ADD and ADHD are bullshit

[MadMojoMonkey]

Maybe meaning is not a property of the universe, but a symptom (conceit?) of consciousness.
Maybe what we're "meant" to do is not set in stone.

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I am not a mouse. I don't see how visual hyperstimulation in mice is analogous to ADD/ADHD in humans.

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Psychology and Psychiatry are so nearly solid science, but they're leagues away at the same time. It's hard to get good data when the person under scrutiny can lie (or unintentionally misrepresent) their mental state. It's hard to draw good conclusions when there is so much variance in the human population and circumstance to life.

To the degree that a human is a chemical machine, it makes perfect sense to solve chemical problems with chemicals. There is certainly a lot of information to be gleaned by taking this view of health and wellness. However, we all know that the chemical machine is (in a sense) only the vehicle of our personality... and if you'll pardon the metaphor... fixing the car doesn't make a good driver.

[surviva316]

To the degree that a human is a chemical machine, it makes perfect sense to solve chemical problems with chemicals.

For me, it's not so much about whether drugs can "solve" our "problems" so much as it is our conception of "solve" and "problem" when it comes to ADHD. The medical sciences have quite a straightforward conception of pathologies and cures; pathologies are things that kill you; cures are things that get rid of the things that kill you. However, getting a good score on your SATs isn't quite the same as forcing cancer into remission.

Let's say we lived in a world where being a conceited, frivolous asshole was more detrimental to your standing in society than being able to sit still for hour-long increments. Would having a Type A personality suddenly be a psychological disorder? If so, do we "solve" that "problem" by adjusting their chemical balances so that now they're all happy-go-lucky space cadets? Congrats, now we live in a world where no one passes med school.

I'm having a bit of fun with it, but the point is that it's better to come at it from the perspective that the multitudinous permutations of temperaments/personalities/ethical orientations/etc make it so that we all have our abilities and disabilities; surpluses and deficiencies. These deficiencies make it difficult for us to deal with one aspect or another of living in human society. It would be at least as beneficial to have a regular checkup with a mental health professional discuss the things that you have difficulty coping with as it would to have a regular checkup to make sure your teeth still look good.

From there, the solution isn't to eradicate all of our quirks until we've reached some sort of acceptable norm, but to gain an understanding of yourself and learn some ways to harness your strengths and cope with your weaknesses.

That's a lot of generalized, oversimplified, happy-go-lucky language I just used, but I think that's a good perspective to start with, and then you adjust from there. This also isn't meant to create some sort of false equivalencies between everyone's various mental health issues and to belittle the problems of those who have severe difficulties getting along in society. I just strongly disagree that there are bonkers people with bonkers people problems and there are sane people who, sure, they have their issues but they're "normal people's" issues.

[BennyLaRue]

I am not a mouse.

Just in the pants area.