sensitivity

“Extreme emotional sensitivity and pain triggered by the perception that a person has been rejected or criticized by important people in their life” — this is the ADHD symptom I see reflected in Dean most in canon tbh

As soon as Dean feels rejection and/or abandonment, he begins to shut down - the way he physically recoils is so markedly different from the deep hurt Sam also shows in this scene

Like I said, RS makes you super sensitive to any sort of rejection particularly from your closest loved ones. Logically we all know that Sam leaving was never about just Dean, but to Dean’s brain it’s immediately personal and goes to the core of his fears/insecurities

The situation with Sam leaving for Stanford and Mary leaving to process her resurrection are so paralleled in the way Dean reacts. There’s anger and betrayal and at the root of it is him deeming it a personal rejection - “you needed space from US” - immediately emphasizes the us!

Dean often preempts rejection by pushing people away as soon as he gets any sense of it. Guarding himself by retaking control of the situation. Telling Mary to leave before she can leave herself is a coping mechanism in the face of what he sees as oncoming rejection.

Emotional Dysregulation

Simply this is the inability to modulate your emotions the way a neurotypical brain would. People w/ ADHD tend to go from 0-100 & struggle regulating emotions. We’ve seen Dean emotionally overwhelmed & struggling to stay balanced a lot over the years

People with ADHD and emotional dysregulation are quick to react in all emotions but it tends to show most in outbursts of anger, impulsivity, and having major mood fluctuations. All things we see from Dean. Sometimes even in moments where it seems unwarranted or over the top.

Dean’s issues with anger stem from a lot of things but the emotional dysregulation explains a lot of why his reactions are often so outward and abrupt. Often his reactions seem extremely intense in contrast to those around him because of this.

Addiction Issues

When emotions are overwhelming, people often begin to self-medicate. People with ADHD are at much higher risk of developing dependency and addiction issues in their life for a number of reasons. Dean struggles with alcoholism throughout the entirety of the show

Dean clearly uses alcohol as a crutch during times of major stress which is very much most of his life. He uses it not only to deal with overwhelming feelings of grief, but also as an aide for sleep, which is something else ADHD people often struggle with.

Impulsivity

People with ADHD tend to be very impulsive and impatient. This is one of my favorite Dean moments lol. He’s a go go go kind of guy, quick to act, and moving on impulse and instinct. Emotionally driven and seemingly impulsive decisions are common with ADHD people.

I really feel like Dean telling Cassie about the life was a move made majorly on impulse and driven by a strong emotional response. When Sam confronts him on why, he can’t explain himself - the whole hell deal is another impulsive decision but that has layers lol

Mr.Impulsive saw those complimentary mints and said “Don’t mind if I do!!” — lmfao there are so many moments of Dean being impulsive both in harmless and dangerous ways it could be its own thread

Justice Sensitivity

People with ADHD often have a stronger sense of morality and increased sensitivity to perceived injustice than what is average. Dean’s entire life is about saving those he sees as innocent and not deserving of suffering and righting wrongs.

Yes, saving people was ingrained in him by John. But the way Dean interacts with hunting and the way he takes it on as a role is markedly different than a lot of others and a lot of that seems deeply rooted in his sense of justice. It’s his moral duty. “Why do you care so much?”

Sensory Processing Issues

ADHD can make it overwhelming to process sensory input and often makes you more sensitive to it. Dean mentions physical sensation and comfort a lot in the show both positive and negative.

Dean values physical comfort so much! Whether it’s the dead guy robe, being clean, or the magic fingers. His repeated emphasis on the physical aspect of things always sticks out to me.

Sensory issues also explain the way he has a clothing recipe and sticks to the same type of things for practically his whole life. This ofc is big to do with functionality for hunting, but for someone with sensory sensitivity, sticking to the same materials makes total sense!

The sensory issues can also explain some of his thing with germs and cleanliness which we see throughout the show. Kinda a stretch for ADHD but thought I’d throw it in here

Additional thread on dean, the germaphobe lmaoo: https://twitter.com/goidendean/status/1345817505051279362?s=21

Dean’s selective mutism post Mary’s death is something incredibly common among children with autism and ADHD. The way Dean so often goes quiet and stops talking when he becomes emotionally overwhelmed. S13 after Sam dies, he’s almost entirely silent until Sam comes back.

Even if you look at the way his comebacks are so often delayed - or the way we talk about him needing time to process in 15x18. Too emotionally overwhelmed in the moment to form full sentences. These are all related to auditory processing, something ppl with ADHD struggle with.

Stimming

Stimming covers a wide range of behavior and can be found to a degree in almost anybody but the way it presents & functions in ND people is different. Stimming often acts as self soothing & a way to focus thoughts in people with ADHD. Like humming to calm yourself!

This moment of him at the start of 12x20 always stuck out to me because it encompasses him using this repetitive motion to both soothe himself and help himself think. He’s feeling deep deep betrayal over Cas and him and Sam are discussing next moves at the same time.

Another example of Dean using physical stimulation to center his thoughts and focus as him and Sam are talking a case. Looks like simple distraction from the outside, but Dean’s using it to help him keep his thoughts on track as he thinks through it all.

Interesting to note Dean isn’t even stressed here. The conversation is heavy but ends well. Like i’ve said, stimming is often done when you’re just feeling ~ a lot~ and your brain needs to slow down/process

Some happy stimming Dean to purify this thread

Cant help myself,,,had to add another

Oral stimming/oral fixations are also a pretty common thing and we definitely see it in Dean. I could go on and on because Dean shows stimming behavior ALL the time but I think y’all get the point lol.

Distractibility

One of the better known common ADHD traits!!! I think we can all agree that Dean is just very distractable in general lmfao. Sam talking the case,,,meanwhile Dean

I, too, am often distracted by the mere mention of koalas.

Stimming w the lollipop and hyperfixating at once, truly an ADHD king

Can’t Sit Still for Shit Syndrome

Dean fidgets lol. He taps the steering wheel and hates waiting in general. When it comes to research, he always tries to find a physical task instead. When he does sit still, he usually has food, a drink, or some other activity going as well.

Hyperfixations

Not gonna talk about this a lot because it’s been overdone. Yes, Dean has hyperfixations but not everything he likes is one! Some things are just special interests. Regardless, Dean doesn’t do casual interest lol he tends to immerse himself completely

Eye Contact

Difficulty making eye contact, particularly in vulnerable conversations, shows up in a lot of people with ADHD. In both these scenes, Dean has intentionally placed himself in a position that allows for less eye contact when discussing his internal struggles.

Even here, in a moment of honest vulnerability with Cas, he isn’t able to fully make eye contact when expressing himself! Honestly once I noticed this, I started seeing how often he really does this.

Random Other ADHDean Thoughts
- Intelligent but disliked formal education
- Sleep issues
- Internal battle between desire for stability & inner restlessness
- Change resistant (always eats same food + wears same clothes, hated the BMOL and their hunting methods)
- 12x11!!!!!

Another thing I’ll say is the Sam examples I contrasted using Sam’s response vs Dean’s to prove a point aren’t meant to invalidate any ADHD Sam hcs you might have yourself!! They both just present very differently in general so that would also be true for their ADHD!

Lastly, it’s important to note that a lot of Dean’s ADHD tendencies are also trauma responses to things in his childhood and/or adulthood — they tend to go hand in hand in a lot of ways particularly because of the way ADHD interacts with mental health in general.

Dedicated to my fellow ADHDean truther @sunnycastiel who proofread every tweet and waited patiently while i took months to upload <333