2d ago

And then the fire nation attacked

115 comments

Why does it seem like ADHD is the new Autism self-diagnosis? I've met a lot of people lately who have self-diagnosed themselves with ADHD.
- Because a lot of people don't have access to mental health resources, or even medical ones, and are struggling with the pressures of navigating a life setup for type A brains with a type B brain. They know "something" is off, and find symptoms match up with ADHD.
  
  I only got diagnosed because I was at the hospital for something else, and the local specialist noticed something was off with my behaviour. (I was there for a little while, to be fair.)
  As an adult, navigating anything administrative is a nightmare.
  
  My adult appointment for testing/evaluation was nearly 2 grand. I met my annual deductible in a month because of it. I'm fortunate enough to be middle class, so I could afford it, but I can't imagine someone making a lower end of middle class income just being able to drop that kind of money like that.
  
  There are much cheaper ways to get a diagnosis, even for people without health insurance.
  
  My provider that tested both of my kids stopped taking insurance for tests, so they wanted me to pay 13000 dollars for spectrum testing, I found a different provider and I still have to get lined up with a test but they’ve already started my adhd symptoms right away. It has been so nice after 34ish years of just coping
- Because it was wildly under diagnosed in many places until recently, and if you weren’t a white boy you were a lot less likely to be correctly diagnosed.
  
  I thought the consensus was that it was wildly OVER diagnosed in the late 90s to make kids shut up in school
  edit: Oh lmao I just realized was sublemmy I'm in
  
  That was the pop culture take on it, that doesn’t mean that’s what the evidence shows.
  
  How exactly would your answer be different if you'd realised where you were?
  
  My answer wouldn't have changed, I just would've realized why I'm getting the same response over and over lol
  
  This is probably because you are stating your subjective opinion in a rude & condescending way, instead of providing any peer-reviewed data to back up your claims.
  tl;dr/succinct version - you are full of shit
  
  I don't think anything I said was rude just because you disagree with it
  
  If we look at the timeline of ADHD research, we can see that there was a lot studies about it in the 80s, and even more in 90s, so it kinda makes sense that there would be more ADHD detected in the population when the general understanding of it improved.
  Also DSM IV was published in 94, and refined the diagnostic criteria for ADHD https://www.cdc.gov/adhd/media/pdfs/ADHDTimeline.pdf
- Bcz people don't actually understand that ADHD is a debilitating condition that I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy. (I don't have any enemies tho bcz I'm an adult :P)
  
  I think some people are just trying to score Ritalin
  
  I think
  Ah there you have the root cause
  
  Don’t be surprised when this kind of response is met with hostility.
  I mean, read the room.
  
  Which is of course reason enough to withhold it from the people who need it and to doubt their experience at every turn. /S
  
  It's true that, for people who don't have ADHD, the meds used to treat it can be misused for 'recreational purposes'. For people with ADHD however, is not a party drug. Infact, it has the opposite effect's (generally).
  
  No I'm not saying they're using it as a party drug, they're using it to focus on school and work and stay up late. People do it in the tech industry all the time
  
  Every person with ADHD I have met has related heavily to my struggles with simply staying on my prescribed medication, you should reevaluate what you think you know about the disorder because you seem really ignorant.
  
  I was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD when I was 8, but haven't taken the meds in years
  
  lol the ODD explains it all.
  Bye bye now
  
  Wow pretty ableist bro
  
  Ritalin is a nightmare drug, so no.
- You got that backwards.
- Without looking it up, I believe the DSM says that diagnosis requires three out of five indicators. That would suggest that many people can get one or two indicators. Social media (specifically short form like twitter, instagram, and TikTok) has measurable negative impact on attention spans, while also propagating a narrative of colloquial symptoms.
  “Whee look at me being neurodivergent!” - golly, I do that too! Maybe I’m ADHD.
  For what it’s worth, I have both ADHD and mild autism. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist. I’m saying that the diagnosis is devalued by “oh i do that too, I’m also a little bit adhd”.
  
  I self diagnosed before getting my formal diagnosis from a doctor. I was a hard yes to like 30 of the 32 signs of adult ADHD in Driven to Distraction.
  At some point it's kinda a relief to realize that other people are going through the same stuff as you, and start therapy and treatment that are actually catered to your needs since you've already tried a million other things and nothing has worked.
  And yeah everybody struggles with executive function and attention sometimes. But like, we all bleed when we're cut, doesn't mean haemophilia is fake.

115 comments