The New York Times Untangles the Myth of A.D.H.D., Makes it More Confusing

Perri Klass, Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics at New York University, wrote an article in The New York Times titled “Untangling the Myths Behind ADHD”. She argues that A.D.H.D. is not a product of the digital age but rather a predominantly genetic disorder that involves neurotransmitters, circuits, and below-normal activity in the brain’s frontal lobe. The article, however, concedes there is still a lot about the A.D.H.D we don’t know:

“There’s a lot we still don’t know,” said Bruce F. Pennington, a professor of psychology at the University of Denver and an expert on the genetics and neuropsychology of attention disorders. “But we know enough to say it is a brain-based disorder, and we have some idea about which circuits are involved and which genes.”

So it’s brain-based but the predominate cause, genetics or ‘environmental factors’, remains unknown. Scientist are presenting research that supports both sides. Luckily, we do know what the disorder isn’t:

A.D.H.D. is not a metaphor. It is not the restlessness and rambunctiousness that happen when grade-schoolers are deprived of recess, or the distraction of socially minded teenagers in the smartphone era. Nor is it the reason your colleagues check their e-mail in meetings and even (spare me!) conversations.

I was diagnosed with A.D.H.D. in 5th grade after not turning in a homework assignment. My excuse was I lost it. Furious, my middle-aged, Southern, Christian, conservative, 5th period history teacher made me dump the contents of my backpack out in front of the entire class. The phantom homework wasn’t there so she demanded I search the trashcan.

Her name was Mrs. Wilson, h8 you Mrs. Wilson.

After the incident she insisted, to both the principle and my parents, that I be tested for A.D.H.D. Mrs. Wilson was ‘interviewed’ by my pediatrician. I was interviewed and subsequently ‘failed’ a bunch of tests. I was prescribed Ritalin. To take three times a day. My mother refused to fill the prescription. I had a happy, stimulate free childhood.

My only symptom was suffering “the restlessness and rambunctiousness that happen when grade-schoolers are deprived of recess.”

I started taking Adderall and Ritalin in college. The shit is no joke. In New Orleans I met a man who had a nasty meth habit as a teenager. I asked him, as an experienced speed freak, the difference between the high from smoking crystal meth and the high from adderall. He told me they are very similar, crystal just hits you faster and lasts longer.

Google difference between meth and adderall. It’s hard to find a real answer.

“If you have a deficit in dopamine, it’s harder to concentrate on goal-oriented behavior,” Professor Pennington said. “The psychostimulants change the availability of dopamine in these same circuits.”

This I understand. Take 40 mg of adderall and you experience a tidal wave of dopamine. For 6-8 hours it surges. Then it is gone and you are cranky. Irritated by every little thing. You have trouble sleeping and forget about eating. If you smoke, you smoke more. You drink a lot of water. It is not healthy behavior that very quickly transforms into dependency. You need the drug to “work.” Goal orientated behavior.

And we give this to little children?

“Attention is a really complex cognitive phenomenon that has a lot of pieces in it,” said Dr. David K. Urion of Harvard, who directs the learning disabilities and behavioral neurology program at Boston Children’s Hospital. “What we’re specifically talking about in kids with attention deficit is a problem compared to age- and gender-based peers in selective attention — what do you glom onto and what do you ignore?”

Isn’t the entire concept of consciousness a really complex cognitive phenomenon? If we don’t really understand that how are we supposed to wrap our hands around measuring “attention?” Could it just be a word, not something we go prodding at with dangerous drugs that can seriously alter the brain?