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

Modern Historical and Public Figures

• Sir Richard Branson: The billionaire founder of the Virgin Group credits his lateral thinking and high energy to ADHD.
• Michael Phelps: The most decorated Olympian of all time utilized intense swimming routines to channel his childhood restlessness.
• Simone Biles: Openly shares her childhood ADHD diagnosis and views it as part of her journey to becoming a gymnastics legend

All this shows is that a few can be successful as defined by modern society despite a disability, especially those born into wealth and privilege like Branson who would have had the best of the best support making him able to fail upwards.

It doesn’t show ADHD to be an advantage or have benefits.

a very small handful vs how many that have to be the round pegs in the square holes

The social model of disability only goes so far. It was originally drafted to refer to disability access for wheelchair users, blind, deaf- physical disabilities- to describe how society with a few changes could ensure access to basic services and public spaces.

The more recent application of the social model to neurodivergence is not as useful imho.

And in worse news there is a very high link between ADHD and dementia - so those shorted / lost 13 years may likely be preceded by up to 10 years of dementia.

I’m with you.

I cannot believe some of the comments on this thread.

This is a hugely significant issue and why modern people suffer a lot of anxiety and why the anxiety levels in children are going though the roof because we encourage so much naval gazing and rumination and emotional input rather than getting them physically engaged with things and really busy

At least they would be more sensible things to worry about 😂 Some of the stupid things I worry about make me feel like I'm completely crazy. Sertraline has improved this massively though.

It would be interesting to go back in time knowing what we know now. I wonder whether the increase in neurodivergence is because neurodivergent people are more drawn to each other and it's strongly genetic.

My mum's side has strong ADHD history and my dad's side has autism. Over time this must increase prevalence.

I also do wonder about the past. I am not convinced there is any rise in ND though, there is certainly a improvement in understanding of it causing an increase in diagnosis.

Since it is biological based on neural pathways, I think it more similar to how we have had a huge increase in cancer diagnoses in younger age groups because we are catching it earlier, and not because there is more cancer.

I agree on ND being more likely to have kids with a fellow ND person. I think that’s more like what you see in any recessive genes though. By ND +ND, it keeps a minority, recessive genetic variation going. If genes didn’t work that way we would all have brown hairm brown eyes, and brown skin.

I don’t think it would ever useful to be constantly hyper vigilant. It actually distorts perception of danger and is generally exhausting so energy is depleted when actually danger presents itself.
Taking away what the specific thoughts are about and focusing instead on what the brain is actually doing, it’s entirely possible that primitive people could have experienced intrusive thoughts but not centred around the same thing as modern people.
Bear in mind that anybody displaying unusual behaviours in human societies up until very recently would have been excluded socially and in primitive societies, possibly even killed.

I think it’s both inward and outward. Yes the time on your hands to navel gaze and obsess over minor things until they seem monstrous, I agree is an issue.

But I think the outward side is an issue too. By outward I mean the fact we know what happens other side of the planet and everywhere else in minutes. We are constantly bombarded with bad news that is often exaggerated for effect. War, earthquakes, wild fires, floods, illnesses (28k ill in UK with explosive shits due to mystery virus), the world is overheating and we are all going to die, Putin and Trump are threatening nukes again, 50km away an 11yo was kidnapped, raped and murdered, 15km away a woman was found dead with serious injuries by a road, 10km away four injured in a shoot out with police, …

In the past, news travelled slowly and we would not likely hear of most of it. I have read that anxiety about climate change, war, crime etc are on the rise too.

Reasonable adjustments can be made but people with ADHD should learn to manage and learn to function independently.

Insightful.

Yes. The second part after the but completely cancels out the first part.

The meaning is closer to,
Reasonable adjustments could be made, but we should not have to do that because people with ADHD should just learn better to manage and function independently.

back to the old chestnut of its not a disability, it’s laziness you can learn how to overcome.

Like many my dc tried to the best of her ability and it nearly killed her.

My husband and adult daughter plus two of my grandchildren are all ADHD. They are all normal but school is not working for my grandchildren and their brains work differently. That is all. They do have challenges though. Society needs to adapt and recognise we are not robots.

Yea sometimes I think it evolution. People commenting more people fitting into these labels. But I'm pretty sure changing norms must be expect as part of evolution. People with good hunter/gather personalities not what we need in Tech/AI world

Do you know anything about ADHD? It is not a question of learning to manage. Most ADHD people do mask and try to conform but their nervous systems are constantly in high alert. Why should they have to conform? It is easier for someone who is neurotypical and for society not to expect our brains all work the same.

Most with ADHD are perfectly able to function independently. It may take more effort though.

So they can adapt to society and learn to be a functioning independent adult?

Not without medication, treatment and reasonable adjustments, no many can’t. It’s not something you can switch off. As I said trying to adapt without any of the above nearly killed my daughter. It can lead to self medication, suicidal idealisation, eating disorders, risky and impulsive behaviours….

I agree and is partly occurring as a reaction to far too many conflicting aspects to life; to not enough scope for a kind of creativity which evolves on the spot and needs time; and smart phones.

Absolute rubbish. It was first identified in 1798. I am in my late 50s and grew up without smartphones as did my children. All of us have ADHD.

@hamper555 I was wondering, out of genuine interest, what sort of education system might be better for her and help her not to have medication?

I think then that what I would say is that some people are affected by smart phones and computers in such a way that they display some adhd symptoms as a result of using them a lot. Similarly some people are affected in this way by stress.
This article below talks about the question of digital use by teens.
www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-cell-phone-use-cause-adhd-2018073114375

Do you actually know what ADHD symptoms are?

To say ADHD is a result of phone usage is highly offensive and ignorant.