I view Ritalin and Adderall as a performance enhancer. I have never seen a biological study proving ADHD except perhaps some EEG. Virtually everyone I have known prescribed amphetamines abused them.
(Anecdotal warning) And my ex roommate was a large prescriber of Adderall. He would see patients for 3 minutes. He had 3 homes (one an $8m condo) and drove a matte black Lamborghini Aventador. He was way overweight and dressed like Mick Jagger on LSD. That’s the type of person diagnosing ADHD at least in Los Angeles.
If you are interested in seeing a biological study "proving" ADHD, here are two. This meta-analysis from 2010 found a link between duplication of specific genes and ADHD [0]. This 2016 study [1] links the precise gene duplication mechanism with irregular neurogenesis, and subsequently hyperactive behavior.
[0]: Williams NM, Zaharieva I, Martin A, et al. Rare chromosomal deletions and duplications in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a genome-wide analysis. Lancet. 2010;376(9750):1401-1408. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61109-9 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20888040/
[1]: Fujitani, M., Zhang, S., Fujiki, R. et al. A chromosome 16p13.11 microduplication causes hyperactivity through dysregulation of miR-484/protocadherin-19 signaling. Mol Psychiatry 22, 364–374 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2016.106
If he was rich, why did he have a roomate? Was this pre-riches? How in the world would you know he was a 'large' prescriber of Adderall? How would anyone go about making that claim? Did he happen to be a psychiatrist in a private practice and/or a specialist in his field? Was he in a lot of debt? I know it is an ancedote, but it doesn't really say much.
As far as "I've never seen a biological study...". This goes for a lot of things. People only usually bring it up with things like ADHD or whatever favorite thing is viewed as 'over-diagnosed', though. In this case, a quick google search can get you information that explains the brain scan differences comparing ADHD to neurotypical kids - like this one:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3016271/
Yeah, I’m still struggling with taking this seriously for myself. Not only am I contending with the inevitable procrastination of setting an appointment with a doctor, but there’s also a chunk of my brain screaming, “don’t tell anyone, everyone will think you’re a druggy, adhd is bullshit!”
All that anecdote tells me is that your ex roommate had a lot of patients. Just because a doctor does well, doesn't automatically mean they're wrongfully prescribing people things.
I could just as easily say "my ex roommate was an orthopedic surgeon and had supercars and mansions". Does that mean they're doing hip replacements that aren't needed? No, all it tells me is they have a successful practice.
If i personally struggle with my mental image of being smart enough to study and i want to but i cant because my grades are shit and i take ritalin and suddenly i can go to university, my life is better of.
Tell me, why can i get glasses but its wrong to take ritalin?
There's no "biological proof" of a lot of things that has to do with a brain, and while some people do anything for money - even if their title say "doctor" - ADD/ADHD is still a very, very, real thing.
We might still don't know of if it's really a disability of the mind, or of the society, but for those who suffer it, it doesn't really matter.
The drugs can certainly be used as performance enhancers, but that doesn't change anything. Nitroglycerin can be used as to blow things up, but it's still useful for people with heart disease, and for some I believe there are still few options.
ADHD or ADD for me, is suffering.
Visibly, palpably, in one or several ways.
It's not "some things are hard to do", no. It's not that.
It's trying to do the basic of life, and simply not be able to, no matter how talented you are.
Not for the lack of will power and determination, those are largely irrelevant on this side of the border, they mean something completely different here.
If you ever want anything else out of life than that what your compulsion drives you to do, to get away from the boredom that makes your skin crawl and itch?
You'll believe it'll work this time too, as you have the 3649 times before.
The eternal optimist, still seemingly doomed to fail.
"See a therapist" they say, when it was the therapist who sent me to the psychiatrist.
"You need to try harder", when my body and brain simply stopped working because I tried so hard.
When anyone claim something like ADD/ADHD doesn't exist, I don't really get mad any more.
I think I used to.
Now I feel sad, because that sentiment is common enough that people don't get help when they should.
Instead they pointlessly loose years, or even decades of their lives to their own whims, because some people refuse to believe the accounts of thousands.
Never able to either choose their path, or live as they choose.
Our existence seems to scare people, and our inability to function in society can't easily be discounted without consequence for ones own image of self and what we as humans are, so instead our accounts are discredited.
It's okay if you don't understand how it is. It is hard to understand how someone can be so alike oneself, and yet so different, I've experienced that myself, but from a different perspective.
I will be content if you accept that I write from experience, and that my account is in no way unique, thought I've been told that the way I tell it is.
When you say doing the basics of life what specifically do you mean?
I'm asking because I get the feeling that other people consider the basics to be a wider set of things than I do. For me the basics means feeding yourself and having some relationships. But for other people it means being able to keep appointments, basic planning and follow through, ability to sit still through long ceremonies, not letting dishes/laundry get to the point where you have no clean dishes/clothes every single time.
The second set of stuff is things I've struggled with in my life to a further degree than my peers. It's the kind of things that teenagers are bad at and imagine adults with ADHD continue to be bad at.
The problem I think is everybody occasionally struggles with this stuff. They don't understand what it would mean to always struggle with all of it all the time. What it means for it not to be a choice.
(Anecdotal warning) And my ex roommate was a large prescriber of Adderall. He would see patients for 3 minutes. He had 3 homes (one an $8m condo) and drove a matte black Lamborghini Aventador. He was way overweight and dressed like Mick Jagger on LSD. That’s the type of person diagnosing ADHD at least in Los Angeles.