25% of Adults Suspect Undiagnosed ADHD (neurosciencenews.com)
- Reference: 0175251383
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/14/2013213/25-of-adults-suspect-undiagnosed-adhd
- Source link: https://neurosciencenews.com/adult-adhd-psychology-27860/
> Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder -- also known as ADHD -- is typically thought of as a childhood condition. But more adults are realizing that their struggles with attention, focus and restlessness could in fact be undiagnosed ADHD, thanks in large part to trending social media videos racking up millions of views. A [1]new national survey of 1,000 American adults commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine finds that [2]25% of adults now suspect they may have undiagnosed ADHD . But what worries mental health experts is that only 13% of survey respondents have shared their suspicions with their doctor. That's raising concerns about the consequences of self-diagnosis leading to incorrect treatment.
>
> "Anxiety, depression and ADHD -- all these things can look a lot alike, but the wrong treatment can make things worse instead of helping that person feel better and improving their functioning," said psychologist Justin Barterian, PhD, clinical assistant professor in Ohio State's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. An estimated 4.4% of people ages 18 to 44 have ADHD, and some people aren't diagnosed until they're older, Barterian said. "There's definitely more awareness of how it can continue to affect folks into adulthood and a lot of people who are realizing, once their kids have been diagnosed, that they fit these symptoms as well, given that it's a genetic disorder," Barterian said. The survey found that younger adults are more likely to believe they have undiagnosed ADHD than older generations, and they're also more likely to do something about it. Barterian said that should include seeing a medical professional, usually their primary care provider, to receive a referral to a mental health expert to be thoroughly evaluated, accurately diagnosed and effectively treated.
[1] https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1060449?
[2] https://neurosciencenews.com/adult-adhd-psychology-27860/
Cue all the oldies (Score:2, Informative)
Cue all the older people who dismiss this completely, aka "back in my day, my mom fixed that with a couple of slaps" or something.
Well, I was on the receiving end of plenty slaps, kicks, belts and worse. Guess what, that didn't fix shit.
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Perhaps another reason the older people didn't see so much ADHD is because work has changed to become less suitable to the nature of people, especially men. Drugging ourselves up to stay focused while chained to a desk at school until we're old enough to spend the rest of our lives chained to a desk in the workplace seems kinda sad, although I'm not sure what alternative there is.
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Pretty sure among adults, its mostly women taking these pills.
Half the time its their kids script.
Re: Cue all the oldies (Score:2)
Ya, that's the dirty little "secret," the standard treatment regimine for kids is to keep switching meds to find what works best, and that changes every 6 months to a year. So mom or dad have a fairly reliable supply of "leftover" stimulants that get "flushed down the toilet" after passing through their urinary tract.
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Perhaps a problem is that you think this is different for you than it was for "older people".
"...because work has changed to become less suitable to the nature of people, especially men."
Because it has not. You know, older people still work, their jobs aren't different from yours.
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> Because it has not. You know, older people still work, their jobs aren't different from yours.
Good lord... Think back a little further than that.. Instead of thinking back 50 years, try 100 or 200... There's probably some truth to the suspicion that we can't adapt as fast as the world is changing.. Even going back just 50 years.. Most people had ONE television and maybe 10 total channels to choose from (yes, I'm aware that cable TV existed 50 years ago, but it wasn't ubiquitous). Nobody carried a phone with them.. Laptops didn't exist. We were able to disconnect for hours and hours at a stretch
Re: Cue all the oldies (Score:2)
Idunno. You've got your shit together enough to be posting on slashdot. Could've always been worse.
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You said it. We are all at tip of the spear posting here.
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I was going to say if it affects 25% of adults it might not actually be a 'disorder'.
Re:Cue all the oldies (Score:5, Insightful)
The article doesn't say it affects 25% of adults. It says 25% of adults self-diagnose themselves as possibly having it. [1]Those people are susceptible to advertising [youtube.com].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yclX4os0MU
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It didn't fix it enough, that's for sure. But are you claiming you had ADHD as a child, and the presciption was physical abuse? I doubt it.
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My parents breathed their last breath convinced they didn't beat me enough.
Re:Cue all the oldies (Score:5, Insightful)
There's a difference between saying "ADHD is not real" (which is false) and saying, "maybe amphetamines aren't the best answer to ADHD." The latter is almost certainly true.
overperscription of medication, misuse of the DSM (Score:2, Informative)
The DSM is literally a bible of made up diseases. [1]There is not enough hard science behind it [amazon.com]. The psychology and psychiatry industry is obsessed with putting people in diseased boxes, hunting down trauma (which literally everyone has), and Americans are busy doing their part by [2]demanding medications to fix said "problems" so they can be Comfortably Numb [amazon.com].
Yes, a small portion of the population is so far off center that they need real assistance. It is not 25% of the population. Life is life. Get over it.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Book-Woe-DSM-Unmaking-Psychiatry/dp/0399158537
[2] https://www.amazon.com/Comfortably-Numb-Psychiatry-Medicated-Nation-ebook/dp/B0013SSPUU/
Re:overperscription of medication, misuse of the D (Score:5, Interesting)
It's worth remembering that about 20% of people are susceptible to being convinced they're sick or better (placebo and nocebo effect). That's the approximate number of people who report feeling better while ill by simply going to a clinic and seeing someone in white doctor's garb, and then going home. That's also the amount of people who will develop asthma-like symptoms when you advertise to them that the building they work or live in has mold issues with air quality.
And the most fucked up part is that while the disease is imaginary, effects are real. People can die from a nocebo asthma attack.
This is why advertising mental illnesses should be criminalized and punished harshly. Regardless of reasons for doing it. Because you're effectively infecting about 20% of the population with a mind virus that has real physiological symptoms.
Oh and the way to cure people with nocebo asthma? Doesn't work to tell them they have a mind virus, rather than a real illness. They will dismiss this. The only way found to be even remotely effective is to convince enough of them of something they can believe that like "yes it's real, but it's being worked on and your symptoms should slowly ease over time". And anyone advertising that "oh this guy in the left building told us it's getting worse" has a very good chance of making symptoms worse, even if said people never visited that building.
And DSM being as advertised as it is, is basically Grandpa Nurgle of mind viruses. Infecting a massive amount of people with symptoms of problems they don't actually have. With activists insisting on "awareness" being basically Chaos Demons of Nurgle, spreading magical plagues and poxes that cannot be cured by normal means.
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ok so what is the real problem then? Or rather, the real solution?
You mean millions of potential happy pill buyers (Score:2, Flamebait)
There, I fixed it for you.
It continues to occur to me that if I'd were a small child in America in the 90s or later, as opposed to the Soviet Union in the 80s, they'd've diagnosed me with all sorts of crap for the pathology of running around and not staying still when I was a little boy.
And instead of being gainfully employed, married, 2.whatever kids and a house in the suburbs, Hypothetical Medicated RightwingNutjob might very well be strung out on tranq and counting his remaining fingers, living on the st
Re: You mean millions of potential happy pill buye (Score:2)
I think we're looking at the nascent next wave of legalization here: Legalized Amphetamines.
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This. Not just is it like opiates, but like, if you ask most people with depression, anxiety, ADHD, etc, something like this:
"If you had to go back in time say thirty years, or thirty years before that, or thirty years before that, how do you think psychology would help you?"
I've actually had this conversation a bunch, it's not a scientific study, but I find if you pull the tread even a little, most people don't just think that previous psychology would have been less good, it would have been actively harmf
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Chemical lobotomy.
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"...my prediction is we'll say 2024's psychology was too capitalist."
My prediction is that in 2054, young people will be ageist toward old people, only those old people are the young people of today.
I was one of them (Score:2)
I mean I knew I had difficulties my whole life. What really hurt me was having two narcissistic parents. If its one thing a narc can't stand its therapy. I could not take stimulants so its was a long road to finally finding a medication that helps. Of course if you don't continually work on it no drug will make much difference.
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I know a guy who went to a therapist for a while. The therapist repeatedly asked him, "And how does your narcissistic personality affect your perception of that situation?" Unsurprisingly, he eventually gave up therapy.
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How can you tell someone has never been to therapy? look at the post above. No therapist would belt it out like that. A narc would tell people that though.
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> No therapist would belt it out like that.
Really?
I call bullshit (Score:2)
1/4? Really? Do these numbers change this fast over a couple of decades? Sometimes when I read stuff li.... OOOOOHHH! Look at that pretty butterfly!
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Watch interviews with people in the 1980s, 70s, 60s etc. People are more focused.
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Jesus. How shitty does your karma have to be to get a -1 initial mod?
Very low tolerance of people who are less attentiv (Score:5, Insightful)
As someone who has an ADHD diagnosis my broad experience of people is that there's a distribution of ability to pay attention and generally people who find it easier to direct and maintain their attention have very low tolerance of people who aren't able. Often I am dismissed as stupid, lazy or possessing little will power or self control even though I've had to make sure I'm none of these things to manage in my situation and any evidence that this opinion is incongruent with the reality is ignored because many people just can't cope with the realisation that attention isn't entirely a choice but it's also a resource of the mind that suffers fatigue and with it none of us are created equal.
There's one quick way to tell (Score:2)
And it's [1]kind of counterintuitive [accidentalscientist.com]. But if it makes a difference in your behavior and cognition, [2]well ... [youtu.be]
[1] https://accidentalscientist.com/2005/08/the-sudafed-test-for-adhd.html#gsc.tab=0
[2] https://youtu.be/4uJv3y9ajQY?si=OAESz_4O9IFtq1_H
I hate the self-proclaimed ADHD videos.... (Score:2)
I have a formal diagnosis.... and a lot of those videos are absolute bollocks. Like, regular everyday stuff - but it's "I'm so ADHD!" and usually from "self-diagnosed" people.
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I went and got diagnosed due to those kinds of videos. My diagnosis didn't change anything other than I started getting medication. Trashing people who self diagnose is a type of shaming. I self diagnosed and then I followed up with an actual diagnosis. You make it sound like you worked hard for your diagnosis and how dare someone think they have it without working as hard as you did.
Many of them could very well be from my background where everyone around me is scared of therapist and psychiatrist.
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Well... your meds obviously don't make you as chill as mine do for me, lol. That's a pretty big assumption you've made about me - I made no claims of "working hard" for a diagnosis, nor do I take issue with people who seek diagnosis - in fact I encourage it within my circles and share as much information as I can about the process.
What I do take issue with is people who are undiagnosed, spreading misinformation.
If you do not have ADHD (Score:3)
You have not been paying attention.
Professional who makes money identifying condition (Score:1)
Says that more people have that condition than they think and need to make an appointment to get their RX microdosed methamphetemine now.
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The thing is... if you DON'T have ADHD, that methylphenidate will make your behavior noticeably hyper and maybe manic to everyone around you.
On the other hand, if you DO have it, it'll calm your brain down and make you more normal.
Given the low risk of a single low dose, maybe doctors should be pretty casual about handing out a pill to any patients who want to see if they have it.
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Sure would save filling out checklists and surveys.
Adults who have self-taught themselves to cope with the issues they've faced their whole like are less likely to answer in a way that results in a positive diagnosis.
Adults who have researched the topic, or maybe their child has gone through the process, and want some of that sweet, sweet Ritalin, are easily able to fool the process.
25% so, more of a normal variance? (Score:3)
25% of ADHD is not a sickness necessarely. E.g. consider there is ~20% of people of color in the USA...and ~50% of opposite sex (rounding up the average). So it could be a normally occuring variance, maybe even evolutionary adaptation producing more flexible human population?
Map of the great masses of self-diagnosed. (Score:2)
ADHD: "I think I have it, but then... WHOA lookit that three-pointer! The Celtics are on fire tonight!
Depression: "I think I'm depressed...but I don't care."
OCD: "I think I have OCD...but that statement has seven syllables, so I can't end a sentence on it."
Narcissism: "I think I have narcissism...the best, most flattering kind."
Paranoia: "I think I'm paranoid...but maybe that's what THEY want me to think."
Social anxiety: "I think I have social anxiety...what do you guys think?"
Psychopathy:
TikTok, Youtube Shorts and Twitter are giving ADHD (Score:5, Interesting)
All these platforms are focusing on 30s bursts of very brief information.
No wonder people can't focus for over 1h at a time anymore.
Re: TikTok, Youtube Shorts and Twitter are giving (Score:2)
Says a dude who's made his point in four short lines of text. As displayed on a phone screen.
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Wow, you certainly aren't improving.
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He confirmed my post, I can't complain. ;-)
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Well of course I have ADHD, everybody has it to different levels. Trying to categorize everybody into different buckets doesn't work, period.
Nevertheless, I still prefer reading or listening to long detailed articles/videos on topics so I guess I am doing fine overall.
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> Trying to categorize everybody into [two] different buckets doesn't work, period.
You need 10 buckets. Those that understand binary and those that don't. [Apologies for my "addition" to your quote. Needed it to make the "joke" work.]
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> Says a dude who's made his point in four short lines of text. As displayed on a phone screen.
..crafted purposefully out of necessity. It’s called know your audience.
Hope that was brief enough for you.
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Japanese poems
Are purposefully shorter
ADHD Zen
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The sun sets on wit.
Haiku is more than counting.
Try again, harder.
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> All these platforms are focusing on 30s bursts of very brief information.
> No wonder people can't focus for over 1h at a time anymore.
I wish I could block YouTube shorts, gets in the way of the videos I actually want to watch.
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What do you mean? Are you subscribed to some kind of mailing list or something?
I sometimes watch shorts but they are quite easy to avoid in my use case against YouTube since they clearly come up on a specific row by themselves so it's very hard to inadvertently click on a short if you don't want to.
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[1]People have been getting advertisments telling them to worry about adult ADHD [youtube.com]. The symptoms listed are really generic.
Apparently, from tfa, 25% of people are susceptible to those advertisements.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZdJsBzE4cU
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> [1]People have been getting advertisments telling them to worry about adult ADHD [youtube.com]. The symptoms listed are really generic. Apparently, from tfa, 25% of people are susceptible to those advertisements.
99% of consumers are susceptible to believing clickbait. I wonder what addictive mind-warping shit I could sell to some politicians to legalize and shove in a pill bottle, and pretend it’s an improvement.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZdJsBzE4cU
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> I wonder what addictive mind-warping shit I could sell to some politicians to legalize and shove in a pill bottle, and pretend it’s an improvement.
Amphetamines? When you think of it, you have to wonder what the drug companies did wrong to get slapped down for opiates. Who did they accidentally offend?
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The pharmaceutical cartel, a major component of the medical/industrial complex, knows how to push their product.
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I have my doubts that video sites have anything directly to do with it, but rather are just a symptom of a more systemic problem: we are all overloaded with things to do and too little time in which to do them. As such, we rush through everything.