# Enneagram and ADHD?



## FindingAllison (Aug 26, 2017)

I have ADHD (inattentive type). I have wondered for a long time if ADHD traits are part of my personality or separate- altering the way my core personality is expressed/experienced. 

I think I've come to believe that they are separate and that my ADHD traits are in direct conflict with my personality. I'm a 1. 

Anyone else have ADHD? How does it affect/ interact with your personality?


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## vivacious (Aug 5, 2017)

@FindingAllison

This is something I have thought of too, as someone who is not neurotypical. I have ADHD, all types (inattentive, hyperactive, impulsive). In addition to this, I have depression, anxiety, and PTSD. I think it's hard to say if we can completely separate these things, and whether it's appropriate to do so, too. That being said, I don't think ADHD traits should keep you from considering a type, though I can understand why you would hesitate with 1. I relate there, as a 1-fixer (I would place my tritype at 6w7 4w3 1w2 so/sx). 

As a child with ADHD, I never gave a fuck about details, about absolute perfection, but my mother's influence changed that and I was forced to mirror her. In retrospect, I questioned for a moment or two whether a 1 fix would be authentic for me, but I think it would be, even if I hadn't tried to become a perfectionist in most respects. (Obviously I had some huge contradictions with organization, because if I were forced to do it I would do well, but my ADHD brain is shit at keeping track of things and managing time, lol.) 

But yeah, I think descriptions should be taken with a grain of salt. Some surface-level characteristics can be ignored. I know that at my core, I was always a huge idealist with a rigid moral character and overbearing conscience. In terms of how ADHD has affected my core... I think it emphasized my 7 wing, with the way I could be persistently escapist with my hyperfocus and impulsivity. 

Not sure what else. Might come back to this. I've definitely had a huge journey with reconciling my old narrative with my actual experiences, once I realized I had ADHD and was finally diagnosed last year... but it didn't affect my enneagram typing journey too much, perhaps because I started it before I was 100% sure I had ADHD.

EDIT: Lol as soon as I posted this I remembered that it DID shake my confidence with regards to my instincts, heart fix, and wing. I mean, I didn't change my type, but it was definitely difficult for me to communicate and understand the contradictions my friends saw but I initially disregarded.

Like, I think some of my ADHD characteristics were mistakenly attributed to w7 and w3 and that was definitely frustrating for me, because I couldn't explain those characteristics very well, and it definitely caused massive internal conflict because who I thought myself to be contradicted with who others could see me as, given the inconsistencies caused by ADHD. For instance, being really inattentive sometimes in conversation, even though I'm extremely caring, social, observant, intense, and value connection so much (6 and so/sx). ADHD also influenced others not really seeing a 4 fix for me, because of the erratic nature of my thoughts and actions sometimes (which can also be attributed to ENFP), how I would flip between being outgoing and withdrawn. It seemed to undermine the validity of how reflective and wistful I actually am.

I've sorted it all out now and am glad that it has come to make sense now, though.

Perhaps I could be more helpful if you elaborated on what specifically is giving you pause over the 1 typing? Like details/examples.


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## Stellafera (Jan 19, 2015)

ADHD inattentive subtype here. I'm like you OP, I see it as seperate from my "true" personality (although some aspects still probably influence me like my legendary ability to forget what I'm doing as I'm doing it). I was diagnosed partway through elementary school and have been on a medication regimen for long enough that it just seems like the medicated me is _who I am_, and the ADHD me is me being dragged by the strings of some annoying puppetmaster. Like this:






I've titrated my dosage down recently, but my attempts to decrease it further seem to have hit a wall in terms of effectiveness. I think I'm pretty much stuck with it. As far as mental disorders go, this is one of the better ones to have due to the relative ease of treatment.


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## fawning (May 31, 2015)

I'm still waiting on a diagnosis (in a week's time) but I also am a 1 and believe what I've been dealing with is inattentive ADHD. 

While I do believe it makes my 1ness appear different, I also think a lot of things about being neuroatypical are essential to who I am and therefore my personality. If I wasn't like this, I wouldn't be me.

Since I've had no help from medication, this has been a thing for me all through my upbringing and that relates directly to what I value and how I behave now. Although I don't think it affects everything, exactly, it affects a great deal!

All this said I don't believe I'm a typical 1, in part due to being as disorganised as I am, but 1 is not _about_ physical order so much as order often follows from 1ness.


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## drmiller100 (Dec 3, 2011)

FindingAllison said:


> my ADHD traits are in direct conflict with my personality. I'm a 1.
> 
> ?



smiles. sent with humor. 

that sentence is such a 1 thing. 

I'm sure I have adhd. I'm an 8. I adjust the world to suit my ADHD. Smiles.


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

ADHD combined type. I think it doesn't really impact one's actual personality type, but it can exaggerate certain traits and behaviors.


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## throughtheroses (May 25, 2016)

My two brothers and I all have ADHD--and we all have 7 as our first or second type. I'm a 479, my first brother is a 739, and my second brother is a 972. (And I know _this_ isn't about the Enneagram, but we each have Ne or Se in our first two cognitive functions).

My dad also has ADHD, and he's a counter-phobic 6w7, with the tritype 613 and MBTI of ESTJ. (He's constantly frustrated at himself for having ADHD and not being as organized as he would hope to be.)

Even one of my closest friends has ADHD, and she's a phobic 6w5. 

In each of our cases, the ADHD doesn't define our personalities--it just brings certain traits to the forefront and makes us more scatter-brained and/or impulsive. 

Needless to say, I'm a very hyper, dreamy, and unfocused 4w5. There's a definite correlation between my inner 7 and my ADHD traits, but obviously that's not going to be the same for everyone.


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## KJ Always (Dec 9, 2013)

fawning said:


> I'm still waiting on a diagnosis (in a week's time) but I also am a 1 and believe what I've been dealing with is inattentive ADHD.
> 
> While I do believe it makes my 1ness appear different, I also think a lot of things about being neuroatypical are essential to who I am and therefore my personality. If I wasn't like this, I wouldn't be me.
> 
> ...


I am supposed to be a 9w1, but when I learned that I am never going to reach my goal of perfection, I cried off and on for about a week. That I will always be kind of messy. I was very hurt to learn that. And it is true, when I clean, I do make a bigger mess, sometimes, then I have to clean up that mess in ought for it to be complete. 

Believe me, I want physical order!!! I know now if I want it, I would have to hire someone to help me to achieve that goal whenever I reach the economical level to where I can afford someone like that, at least once or twice a month. Explain your view on order because I don't think I fully comprehend what you wrote.

I am curious, how does ADHD impact you as a Type One in comparison to Neurotypical Ones? Have you overcome the tendency of being late? That is one thing I am proud of after learning it was not from being irresponsible but from having ADHD (distraction and mismanaged time).


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## Dr Whoresy (Nov 7, 2018)

I have very severe ADHD and am unmedicated...I type as a 2w3 279 tritype but find that 7w6 describes me very well also.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


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## soop (Aug 6, 2016)

I have ADHD (mostly inattentive and impulsive), and am a 1, and don't find them in conflict at all. I've learned to turn my 1 down and my 9 up a lot when it comes to myself. Being critical of oneself to the point of it being detrimental doesn't help the overall goal, and I've gotten better about reminding myself of that lately. It kind of sucks to have to remind yourself of that, but self-improvement is the long game, and its the important one.


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## KJ Always (Dec 9, 2013)

FindingAllison said:


> I have ADHD (inattentive type). I have wondered for a long time if ADHD traits are part of my personality or separate- altering the way my core personality is expressed/experienced.
> 
> I think I've come to believe that they are separate and that my ADHD traits are in direct conflict with my personality. I'm a 1.
> 
> Anyone else have ADHD? How does it affect/ interact with your personality?


How does ADHD comes in conflict with your with your personality type 1? Can you provide a few examples?


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## libbymilliken (28 d ago)

I wonder if ADHD manifests in predictable ways depending on the person Enneagram type. For example, I am a 1. My ADHD superpower is solving complex problems and developing comprehensive solutions. My E-1 perfectionist traits allows me to easily identify faults in a system or process, and my ADHD hyper focus allows me dig & dig & dig until I understand the total picture and then concentrate on developing a new solution that works. This something my neurotypical colleagues are generally not able to do.


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