7 ms·

I've never met a person with adhd in my entire life. Why is it so widespread in the US?

duaneb 11y ago
There are a number of theories, none of which have very strong support. You probably have met someone with ADHD, you just probably judged them as lazy or immature. Some people very much do struggle with keeping certain topics on their minds.
derefr 11y ago
Yes you have. You've just never met a person diagnosed with ADHD. Even in the US, the diagnosis rate of ADHD is way below the statistical rate of occurrence in the population (and yes, that is true even when you only say something is "ADHD" if it is critically impairing the person's life.) But in other countries, diagnosis is virtually nonexistent, despite similar prevalence. In those countries, people with ADHD are just seen as lazy or lacking character, and are told to "suck it up." (Where ADHD is precisely the lack of executive function necessary to "suck it up.") These people do not turn out well. If you look at most countries besides the US, there is a distinct "slacker" subculture that is likely a bunch of people with undiagnosed ADHD. NEETs in Japan, for example. These are approached as unique cultural phenomena, rather than through the lens of epidemiology. (Other thought: maybe you have met someone diagnosed with ADHD, but they've never told you they have it. I don't go around telling my friends and coworkers I have ADHD; it's an annoying conversation to have with someone if you don't know whether they know enough about the disease to separate it from "laziness" as a temporary emotion. I just blab about it to strangers on the internet.)
- fit2rule 11y ago
  ADHD is a cultural representation. Its not an actual condition. If you believe in the Religion of DSM, then you've got a problem: you live in a box. Not everyone on planet Earth actually considers that attention-deficiency requires drugging and dependency on industrialized pharmaceutical dealers. Its probably part of the "American supremacy" package, though - which is not necessarily only a US infliction, but more of a "Western" one. If you look beyond the West, you might find that its not as big a cultural problem as those who control your mind would have you believe ...
  - cloverich 11y ago
    > ADHD is a cultural representation...Not everyone on planet Earth actually considers that attention-deficiency requires drugging and dependency on industrialized pharmaceutical dealers. Attention and focus are physical processes your brain executes to function normally. There is certainly a cultural aspect to the definition of normal, but its not a completely subjective interpretation as you're implying. Nor is over diagnosis synonymous with (the ailments) existence (i.e. it being over-diagnosed does not mean it does not exist). In the same way that lack of sleep can reduce your ability to focus, there are other physical processes that can go awry, and treatment (such as pharmaceutical intervention) can and does help people. As an interesting aside, sleep apnea is sometimes mis-diagnosed as ADHD (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21808754 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21808754)
    - fit2rule 11y ago
      >> not a completely subjective interpretation as you're implying. Really? I think that all cultures are subjective by definition. So I can't agree with you, simply. Ask the French if they have an ADHD problem ..
  - derefr 11y ago
    This bullshit has got to stop. Let me explain neurochemical imbalances generally, once and for all. Your brain is a machine to enact your choices. "You" are a small part of your brain; the executive center that makes moral judgements about potential courses of action and makes plans to get what you want. Your brain has reference ranges of neurochemicals. When it is within those ranges, you have a full spectrum of choice available to you, with no particular physiological bias toward one choice over another. A healthy brain enacts "your" whims at precisely the weightings you give them. You have all the options. When one of your neurochemicals falls out of the reference range, your brain enacts your choices in a biased manner. Your options become impaired. You no longer have the freedom to do exactly what you want. In clinical depression, choices that would lead to positively-charged emotional stimuli (going out for a walk instead of laying on your bed doing nothing, for example) are down-weighted. Your brain is taking away "your" choice about whether to enjoy something. In social anxiety, choices that would lead to socially-complex interactions (seeing friends; taking university courses; working in a job involving customer service) are down-weighted. "You" might enjoy doing these things, but your brain won't let you do them. In ADHD, choices that would lead to short-term effort but only long-term reward (practicing an instrument, for example) are down-weighted. "You" want to learn to play the piano? Too bad; your brain doesn't. These are not facets of personality. These are impairments in your available choices, just as much as missing a leg impairs your ability to choose to go dancing or being nearsighted impairs your ability to choose to sit at the back of a classroom. And like the physical impairments, they have prosthetics—drugs that return your brain to the reference ranges of these neurochemicals. Like any prosthetic, the point of them is to give you back the options that having the impairment takes away. Anti-depressants let you choose to go do something fun. You don't have to. You can stay in. But the choice is no longer being made for you, by your brain. Anxiolytics let you choose to socialize. You don't have to. You can be an introvert. But now you don't have to worry about someone making a demand of you based on an expectation that all the options are equally easy. ADHD medication lets you choose to work on a task with no short-term reward. You can still play video games or goof off, but now you can also start—and finish—writing a book. You no longer have to select from the subset of hobbies and jobs your brain is willing to put up with.
nashashmi 11y ago
Probably because they seem normal to you. I have found that if you were to compartmentalize behaviors independent of the person or other behaviors, you are far less likely to give it a name, never mind categorizing it as an illness. <rant> If people have ADHD and it needs to be "prescribed" a drug or treatment, then there are so many different habits and behaviors that can just as well be labeled as an illness. Schools have used ADHD diagnosis to explain disruptive students. The truth of the matter was that those students turned out to be a little more difficult to handle simply because they demanded more of the teacher and were not content with either the style of information or the amount of info they were getting. Which brings me back to the article: games exhaust mentally hyped minds. And that is supposed to be a "cure", just like physical activity is supposed to be a "cure" to restless bodies. </rant>

There are a number of theories, none of which have very strong support. You probably have met someone with ADHD, you just probably judged them as lazy or immature. Some people very much do struggle with keeping certain topics on their minds.

derefr 11y ago

Yes you have. You've just never met a person diagnosed with ADHD. Even in the US, the diagnosis rate of ADHD is way below the statistical rate of occurrence in the population (and yes, that is true even when you only say something is "ADHD" if it is critically impairing the person's life.) But in other countries, diagnosis is virtually nonexistent, despite similar prevalence. In those countries, people with ADHD are just seen as lazy or lacking character, and are told to "suck it up." (Where ADHD is precisely the lack of executive function necessary to "suck it up.") These people do not turn out well. If you look at most countries besides the US, there is a distinct "slacker" subculture that is likely a bunch of people with undiagnosed ADHD. NEETs in Japan, for example. These are approached as unique cultural phenomena, rather than through the lens of epidemiology. (Other thought: maybe you have met someone diagnosed with ADHD, but they've never told you they have it. I don't go around telling my friends and coworkers I have ADHD; it's an annoying conversation to have with someone if you don't know whether they know enough about the disease to separate it from "laziness" as a temporary emotion. I just blab about it to strangers on the internet.)

fit2rule 11y ago
ADHD is a cultural representation. Its not an actual condition. If you believe in the Religion of DSM, then you've got a problem: you live in a box. Not everyone on planet Earth actually considers that attention-deficiency requires drugging and dependency on industrialized pharmaceutical dealers. Its probably part of the "American supremacy" package, though - which is not necessarily only a US infliction, but more of a "Western" one. If you look beyond the West, you might find that its not as big a cultural problem as those who control your mind would have you believe ...
- cloverich 11y ago
  > ADHD is a cultural representation...Not everyone on planet Earth actually considers that attention-deficiency requires drugging and dependency on industrialized pharmaceutical dealers. Attention and focus are physical processes your brain executes to function normally. There is certainly a cultural aspect to the definition of normal, but its not a completely subjective interpretation as you're implying. Nor is over diagnosis synonymous with (the ailments) existence (i.e. it being over-diagnosed does not mean it does not exist). In the same way that lack of sleep can reduce your ability to focus, there are other physical processes that can go awry, and treatment (such as pharmaceutical intervention) can and does help people. As an interesting aside, sleep apnea is sometimes mis-diagnosed as ADHD (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21808754 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21808754)
  - fit2rule 11y ago
    >> not a completely subjective interpretation as you're implying. Really? I think that all cultures are subjective by definition. So I can't agree with you, simply. Ask the French if they have an ADHD problem ..
- derefr 11y ago
  This bullshit has got to stop. Let me explain neurochemical imbalances generally, once and for all. Your brain is a machine to enact your choices. "You" are a small part of your brain; the executive center that makes moral judgements about potential courses of action and makes plans to get what you want. Your brain has reference ranges of neurochemicals. When it is within those ranges, you have a full spectrum of choice available to you, with no particular physiological bias toward one choice over another. A healthy brain enacts "your" whims at precisely the weightings you give them. You have all the options. When one of your neurochemicals falls out of the reference range, your brain enacts your choices in a biased manner. Your options become impaired. You no longer have the freedom to do exactly what you want. In clinical depression, choices that would lead to positively-charged emotional stimuli (going out for a walk instead of laying on your bed doing nothing, for example) are down-weighted. Your brain is taking away "your" choice about whether to enjoy something. In social anxiety, choices that would lead to socially-complex interactions (seeing friends; taking university courses; working in a job involving customer service) are down-weighted. "You" might enjoy doing these things, but your brain won't let you do them. In ADHD, choices that would lead to short-term effort but only long-term reward (practicing an instrument, for example) are down-weighted. "You" want to learn to play the piano? Too bad; your brain doesn't. These are not facets of personality. These are impairments in your available choices, just as much as missing a leg impairs your ability to choose to go dancing or being nearsighted impairs your ability to choose to sit at the back of a classroom. And like the physical impairments, they have prosthetics—drugs that return your brain to the reference ranges of these neurochemicals. Like any prosthetic, the point of them is to give you back the options that having the impairment takes away. Anti-depressants let you choose to go do something fun. You don't have to. You can stay in. But the choice is no longer being made for you, by your brain. Anxiolytics let you choose to socialize. You don't have to. You can be an introvert. But now you don't have to worry about someone making a demand of you based on an expectation that all the options are equally easy. ADHD medication lets you choose to work on a task with no short-term reward. You can still play video games or goof off, but now you can also start—and finish—writing a book. You no longer have to select from the subset of hobbies and jobs your brain is willing to put up with.

nashashmi 11y ago

Probably because they seem normal to you. I have found that if you were to compartmentalize behaviors independent of the person or other behaviors, you are far less likely to give it a name, never mind categorizing it as an illness. <rant> If people have ADHD and it needs to be "prescribed" a drug or treatment, then there are so many different habits and behaviors that can just as well be labeled as an illness. Schools have used ADHD diagnosis to explain disruptive students. The truth of the matter was that those students turned out to be a little more difficult to handle simply because they demanded more of the teacher and were not content with either the style of information or the amount of info they were getting. Which brings me back to the article: games exhaust mentally hyped minds. And that is supposed to be a "cure", just like physical activity is supposed to be a "cure" to restless bodies. </rant>