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A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

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21–30 of 75 posts

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#21

Autism and ADHD are a (deep) habit of the attention. A habit of moving the attention in a way that is possibly unhealthy, unuseful and probably discordant to what's common and normal. One solution is to change that habit with drugs or therapy. Another solution is to gain a greater understanding of your attention. Thus gaining a new freedom to move your attention in whatever way, rather than suffering the governance o…

Calling autism and ADHD "habits of attention" severely understates what's going on. These are neurodevelopmental conditions with substantial genetic and neurobiological components, not patterns someone can think their way out of. That framing has done real damage to people who delayed treatment because they believed they just needed more discipline or insight. Meditation can be a useful complement for some people, but it's not an alternative to addressing the underlying neurochemistry. By saying so you are hurting real people with real problems.

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#22

Autism and ADHD are a (deep) habit of the attention. A habit of moving the attention in a way that is possibly unhealthy, unuseful and probably discordant to what's common and normal. One solution is to change that habit with drugs or therapy. Another solution is to gain a greater understanding of your attention. Thus gaining a new freedom to move your attention in whatever way, rather than suffering the governance o…

What do meditation people do with their great powers of attention? Besides for naval gazing of course.

I think it can help you relax. A lot of meditation involves focus on breathing, can keep your heart rate down, etc., and I think that may be good for general health.

But I don't think it should be confounded with medical advice or treated as causal to neurodiversity or called mandatory. Probably why that person is getting downvoted.

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#23

This is great, check my post history, I've been beating this drum for many years now. hEDS is very very very under-diagnosed and this one simple fact is sufficient to explain a the prevalence of a whole zoo of seemingly unrelated conditions. There is an incentive to keep hEDS as a 'rare' disease as the US has extra grants for disease in this classification and this has put pressure on diagnostic criteria which was ma…

hEDS - Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, I think. "Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is a heritable connective tissue disorder that causes generalized joint hypermobility, joint instability, and chronic pain."

HSD - Hypermobility spectrum disorder. "Hypermobility spectrum disorders are a group of heritable connective tissue disorders where joints are flexible enough to cause problems such as instability and pain."

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#24
I think this has nothing to do with commonality and more to do with the fact everyone I know who is autistic (I work in tech) has been obsessively getting themselves diagnosed with things since they were like 14 like its a religion. Just has a new thing wrong with them weekly

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#25
post #21

Autism and ADHD are a (deep) habit of the attention. A habit of moving the attention in a way that is possibly unhealthy, unuseful and probably discordant to what's common and normal. One solution is to change that habit with drugs or therapy. Another solution is to gain a greater understanding of your attention. Thus gaining a new freedom to move your attention in whatever way, rather than suffering the governance o…

Calling autism and ADHD "habits of attention" severely understates what's going on. These are neurodevelopmental conditions with substantial genetic and neurobiological components, not patterns someone can think their way out of. That framing has done real damage to people who delayed treatment because they believed they just needed more discipline or insight. Meditation can be a useful complement for some people, bu…

I don't think it understates it. I think that reality is basically made of habit. Habit is a bigger deal than you think.

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#26

This is great, check my post history, I've been beating this drum for many years now. hEDS is very very very under-diagnosed and this one simple fact is sufficient to explain a the prevalence of a whole zoo of seemingly unrelated conditions. There is an incentive to keep hEDS as a 'rare' disease as the US has extra grants for disease in this classification and this has put pressure on diagnostic criteria which was ma…

If you’re willing to share:

Do you know your EBV/Lyme statuses?

History of other infections, and/or flu-like symptoms, low-level or otherwise?

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#27

Autism and ADHD are a (deep) habit of the attention. A habit of moving the attention in a way that is possibly unhealthy, unuseful and probably discordant to what's common and normal. One solution is to change that habit with drugs or therapy. Another solution is to gain a greater understanding of your attention. Thus gaining a new freedom to move your attention in whatever way, rather than suffering the governance o…

What do meditation people do with their great powers of attention? Besides for naval gazing of course.

What do all the jungle civilizations and any possible intelligent extraterrestrial life do?

Stay away from us to their own benefit, of course.

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#28

This is great, check my post history, I've been beating this drum for many years now. hEDS is very very very under-diagnosed and this one simple fact is sufficient to explain a the prevalence of a whole zoo of seemingly unrelated conditions. There is an incentive to keep hEDS as a 'rare' disease as the US has extra grants for disease in this classification and this has put pressure on diagnostic criteria which was ma…

hEDS - Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, I think. "Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is a heritable connective tissue disorder that causes generalized joint hypermobility, joint instability, and chronic pain." HSD - Hypermobility spectrum disorder. "Hypermobility spectrum disorders are a group of heritable connective tissue disorders where joints are flexible enough to cause problems such as instability and…

In practice HSD was an evolution away from benign hypermobility so it’s generally considered not to cause issues beyond the physical discomfort.

hEDS is considered too rare and to actually diagnose someone with it would mess up their health insurance for a condition doctors don’t believe can be treated. So they avoid diagnosing it which creates prevalence data that feeds back into the initial assumptions.

My view of HSD is that it is just a milder hEDS and all the other problems still exist even if most are not detectable. Most people spend their lives being told nothing specific is wrong with them and how are they to know better, after all doesn’t everyone get tired from time to time. Because I’m good at stats I was able to figure out that either I’m the unluckiest person ever or there is a common cause.

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#29
post #26

This is great, check my post history, I've been beating this drum for many years now. hEDS is very very very under-diagnosed and this one simple fact is sufficient to explain a the prevalence of a whole zoo of seemingly unrelated conditions. There is an incentive to keep hEDS as a 'rare' disease as the US has extra grants for disease in this classification and this has put pressure on diagnostic criteria which was ma…

If you’re willing to share: Do you know your EBV/Lyme statuses? History of other infections, and/or flu-like symptoms, low-level or otherwise?

I’ve had mono but not Lyme. My initial symptoms predated mono and started from infancy - but I’m on the very severe end of the spectrum. Most people don’t get hit with it until their 20s and 30s.

I think a lot of similar conditions have hEDS as the predisposition but are triggered differently. Some people need a bigger trigger than others.

Re: A Collection of Chronic Medical Conditions Common in Autistic and ADHD Adults [pdf] (2023)

#30
post #15

On the off-chance that psychosomatic suggestibility is on this list, I'm not even looking at it.

Psychosomatic suggestibility is not on the list. These are also all chronic conditions, so if the descriptions don't match your history, you have nothing to worry about.
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