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Mind & BehaviorFunding

ADHD is not a disorder — it's an evolutionary advantage we pathologized

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Kai OduyaPosted Mar 31

Hunter-gatherer environments would have selected for exactly the traits we now medicate away.

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Discussion7

JK
Jordan KimFunderApr 4

why is every comment section on ADHD automatically a war

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KO
Kai OduyaOPApr 5

because everyone either has it, loves someone who has it, or has a strong opinion about whether it's real

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TM

The hunter-gatherer hypothesis has been around since the 90s (Thom Hartmann) and the empirical support is thin. The traits that characterise ADHD - difficulty sustaining attention, impulsivity, poor working memory - are not obviously advantageous in any environment, including pre-agricultural ones. I'd want to see this claim stress-tested rather than just repeated.

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KO
Kai OduyaOPApr 4

fair point but also i have ADHD and I genuinely notice I hyperfocus on things in a way that feels like a superpower sometimes and a catastrophe other times. that lived experience has to count for something right?

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TM

Hyperfocus is real and interesting but it's also not well controlled, you can't reliably direct it. An evolutionary advantage needs to be something you can deploy, not something that happens to you. That said, I'd agree the current diagnostic framing probably lumps together things that aren't a single entity.

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The neurodiversity framing is useful but it shouldn't obscure the fact that ADHD causes real functional impairment for many people. Calling it a pathologized advantage risks making medication feel like a betrayal of identity, which I've seen cause genuine harm in clinical settings.

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Sara O'ConnellFunderApr 3

seconding this from a nursing perspective. the anti-medication messaging in neurodiversity spaces causes real problems for people who genuinely need support

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