Member-only story
Dear Church, ADHD Is Real — And No, It’s Not a Sin
Bad Theology, Bad Science, and the Church’s ADHD Problem
“It turns out I’ve had ADHD all this time,” explained my friend. “And to think, I struggled through 28 years wondering what the heck was wrong with me.
“School, church… everything. I was just told to try harder. To sit still. To stop being so impulsive. To stop interrupting. To be more organized. To just focus.”
“But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep up. Homework was a nightmare — I’d stare at assignments for hours, unable to start. Sermons felt like an endurance test — halfway through, I’d realize I hadn’t processed a single word. I learned to mask it, to pretend I wasn’t drowning.”
“I wasn’t lazy. I wasn’t irresponsible. But I started to believe I was.”
“Then came the diagnosis.”
I listened as my friend explained how her life had turned a corner now that she was taking medication for ADHD. Like me, she grew up in a conservative Christian church where ADHD was seen as either a made-up excuse or a spiritual weakness. Mental health struggles weren’t real, apparently — they were just a lack of discipline, a failure to pray hard enough, or even the result of sin.
