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I was diagnosed with ADD as a child, and have experienced firsthand the kind of dependencies these drugs can create. I wasn't able to stop taking Dexedrine (es

by jayferd 15y ago

I was diagnosed with ADD as a child, and have experienced firsthand the kind of dependencies these drugs can create. I wasn't able to stop taking Dexedrine (essentially the same as Ritalin) until halfway through my first semester of college, when I undertook a daily practice of meditation. Now I've come to realize that "lack of attentiveness" is part of the human condition. We can make it worse by excessive stimulation and context-switching, but this unscientific idea of an "inbuilt" disability simply doesn't exist.

deno 15y ago
If you can meditate, or sit still in one place without any stimulus for that matter, you’re quite lucky. It’s an impossible task for most people with ADHD. > Now I've come to realize that "lack of attentiveness" is part of the human condition. No. ADHD is a hereditary neurological disorder. One of the first things that you’ll see on Wikipedia’s page on ADHD is a PET scan comparing dopamine transporter availability in a healthy brain and one of a person diagnosed with ADHD. In children, the biological differences are real, and can by no means be explained by “experience.” E.g. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21757514/ns/health-mental_health/t/adhd-kids-brains-mature-more-slowly/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21757514/ns/health-mental_health...
- jayferd 15y ago
  That's fair. Meditation is hard, and I don't claim to be particularly good at it. On the other hand, I would say it's an extremely difficult task for just about anyone. The study the article you posted cites successfully correlates brain differences with AD(H)D diagnosis. Part of the argument in the original article, though (which I can verify in my own case at least), is that while the brain affects observed behavior, behavior also affects the brain. So it's a very real possibility that experience and learned behavior are causing both the observed behavior and the brain chemistry differences.

by jayferd 15y ago

deno 15y ago

If you can meditate, or sit still in one place without any stimulus for that matter, you’re quite lucky. It’s an impossible task for most people with ADHD. > Now I've come to realize that "lack of attentiveness" is part of the human condition. No. ADHD is a hereditary neurological disorder. One of the first things that you’ll see on Wikipedia’s page on ADHD is a PET scan comparing dopamine transporter availability in a healthy brain and one of a person diagnosed with ADHD. In children, the biological differences are real, and can by no means be explained by “experience.” E.g. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21757514/ns/health-mental_health/t/adhd-kids-brains-mature-more-slowly/ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21757514/ns/health-mental_health...

jayferd 15y ago
That's fair. Meditation is hard, and I don't claim to be particularly good at it. On the other hand, I would say it's an extremely difficult task for just about anyone. The study the article you posted cites successfully correlates brain differences with AD(H)D diagnosis. Part of the argument in the original article, though (which I can verify in my own case at least), is that while the brain affects observed behavior, behavior also affects the brain. So it's a very real possibility that experience and learned behavior are causing both the observed behavior and the brain chemistry differences.