5 ms·

One thing that's really interesting for me is that on websites with a lot of US users, there's a LOT of talk about ADHD basically whenever any not-physicall pr

One thing that's really interesting for me is that on websites with a lot of US users, there's a LOT of talk about ADHD basically whenever any not-physicall problem/illness is being discussed, then probability of somebody mentioning ADHD goes to 100% but why? or maybe it's that my country is somewhat backwards and is not used as the reason this often

Ensorceled 5y ago
> or maybe it's that my country is somewhat backwards and is not used as the reason this often Please don't dismiss mental illness here.
- tester34 5y ago
  I don't, I meant that ADHD isn't the only mental illness out there.
bobthechef 5y ago
No, the mental health field is definitely a mixed bag. The concept of mental illness deserves close inspection. For example, you can speak of mental illness as an objective disorder of the psyche. On the other, you can speak of mental illness as the pathologizing of immoral behavior as illness, or even moral behavior that departs from prevailing cultural expectations or the preferences of the powerful, and still further objective mental illness resulting from cultural expectations or the preferences of the powerful. (A curious side effect of any metaphysical stance that denies the reality of function, a teleological concept, is that you have no objective reference by which to adjudicate. So you are generally left with either cultural expectation, preferences of the powerful, or personal preferences, which undermines the very idea of mental illness as such.) People are easily attracted to the pathologizing of their discontents because it appears to offer an explanation and possibly something to blame. Of course, the relief one feels is not necessarily an indication that the belief is true. It may only be a distraction from the root cause which may in fact be moral (immoral behavior can generate mental illness) or cultural (living according to a consumerist ethos and its mental health effects).
- SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
  I'm interested in how you're differentiating immoral from cultural, given that morals are pretty much entirely defined by cultural expectations.
itronitron 5y ago
Talking about ADHD is a form of humble bragging as young people that have been diagnosed with ADHD (regardless of whether or not they have it) can use that label to explain away personal quirks and lower academic performance while having a prescription for performance enhancing medication. ADHD is a popular topic for discussion because the US educational system is very achievement focused and students (and a lot of parents probably) want to have a special edge as well as a convenient excuse.
- nottorp 5y ago
  Interesting since the real competitive schools are in Asia. Do they talk a lot about ADHD over there, I wonder?
  - CyberDildonics 5y ago
    What "real competitive schools" are you talking about and why are they the real ones?
    - nottorp 5y ago
      Here's a scientific-ish article. https://www.otago.ac.nz/deepsouth/vol2no1/setsuo.html https://www.otago.ac.nz/deepsouth/vol2no1/setsuo.html Found it by googling, you can get hundreds of pieces to read about the asian (or at least japanese/chinese) school system.
      - CyberDildonics 5y ago
        That looks like broad assumptions about "culture" combined with total abuse of statistics that conflate children of immigrants from non-english speaking countries with 'east asian culture'. I'm not going to read through a bunch of cliches to see if there might be something that actually backs up what you're saying in there. There was no indication from what you linked that 'the real competitive schools' are in asia.
        5y ago
nottorp 5y ago
The way I view it from outside the US is they will diagnose anything as a mental illness. There's a lot of not really needed mood altering medication given out over there. While mental illness does exist, my guess is it's exaggerated by at least a factor of 10.
Bancakes 5y ago
I'm not American and I wasn't just referencing official medical diagnoses but also self-diagnoses. "Maladaptive daydreaming" and "reality shifting" are a thing kids nowadays suffer from.

Ensorceled 5y ago

> or maybe it's that my country is somewhat backwards and is not used as the reason this often Please don't dismiss mental illness here.

tester34 5y ago
I don't, I meant that ADHD isn't the only mental illness out there.

bobthechef 5y ago

No, the mental health field is definitely a mixed bag. The concept of mental illness deserves close inspection. For example, you can speak of mental illness as an objective disorder of the psyche. On the other, you can speak of mental illness as the pathologizing of immoral behavior as illness, or even moral behavior that departs from prevailing cultural expectations or the preferences of the powerful, and still further objective mental illness resulting from cultural expectations or the preferences of the powerful. (A curious side effect of any metaphysical stance that denies the reality of function, a teleological concept, is that you have no objective reference by which to adjudicate. So you are generally left with either cultural expectation, preferences of the powerful, or personal preferences, which undermines the very idea of mental illness as such.) People are easily attracted to the pathologizing of their discontents because it appears to offer an explanation and possibly something to blame. Of course, the relief one feels is not necessarily an indication that the belief is true. It may only be a distraction from the root cause which may in fact be moral (immoral behavior can generate mental illness) or cultural (living according to a consumerist ethos and its mental health effects).

SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
I'm interested in how you're differentiating immoral from cultural, given that morals are pretty much entirely defined by cultural expectations.

itronitron 5y ago

Talking about ADHD is a form of humble bragging as young people that have been diagnosed with ADHD (regardless of whether or not they have it) can use that label to explain away personal quirks and lower academic performance while having a prescription for performance enhancing medication. ADHD is a popular topic for discussion because the US educational system is very achievement focused and students (and a lot of parents probably) want to have a special edge as well as a convenient excuse.

nottorp 5y ago
Interesting since the real competitive schools are in Asia. Do they talk a lot about ADHD over there, I wonder?
- CyberDildonics 5y ago
  What "real competitive schools" are you talking about and why are they the real ones?
  - nottorp 5y ago
    Here's a scientific-ish article. https://www.otago.ac.nz/deepsouth/vol2no1/setsuo.html https://www.otago.ac.nz/deepsouth/vol2no1/setsuo.html Found it by googling, you can get hundreds of pieces to read about the asian (or at least japanese/chinese) school system.
    - CyberDildonics 5y ago
      That looks like broad assumptions about "culture" combined with total abuse of statistics that conflate children of immigrants from non-english speaking countries with 'east asian culture'. I'm not going to read through a bunch of cliches to see if there might be something that actually backs up what you're saying in there. There was no indication from what you linked that 'the real competitive schools' are in asia.
      - 5y ago

nottorp 5y ago

The way I view it from outside the US is they will diagnose anything as a mental illness. There's a lot of not really needed mood altering medication given out over there. While mental illness does exist, my guess is it's exaggerated by at least a factor of 10.

Bancakes 5y ago

I'm not American and I wasn't just referencing official medical diagnoses but also self-diagnoses. "Maladaptive daydreaming" and "reality shifting" are a thing kids nowadays suffer from.