ADHD: an evolutionary mismatch
We're told ADHD is a medical issue. But what if it's actually a mismatch to our modern learning environment?
If you ask the average person what ADHD is, it's likely they'll have no idea.
The term is ambiguous.
People with ADHD have symptoms that people without ADHD also experience. It's confusing.
However, if you ask someone diagnosed with ADHD what ADHD is, you might hear one of these responses:
It's a dopamine deficiency
It's genetic
It's due to chemical imbalance
It's caused by trauma
Some people will tell you it's a combination of all of the above.
The point is, we don't really know.
ADHD is one of those complicated subjects where we have a lot of very poor standalone studies that don't really prove anything. And we lack rigorous systematic reviews and meta-analyses that help us better understand this disorder.
Most of that research is funded by Big Pharma, who incentivise researchers to ensure studies work in their favour.
Ben Goldacre digs into the lies and corruption of Big Pharma in this brilliant, albeit challenging to read, book Bad Pharma.
I've come to distrust any and all research funding in any way by Big Pharma.
But there's hope.
It's not just the medical and drug industry that are interested in ADHD.
It seems the anthropologists are, too.
This anthropological research on mental health makes the claim that "attention deficits only exist in relation to these novel highly structured environmental contexts. It is not that the modern environment causes ADHD, but rather that it sets tighter restrictions on what is normal or acceptable."
In other words, this world ain't made for us ADHD types and we struggle to fit in.
So what does this mean for us?
It means that we are affected by this thing called ADHD, not because it is a disease that would impact us at any time in history, in any environment (such as diabetes). But because it is a disorder that affects us now, in the 21st century, but may have been an advantage in hunter-gatherer times.
Thom Hartmann came to this conclusion decades ago. He wrote a book on it, called Hunters in a Farmers World (which I highly recommend). The research is just beginning to catch up.
Hartmann believes that people with ADHD are direct descendants of Hunters. Good at tasks that require quick decision making, genius creativity and high energy.
This makes sense to me.
Yet most of us work in offices, limited to 40 hour workweeks and forced to obediently sit at desks all day long.
And don't get me started on schools.
Anyway, it's exciting that we have new and more open-minded ways of thinking about ADHD, that is now being backed by sounder science than that funded with hidden motives.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
So if you have one, hit reply!
Having just experienced another burnout and looking into ways to support my well-being, ADHD has just come on my radar and the traits really resonate with me. I think the perspective you share here is really interesting, thank you for sharing the additional resources.