Is ADHD/ADD is a real disorder?

[Alysssa]

Is this a real problem or a natural state of the mind for some people?

I think that there is a scale like introvertion extrovertion 

In this case it would be

Longer attention span and shorter attention span

 

most of the people are in the middle of the scale with some tendency to longer attention span or shorter.

And there are few people who are closer to the edges.

Both of the edges have pros and cons but it looks like society (or medical industry) is too focused on the people with lower attention span (since they were children at school) because it's harder to make them obedient in class (both the hyperactive and not hyperactive types) and the medical industry see this as an opportunity to invent a problem and sell for them a solution (drugs like ritalin)

 

Maybe short attention span branded like a problem because it has no use in school, work, and modern structures and the idea what a human should be like (although it has it's own advantages that society find not usful and maybe as a threat).

I personally think that's insane, it's like being introvert and the doctor diagnose you with a disorder because you aren't extrovert (which isn't very far from the true.. but I'll give more example).

 

 

Or it's like your dominant hand is left and you are diagnosed with disorder because most of the people are right handed.

 

So I think it's the same. 

 

I always get creepy vibes when I hear about Adhd/add and my intuition tells me that something is very wrong with the way people precive it and treat it.

 

But those are my personal opinions.

 

I would like to hear from people who diagnosed with ADHD or ADD by the doctor or people who wasn't diagnosed officially but found the ADHD/ADD symptoms in themselves, what do you think about this disorder and did you ever question it? How this disorder affect your life now? How it affected your life before the diagnostic?

 

[Rigel]

Attention span is a skill that grows with use. I am sure some people have it harder than others but I would bet that most "diagnosed" ADD are life style induced. 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Rigel

[Leo Gura]

From what I've studied (which isn't too much) it seems like a real disorder commonly caused by toxins, chemicals, bad diet, and other such factors.

[Flowerfaeiry]

@Alysssa I'm sure there are many who are misdiagnosed or put on meds unnecessarily but these cases don't nullify the legitimacy of the diagnosis as a whole. 

Being diagnosed actually helps a lot of people understand themselves better and know that what they are experiencing is normal.

[Nos7algiK]

As someone who was diagnosed with it as a child, though I didn't try meds till I was an adult I can say this. I didn't stay on meds long. They made me feel like a zombie and very disassociated so not taking them was the lesser of evils. I believed I had it and I believed it affected my life greatly. It wasn't until I tried psychedelics that I realized I created the entire disorder in my own psyche. It was a self validating paradigm of belief that was made stronger due to others such as my parents and doctors telling me I had it.

The moment I had this realization of self deception was the moment it instantly disappeared from my life. 

 

But, take this all with a grain of salt for I am only one person and my example isn't a broad statement for others with ADHD. 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Nos7algiK

[flowboy]

It's not the length of attention span in general.

It's how it is being applied.

AD(H)D people have a shorter attention span for things that are not interesting to them, and they can focus for multiple days with little sleep on a project that they actually care about.

What's typical, is that "practical importance" doesn't influence ability to focus.

With "normal" people, their ability to focus goes up when something has practical importance.

In AD(H)D people, it does not.

That doesn't mean they can't focus on what's important at hand, they can, it just takes a lo-hot more effort that a normie would spend.

Having to spend this extra mental effort for everything that is important but not interesting, is why they usually are chronically fatigued to some extent.

 

There is "comorbidity" with food sensitivities and sensitivities to toxins. They have to eat cleaner than a regular person, to be able to use their brain to full capacity. They seem to be more prone to brain fog when they eat the wrong thing.

 

They really shine in work-related situations, when they get to do something creative, that requires synthesizing information from different fields, having a big picture understanding, and can have agency over the way they want to work and do things.

You can make them happy by taking care of as much practical admin stuff for them as possible, without making them feel controlled.

 

I know because I coach people like this, but I also am one.

It's not a disorder, more like a personality trait or brain type that is unhelpful at the start of the career ladder, when it's all about fitting into a mold and being force-fed information, and becomes more and more helpful as their career advances and others can help them out with admin stuff while they spread their creative wings.

They need to get over a rough spot, though.

Edited July 24, 2021 by flowboy

[TheSomeBody]

i have found a great method to help adhd people , i use it myself all of the time.

adhd is no an attention problem, it is an emotional thing ( you dont see dyslextic person go to a psychiatrist) . people with adhd have no problem with attention, they can bring their attention like everyone else, people with adhd can get into hyper focus , it is a situation when they can concetrat at abnormal way. also adhd drugs are working on dopamine , they are in class of drug that really close to steet drugs . it is not a complex of emotions, it is just a state of emotions.
adhd is a state of bordom , they can get bored easily so they try to do something intresting 

[Bando]

@Leo Gura What studies have you looked at to come to this conclusion do you mind linking some of your sources?

[thisintegrated]

No one with adhd is ever properly assessed.  It's just a collection of symptoms, nothing else.  So even if adhd is a "real", specific disorder, no one's ever assessed/diagnosed for it.  You're only assessed for the symptoms which could match a real disorder.

Whether it's a subjective problem is a whole other debate.  Almost anything can be a "problem".  If meds help, do whatever you want man, but I'd say the same for neurotypicals using any drugs for any reason whatsoever.

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, Bando said:

@Leo Gura What studies have you looked at to come to this conclusion do you mind linking some of your sources?

I don't go by "studies".

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

https://www.amazon.de/Scattered-Minds-Origins-Attention-Disorder/dp/1785042211

This book has been a true eye opener for me... reading it felt like reading an eerily detailed and accurate description of my entire life, written by someone who never met me but somehow knows everything about me!

[Bando]

22 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

I don't go by "studies".

Any information on how you came to this conclusion would be interesting to look at. Thats a pretty bold claim your making saing "toxins, chemicals, bad diet" could be the reasons of these disorders other than gentics

 

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, Bando said:

Any information on how you came to this conclusion would be interesting to look at. Thats a pretty bold claim your making saing "toxins, chemicals, bad diet" could be the reasons of these disorders other than gentics

It's not bold at all.

ADD has risen a lot in the last 50 years due to chemicals and bad food.

One of my doctor's entire practices is treating kids with ADD simply with heavy metal detox. And they reverse their ADD. So it's definitely related to chemical toxicity. Maybe not 100% of the time, but some significant %.

Chemical toxins are a big deal. Kids get plenty of it via traditional vaccines alone. Traditional docs ignore it. You need a really good holistic doc.

[blankisomeone]

12 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Kids get plenty of it via traditional vaccines alone

Oh speaking of vaccines. I got horrible side effects from the covid one. No way in hell I’m getting a second dose of this crap. Thanks for reading❤️ I’d rather just use a mask for the rest of my life

Edited July 26, 2021 by blankisomeone

[kieranperez]

I'll give my usual prerequisites...

Diagnosed with ADHD at 6 (2001) with a ton of cognitive testing and was on ADHD medication for 17 years (I've been on every single one) up until the age of 22 when I got off. 

On 7/24/2021 at 4:34 PM, thisintegrated said:

No one with adhd is ever properly assessed.  It's just a collection of symptoms, nothing else.  So even if adhd is a "real", specific disorder, no one's ever assessed/diagnosed for it.  You're only assessed for the symptoms which could match a real disorder.

This really is the crux of the issue. We don't really know what ADD/ADHD is. There is something to be said for diet for some people. I've met people with ADHD who that really is there issue. I'm in property management/real estate and gave a guy a showing who has ADHD that's literally allergic to what seems like everything. 

That said, one of the things that's really starting to be understood is how much of it is also trauma related. The work of those that have pioneered things like attachment theory and so forth are really finding that ADHD is also a developmental trauma and even prenatal trauma. I'm certainly in this camp. 

ADHD though is certainly a legitimate phenomena. It's not some made up Orwellian Big Brother conspiracy theory just to drug children (though it is certainly over-diagnosed). 

I really am of the stance that we have to take a look at the family structure within our Western cultures as children who grow up in child centered family structures for example have a lot less cases of things like ADHD. Famously The Dalai Lama was once giving an interview where he was asked about self loathing and he stopped the press conference because he couldn't understand Americans and self loathing because it doesn't exist in Tibet due to the nature of their upbringing. Westerners are growing up with a lot more attachment disturbances and neuroses than a lot of other 3rd world traditional cultures because of this change in upbringing and lifestyle and the burden parents have to endure. Especially the lack of legitimate spiritual infrastructure in our culture. 

3 hours ago, blankisomeone said:

Oh speaking of vaccines. I got horrible side effects from the covid one. No way in hell I’m getting a second dose of this crap. Thanks for reading❤️ I’d rather just use a mask for the rest of my life

Oh please. Give me a break.

On 7/24/2021 at 9:22 AM, Leo Gura said:

On 7/24/2021 at 5:19 PM, Leo Gura said:

I don't go by "studies".

From what I've studied

 

[Leo Gura]

Studying is not studies.

The notion that you can develop a proper understanding of things through "studies" is one of the stupidest pseudo-intellectual myths in modern culture.

[Girzo]

@blankisomeone The second one will probably have no effect on you if the first one was so bad, you can take it.

[AtheisticNonduality]

Of course society will treat the inability to focus on and memorize useless garbage in school as a mental illness.

[Nahm]

The experience is real, which the labelling & identifying hides. 

[puporing]

On 24/07/2021 at 10:22 AM, Leo Gura said:

it seems like a real disorder commonly caused by toxins, chemicals, bad diet, and other such factors.

I felt this way about depression too (at least some of the symptoms like brain fog/exhaustion). It is also very difficult/costly to access the more intense detox treatments here (in Canada). I tried just with some herbal type solutions, would be curious what kind of regime you went on.