Considering how often people (especially women) are under/misdiagnosed I’d rather not speculate on historical figures… can’t we just celebrate contemporaries? ADHD is debilitating but some of us manage to do amazing things in spite of it.
Adhd is actually pretty hard to do this with compared to Autism. Like Newton building hidden networks in his house to avoid interacting with people - yep that’s autistic af. But adhd is a lot more difficult to determine.
In saying that I do think Leo was likely neurodivergent in some way, and adhd does fit. In our own way, a lot of adhders are polymaths because of how we often cycle through interests, slipping in and out of hyperfocus, picking up various skills along the way.
I had to Google polymath. I’ve always been a quick learner in general, I typically get really average at something much quicker than most. However, most of the time, I then lose all interest, but once in a blue moon, it sticks and I genuinely get to become rather good at something.
Tbh I dont think that it is very feasible to decontruct what goes on in someones’ head like that. Modern ADHD testing is as comprehensive as it is because a lot of things can mimic it to varying degrees. eg. sleep deprivation, autism, bipolar, nutrient deficiencies, stress etc. There isnt really a good way to rule those alternatives out (which is what differential diagnosis does) I dont think having artist’s block is convincing enough evidence to diagnose him.
