I recently read an article about a doctor who was making a case that the issue is not that those 1 in 5 are "neurodivergent", but our current society is causing harm. When he sees ADHD symptoms his first "treatments" are proper nutrition, making sure they feel like they're doing meaningful things in life, enough exercise, etc...

I'm also sometimes starting to wonder if for a part we're not just medicating people to "thrive" in a society that's inhuman, rather than make society work for as many people as possible.

But it's of course a very complex & grey area, and let's be honest, something as vague as ADHD probably encompasses a lot of different causes. And it'll probably take decades of research before we actually manage to split up all the things that are today lumped together into the separate things with each their own propert treatment.

[–] Aqarius@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago

What are you talking about, spending 8 hours a day in a chair staring into a light-up rectangle and getting yelled at over the phone is the natural human state, and anyone who can't force themselves to do so has something wrong with them.

Seriously, though, the problem is real. A psychologist can be fully aware the patient has anxiety about paying rent because they can't make rent, but the only tool available to help them in a professional capacity is treating the anxiety. Same goes for depression and the rest. Hell, thinking about it now, same would have been true of drapetomania.

[–] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I think I get you.

Like, what if we're just different, but we need "treatment" to survive in a society that runs on already inhuman paradigms that are called "normal"?

There's a lot of conflict and debate on this. Would ADHD folks still be "disabled" in a world that didn't attempt to force them to run like a misshapen gear in industrial-revolution clockwork? Maybe.

I still think it's a disability though. One we can make peace with, but it makes general survival a huge pain to deal with, and not just in modernized inhuman society.

The correct treatment can make these things much more manageable.

It can have perks. And I like my personality the way it is...but calling it a "superpower" is a huge stretch too. I really don't think it's some kind of cool "evolutionary fork" like some people want to push.

I hate lots of things about modern society and it's sociopath expectations, but also we must be careful not to fall into the trap of not helping people cope when their life falls apart when left to their own devices.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Sounds like you're putting forward theories of someone who doesn't believe in ADHD, and then immediately walking it back. Why even type it?

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

ADHD uses pretty powerful drugs. If you don't have a specific indicator, just behavior then it is normal and correct to try and treat it through other means first.