ADD – does it “exist?”I’ve never really given much thought to ADD; I never had any reason to. I’ve heard various opinions touted (and spouted), but never really formed one of my own.That has changed, however, due to a couple of vaguely related circumstances in my life. One is having been prescribed Adderall (THE major current topic of this blog), and the other – which I haven’t said much about – is Zoloft.
But before I go into how those two drugs sparked an interest in the ADD debate, I’m simply going to spill my opinion. Before you get irritated with me, please read the whole post!
I believe that ADD/ADHD as a sickness/handicap does NOT exist intrinsically in the brain. I believe ADD/ADHD is social/cultural flaw.
Please note the “intrinsically” in there. What I mean is – ADD/ADHD is something, but I do not believe it is a “problem” with the brain; I believe it is a problem with our culture.People have varying abilities in differing areas. Some are naturally good at math. Some are good at sports. Some have the ability to take a visual “snapshot,” and involuntarily retain it well enough to refer back to the image for previously unnoticed information (aka “photographic memory – wish I had one). Some can spell (and I’m not one of them). Some are creative and are able to synthesize new ideas apparently out of thin air. Some, who may not be as creative, have the ability to spend large amounts of time on mundane tasks without feeling bored.Yes, I was trying to be sneaky with those last two examples; they are how I perceive the extremes of ADD vs. non-ADD. one extreme (ADD), you have those people who’s minds bounce rapidly from one idea to the next, so overflowing with creativity that they rarely finish what they start, because there’s always something new just around the corner. On the other extreme, you have the “machine” – the staple of society that gets things done. The person who can focus relentlessly on a tedious task until it’s done.
There is nothing inherently “better” or “worse” about either extreme, provided society has not formed a skewed perspective of what is “normal” – and therein, I believe, lies the true cause of ADD.
Society has created ”ADD” as a “problem” by trying to fit everyone into the same “normal” shoe size, regardless of their natural shoe size. Our society emphasizes behaviors that maximize effectiveness in a very limited range of circumstances. The whole idea of school being a place you go to sit at desks and learn from textbooks for so many hours per day is, if you really step back and look at the big picture, totally arbitrary (the VERY big picture – think of it in terms of evolution). (By the way, sorry to interrupt, but I have to mention – I don’t necessarily “believe” in evolution, but it is frequently a useful way to think about things – I’ll write a post on that someday…). Sitting in an office for 8 hours a day working for a wage is also totally arbitrary.
“Arbitrary” does not mean “bad” – but it does become a problem when people forget that these ingrained “traditions” are, in fact, arbitrary.
The point being – the academic and professional worlds tend to favor those on the non-creative side of things. Therefore, anyone NOT of the non-creative group are not optimized for our society. Really, I SHOULD say “our society is not optimized for that group of people.”Â
I’ll summarize a bit before continuing: society is set up in such a way to maximize the effectiveness of non-ADD people, and as such, creates a problem for those people labeled with ”ADD.”
Is it possible to envision a society that maximizes both brain types equally? Having grown up in my society (duh), it is hard to envision. But if I “zoom out” of my limited range of experience; if I zoom out to that evolutionary perspective I mentioned previously – it becomes a bit easier to imagine societies that do not favor non-ADD’ers. THAT, however, is a mental exercise I’ll save for another post. 
Anyway, say we did have a society that favored ADD’ers. What would the “handicap” be called that prevented “focusers” from flourishing? ASD – “Attention Surplus Disorder?” “Lack Of Creativity Disorder?”
This brings me to the crux of the issue in my mind: Should those ASD’ers be medicated to help them be more creative, and less fixated on tedious tasks?
My opinion is - it is absolutely, perfectly ethical to allow people to medicate themselves to allow maximum HES (happiness, effectiveness, survivability) in any circumstance they find themselves stuck in, insomuch as those circumstances have created their inability to be HES. What do I mean by that? I believe it is ethical to treat the “abnormal” to bring them up to “par” with the “normal” – but obviously no further. This issue obviously gets hairy when a minority group of students in some college class takes Adderall to perform better on a test, and in doing so, skews the curve, harming those who didn’t medicate. But that is another topic.
There is one other caveat to my opinion that you may have noticed – while I believe people should be able to medicate themselves without stigma or being stamped with a disorder, I do not have an opinion (yet) on the medication of children. One thing I DO know, is that I’m most assuredly uncomfortable hearing about doctors and parents giving their 6 year old kids amphetamines. Adderall is such a powerful drug, with so much potential for abuse and dependence, if not addiction, that my gut reaction to giving it to little kids is… well, uncomfortable. Is it ethical? Again, I don’t know; I don’t have an opinion on that, and probably won’t until I happen to have a child with ADD. For now, I’m going to claim ignorance and naivety, and plea the 5th. 
To summarize again – I do not believe ADD is a disorder, but I do believe it is a problem. It is not a problem with an individual; it is a problem with society. Because individuals with ADD have no choice about the current state of society, I believe it is perfectly reasonable to medicate, and that those who do medicate should be able to do so without fear of stigma.
Now, going waaaaay back, all the way to the top of this post, I mentioned that my experiences with Zoloft and Adderall initiated my interest in ADD. Really, it initiated interest in mental issues and synthetic chemical treatments in general.
I used to be very uncomfortable taking Zoloft. It made me feel like I was inadequate as a human. IÂ felt like I just happened to be born at the right time… and a crutch was available. I felt like I was cheating somehow. If I couldn’t make it 100 years ago, before Zoloft or any other anti-depressants were available, I shouldn’t be able to make it now.
Let me tell ya – those thoughts don’t do anything good for one’s self-esteem.
The turning point came for me when I, for some reason I don’t remember, shared my issues with a co-worker. I told him about my use of Zoloft, and my difficulty coping without it.
His response left me … irritated.
I don’t remember it exactly, but it was some blanket statement to the effect of:
“I hate how people drug themselves these days. They completely ignore the real problem. They need to get things right in their lives, and get over it.”
That may actually be the case for some people, whose depression is rooted in current and past circumstances rather than an actual biological issue in the brain. For those people, maybe they do need to address issues in their lives, instead of applying a “Band-Aid.” But to throw that blanket over everyone who takes anti-depressants (or any other chemical) is the epitome of naivety. It is unadulterated ignorance. I don’t know if chemical imbalances existed 100 years ago… for all I know, they’re the result of a single, widely used pesticide. I have no idea.
What I do know is that humans have always used the latest tools they have available, and it’s ludicrous to think of that as a “weakness.” I’m not going to get rid of my car because they didn’t have cars 10,000 years ago.
For me personally, depression comes and goes arbitrarily, regardless of circumstances. It manifests in the form of total lack of motivation to do participate in life, whether that be social engagements or paying the bills. It brings irrational thoughts and desires with it – extreme negativity, the impulse to harm myself physically, etc. There is no rhyme or reason to it.
Facing that external and internal stigma in my own life caused me to evaluate some of my own “blanket” assumptions. ADD in particular happens to be something I’ve thought a lot about because of my recent use of Adderall, and ADD’s general prevalence in our society.
[note: I was interrupted from finishing this post, and being of fickle inspiration, could not get back into it. So without carefully checking and reorganizing it, I simply decided to post it as it "as was", unedited and unfinished. Thus the abrupt ending! I'm sorry!]
