Do many people think that ADHD is not real?

[Ilovecranberries]

Was having remote drinks with a friend and his wife yesterday. She's a secondary school teacher in a quite "rough" school (not in the UK). I was quite surprised when, discussing something quite abstract about how different people think and react differently, she had said quite breezily that the majority of teachers she knows "don't believe" in the existence of ADHD.
Incidentally, one of my children is currently being assessed for it, but it is not news that I had shared socially outside of my immediate family. I wasn't offended, but I wonder if it is actually a widespread view behind the closed doors?

Also if ADHD is made up then why if you have it that the meds which are amphetamine/Speed. Why aren’t we off our tits when we take it as opposed to just being able to function

I get so sick of some people saying it is just bad parenting. My dd as a child, but grown up now, was perfectly well behaved whereas my 2 sons both diagnosed with ADHD. Interestingly my perfectly behaved dd has 2 sons of her own now and her eldest son is going for diagnosis of ADHD. Obviously a genetic link there.

@BoogleMcGroogle

MrsZola ADHD and autism are not the same condition. They are both neurodevelopmental conditions and often co-morbid, but the diagnostic criteria are very different and the DSM is clear that they are separate conditions.

I'm a psychologist. My son has ADHD. Part of the debate about whether ADHD exists in professional circles is because of differing ontological views. Its a philosophical divide. It's clearly not an thing' in the same way as a lamp, a dog or a pebble are a thing. There are no physical tests ( brain scans, blood tests) that can predict whether a child shows the cluster of symptoms associated with ADHD and no clear causal pathway. It's strongly associated with genetics, but sometimes also environmental factors ( eg trauma). At best, at present it's a description of a cluster of behaviours, mostly associated with executive skills that we know to be ameliorated by certain drugs and (possibly to a lesser extent, much to the chagrin of my esteemed colleagues) therapeutic and educational interventions. My son shows pretty classic ADHD behaviours and so it's useful for us to think in those terms in order to understand how to help him, but I do understand ( If not agree) with the philosophical perspective of professionals ( psychologists and psychiatrists, not just ignorant randomers) who argue it's not helpful to determine it as 'a thing'.

I feel like everyone missed the best post in the thread….

@thebookworm1 I agree that it’s a good post. Although on the other hand, you could say a lot of similar things about heart disease. There’s no single causal pathway, far from it. Managing it often involves lifestyle changes. Early childhood trauma is a risk factor for heart disease. Yet no one would ever question if heart disease is “a thing”. The difference is that there are lab tests I suppose, but even then there isn’t a single test - there is a clinical picture to be built from various tests. For ADHD we can also point to genetic and chemical factors, but just not quite at the level to make a diagnosis because it’s extremely complex. So still, I think it’s worth asking why do we reserve so much doubt, blame and questioning for the “psychiatric” issue and not the “physical” one. Both heart disease and ADHD are bad news for your life expectancy. So I feel like we can also hide some
prejudice behind the ontological argument.

Just wondering if Tourette syndrome has been mentioned. Now there’s a diagnosis that’s got many negative connotations and yet so very difficult to live with (sufferers and family)

Mentioning it, because it’s comorbidities include ADHD

@ATieLikeRichardGere

Bit late to the party here but this thread was interesting. It’s helpful to see how people think about this, even when it’s misguided.

I really hope we can continue to spread awareness and understanding about ADHD, especially when it comes to women and girls who are particularly underserved.

I have a diagnosis but have recently met myths and misunderstanding from family, internet randoms and even my extremely caring and lovely GP. It’s clear that a lot of people just don’t know much about this condition at all and we need to change that.

I wish I had known something about it sooner, beyond just basic stereotypes, and then maybe I could have had help sooner. Still jumping through hoops for any actual help of course because of hideous waiting lists.

I send lots of solidarity to everyone affected by this, whether themselves, their child or someone else. It’s very hard but also, what an amazing group of people you are.

Well said.

I didn't get a diagnosis until a few years ago in my late twenties following what I thought was effectively a nervous breakdown. I went to the doctors thinking I was ill, because I had such bad burnout that my executive function, memory and impulsivity had deterioriated beyond my already-bad levels and I was concerned I was seriously ill because I was forgetting absolutely everything, would spend entire days at work absolutely unable to do anything for 8 hours while my brain screamed at me, couldn't hold a conversation without running riot through it and not able to listen to anyone else. Thankfully my GP suggested ADHD and I went down the (long!) pathway to diagnosis.

Medication has changed my life on the executive function side. But it's not just being unable to function doing tasks. It's extreme sensory sensitivity, emotional dysregulation, binge eating disorder as a way of getting dopamine and 33 years of guilt and shame and feeling like I was broken. It's sealing the decision not to have children because all of those symptoms plus executive dysfunction mean I would hate parenting (and as DH has autism and ADHD, a high chance of parenting a neurodiverse child, so added pressures).

I've told hardly anyone I know about it because when I told my mum she went "oh you were just an airy fairy kid who couldn't sit still, they're all like that, ADHD is a little boy's thing" and it was so invalidating I decided not to bother.

@therocinante I relate hugely to your story. Also told basically no one except my DH.

I'm not shocked to hear that teachers feel this way. There is so much ignorance in regards to the condition.

I think there are teachers who think parents want a diagnosis rather than accept their child is a brat probably down to their poor parenting skills and lack of discipline in the home. Not that they don't believe it exists which it does.

People who don't believe ADHD is real are just flagging up their own ignorance.

I have to take issue with an earlier post though - it is NOT part of the autistic spectrum.

Viviennemary

I think there are teachers who think parents want a diagnosis rather than accept their child is a brat probably down to their poor parenting skills and lack of discipline in the home. Not that they don't believe it exists which it does

Or maybe they are chaotic parents with out of control children because they all have ADHD.

Bythemillpond

The point is that not all chaotic households have ADHD.

There are a massive range of factors in family dysfunction. One of my parents taught in a school in an area with a huge amount of family dysfunction caused by myriad complex factors - unemployment, lots of younger single parents lacking support, poverty, substance abuse, traumatic life experiences (refugees etc). They had very high levels of parents thinking their child had ADHD. Some did. Not all.

@thebookworm1 that is a very good post.

AFAIK conditions like this are a result of nature, or nature + nurture.
In other words, depending on the child’s genetic make up, some will be diagnosed no matter what their childhood is like.

Other children will have a genetic predisposition to it, and the genes are ‘turned on’ if they experience a chaotic/traumatising childhood, or even in the womb your genes can change depending on the stresses experienced by the mother. This is why we see higher cases in areas where there is social deprivation etc.

Early years care is so very important and the government pulling funding from this area is just infuriating.

Exactly @Bertiebotts! My DS 10 is going through an assessment process at the moment. Many of our hard work strategies for de-escalation or avoiding the sort of distress he experiences around a sudden change of plan look like bad parenting and the cause of rather than my response to my son's personality. I know friends and family have thought he feels able to freak out because I haven't sufficiently shamed and terrified him into stopping. Not that I think there is any amount of shame and fear or anything you could do to him to interrupt these behaviours. He couldn't stay still, cope with change, or interrupt himself to save his own life I absolutely know it. He really tries! We really try to support him. But there are key things he really just can't manage and insisting he does them just distresses and incapacitated him completely.

I feel relieved even to be able to say he's in assessment because I the silent end of the sentence "my son has ADHD" is 'so you can keep your judgements about how he needs a firm hand to yourself.

Blimey. Not sure how you can work with young people and NOT see it the evidence of it before your eyes everyday. Same with ASD and Attachment Disorder.

Many mental illnesses are still misunderstood. DD has OCD. People still make stupid comments about being tidy, or lining up pencils. DD lives a miserable life as a young adult because of the OCD obsessions, none of which have to do with obsessive cleanliness.

When I say he's horrible I mean he's out of control through lack of socialising with other kids.

He often beats my sisters when he's tired and gets away with it because he has been diagnosed with ADHD when really I think if he does have it, he should be going to school, learning how to cope with it and not spending hours upon hours shooting people on a video game.

@wishawish91

I believe ADHD is real.

What I do think sometimes is that it's abused by parents to justify their child being "naughty" or what I'd call a "handful".

My cousin has had all 3 of her kids diagnosed with it, the youngest is 3 and it does make me wonder as she's always been a "watch tv" or "go on the iPad" kind of mum instead of interacting with them.

My brother is also diagnosed. He's 11 now. He's just horrible as much as I hate to say it. My ex stepmum allows him to play Xbox all day and all night, he doesn't go to school. He stopped when he was 9 as he was addicted to computer games and he stays up until 4am playing then goes to sleep until 3pm then does it all over again. My Dad is currently in the middle of going to court with her over this.

You say she had them diagnosed like its that easy. You sound horrible tbh.

Nephews both have diagnosed adhd and are on medication. I cannot describe how much of a positive impact the medication has had. Youngest is so much more focused and is catching up (he has other issues but this has helped enormously). Eldest has gone from struggling - and an unsupportive head teacher who would happily have written him off - to top of the class.

I wonder whether it's a belief instead that it's used as an excuse by some for poor parenting and poor behaviour in children, rather than believing it doesn't exist at all.

About the screen time and ADHD study which I suspect is being referred to www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/digital-world-real-world/201906/does-excessive-screen-time-cause-adhd%3famp

The main thing I would pick up on is that it doesn’t establish a causal link.

I have diagnosed ADHD. I don’t know if my DD does as she is too young, but she is noticeably more active and distractible than other children to the extent everyone comments on this (sometimes with euphemisms like “free spirit”). She gets too much screen time I admit because, for example, it has been the only way I can get her to sit down and eat food, otherwise she is unable to sit still long enough to consume anything. Nursery and grandparents also struggle, not just me. If I one day find out she has ADHD I would interpret the ADHD as causing the excessive screen time, not the other way round. Of course she has no diagnosis to be clear. She is 2.