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Structuring the Self: Moral Implications of Getting an ADHD Diagnosis

ABSTRACT In this article, I examine experiences of getting an ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) diagnosis in adulthood. I illustrate how getting an ADHD diagnosis is a process in which existential questions are raised; judgements and choices are made; and everyday practices are scrutinised, evaluated and changed. Inspired by an analytical framework offered by anthropologist Cheryl Mattingly and based on interviews with adults diagnosed with ADHD, I analyse the implications of being diagnosed with ADHD. I argue that the implications entail various moral tasks that can be analysed from what Mattingly calls three moral scenes: (1) the trial where moral judgements are made; (2) the workshop where practices are cultivated and (3) the moral laboratory where everyday experiments are carried out. In closing, I will briefly discuss the societal conditions for how diagnoses have become carriers of self-understandings.