[ellopoppit]

Could it be that smartphones and TV can cause ADHD?

Before such electronic media, books were the main media, and inherently required and trained users to concentrate on one thing at a time for extended periods.

TV and smartphones do the exact opposite

[kortex]

Nope. ADHD is a distinct neurological condition that we can pick up on with PET scans and the like. It sure as hell can be kryptonite for ADHDers - basically limitless novelty on tap - but it cannot cause ADHD.

Source: had adhd long before smartphones. Still do.

- written on my smartphone

[ellopoppit]

Were you diagnosed with ADHD before TVs were invented?

As it stands, psychiatrists do not know what causes ADHD (or any psychiatric disorder in the DSM), so its certainly possible that social and environmental factors which induce ADHD like behaviors could be contributing factors. This is in accordance with the biopsychosocial theory.

As for brain scans, those are not considered medically or scientifically reliable ways of diagnosing psychiatric conditions.

You'll notice that every study which suggests it is, does not control for the fact that the psychiatrically diagnosed in their study are already under the influence of psychiatric medications which have tangible effects on brain chemistry; of course a brain on drugs will look different than a brain not on drugs...

"psychiatric diagnosis still relies exclusively on fallible subjective judgments rather than objective biological tests"

-Allen Francis, Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, chair of the American Psychiatric Association task force overseeing the development and revision of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)

[user_7832]

Unfortunately I'm not a doctor or researcher to be able to give a definitive answer, but I don't think these things can cause ADHD - though they can likely worsen symptoms, for both people who have it and those who don't. But I suspect such an effect would be reversible, unlike (genetic components of) ADHD.

[988747]

I thought that the researcher that 'discovered' ADHD admitted oh his death bed that it was just a scam he invented to make money on the drugs to cure it.

[user_7832]

Oh, trust me I wish I never could relate to the ADHD symptoms, but for better or for worse it exists. Heck, the concept of Alzheimer's sounds very suspicious ("How do you forget your name!?")... until you see someone with it and then it's just sad :(

[ellopoppit]

There is no known gene which causes ADHD.

Like all other conditions in the DSM, there is no objective biological diagnostic criteria

[kortex]

There's no one gene, but aside from very specific things, there's hardly one gene for any condition, but ADHD is highly heritable, and we already know several strong candidates. DRD4-R7, COMT Val158Met, TPH2, a couple others have been identified recently. Also, PET scans and in some cases high-density EEG can pick it up, the thing is, those are quite expensive and don't really even tell you that much, whereas psychological evaluation tells you much more qualitatively.

[ellopoppit]

There is neither one or many genes or any objective biological test that is used to diagnose any psychiatric condition in the DSM.

"psychiatric diagnosis still relies exclusively on fallible subjective judgments rather than objective biological tests"

-Allen Francis, Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, chair of the American Psychiatric Association task force overseeing the development and revision of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)

[stevenhuang]

The mechanism of gene expression means the presence of certain genes may cause an individual to be more or less susceptible to certain stimuli.

So yes, the presence or absence of genes alone may not determine much, but together taking account to one's environment and upbringing, may have explanatory power.

It's similar to medical diagnoses where the presence of X genes mean someone is Y% more likely to exhibit Z condition.

[user_7832]

Perhaps specifically saying gene isn't accurate, but adhd is highly heritable (anywhere between 40 to 80% depending on which paper you look at)

[ellopoppit]

Indeed, social behaviors are highly heritable, we don't need a scientific paper to tell us that.

[brainzap]

dopamine disorder