Undisclosed financial conflicts of interest in DSM-5 (2024)

Have you ever considered that the things which you find doable or even trivial might be incomprehensibly more difficult for other people? You mentioned being diagnosed with ADHD higher up, but part of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD is quite literally about severity of the symptoms:

DSM-5: "There is clear evidence that the symptoms interfere with, or reduce the quality of, social, school, or work functioning."

ICD-11: "Several symptoms of inattention/hyperactivity-impulsivity that are persistent, and sufficiently severe that they have a direct negative impact on academic, occupational, or social functioning"

Being capable of pushing through basic adult responsibilities, regardless of discomfort and difficulties (without burning yourself out!), and failing to do so to the degree that it severely negatively affects your life is the defining line between "order" and "disorder".

If you have a very demanding job then you might experience symptoms that are consistent with ADHD. That's why the diagnostic process is supposed to verify that there's a clear history of symptoms ranging back to your teenage years (or earlier) and that your symptoms aren't being caused by general life stressors.

> The idea that everything in life should induce minimal discomfort or that "it's hard" is an excuse is a completely modern, first world problem, to speak of privilege.

No, the idea is that people should receive help if we have a neurodevelopmental disorder that is severe enough to significantly impact our quality of life. Just like with any other medical condition.

> Mindfulness and thinking about your thoughts are proven as effective or more effective than medication for a wide range of psychological disorders, including ADHD, or CBT if you want to formalize it.

False:

> CBT is best used within a multi-modal treatment approach and as an adjunct to medication as current research does not fully support the efficacy of CBT as a sole treatment for adult ADHD [274,[316], [317], [318]]. Most controlled studies have been conducted in patients taking ADHD medication and demonstrate an additional significant treatment effect [313,[318], [319], [320], [321], [322]]. The largest controlled multi-center CBT-study to date has demonstrated that psychological interventions result in better outcomes when combined with MPH as compared to psychological interventions in unmedicated patients [228]. In a systematic review of 51 pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions [316], the highest proportion of improved outcomes (83%) was for patients receiving combination treatment.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092493381...

Edit: ok, that was vallium. ;)

Doctors (at least the good ones) aren't usually going in blind and just doing whatever the DSM tell them to as if they were following a flowchart or checklist. The DSM (which I'm not even fully defending here, I personally it feel has all kinds of problems) is just a guide. It's not the only tool in a doctor's arsenal and they aren't obligated to follow it.

If males under 5’2” were having clear difficulty functioning and outcomes were measurably worse for most of them and large numbers of them were seeking treatment and we actually had safe and effective treatments which measurably decreased or eliminated the problems caused by the fact that they are under 5’2” for most of them, then I'd expect that we would consider it a medical disease/disorder. Why shouldn't we?

Getting sleep right helps a lot. Getting sunlight helps a lot. etc But in the end a notable problematic aspect of it remains.