Okay so this is largely based on my own experience with ADHD (undiagnosed to adulthood) of the inattentive kind. Also Hal’s characterisation is…complicated to say the least.
- Impulsiveness/reacting to situations without thinking of the consequences
I don’t really have this symptom but Hal Jordan certainly does. This man thrives on impulsiveness. A lot of his strength as green lantern comes from the fact that he acts first and thinks later. But outside of lantern work this has gotten him into a fair bit of trouble. Him launching into a house (without his power ring) to help a woman he believes is being abused without processing all of the signs it’s actually a film set comes to mind.
2. Disorganisation and poor planning
Hal Jordan is possibly the superhero worst at the work-life balance. He is constantly changing jobs, getting evicted, and has a truely awful credit score. And while this can be explained as a consequence of being green lantern none of the other lanterns have it, suggesting at some level it is a Hal thing. Presumably they’ve figured out a system to go to space and also pay rent.
This has lead to severe consequences in his personal life (not being able to maintain a relationship with carol and being unable to pay rent), his work life (constantly struggling with a poor credit score and frequently having to change jobs).
3. Trouble focusing/Daydreaming
Hal Jordan has severe trauma specifically from his ‘head in the clouds’ nature and his father’s abusive reaction to it. A lot of people with ADHD (myself included) have struggled with criticism and judgement over mistakes and daydreaming behaviours that weren’t fully under their control. Hal Jordan was labelled by his father as a “space case” with his “head in the clouds”. And tragically for Hal Jordan this lead to his father targeting his abuse towards him as the family disappointment.
I would argue that’s what Hal’s obsessive dedication to being green lantern to the expense of literally everything else in his life could be a sign of hyperfixation.
Again look at his proven inability to pay rent/bills on time. He is very often late to do things with disastrous consequences.
Tragically for Hal multitasking is a key part of the masked vigilante game and one Hal is really bad at. Even with the help of his ring (he mentions he can’t imagine how people without it cope) his secret identity frequently gets almost found out. Also for a while the only way he and Carol could conceive of making things work was giving up his Green Lantern ring. Point is he struggles at balancing being a superhero, having relationships, and civilian work.
7. Inability to control anger and frustration
he’s actually normally decent about it (because he bottles it up) but when it explodes he starts killing people and tries to become God so I’m counting it. He has emotional Dysregulation.
While not a symptom substance abuse is more common in individuals with ADHD. Hal Jordan has struggled with alcohol abuse resulting in him ultimately going to prison for a DUI in Emerald Dawn. It has also been implied his father struggled with alcohol use, suggesting it might have been genetically predisposed to developing it.
So in summary while it's not cannot I feel like Hal Jordan fits the ADHD criteria quite well. Also it's mostly likely mixed type but leaning towards inattentive (because categories are complicated)
