Between “normality” and diagnosis: strains between the I and the Me in undiagnosed adolescents with ADHD symptoms
Matilda A. Frick
Adolescents who display ADHD-like difficulties but remain undiagnosed occupy a diagnostic borderland in which medical, social, and institutional expectations collide. In the Swedish context, where rates of diagnosed ADHD have risen sharply, this constitutes an understudied and increasingly marginalized group. Drawing on Mead’s concepts of the I and the Me, the study explores how ten Swedish adolescents negotiated their emerging selves while positioned between “normality” and diagnosis. Based on