Dr. Diego Busiol, Psychoanalyst in Hong Kong

09/11/2025

Why is everybody speaking of ADHD?

ADHD is the word of the hour.
Feeds packed with checklists, confessions, hacks.
Forums asking “Do I have it?” Reels on repeat.
Some days, it feels like it’s the only "diagnosis" we talk about.
Meanwhile, medical‑psychiatric estimates still say ~3–5%.
❓ Why this gap?

• Why is this label so popular today?
• Why does it resonate so much?
• What factors promote its spread?
• Do we even need it as a label?

I find this both striking and moving.
I hear about it constantly — on social media, among friends, and from patients who think they “have it” and ask what to do.

So I went back to basics:

👉 What is ADHD, really? Is it a brain disorder? A new symptom? Or a new name for “old” experiences?
👉 Has it always been there and we’re only now “discovering” it, or is it a distinctly modern phenomenon?
👉 What relief does it offer — and what does it push into shadow about a person’s singular history?
👉 Do we have ADHD — or do we become it? And if one does have/is it, what should they do?

I’ve started a four‑part mini‑series to sit with these questions.

Part I — ADHD: Why It Seems Everywhere — and Why the Label Resonates

https://diegobusiol.com/adhd-why-it-seems-everywhere/

Why ADHD feels ubiquitous: the relief of naming, overlap with common states, and how culture/platforms amplify its appeal—psychoanalytic view.

28/10/2025

How change begins in analysis: from reacting to speaking, from certainty to fertile doubt, from complaint to curiosity. Ways to name the turning point.

26/10/2025

Why does ADHD feel everywhere if only ~3–5% of adults meet criteria (according to most studies)?

Labels can help: naming difficulties reduces shame and creates belonging, so self‑identification increases.

Symptom overlap: inattention, restlessness, and “task paralysis” also appear with anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, and poor sleep.
Social media effects

Exposure effect: checklists, “POV: ADHD brain,” and memes spread because occasional distractibility is common.

Availability bias: the more ADHD content is seen, the more it is noticed in oneself—even when difficulties are mild or situational.

Symptom mimicry: notifications, multitasking, and constant switching drain focus for most people, creating an ADHD‑like feel driven by environment and habits.

Cultural context matters

Rising bar for “normal focus”: always on, rapid switching, tight deadlines.

Moral framing: productivity is treated as virtue; lapses feel like failure or pathology.

Why it resonates: words like focus, procrastination, and time blindness map onto everyday pressures.

Narrative matters
A purely neurobiological story can reduce stigma but also flatten the picture. In a psychoanalytic view, symptoms may express unconscious conflict, needs for recognition, and relational patterns shaped early on. Attention is shaped by history, emotions, relationships, sleep, and context—not only by “a fast brain.”

Beyond the Label
ADHD symptoms are real, yet often the tip of the iceberg. Listening in depth reveals layers:

-emotional (anxiety, anger, inner emptiness),
-relational (search for recognition, fear of abandonment, boundary issues),
-contextual (overstimulation, social expectations, environment).

Stopping at the label risks losing these nuances.

Bottom line
Diagnosis can be a helpful starting point, not the finish line. What matters is the meaning and function of symptoms within a person’s story and environment.

More here: https://diegobusiol.com/conditions-we-treat/adhd/

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21/10/2025

People often come asking for therapy, recounting injustices and disappointments, blaming circumstances. This is understandable; however, analysis truly begins when attention turns to how one is implicated, and the question becomes:

“What do I have to do with this?"
"How am I invested in this situation?”

That shift from complaint to curiosity is often the turning point of an analysis.
I explore why, and share a brief vignette, here:

https://diegobusiol.com/when-change-begins/

Discover when change begins in psychoanalysis, and learn what is the turning point that leads to lasting transformation.

12/10/2025

Feel like everyone expects too much from you? You might be on a Möbius strip—where “external” demands are fueled by your own inner standards and ideals.

A Möbius strip is a loop with a single continuous surface and edge—you twist a strip of paper once and join the ends, and what seems like two sides is actually just one.

In my new article, I explore how this twist keeps us running in the same loop—and how therapy can help make the twist visible so you can step off the cycle.

https://diegobusiol.com/mobius-strip-demands/

Discover how internal and external demands exist on the same loop—like a Möbius strip—trapping you in cycles of pressure, and how to break free.

23/09/2025

Narcissist’ is often used as an insult. Behind difficult behaviors there can be real vulnerability. Here, I try to separate stigma from understanding.

Beyond the label: Understanding narcissism's nuances and how stigma prevents help-seeking in Hong Kong. Explore the complexities.