[kevinmchugh]

I'd guess that HN users are typically people who performed well academically. I certainly did. Think about the kids in class who couldn't sit still, couldn't stop talking. Oftentimes they ended up with an ADD or ADHD diagnosis and a prescription. Being told that you act abnormally and need medicine to stop you from being you is understandably damaging.

[bayesianhorse]

Except if you consider that ADHD is a consistent syndrome with extremely predictable negative consequences.

I believe this attitude about ADHD being some kind of "conformity issue" is almost as dangerous as "vaccines cause autism". It certainly is about as wrong...

[TeMPOraL]

I don't know. ADHD looks to me like a normal consequence of putting a small kid in a jail and telling to listen to boring stuff for half a day without moving or talking, or else. Think of how you'd behave in such situation as an adult.

[bayesianhorse]

First of all ADHD is not a "normal consequence" in the sense of being the majority.

Second, ADHD is so much worse than not being able to sit still and quiet for hours...

[walterbell]

Do you know how the DSM ("diagnostic manual") is edited, http://www.dsm4tr.com ?

[bayesianhorse]

I know about the problems around the DSM. That doesn't make ADHD less of a "thing" though. Turns out that a questionnaire can diagnose ADHD. This diagnosis predicts anatomical, physiological and psychological differences, and on top of that certain negative consequences and suffering on the part of the patient. Treatment reduces that suffering. What more do you need?

[walterbell]

Questionnaires are cheap but less reliable than brain (PET, fMRI) scanning or quantitative attentional testing. What is the impact of a false positive diagnosis on a still-developing young brain?

Adults are a different story - they can make their own decisions.

[bayesianhorse]

I mentioned questionnaires as a means of reaching a diagnosis which is not dependent on instrumental testing, to make a point about the consistency of subjective evaluation, objective findings, suffering and treatment.

But in General, ADHD diagnosis is not based on PET, fMRI or EEG.