Stuck in the Upside Down: How Stranger Things Captures Life with ADHD
Wiki Article
At last, I became interested in Stranger Things. I was surprised by the show's excellent metaphors for ADHD, not because of the horror and bloodshed. Its protagonists, like me, have a deep understanding of what it's like to battle an unseen power that appears to be from another realm.
The Upside Down Is My Normal
When 12-year-old Will Byers disappears from the made-up town of Hawkins, Indiana, in 1983, his friends and family are unaware that he is actually standing next to them. He is merely in the Upside Down, a parallel dimension to our own. The Upside Down is a land of tremendous electrical storms, bizarre bloodthirsty monsters, darkness, and a colder version of home. They also saw AD 30 Online in the show!
Being in the Upside Down is similar to living with ADHD. In the real world, I'm with people, but they can't see what's in my realm. I can't move freely because to fog, poisonous quicksand, and squelching beasts, but others can get from Point A to Point B with ease.
Stuck in a Loop
"Stuckness" is a recurring theme in the program. Indeed, some characters end up trapped in the Upside Down. However, the Upside Down is stuck as well. The Upside Down remains in 1983 while the world of the program progresses. Then there is Eleven's mother, a young child with psychokinetic skills, who is trapped in a mental loop that replays the events leading up to her daughter's abduction and is in a catatonic state.
"Stuck in a loop" would be the default setting if my ADHD brain had a dial. It keeps going back to my early years, portraying myself as a brilliant, shining letdown. After receiving an ADHD diagnosis in my twenties, this loop was intensely repeated. I saw my memories through new eyes, grieving constantly while I battled emotionally and socially for no apparent reason. These days, I don't get caught up in the loop as frequently, but it's still there.
The Mind Flayer
The show's nemesis for the most of its run, the formidable, enormous, spider-like monster of the Upside Down, is able to communicate with and control nearby creatures and entities even when they leave the parallel realm.
Living with ADHD can occasionally feel like having a creature that is attacking my body and mind. I would want to avoid the symptoms and difficulties it causes when it rips through my brain. However, there are moments when my ADHD functions as a living, breathing companion. Like when it puts me in a state of hyperfocus and enables me to be incredibly productive, but selectively.
Vines and Tunnels
Will starts drawing a sequence of tunnels and vines erratically after being taken over by the Mind Flayer. After being rejected at first, his drawings are found to represent a map of the Upside Down rising beneath the town. The vines have their own ideas, and the tunnels are winding.
ADHD thought processes can function similarly to the Upside Down's vines and tunnels. One idea gives rise to another, becoming out of control and spreading till I burn out. Or an idea may abruptly cease. A fantastic idea is abandoned and turns into a dead end.
Who’s In Your Party?
Inspired by a Dungeons & Dragons phrase for an allied group of players, the show's teenage characters refer to themselves as the Party. To fight the forces attacking their house, the group and the whole town band together.
I remind myself that the Upside Down is invisible when no one else, not even those closest to me, knows I'm drowning. I must inform them that I am trapped by it. I am confident that they will appear and assist me in battling every terrifying monster. Together, we can mend when we are broken.
A party makes life better.