Jeremy England DMN946 Research Course 1: Orientation to Professional Research (Online) 11/9/23 Susan B. Carole, PhD
Clergy members are largely unaware of what ADHD is, let alone how to gracefully and compassionately minister to someone who suffers from the disorder.
If I were to conduct a poll, I would be confident in predicting that anyone I stopped on the street to ask if they knew what Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was, they would have an answer that relates to either fidgeting/restlessness or not paying attention. To be fair to my imaginary poll group, the word hyperactive is in the title of the dysfunction itself, so it’s a pretty good guess.
However, that really only scratches the surface of the disorder. The problem with distilling the disorder that effects “7.2% of children and adolescents worldwide… and 2.5% of adults worldwide” 1 is that it ignores the very real dysfunctions that can and will affect all areas of an individual’s life. It is a disservice to a person with ADHD to remove symptoms for the betterment of all and think that the problems are gone or not worth addressing.
Clergy members can be at the forefront of helping those with ADHD lead healthy and vibrant spiritual lives, and that in turn will lead to more compassion and understanding for other disorders such as the closely related autism. Helping clergy members to develop more compassion and grace through education of one disorder, will only serve to have more compassion and grace for all people.
Footnotes
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American Psychiatric Association, ed. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5-TRTM. Fifth edition, text Revision. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2022. ↩