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ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

theguardian.com

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Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#51

Post by neom »

selfmodruntime wrote: post #50
neom wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was on Adderall for about 10 years, when I moved to Asia I discovered 'amphs are banned, so they put me on Ritalin. Holy mother of god how people tolerate that stuff is beyond me. Over the course of an hour, I'd oscillate between wanting to go to the gym, anger, and horny. Had to discontinue using it for fear I'd kill someone during the anger phase. I've tried many substanced but I gotta say... Ritalin is high on t…

Crossing my fingers. My drugstore didn‘t have Metylphinidat, so I had to go for ritalin. Trying it next week.

If you remember, lmk how it goes, very curious how others react to it.

Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#52

Post by nucleardog »

doix wrote: post #47

I really wish there was some accurate physiological test that could be used to determine if you had ADHD or not. I _strongly_ suspect I have it. As a child I could never "focus". My parents being academics from the USSR didn't "believe" in it, they just kept forcing me to sit still and study until I did. Eventually, I got slightly better at sitting still and "focusing". I would (and still do) fidget like crazy, eithe…

> I tried getting an adult diagnosis in the UK to see if maybe "proper drugs" would be helpful, but was just told politely to fuck off by the GP. The reasoning was that I have a job in tech, so even if I had ADHD, it's not bad enough to warrant any treatment. Lots of coffee and listening to "hardstyle" or any music with high BPM seems to help me focus.

If you're ever looking to chase that down again, having a successful career shouldn't preclude you from being "impaired" enough to be treated for ADHD, but you need to emphasize _how_ your life is negatively impacted to give the GP, Psychologist, or anyone else involved the justification they need to diagnose and treat you. (And if you already did this, well, maybe another doctor?)

When I was diagnosed my being relatively successful was definitely some points against, but really high level I was able to explain:

- That I had recently switched jobs, the previous behaviours _are_ impacting my work, and here's exactly how.

- Detailed some of the challenges I faced in my day-to-day life personally and how it was impacting my family.

- For questions where I am not particularly impaired, where possible I explained the coping strategies I use in order to, y'know, function, but obviously that this was still stressful and difficult for me.

The psychologist had no issue diagnosing me with ADHD and recommending my GP prescribe me medication. He was not surprised to hear that over a few decades I'd managed to develop one or two coping strategies, and the strategies I'd explained were actually consistent with an ADHD diagnosis.

Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#53

Post by [deleted] »

neom wrote: post #39
herbst wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner tried a lot (and went trough weird other diagnosis) and found her solution in simple dextroamphetamine. It's a life changer for her and our relationship as well :) also very cheap as it's no protected substance. Around here many are deemed to get ritalin first or other similarly weird substances which has way more side effects for some than good ol' amphetamine.

I was on Adderall for about 10 years, when I moved to Asia I discovered 'amphs are banned, so they put me on Ritalin. Holy mother of god how people tolerate that stuff is beyond me. Over the course of an hour, I'd oscillate between wanting to go to the gym, anger, and horny. Had to discontinue using it for fear I'd kill someone during the anger phase. I've tried many substanced but I gotta say... Ritalin is high on t…

[deleted]

Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#54

Post by rstuart4133 »

doix wrote: post #47

I really wish there was some accurate physiological test that could be used to determine if you had ADHD or not. I _strongly_ suspect I have it. As a child I could never "focus". My parents being academics from the USSR didn't "believe" in it, they just kept forcing me to sit still and study until I did. Eventually, I got slightly better at sitting still and "focusing". I would (and still do) fidget like crazy, eithe…

I've seen a few videos of people discussing their ADHD. One thing that came across is "I can't focus" was too broad. Some of them could sit for hours on end mastering a video game. What they could not do is focus on things that were less interesting.

Mind you, these were high functioning individuals. They found ways to use their bountiful reserves of energy to earn a lot of money. Maybe there are others that can't focus on anything for a long period - I don't know.

The difference between them and myself (apart from that energy) was that I can, with a struggle, force myself to focus on most things if I'm physically comfortable. That said, doing something I don't like is struggle, and I'll procrastinate like crazy. But for them, it seemed near impossible.

They solved the problem in the same way I do for regular things I don't like doing. They incorporated it into their daily routine. Repeating a routine, even something a simple as casting a fishing line (which I guess is not that simple to do well, now I think about it), brings it's own pleasures regardless of the task. For me it takes a few weeks to add something to my routine. For them, it seemed to take months or years. The self discipline they applied to keep at it until it became a routine they enjoyed for it's own sake, was amazing.

Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#55

Post by slenk »

rstuart4133 wrote: post #54
doix wrote: post #47

I really wish there was some accurate physiological test that could be used to determine if you had ADHD or not. I _strongly_ suspect I have it. As a child I could never "focus". My parents being academics from the USSR didn't "believe" in it, they just kept forcing me to sit still and study until I did. Eventually, I got slightly better at sitting still and "focusing". I would (and still do) fidget like crazy, eithe…

I've seen a few videos of people discussing their ADHD. One thing that came across is "I can't focus" was too broad. Some of them could sit for hours on end mastering a video game. What they could not do is focus on things that were less interesting. Mind you, these were high functioning individuals. They found ways to use their bountiful reserves of energy to earn a lot of money. Maybe there are others that can't fo…

This. I can be great at focusing on something for hours without thinking of anything else.

The problem is I have a hard time controlling what that focus will actually be on.

Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#56

Post by Emutopia »

doix wrote: post #47

I really wish there was some accurate physiological test that could be used to determine if you had ADHD or not. I _strongly_ suspect I have it. As a child I could never "focus". My parents being academics from the USSR didn't "believe" in it, they just kept forcing me to sit still and study until I did. Eventually, I got slightly better at sitting still and "focusing". I would (and still do) fidget like crazy, eithe…

[dead]

Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#57

Post by slenk »

corobo wrote: post #32
raccoonDivider wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an actual consensus on what ADHD _is_, besides a catch-all for some common concentration and hyperactivity symptoms? People online assert a lot of things, such as "it's a dysfunction of dopamine pathways", "it's genetic", "it's a sort of autism", "it's a brain chemistry problem". But never anything that looked like a real definition backed by good science. My own psychiatrist's diagnosis was a bunch of obvio…

To answer your question: Not that I know of. To waffle freely: I believe it's lower than normal background levels of dopamine. Obligatory disclaimer I am in no way a doctor or scientist. This is probably wrong. Pinches of salt all round. This is a theory I'm kicking around now and then but I don't have the knowledge to confirm/deny the hypothesis yet. When a normal person tackles a regular task they'll get a little s…

Reading this was eerie. You described me to a T.

I have suspected for a while, but since I got good grades as a kid I never got tested.

Smoked and drank for years. Had to quit that. Still smoke weed...

Well shit.

Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#58

Post by Emutopia »

raccoonDivider wrote: post #19
mo_42 wrote: post #7

I think this is a good example of how we mix up concepts: ADHD is just a phenotype. Then, our society classifies it as a condition because it does not go well with current circumstances. Although, both are separate things.

Is there an actual consensus on what ADHD _is_, besides a catch-all for some common concentration and hyperactivity symptoms? People online assert a lot of things, such as "it's a dysfunction of dopamine pathways", "it's genetic", "it's a sort of autism", "it's a brain chemistry problem". But never anything that looked like a real definition backed by good science. My own psychiatrist's diagnosis was a bunch of obvio…

It's an executive functioning disorder, the DSM-V is the relevant authority and describes it in the linked document.

It is clearly defined and operationalised for medical diagnostic purposes.

https://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/patient_care/adhd_to...

It's causes are understood to be a combination of genetic risk factors (its heritable and follows family trees), and environmental factors such as child abuse increase the odds of an ADHD diagnosis being made.

Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#59

Post by Emutopia »

nvarsj wrote: post #35
corobo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To answer your question: Not that I know of. To waffle freely: I believe it's lower than normal background levels of dopamine. Obligatory disclaimer I am in no way a doctor or scientist. This is probably wrong. Pinches of salt all round. This is a theory I'm kicking around now and then but I don't have the knowledge to confirm/deny the hypothesis yet. When a normal person tackles a regular task they'll get a little s…

This is basically the pop science explanation of ADHD. There is actually no scientific explanation for it.

There very much is a definition and Psychologists have studied it extensively

It is clearly defined and operationalised for medical diagnostic purposes.

https://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/patient_care/adhd_to...

There seems to be a lack of mental health expertise in the hacker community, so feel free to ask any specific questions and I'll do my best to assist you :)

Re: ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

#60

Post by faeriechangling »

RockCoach wrote: post #8
ikekkdcjkfke wrote: post #5

I think most traits give either an evolutionary advantage to you or your group

According to your opinion, which evolutionary advantage would something like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia provide to your group?

Don't know much about BPD, know a little more about schizophrenia. The genes that make you predisposed to schizophrenia seem to positively impact creativity and certain types of creative output. A gene doesn't necessarily have to have a good outcome for everybody with that gene, so long as it results in enough good outcome to make up for it.

I think of this with homosexuality. What is the possible evolutionary advantage to homosexuality? Well there's lots of reasons why we would want humans to be attracted to both men and women, so they're reproduce, and it's not hard to see how genes that cause that could make people gay.

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