So, is ADD fact or fiction? I mean does anyone pay rapt attention to everything? who doesn’t flip the channel during commercials? who doesn’t turn the channel on the radio? Who can’t think of a time in their life when they zoned out… I think this whole ADD thing is a joke… We all have it.
hell my dog has it.
do you have ADD if you are skimming over the responses to this post?
i feel like this is a by-product of a world that’s getting faster and faster paced… thank you multi-tasking… but i seem to remember having a selective attention span (hey… are you still reading this?)… as a youth… and i’m 29…
so, is it a real legitimate disease? or is it an excuse for our lack of focus because of the way the world works? If this is the way the world wants it… doing 100 things at once… aren’t we ruining everything by doling out the drugs?
It’s real…not a joke. You’re right, everybody gets distracted sometimes, but there are people who get distracted all the time, and who’s inability to concentrate interferes with their daily life.
Your post belies ignorance of the diagnostic criteria for ADD/ADHD, or the manner in which such diagnoses ought to be made.
I suggest you are trying to jerk some peoples’ chains with this thread.
I’'m just a guy who’s combating his own ignorance of something that seems to be affecting all of us… i don’t know if it’s real or not… so i’m looking to others who might know… if i wanted to jerk chains, i’d ask how posting 20 year old questions from the straight dope archive is fighting today’s ignorance.
is ADD genetic or brought on by outside sources?
Simple answer to your question:
No, we do not all have ADD.
ADD is a diagnosis that requires meeting a variety of clinical critera. A minority of people fit it even by the most squishy of approaches. Look into any copy of the current Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM) for a list of the critera.
Now one can (and has on these boards) have a reasoned debate about whether or not the diagnosis is a bit squishily made at times, whether or not ADD is always accurately diagnosed, how many people are over diagnosed and how many are under diagnosed, who should be treated with medication and who not, what other approaches have what efficacy, and whether or not ADD is part of a normal spectrum that was more beneficial in times past but has become disadvantagous in today’s world. Over what should be called a disease and what a processing difference.
But it isn’t something we all have. And some people definitely benefit from medication big time. Clear genetic components. Clear environmental contributions.
Try living with someone who really does suffer from ADD and you will see a vast difference between that and temporary distraction.
try having add. I have to do things extra early in order to get them done other wise it won’t happen. it’s not something that everyone has. just because you zone out once in a while doesn’t mean that you have it. i will agree however that many people are diagnosed incorecctly but it still is a real mental disease
I have had questions about ADD for a while. I should start by saying that I’m sure that there are people who suffer from it and that it can be helped by treatment. But a few things concern me, especially where children are concerned. Children obviously have a shorter attention span, especially the younger they are. I am concerned that some parents, or even teachers, might look for a quick fix to an unattentive child, when an actual medical condition requiring medication does not exist. It just seems that there are an awful lot of kids diagnosed with this disease and I would hate to see children being given medication (of any kind) unless it is an absolute last resort.
My other question, slightly related, is that I don’t recall ever hearing of ADD ten years ago. Was it called something else? Was it diagnosed much less frequently? It just seems like halk the kids out there suddenly have ADD. I’m sure my ignorance is shining through on the subject. I would like to be enlightened, if possible.
Note: I have ADHD.
Congratulations. You seem to have fallen into the “ADD means I occasionally can’t focus on something.”
Short Version: It doesn’t mean that.
Longer Version: It means that you find it hard to concentrate on ANYTHING. I have trouble paying attention to things I enjoy doing, interesting things. I can’t keep my attention focusd on conversations, and I find myself asking questions, missing the answers, and asking the same question over and over. ADD is not an occasional occurence. ADD is something you have to struggle with, day in, day out.
On a tangent, yes, I have seen people who claim they have ADD/ADHD, who have obviously been misdiagnosed. But they are a tiny minority.
In my last post, “halk” = “half” 
There’s a constantly-growing body of medical evidence, via PET scans mainly, that shows real, substantial differences in the dopamine production of the hypothalamus between patients diagnosed with ADD and control samples. That explains the effectiveness of targeted stimulants at treating the symptoms - they make the hypothalamus work up to normal levels. It’s real.
And yes, try having it, or living with someone who does, or being a parent of an ADD kid, and you’ll know the difference.
More info easily available from Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder.
I just want to chime in and thank everyone who’s taking the time to answer this question… I appreciate it a lot…
i don’t understand the role of stimulants, though… i’ve always thought that ADD/ADHD would minimize your attention causing you to think all over the place… whereas stimulants would also do this… does ADD/ADHD actually slow you down? I know this might not be a good example, but caffiene… kids hyped up on caffiene and/or sugar… they seem to be all over/into everything… so how do stimulants cause you to focus… does the stimulant actually stimulate a specific area?
Stimulants activate the part of the brain related to attention and concentration, yes.
Here’s the current thinking: Stimulant medications stimulate the hypothalamus to produce dopamine at full normal levels, not the reduced ones associated with ADD. Dopamine effectively controls the brain’s ability to concentrate, among other things.
A broader stimulant like caffeine and dexedrine will also affect the entire body, as you suggest, while other stimulants such as methylphenidate (the active ingredient in Ritalin and Concerta, among others) have a more concentrated effect on the hypothalamus itself without affecting the rest of the body all that much.
But every case is different. Some patients prefer the methylphenidates because of the more-normal situation they leave, but others think it makes them groggy and fuzzy-feeling. My son responds well to Concerta (like Ritalin except slower release and longer-lasting), but an adult friend of mine hates the way the methylphenidates make him feel. Instead, he chugs black coffee all day and exercises constantly to work it off.
- Not a doctor, just a parent who’s had to learn more than he really would rather know.
My issue with ADD/ADHD is the lack of good testing procedures as well as what appears to be a wide range of issues that seem to fall into ADD/ADHD. My two stepsons were diagnosed with ADD early on. One is dead on right. You do not what to live with him without meds. The other was rediagnosed as Aspergers Syndrome (which is high functioning Autism). Since I really doubt people can outgrow some of these issues, I think they were wrong, very wrong. He does have some of the symptoms but not as reported.
ADD/ADHD and the host of other illness seem to be diagnosed by witchcraft rather than through solid medical tests and the way medications are applied are done through trial and error.
I see these kids every day. Both are doing well with proper meds. The older, aspergers alleged, kid is in college, Cal Tech, in his sophmore year studying Math. And I am very proud of his overcoming a lot of issues and getting his head straight and doing very well.
A psychologist diagnosed me with attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity after one session, through an interview and a computer program that appeared to test my reflexes. On his recommendation a psychiatrist immediately prescribed me the stimulant Adderall; this I took for a few months. It was kind of like what I imagine crank would be like. I was very productive during that time - not nearly as tired and groggy as I can often be. The Adderall wasn’t meant to treat some kind of fatigue disorder, though, so I stopped taking it.
Do I think I have ADD? Not particularly. The psychologist seemed pretty eager to put a label on what I believe now was essentially daydreaming, lack of organizational skills, and quite mild depression. I can’t say what really happens often, but my anecdotal experiences would not make me surprised to learn that powerful and potentially addictive medication is dispensed without much real psychiatric investigation.
I’m sure that people like XWalrus2 have a real problem. I’m just not sure it’s the same problem people like me have, and ti seems like people are sometimes treated like it is.
I suggest you go to any elementary school faculty room & ask the teachers, it drives them crazy. BTW, boys outnumber girls ten or more to one. No explanation why yet.
I can understand one’s frustration in dealing with mental disorders. Unfortunately we have to make inferences in diagnosing such disorders because we do not have direct access to the mental and neurophysiological processes that underlie them. I would not go so far as to call diagnostic efforts witchcraft, however. Psychology at present is actually founded a fairly rigorous practice of research. We have moved from relying solely on clinical estimation and guesswork regarding what ADHD is to looking at a constellation of behaviors in a very thoughtful way, attempting to do our best to define a taxonomy that is the most useful to practitioners and patients. The symptoms that we use to define ADHD today describe a distinct condition – different from depression, different from anxiety, different from the pervasive developmental disorders, and different even from oppositional defiant and conduct disorder. They also work well to identify levels of severity greater than typical functioning, as the OP worries about. (Additionally, I would point out that some level of impairment in functioning is required for a diagnosis to be made, which further distinguishes ADHD from typical experience).
They are not perfect, however, and practitioners are neither perfect nor universally consistent in their practice. As to the former, we continue to work hard to refine the diagnostic construction to maximize the utility, and to understand how ADHD does and does not relate to other disorders and conditions. For example, I believe I have mentioned my own papers here before, which includes a finding of a greater risk for adolescent smoking among those with higher levels of the inattentive symptoms of ADHD (in contrast to the hyperactive symptoms) in childhood – others have since replicated this, by the way. My colleagues have done a great deal of work to dispel a belief that ADHD, in and of itself, confers a risk for later conduct disorder, finding that the risk for later CD is more likely due to oppositional defiant disorder comorbid with ADHD.
I would note that Asperger’s Disorder isn’t exactly “high functioning autism.” Asperger’s is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, as is Autism, but Asperger’s is differentiated from Autism largely in the lack of language delay. However, there is a spectrum of functioning within (and, I suspect outside of, but that is a different discussion) autism as well, so one may have autism and be high functioning, as well.
Good for you and your stepson that he is doing well! He must have had some challenges if he does truly have Asperger’s Disorder.
Note: My post was in response to dewizeowl. Apparently one of the hamsters was needed for a study - hope we can get him back!
They called it ADD ten years ago. My brother was diagnosed with it in 1994, and it was a buzzword well before then- everyone I went to school with knew what it meant and you know how little attention the average teen gives to the news. But if you weren’t a kid, or didn’t have one, ten years ago I guess it could escape your notice.