The Effect of ADHD Diagnosis on Individual Identity Formation

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dc.contributorChristian, George
dc.creatorThompson, Morgan
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-28T19:09:53Z
dc.date.available2024-02-28T19:09:53Z
dc.date.issued2021-05
dc.description.abstractIdentity formation and the narratives we construct about who we are, why we perceive the world around us the way we do, and the lens through which we interpret our environment are all life long processes that are formed as we encounter experiences that shape us into the person that we have been, are, and will be. Categorization processes, including the diagnostic process, have a dramatic effect on how we perceive ourselves, as they define and associate us within broader social groups that we use to relate to and identify ourselves. Diagnoses shape our identities through a variety of mechanisms, including stigma, illness narratives, illness stereotypes, social factors, and institutions, and how we perceive our diagnoses has a dramatic impact on how we view ourselves. Mental health diagnoses have a particular impact on individual identity formation, as we view the mind as central to our individual identity. While identity is a well studied phenomenon, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is a fairly new diagnostic label. Not much literature has been dedicated to studying how the ADHD diagnosis affects the individual’s identity formation. Thus, my thesis enhances current research by describing the processes through which we form our identities, how we make sense of diagnoses, and the structures that form diagnoses in order to answer how ADHD diagnosis affects individual identity formation. After discussing the processes through which ADHD diagnosis is interpreted by the individual, my thesis discusses how to improve the diagnostic process and the ADHD label in hopes that refinement of these processes will benefit the individual. Study of how mental health and chronic diagnoses affect identity formation are essential for moral and social understanding of our diagnostic and social structures, as we should know how the diagnostic categories we create affect what it means to be us.
dc.description.departmentPsychology
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2152/123839
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.26153/tsw/50633
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofPlan II Honors Theses - Openly Available
dc.rights.restrictionopen
dc.subjectADHD
dc.subjectadolescent
dc.subjectassessment
dc.subjectdiagnosis
dc.subjectidentity
dc.subjectpsychology
dc.subjecttreatment
dc.titleThe Effect of ADHD Diagnosis on Individual Identity Formation
dc.typethesis

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