ADHD - Another Disease Hoax Deconstructed

For the past 32 years—definitely more for some—I have been told by various forms of self-proclaimed authorities that I am a victim, a sufferer of the debilitating and nightmarish illness that plagues so many of my like-aged brethren and sistren: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Pause for dramatic violin stabs.

Let's clear a few things up first. I have recently come across a very interesting take on the matter of ADHD, which neatly fits into a previous post—Unnatural Selection—and it's this: ADHD, the tuning out, is the result of being in a situation where the instinctual fight-or-flight response cannot function. If you cannot fight, and you cannot run... what is there left to do? Shut down.

A quick point as well: ADHD in no way means that there is no attention to be had. It simply means that whatever attention is there is not on whatever the aforementioned authority figures want it to be on. If the child struggles to focus on their math homework, or the adult struggles to stay focused during a staff meeting at work—this does not mean that they lack the ability to focus, it's just that they don't care for what's in front of them.

Once a person diagnosed with ADHD finds something that genuinely interests them, you'd find it difficult to get their minds off it. Everything else—especially what society, teachers, parents, and guardians might consider important—might as well not exist. This, however, is not the result of some prepubescent or teenage-angst-inspired rebellion, or a malfunction in the thinker.

When considering the progression of civilized existence, the removal of most immediate threats to survival, and the creation of situations that require essentially forced participation, it's no wonder the human body is showing signs of strain. Take a classroom, for instance. There you are told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Now consider the fact that you might not find it interesting. At all.

You might have the capacity to just suck it up and take it. But not all of us do. The fight-or-flight response kicks in, but we cannot run away or we'll get in trouble—for adults it means losing jobs, money, livelihood. We cannot fight our way out either—same story. The only option we have left is shutting down.

ADHD is not a disease. It's a coping mechanism. To cope with the fact that we find ourselves in situations we have no interest in being in, from which there is no acceptable escape, and there is a constant expectation of not only participation, but achievement.

This can be jarring for a mind that just wants to do its own thing. And minds, being as powerful as they are, will find ways to cope.

Substitute pencils for pills, trumpets for tutors, interests for instructions, and watch the magic happen.

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