Labeled

“So many people have these issues and people don’t seem to want to talk about it.” 

Katherine Yacopucci ’20 fears she is commonly seen as “overly talkative,” which is one of the symptoms of her ADHD. Oftentimes, this causes her to feel self-conscious.

“I don’t think people realize how many people have ADHD and how bad it can be,” Yacopucci said. “I literally don’t know how to stop talking, a lot of people just call me annoying and [I say] stuff like ‘guys I really don’t know how to stop talking’… it comes in so many different forms.” 

According to Norris, there are also a multitude of misconceptions surrounding the condition. 

“I feel like people have a lot of stereotypes about ADHD,” Norris said. “They think it’s that kid who’s fidgeting in class, looking all over the place, but sometimes it’s the person who’s staring at the board just trying to concentrate.”

Logan has also experienced individuals questioning his intelligence due to his Dysgraphia. 

“I’m not stupid, I just can’t get my thoughts on paper,” Logan said. “I may be physically slow to write things down, [but] It’s not the fact that I’m stupid… it’s the fact that it just takes me a little longer.”

According to Logan, growing up in a conservative part of Montana, he was surrounded by a stigma on mental health. It was not until he moved to Iowa that he began to talk about it.

“The entire [mentality] was men don’t cry and men don’t talk about mental health and so I was very quiet about it for most of my life,” Logan said. “[Now] I’m all about just being open about it  because it should be talked about more than it is.” 

Yaccopucci agrees that raising awareness surrounding these conditions is a necessary solution to ending the stigma.

“If you don’t get help… [the conditions] will just keep decreasing how you feel about yourself.” said Yaccopucci.