Comment by DudeIsJammin | Hacker News Reader

Comment by DudeIsJammin | Hacker News Reader

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I sometimes wonder how much gaming, and stimulating websites like youtube, reddit play a roll in actually creating ADHD.

It's kind of a chicken or the egg situation, do people have ADHD and because they have ADHD they are more susceptible to gaming addiction? or do they become addicted to these sites/games which then creates ADHD type symptoms.

Not saying ADHD isn't an actual thing, but I've noticed a reoccurring theme where people who have ADHD also were addicted to gaming or the internet.

I discovered this guy who has a youtube/twitch channel who is a harvard psychologist who explained how gaming/dopamine releasing web products can have a negative impact on our reward system. How gaming and these addicting products can paralyze you and prevents you from changing behavior.

It's an interesting question, because as I browse comments on sites like reddit and it feels like everyone has ADHD, and these comments about ADHD have massive amounts of upvotes. Which is weird because ADHD isn't supposed to be common, it's supposed to be like ~5% of the population, yet it feels like most people have it on these sites

Here's the links to the guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWbh2-tW2e0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEsFPaOQKoA&t=2s

ADHD is complex and can involve multiple causes. To date, all of the major ones fall in the realm of neurology and genetics (biological causation) with no evidence that social factors alone can account for the condition.

People ADHD are definitely more likely to overindulge when it comes to gaming/internet usage (hyperfocusing). The reason is because it's stimulating. Sites like reddit is an endless influx of information.

Since I have ADHD it's a struggle to do anything that is boring. Sure most people can relate to that but the difference here is that my school/work/relationships have suffered greatly because of that and the other ADHD symptoms.

Some people who say they have ADHD probably don't but are suffering from something else (stress, depression, anxiety, etc.). It's a disorder that's over diagnosed because avoiding to do boring things, losing focus, and/or hyperactivity is pretty common (especially among youth).

Kids who are obsessed with gaming/internet usage might develop bad habits and behavioral issues but not necessarily something permanent. I seriously doubt it can cause ADHD. Traumatic brain injury would make more sense.

It probably doesn't help, but I'd view it as self-medicating in many cases.

Perhaps to turn your comment on its head, people like my wife don't get much out of a place like Reddit so they don't visit it, while the ADHD crowd is constantly on there trying to up their dopamine levels.

ADHD (especially untreated) and substance abuse/addiction is pretty common

Yeah, I agree. But also it's curious that so many people feel like they have it. Makes me wonder if in addition to people that were born with ADHD, these sites like youtube/reddit and video games can create ADHD symptoms over time as your brain adjusts to constant dopamine.

Kind of like how constant sugar can spike insulin and with weight gain over time can creates insulin resistance/diabetes. It's like type 1 vs type 2. So in this analogy Type 1 people with ADHD would be people who are born with it and it's lifelong, and type 2 ADHD people acquire it after indulging in these dopamine producing addicting web products for years and your reward system/executive function is messed up, impacting daily life similar to people who are born with ADHD.

Or you have it completely backwards, and ADHD people as a group seek out sources of dopamine because they're desperate for it.

> But also it's curious that so many people feel like they have it.

My hypothesis: ADHD is defined as X out of Y listed symptoms, almost all of which people experience in some way at some points in their lives. The difference is between "I sometimes have problems with some of these things" vs. "I have significant problems with many of these to the point where it is a big and constant problem in my daily life and causes me great pain".

So people who sometimes have trouble focusing see that it's on the ADHD list and take up this soft position of "Maybe I have ADHD" or jokingly talk about probably having a little ADHD or something like that.

It's the same with OCD. How many people have you seen on Reddit confess to having OCD or OCD-lite or "probably OCD" etc.? A lot more than the official diagnosis statistics right.

I don't think it's because Reddit creates OCD symptoms though.

I mean, that's sort of normal with neurological disorders though - a few have really clear symptoms that are blindly obvious to anyone from the outside. We, as humans, both can't see into other minds and can't let others see into our minds. If you analogy for ADHD is building a wall of awful[1] then normal people do place bricks in front of their actions, it just doesn't spiral in the same way as people with ADHD tend to do regularly - most of the bipolar people never act "inhuman" they just spend a lot of time at extreme emotional levels that most of us, thankfully, only visit occasionally... OCD (specifically, as a disorder) isn't liking things neat, it is harming yourself trying to keep things in a certain state - being late to a meeting because when you locked the car the click of the keys didn't sound like they should.

And everything is a spectrum, everything - nobody is immune to indecision fog, getting sidetracked, feeling helpless in front of a decision that feels bigger than it rationally is, etc... but those moments usually happen rarely, for some people it is a constant fight that actively lowers their quality of life.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo08uS904Rg

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