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as an adult with ADHD (and a child who was diagnosed at 11) i dont understand the fascination by laypeople with confidential mental health treatment. if kids c

as an adult with ADHD (and a child who was diagnosed at 11) i dont understand the fascination by laypeople with confidential mental health treatment. if kids can have ADHD surely adults can too. i feel that these types of critical pieces often embolden critics of mental health and i dont quite understand why these people feel so aggrieved by allowing people to participate fully in the modern world

lolinder 3y ago
Was there something in the article that struck you as critical of mental health or aggrieved in some way? It seemed like a pretty reasonable take to me.
- hammyhavoc 3y ago
  Start with the title: "Adult ADHD Is the Wild West of Psychiatry" Without reading it, you already know what to expect in terms of an opinion. I think it's probably more constructive to say that what we're calling ADHD is more likely several different though very similar disorders. Also worth noting is the comorbidity with autism and how many people have dual diagnoses.
  - lolinder 3y ago
    It's worth noting that journalists rarely get to pick the title for their article. My father worked for a newspaper for a while and always complained about the titles the editor chose.
    - baby_souffle 3y ago
      > It's worth noting that journalists rarely get to pick the title for their article. I wish this was more common knowledge. I consider myself to be an incredibly voracious reader and I didn't learn this until recently (relatively speaking).
fasthands9 3y ago
Your personal ADHD diagnosis is confidential information. Population-level increases in ADHD diagnosis and stimulant prescriptions is not confidential information. It is useful public health information. I don't think it's fully settled what percent of this increase is due to more ADHD in the population versus a change in standards (the second is not inherently bad).
- lazystar 3y ago
  The decreasing usage of nicotine products in western civilization over the last 30 years should also be considered. At least one study has shown nicotine use results in increased concentration for those with ADHD; it's possible the true number of ADHD adults in western society has been accidentally covered up by the last 400 years of nicotine usage.
romeros 3y ago
The real item here is that ADHD threatens a nonADHDer's sense of identity and brings into question the existence of free will, effort, self discipline and self determination. ADHD is a real condition. People who have it suffer immensely from it. They don't have a sense of time. They don't have a sense of priority. They procrastinate tremendously. They are extremely forgetful and tend to get stuck in an unproductive rut. The moment they swallow a pill.. i.e Adderall, they stop being late. They turn in their assignments completely finished. They can remember better. They won't lose their jobs. They stop procrastinating that much. Basically, they get to be a functional human being. But, someone who doesn't have ADHD only has their own frame of reference to judge ADHD. People without ADHD also have a tendency to procrastinate. They also tend to be late if they are don't care about being on time. They don't feel the motivation to show up for work etc. And yet, despite not having the motivation they FORCE themselves to show up for work. Despite having a tendency to procrastinate they FORCE themselves to not procrastinate because they know the payoff. They won't be late because they CARE and they know it is DISRESPECTFUL to make the other person wait. Why can't you use a reminder on your iPhone, Google Calendar etc? is their retort. If you are forgetful why don't you write stuff down? Discipline is a muscle. The more you force yourself to use it the easier it gets the next time. ADHD isn't special. Even I feel like not doing things BUT I FORCE MYSELF TO DO IT. Why can't you? Instead, you are choosing to take the easier route by swallowing a pill. This is the equivalent of someone choosing to take steroids to build muscle instead of putting in the hard work at the gym. This is how a nonADHD person thinks. They are proud of working hard and they are proud of their accomplishments. Of doing hard things. Overcoming obstacles etc. But, when they see someone with ADHD struggle they just chalk it down to them being lazy. They don't understand that the ADHD brain is wired differently. Again, this is not their fault. Human beings cannot relate to anything that is outside of their direct experience.

lolinder 3y ago

Was there something in the article that struck you as critical of mental health or aggrieved in some way? It seemed like a pretty reasonable take to me.

hammyhavoc 3y ago
Start with the title: "Adult ADHD Is the Wild West of Psychiatry" Without reading it, you already know what to expect in terms of an opinion. I think it's probably more constructive to say that what we're calling ADHD is more likely several different though very similar disorders. Also worth noting is the comorbidity with autism and how many people have dual diagnoses.
- lolinder 3y ago
  It's worth noting that journalists rarely get to pick the title for their article. My father worked for a newspaper for a while and always complained about the titles the editor chose.
  - baby_souffle 3y ago
    > It's worth noting that journalists rarely get to pick the title for their article. I wish this was more common knowledge. I consider myself to be an incredibly voracious reader and I didn't learn this until recently (relatively speaking).

fasthands9 3y ago

Your personal ADHD diagnosis is confidential information. Population-level increases in ADHD diagnosis and stimulant prescriptions is not confidential information. It is useful public health information. I don't think it's fully settled what percent of this increase is due to more ADHD in the population versus a change in standards (the second is not inherently bad).

lazystar 3y ago
The decreasing usage of nicotine products in western civilization over the last 30 years should also be considered. At least one study has shown nicotine use results in increased concentration for those with ADHD; it's possible the true number of ADHD adults in western society has been accidentally covered up by the last 400 years of nicotine usage.

romeros 3y ago

The real item here is that ADHD threatens a nonADHDer's sense of identity and brings into question the existence of free will, effort, self discipline and self determination. ADHD is a real condition. People who have it suffer immensely from it. They don't have a sense of time. They don't have a sense of priority. They procrastinate tremendously. They are extremely forgetful and tend to get stuck in an unproductive rut. The moment they swallow a pill.. i.e Adderall, they stop being late. They turn in their assignments completely finished. They can remember better. They won't lose their jobs. They stop procrastinating that much. Basically, they get to be a functional human being. But, someone who doesn't have ADHD only has their own frame of reference to judge ADHD. People without ADHD also have a tendency to procrastinate. They also tend to be late if they are don't care about being on time. They don't feel the motivation to show up for work etc. And yet, despite not having the motivation they FORCE themselves to show up for work. Despite having a tendency to procrastinate they FORCE themselves to not procrastinate because they know the payoff. They won't be late because they CARE and they know it is DISRESPECTFUL to make the other person wait. Why can't you use a reminder on your iPhone, Google Calendar etc? is their retort. If you are forgetful why don't you write stuff down? Discipline is a muscle. The more you force yourself to use it the easier it gets the next time. ADHD isn't special. Even I feel like not doing things BUT I FORCE MYSELF TO DO IT. Why can't you? Instead, you are choosing to take the easier route by swallowing a pill. This is the equivalent of someone choosing to take steroids to build muscle instead of putting in the hard work at the gym. This is how a nonADHD person thinks. They are proud of working hard and they are proud of their accomplishments. Of doing hard things. Overcoming obstacles etc. But, when they see someone with ADHD struggle they just chalk it down to them being lazy. They don't understand that the ADHD brain is wired differently. Again, this is not their fault. Human beings cannot relate to anything that is outside of their direct experience.