4 ms·

Likely a combination of isolation (small families, no outside time) combined with tech designed to over stimulate. To me ADHD is an adaptation to an overflowin

Likely a combination of isolation (small families, no outside time) combined with tech designed to over stimulate. To me ADHD is an adaptation to an overflowing amount of stimulation and information. The brain skips around very quickly until it finds something very valuable and then mines the hell out of it (hyper focus) i would be very curious to find out the rate of ADHD in the Amish. Theyre an American population but without technology. Seems like a fascinating study.

spicymaki 1y ago
You are incorrect. ADHD is not caused by isolation or addictive tech. ADHD is passed down genetically and is caused by a difference dopamine regulation. People with ADHD have low baseline dopamine (A neurotransmitter that plays a role in reward, motivation, mood, etc.), that is why they hyper focus when they are in the zone. The brain is starved for dopamine and when there is spike in dopamine it causes an intense reaction. ADHD may have been useful preindustrial societies, but today it is maladaptive. Excessive use of addictive tech can mimic ADHD symptoms, but is not the same. People with ADHD are adversely affected by addictive tech. The symptoms mimic “bad behavior” so some skeptics think you can just beat it out of them or yell at them to just stop. That might mitigate the problem for very short time (perhaps due to a short dopamine rush), but they fall back into a low dopamine state afterwards.
- homeonthemtn 1y ago
  Funny that the rise of ADHD runs parallel to the advent of the Internet, and only evidently striking Americans. Perhaps what you're describing is one form of it, and if so, we should develop a better naming convention to get rid of the ambiguity. Or go the cop-out approach and say it's a "spectrum" so you're never truly wrong, and never truly accurate.
  - yladiz 1y ago
    It could also be due to a better understanding of the causes, among other things. As always, correlation does not equal causation.
  - viraptor 1y ago
    > rise of ADHD ... diagnosis We only started doing serious diagnosis at scale around the same time as advent of the internet. Of course they align.
- bigbadfeline 1y ago
  I learned something interesting from your comment, namely that psychology is a political tool.
- cluckindan 1y ago
  > People with ADHD have low baseline dopamine That’s one way to have ADHD. There are other ways, like gene polymorphisms of dopamine receptors modifying the receptor density, activity, affinities or other parameters; or gene polymorphisms of monoamine oxidase, or dopamine beta-hydroxylase, or tyrosine/tyramine metabolism, or…
habinero 1y ago
That's absolutely not true. It's like saying autism didn't exist before the 90s. It did, it just wasn't recognized. I got diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago as an adult. I grew up without all of the things you mentioned and I've always had it, I just didn't know. What I did know is I was having to put a lot more effort into things other people found easy, I was weird about certain things like watching movies without something to occupy my hands, and sometimes everything was too much. Did I cope with it? Sure, by developing a lot of anxiety and drinking a LOT of caffeine. I cannot express how much easier and more pleasant life is now that I have a framework to hang those behaviors on. Yeah, medication helps a lot, but it's being able to plan around potential problems that's the real winner.

spicymaki 1y ago

You are incorrect. ADHD is not caused by isolation or addictive tech. ADHD is passed down genetically and is caused by a difference dopamine regulation. People with ADHD have low baseline dopamine (A neurotransmitter that plays a role in reward, motivation, mood, etc.), that is why they hyper focus when they are in the zone. The brain is starved for dopamine and when there is spike in dopamine it causes an intense reaction. ADHD may have been useful preindustrial societies, but today it is maladaptive. Excessive use of addictive tech can mimic ADHD symptoms, but is not the same. People with ADHD are adversely affected by addictive tech. The symptoms mimic “bad behavior” so some skeptics think you can just beat it out of them or yell at them to just stop. That might mitigate the problem for very short time (perhaps due to a short dopamine rush), but they fall back into a low dopamine state afterwards.

homeonthemtn 1y ago
Funny that the rise of ADHD runs parallel to the advent of the Internet, and only evidently striking Americans. Perhaps what you're describing is one form of it, and if so, we should develop a better naming convention to get rid of the ambiguity. Or go the cop-out approach and say it's a "spectrum" so you're never truly wrong, and never truly accurate.
- yladiz 1y ago
  It could also be due to a better understanding of the causes, among other things. As always, correlation does not equal causation.
- viraptor 1y ago
  > rise of ADHD ... diagnosis We only started doing serious diagnosis at scale around the same time as advent of the internet. Of course they align.
bigbadfeline 1y ago
I learned something interesting from your comment, namely that psychology is a political tool.
cluckindan 1y ago
> People with ADHD have low baseline dopamine That’s one way to have ADHD. There are other ways, like gene polymorphisms of dopamine receptors modifying the receptor density, activity, affinities or other parameters; or gene polymorphisms of monoamine oxidase, or dopamine beta-hydroxylase, or tyrosine/tyramine metabolism, or…

habinero 1y ago

That's absolutely not true. It's like saying autism didn't exist before the 90s. It did, it just wasn't recognized. I got diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago as an adult. I grew up without all of the things you mentioned and I've always had it, I just didn't know. What I did know is I was having to put a lot more effort into things other people found easy, I was weird about certain things like watching movies without something to occupy my hands, and sometimes everything was too much. Did I cope with it? Sure, by developing a lot of anxiety and drinking a LOT of caffeine. I cannot express how much easier and more pleasant life is now that I have a framework to hang those behaviors on. Yeah, medication helps a lot, but it's being able to plan around potential problems that's the real winner.