"Because You'Re Worth It": A Discourse Analysis Of The Gendered Rhetoric Of The Adhd Woman

Drawing on the traditions of discursive psychology and critical discourse analysis this study examined the presentation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in women in a sample of the most commonly identified online YouTube videos on this topic. The video material selected represented a combination of first-person testimonies from the "sufferer" and the sharing of "expertise" by "professionals." Analysis involved the identification of common rhetorical devices and evaluation of the role of these devices in conveying various key meanings or themes. The categories generated by this method told a story of the construction of an "ADHD product" presented to women by other women, and unproblematically positioned within the biomedical discourse. Stimulant medication was endorsed for its ability to improve performance at work and in the domestic sphere. Women sufferers in the videos appear as "active consumers" promoting the ADHD diagnosis for its ability to enable them to fulfil the "superwoman" ideal. The medicalisation of underperformance witnessed in the videos is discussed in relation to literature on modern-day "discourses of femininity."