http://higherperspective.com/2014/10/ad ... ZIWl5Hg.01
I was scrolling through my facebook today and saw that a friend was claiming that ADD is fake because of this article. I decided to write an informative post against the claim.
I'm not sure about ADHD since I don't have it, but I do have ADD. In a more personal perspective, I remember sitting in algebra class literally trying to force myself to focus, when my mind would shut down and I would find myself looking out the window or drawing. I simply could not control it, it was beyond me.
Dopamine is a key component when understanding ADD. When large amounts of it is released due to excitement (The brain really wants something), the abused receptors become worn and the brain becomes figuratively speaking, 'spoiled', and can only function at its peak when the brain is given more, or better cake. This is where amphetamines come in (adderall) where large amounts of dopamine is constantly released so an ADD brain can remains active and not 'lazy' or 'distracted'. The biggest problem with amphetamines is that the brain accepts it as the "supreme cake" and wont be happy with anything less.
Diagnoses have been dramatically escalating not only due to genetic and environmental factors, but the more pills that can be shipped out the more money the drug companies can make. So obviously there's also a political influence on this whole thing. Environmental influences is basically anything that can make you addicted - people with addictive personalities are prone to suffer from adult ADD.
As for the claims of it being fake - I believe I can also explain that. Amphetamines were never meant to treat people with ADD, it was actually used to keep pilots awake on long flights so they don't crash. Keeping in mind that the people making these pills make a stupid amount of money; they will do anything it takes to prescribe it to anyone they can. It's a recent generational thing that we are using this drug because it has shown to be the most effective - but highly misdiagnosed. Unfortunately, we don't have the neurotechnology (to my knowledge) to really study and understand ADD.
I'm not saying that amphetamines are the way to go. But it's just the quickest, most effective solution. Just like some people need medication for bipolar and suffer from the side-effects, this is very similar.
Here's a really good link I send people that struggle with ADD here if anyone wants to learn more about it:
http://gettinbetter.com/ADD.html
Thoughts?