Do you ever feel like they are just weird manifestations of the accumulations of various stressors in life? Perhaps, there is nothing /neurologically/ different -- at least not to a significant enough degree? What then?
I am not trying to be all woo-woo about this, but we live in a time where technology, and not just recent technology, has propelled us far further than we ready for?
I had trouble sitting still and learning in school, but I was able to fake it enough to learn quickly enough to make it through undiagnosed. However, I still caused various other problems i.e. class clown with good enough grades to not get in trouble. Still, I always found school to be tortuous and stressful (I still would if I had to go back).
However, I like to take a step back when things that bothered me like what I mentioned above start to creep back into my mind -- If I were born 100, 200, ... , 9900, 10000 years ago, how much disorder would I have likely faced? I wouldn't have had trouble focusing in classrooms when there were no classrooms for the below average to average person like myself. How would my life have been? Would I have been 'normal?' If so, then maybe... I'm 'normal,' now?
I cannot speak for mental disorders, but I hope my fellows can find peace. We didn't choose this system, and this system doesn't care about us, but when the sun goes down, the moon comes out. I feel like I have a duty to myself to enjoy life, normal or not, because really... It's not like anything life matters anyway.
First, I really hate when people downvote questions like this. It's just a question? It is inquiry! It should be applauded!
There is no doubt that stress plays a large role. Remember, it is nature AND nurture. I am more sensitive to the nurture aspect because of my genetics, and yes, I know my actual genetics.
I agree that the human condition is not capable of adapting to the quickness of technological changes, and this brings out more peoples genetic sensitivities. Even if you go back to the 1800 with the rise in transportation, It took my family away from an environment they were steeped in for a thousand years. All those genetic adaptations to the environment were suddenly faced with a brand new one.
Being on disability saved my life because it enabled me to live a life closer to my genetics. I was making bank as a network engineer at Cisco but I do not miss the money. For me, much of the neurological damage has been done as seen in brain scans, but I know I am not getting worse and I no longer need to be on medicine 24x7. I do have flare ups, but they are not continuous like they were in the past.
But probably the most important part you have left out is diet. Omega 3 is huge and for ADHD, probably Zinc and B6. But we have a system of sick care, not health care, so these things are never investigated, not even by those who are suffering with these disorders.
> There is no doubt that stress plays a large role. Remember, it is nature AND nurture.
I also should add, that I do not mean just mental stress, but other environmental stressors too. All I am going to say is that I find it odd that in my rural area in the Southeast, USA all of my childhood school friends (7 or so of us) that lived within say... a 3 mile radius of me all have or could meet the criteria for ADHD. Of course, it could be coincidental, but you never know.
> But probably the most important part you have left out is diet.
I could believe this to some degree. I have other health issues (autoimmune) that I think are impacted by diet, but I cannot place my finger on it exactly. Weather e.g. cold, dry air also as strong negative effect compared to more humid and hot summers. Though, I do not think that weather effects ADHD, for me at least.
My issue with supplements are that you have no idea what you are getting or what is in them. The only one I take is vitamin D, and I have taken things like fish oil in the past, but I never noticed any differences. Was the fish oil spoiled? Was it of good quality? Any harmful contaminants in the liquid? I have no idea, and I feel like it's basically just a game of trust, since none of the supplements are regulated in my country.
I am not trying to be all woo-woo about this, but we live in a time where technology, and not just recent technology, has propelled us far further than we ready for?
I had trouble sitting still and learning in school, but I was able to fake it enough to learn quickly enough to make it through undiagnosed. However, I still caused various other problems i.e. class clown with good enough grades to not get in trouble. Still, I always found school to be tortuous and stressful (I still would if I had to go back).
However, I like to take a step back when things that bothered me like what I mentioned above start to creep back into my mind -- If I were born 100, 200, ... , 9900, 10000 years ago, how much disorder would I have likely faced? I wouldn't have had trouble focusing in classrooms when there were no classrooms for the below average to average person like myself. How would my life have been? Would I have been 'normal?' If so, then maybe... I'm 'normal,' now?
I cannot speak for mental disorders, but I hope my fellows can find peace. We didn't choose this system, and this system doesn't care about us, but when the sun goes down, the moon comes out. I feel like I have a duty to myself to enjoy life, normal or not, because really... It's not like anything life matters anyway.