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I've seen the films but haven't read any of the books.
Did Percy Jackson get treated for ADHD prior to his finding out about himself being a demigod? If so how? If not why?
How do Percy Jackson and the other demigods get treated for their ADHD? I don't recall Camp Half Blood having a psychiatrist or psychologist there.
1) He mentions in the first book the school counsellor telling him anger management and ADHD management strategies.
"The school counsellor told me this was part of my ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things."
Lightning thief: Chapter 1
2) They don't ever mention a psychiatrist at camp Half-Blood. Presumably because ADHD helps in battle so they need to be ADHD to stay alive.
According to the source novels, Percy was indeed receiving counselling for his ADHD prior to learning about his godly powers.
I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I’ve missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counsellor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.
Evidently it's not uncommon for other demigods to go through the same thing, since their abilities come across very strongly as ADHD. No counselling is offered at Camp Half-Blood and it certainly seems to be discouraged to take medication to help with the symptoms.
‘You don’t know anything about me.’
‘No?’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them.’
‘How –’
‘Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too.’
I tried to swallow my embarrassment. ‘What does that have to do with anything?’ ‘Taken together, it’s almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That’s because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD – you’re impulsive, can’t sit still in the classroom. That’s your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they’d keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that’s because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal’s. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don’t want you seeing them for what they are.’
‘You sound like… you went through the same thing?’
‘Most of the kids here did. If you weren’t like us, you couldn’t have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar.’
Percy goes on to embrace this diagnosis.
I tried to skim through Chiron’s stack of reports as we walked. There were messages from demigods, nature spirits and satyrs all around the country, writing about the latest monster activity. They were pretty depressing, and my ADHD brain did not like concentrating on depressing stuff.
It not only mentions that ADHD is something that Percy was getting help for but it also states that the reason for the ADHD in all of the demi-gods is because they are demi-gods. They are hardwired to be warriors and to read greek. Hence the reason for the dyslexia and the ADHD. This is why they are always training. Not only because of the monsters but also because it helps control the ADHD. I believe this is all explained in the first book.
The primary reason for Rick Riordan to add the idea of ADHD, is to complement and encourage his own son through this story. In real life, his son suffered from dyslexia and hence lagged behind in studies. So if a fictional guy with same ‘disabilities’ can be a demigod with ‘different/unique abilities’, then it would be a professional and personal gain situation. Also, as Case suggested, demigods are hard wired to learn Ancient Greek language and all godly stuff, so simple english did a juggle to them. Through this he also makes a point that every individual has unique and limited capacities. Nobody, even a god child, can know everything. If he understands ancient Latin, he won’t know basic English.
Hope this helps!
