| HN Mirror

> How can those studies prove it is genetic if there is no quantitative way to diagnose it? If you could do a blood test or brain scan and make a diagnosis on physical data then sure, but until then it's all just conjecture

It's quite arrogant to suggest that an ADHD diagnosis is speculative or some kind of guess. It's thinking like this that causes people to not seek help or talk openly with family, friends and co-workers if they've been diagnosed with ADHD.

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who can make a diagnosis based on clinically accepted criteria of what constitutes ADHD and other mental health and neurological issues. There are lots of mental health conditions and disorders that don't have a blood test or brain scan that "proves" someone has that condition.

Brain scans do show differences between people with and without ADHD, but most of the time, you aren't going to get a $5000 brain scan (or whatever it might cost even if insurance pays for it) to diagnose something that's been in the medical literature for over 100 years when it can be diagnosed more conventionally and at less cost.

Turns out brain scans aren't 100% accurate and there are trade-offs [1]:

Brain imaging scans may be appealing because they appear to offer a firm diagnosis. However, these tests are still new in regards to their use in ADHD, and they have many limitations. These tests are also expensive and can potentially expose children to radiation.

Currently, brain scans are more useful for research purposes than for making clinical diagnoses.

ADHD isn't just one thing; there are subtypes where certain symptoms are more prominent than others.

Because the heritability of ADHD is 74% [2], I wouldn't be surprised that one day we'll have a genetic test that can help diagnose ADHD but we aren't there yet.

[1]: https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/brain-scans#limitatio...

[2]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactiv...