5 ms·

ADHD, diabetes, depression, anxiety, heart disease, suicide and obesity are all labels for defects of human physiology that exist or come to exist from sitting

ADHD, diabetes, depression, anxiety, heart disease, suicide and obesity are all labels for defects of human physiology that exist or come to exist from sitting and focusing on one thing (usually alone) for long periods of time. Labeling in this way has the funny consequence of taking onus off the societal arrangement that creates these conditions. I wonder, is this an active discussion in the medical community? The entire medical ontology around many of these diseases just seems to accept society and/or disregard its role. If we didn't know about lead poisoning, I imagine we'd have all sorts of medical names for its various consequences and pills to fix those consequences. From what I understand the fix for these modern illnesses is walking more, working less, spending more time with loved ones, and specifically spending more time educating kids face-to-face. Anyone know more than me on this? Is my understanding way oversimplified here?

adolph 6y ago
ADHD is not a in the same class as “defects of human physiology that exist or come to exist from sitting and focusing on one thing (usually alone) for long periods of time.” Here is a better definition: ADHD represents the extreme end of the distribution of several highly correlated normal traits in the human population, just like intelligence. In this case, these are inattention (specifically distractibility, poor persistence or sustained attention), inhibition, and executive functioning (self-regulation). When the degree of deficits (symptoms) in these traits reaches a certain point where they lead to harm to the individual (impairment in major domains of life activities, increased risk for injury or death) then these deficits become a disorder. So the status of a “disorder" begins where harm or impairment begin in such cases of dimensional traits - in short, the environment kicks back creating adverse consequences for the individual at the extreme lower end of these trait dimensions (or higher end of symptoms). From: http://www.russellbarkley.org/factsheets/WhatCausesADHD2017.pdf http://www.russellbarkley.org/factsheets/WhatCausesADHD2017.... Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D., an internationally recognized authority on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) in children and adults who has dedicated his career to widely disseminating science-based information about ADHD. http://www.russellbarkley.org/ http://www.russellbarkley.org/
- rgifford 6y ago
  We have partially lizard brains that evolved for running distances to pack hunt. If your expectations are that we should all be able to sit for 8-10 hours a day from the time we're children, it's easy to say some percent of us have a defect. The defect -- to me -- doesn't seem to be that some percent of our lizard brains can't do that. It seems to be in our expectations.
  - falcolas 6y ago
    Cool. Change society. The 5% of the population with ADHD will wait. But while we’re waiting, we’ll do what we need to in order to survive in the society we have, not the one we want.
    - rgifford 6y ago
      I have lots of friends who've taken Ritalin and Adderall. I've noticed a much higher rate of alcohol dependency among them, I suspect as we age they'll also have a higher rate of heart issues. Many tell me they quickly increase their dose and drink to be able to sleep. To me it seems like medicalizing social issues is a deal with the devil. There's always another issue and another drug to treat that issue.
      - falcolas 6y ago
        Like chronic back pain and medications for that? Or MS and the cocktails of steroids which can reduce the pain long term? How about our penchant for using advanced sedation before putting people through surgery, and pain relievers after? Yeah, it’s a damned shame we medicate people with those things. /s
      - rgifford 6y ago
        Over prescription of pain relievers is widely regarded as what caused the opioid epidemic. Sedation causes lots of deaths every year. Back pain is highly avoidable with basic lifestyle changes. I don't know much about MS. My grandma took a weight loss drug called Fen-Phen and had heart issues late in life because of it. It was a low-grade form of speed used by house wives in the 70s for appetite suppression and increased energy. US history leans overly medicalized and drugged IMO.
falcolas 6y ago
ADHD isn’t a modern malady. It’s been around for centuries. Just under different names. Here’s a reference from the 400’s BC: He [Hippocrates] was known to have made at least one reference to some patients who could not keep their focus on any one thing for long and had exceptionally quick reactions to things around them. He thought the cause was an “overbalance of fire over water” and recommended a bland diet that included fish but little other meat, a lot of water, and lots of physical exercise.
- rgifford 6y ago
  Most people I know with ADHD got taken to a doctor, diagnosed, and put on medication as a consequences of their grades. I'm sure this quirk in the distribution of human psychology has existed for a long time, I just question the sudden popularity in its medicalization.
  - falcolas 6y ago
    Because we finally have a working medicinal solution that isn’t “whip their ass with a belt until they behave”? There’s an estimated 5% of the population who have debilitating ADHD. The current diagnosis rates of 4% for children, and 2% for adults, says we haven’t gotten everyone yet.
    - rgifford 6y ago
      I think most of these kids just need a lot more personalized attention. I think medicating them is a convenient short term solution that will cost society more over the long term in alcohol dependency, heart issues, and other medical conditions related to the use of stimulants.
      - falcolas 6y ago
        Do you think the same thing about children with MS who receive pain relievers? Or is it different when you can see the symptoms?
dragonwriter 6y ago
> ADHD, diabetes, depression, anxiety, heart disease, suicide and obesity are all labels for defects of human physiology that exist or come to exist from sitting and focusing on one thing (usually alone) for long periods of time. That’s completely untrue for ADHD and Type I diabetes, and untrue for much of depression, anxiety, heart disease, and suicide. So, basically, that list is bullshit.
- rgifford 6y ago
  All of these diseases are far overrepresented in the modern world. I don't intend to say these issues don't exist regardless, just that when you setup a society of people who drive everywhere, work 55 hours a week, spend more time watching tv than they do their children, and consume large amounts of red meat and sugar you get easily explained results.

adolph 6y ago

ADHD is not a in the same class as “defects of human physiology that exist or come to exist from sitting and focusing on one thing (usually alone) for long periods of time.” Here is a better definition: ADHD represents the extreme end of the distribution of several highly correlated normal traits in the human population, just like intelligence. In this case, these are inattention (specifically distractibility, poor persistence or sustained attention), inhibition, and executive functioning (self-regulation). When the degree of deficits (symptoms) in these traits reaches a certain point where they lead to harm to the individual (impairment in major domains of life activities, increased risk for injury or death) then these deficits become a disorder. So the status of a “disorder" begins where harm or impairment begin in such cases of dimensional traits - in short, the environment kicks back creating adverse consequences for the individual at the extreme lower end of these trait dimensions (or higher end of symptoms). From: http://www.russellbarkley.org/factsheets/WhatCausesADHD2017.pdf http://www.russellbarkley.org/factsheets/WhatCausesADHD2017.... Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D., an internationally recognized authority on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) in children and adults who has dedicated his career to widely disseminating science-based information about ADHD. http://www.russellbarkley.org/ http://www.russellbarkley.org/

rgifford 6y ago
We have partially lizard brains that evolved for running distances to pack hunt. If your expectations are that we should all be able to sit for 8-10 hours a day from the time we're children, it's easy to say some percent of us have a defect. The defect -- to me -- doesn't seem to be that some percent of our lizard brains can't do that. It seems to be in our expectations.
- falcolas 6y ago
  Cool. Change society. The 5% of the population with ADHD will wait. But while we’re waiting, we’ll do what we need to in order to survive in the society we have, not the one we want.
  - rgifford 6y ago
    I have lots of friends who've taken Ritalin and Adderall. I've noticed a much higher rate of alcohol dependency among them, I suspect as we age they'll also have a higher rate of heart issues. Many tell me they quickly increase their dose and drink to be able to sleep. To me it seems like medicalizing social issues is a deal with the devil. There's always another issue and another drug to treat that issue.
    - falcolas 6y ago
      Like chronic back pain and medications for that? Or MS and the cocktails of steroids which can reduce the pain long term? How about our penchant for using advanced sedation before putting people through surgery, and pain relievers after? Yeah, it’s a damned shame we medicate people with those things. /s
    - rgifford 6y ago
      Over prescription of pain relievers is widely regarded as what caused the opioid epidemic. Sedation causes lots of deaths every year. Back pain is highly avoidable with basic lifestyle changes. I don't know much about MS. My grandma took a weight loss drug called Fen-Phen and had heart issues late in life because of it. It was a low-grade form of speed used by house wives in the 70s for appetite suppression and increased energy. US history leans overly medicalized and drugged IMO.

falcolas 6y ago

ADHD isn’t a modern malady. It’s been around for centuries. Just under different names. Here’s a reference from the 400’s BC: He [Hippocrates] was known to have made at least one reference to some patients who could not keep their focus on any one thing for long and had exceptionally quick reactions to things around them. He thought the cause was an “overbalance of fire over water” and recommended a bland diet that included fish but little other meat, a lot of water, and lots of physical exercise.

rgifford 6y ago
Most people I know with ADHD got taken to a doctor, diagnosed, and put on medication as a consequences of their grades. I'm sure this quirk in the distribution of human psychology has existed for a long time, I just question the sudden popularity in its medicalization.
- falcolas 6y ago
  Because we finally have a working medicinal solution that isn’t “whip their ass with a belt until they behave”? There’s an estimated 5% of the population who have debilitating ADHD. The current diagnosis rates of 4% for children, and 2% for adults, says we haven’t gotten everyone yet.
  - rgifford 6y ago
    I think most of these kids just need a lot more personalized attention. I think medicating them is a convenient short term solution that will cost society more over the long term in alcohol dependency, heart issues, and other medical conditions related to the use of stimulants.
    - falcolas 6y ago
      Do you think the same thing about children with MS who receive pain relievers? Or is it different when you can see the symptoms?

dragonwriter 6y ago

> ADHD, diabetes, depression, anxiety, heart disease, suicide and obesity are all labels for defects of human physiology that exist or come to exist from sitting and focusing on one thing (usually alone) for long periods of time. That’s completely untrue for ADHD and Type I diabetes, and untrue for much of depression, anxiety, heart disease, and suicide. So, basically, that list is bullshit.

rgifford 6y ago
All of these diseases are far overrepresented in the modern world. I don't intend to say these issues don't exist regardless, just that when you setup a society of people who drive everywhere, work 55 hours a week, spend more time watching tv than they do their children, and consume large amounts of red meat and sugar you get easily explained results.