Leonardo da Vinci produced some of the world's most iconic art, but historical accounts show that he struggled to complete his works. New research now suggests the best explanation for Leonardo's inability to finish projects is that the great artist may have had attention deficit and hyperactivity d...
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.
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.