AIBU to wonder whether ADHD is normal and society is the issue

[LadyBeatriceBeaHiggins]

No offence intended

Discussing about Adhd with a friend who has Adhd and we wondered what if Adhd is naturally a part of being human and its the way society trys to make humans into machines that is the problem ?

so figured id open up our debate for fellow mumsnetters

YES. This is what I have been thinking. I think adhd is actually completely normal and is our bodies' response to this crazy society. Im relieved to see someone else say it!

It is not a disorder - it is a perfectly normal and effective way of functioning. It just doesn’t conform with the majority view of what human behaviour should be, and it makes me very cross that I have to medicate my very bright daughter so that she can conform with an outdated education system that doesn’t suit her

Following with interest.....

I say this on every ADHD thread and get accused of disability-bashing

You could argue that about lots of things though. Psychosis, for example, exists across all cultures, but how it presents and is interpreted varies depending on the culture. Doesn’t mean it’s caused by society, just that society influences how it’s experienced.

We all have a freak flag (scuse the expression) and should fly them. Closing off, letting it all hang out or putting on a purple hat and shouting at passing cars....whatever gets you through the day.
Life is bloody hard, we were not designed to live in the demands of an increasingly dehumanised and fragmented world.
I think weird is the new normal. You only get one stab at life.

@LadyBeatriceBeaHiggins can you explain more what you mean, please?

For example, the term multitasking should never have been applied to humans. It was originally a term for computers.

Im in a similar boat with both my kids. They are perfectly ok to function as independent people and will be able to live alone as adults. They are not disordered or disabled any more than I am by being too short to reach the top shelf in a supermarket. Its an annoyance that I need some assistance with but it doesn't make shopping impossible. I suspect once mine find their niche they will be ok but in order to cope with the narrow education system, they need to medicate. I have had to resort to fee paying schools to find them a small and flexible environment that allows them to just about manage but I shouldn't have to do that.

Yes 100%. I suspect I would be diagnosed with AuDHD if I pursued it, but I also feel like in another time or society I would be absolutely unremarkable.

The pressure of this life, with its responsibilities and distractions, is just too much for me to manage and I’ve never been able to fit in to what people expected of me.

I feel like a simpler life without being bombarded with information and stimulation would suit me so much better. I’ve tried to carve out a role for myself over the years that moulds to my particular skills and abilities but it’s still overwhelming just existing tbh. I don’t want to romanticise the life I could have had as I know women’s lot was not a happy one for much of history, but I do feel like I wasn’t meant for this era.

Ah OK. So is the society of the 1980s also to blame?

Is the fact that I NEVER stopped talking as a child.a response to the three TV channels I had?

Is the way I used to hide and have conversations in my head age 6 instead of going out to play like my mum told me to, a response to the sheer amount of strawberry shortcake I was exposed to?

My point is how do you explain the many older adults who have been diagnosed on using proper diagnostic criteria, who grew up without smart phones and computers and the stress levels of today?

There's likely to be something in this. The symptoms of ADHD probably affect just about everyone unless they have supreme willpower to overcome them.

We're all non-binary too....

Of course it’s normal.

Its just not typical.

You should ask MN to let you edit your OP. ‘normal’ 😳

We are all very much binary.

Agreed.
ADHD and ASD are both normal personality traits which don't fit well with both education and many workplaces. This, along with more permissive parenting in many cases, and the influence of technology, is causing many issues. Unfortunately I don't have any wonderful solutions although I'm broadly behind Andy Burnham's recent ideas for secondary and tertiary education.

I’ve been thinking this for a while now. Many friends agree.

There is a theory that hunters in hunter-gatherer times would have been ADHD. The traits that are negative now would have made them strong hunters in the day. Their ability to be distracted would mean they could survey the landscape for threats. Their longing for novelty would be why they wanted to travel to find food. They are just negative traits in the world we have to live in now.

Yes, I definitely think there's some truth in this. The world has evolved so quickly in the last 20-30 years and humans are not evolved to deal with many of the changes.

@hamper555i dint know how you can say it’s a normal way of functioning. It seems many people with ADHD don’t function that well at all. I’m not talking about within systems like school, but basic getting up and doing what they have to to keep themselves nourished and clean and paying bills. Yes that is a societal expectation but if we didn’t have one then we couldn’t function as a whole.

How is having a restricted diet because of sensory issues or finding loud noise painful a"personality trait '?

This 100%

You realise being a chatty child and having conversations in your head is entirely normal behaviour?

I think I agree for people who have milder forms of ADHD.

Same may be said for milder forms of autistic traits, depression, anxiety, social anxiety etc. All could be seen as within the range of normal.

I guess the issue is some people with mild/moderate forms of these conditions can also really struggle - especially where their school/work/environment is not suitable for them. So people get understandably cross at being dismissed when they or their child are genuinely strugging.

ADHD can be a life limiting disability, and before the recent expansion of criteria, there was no discussion of it being a society problem. My ADHD sibling would starved to death as a hunter/gatherer, has never held down a job and makes dangerous decisions routinely. Its not a personality trait.

The majority of leaps in human invention have been made by people with ND.

the way we was discussing it was like you know the painter da vinci, well he would start paintings then get new ideas and start a new one and so on, well me and friend was debating that that type of energy would be considered adhd as they agreed and it seems todays society wants people to start paint and complete, and what if the human mind is actually doing what its ment to do eg start different ideas, paintings etc and its society that tries to make people more like machines eg start, then complete then next painting