Asking how it is measured, what kind of effect it has, whether the effects are meaningful, how it can be explained, whether there are more appropriate labels, what kind of alternative explanations exist, etc.
Asking whether something is "real" fails even when talking about fundamental physical phenomena like gravity, math or consciousness. So, this is almost always the wrong question.
The opioid crisis was a manufactured crisis by the greedy big pharma, right? Looking at how anyone and everyone is being prescribed stimulant medicines these days, I have my reservations about this disorder
Signed, someone with ADHD in a country without an opioid crisis and who out of necessity manages to live without medication but who definitely benefitted from them when they had them.
I hope sincere curiosity is permitted. Good luck to you. Hope you are able to find help :)
A psychological disorder is a set of symptoms that negatively affects several areas in the life of the person experiencing them. That's about it. We group symptoms that often coincide and give the groups names. Getting a diagnosis is a trained professional confirming that you 1) have the symptoms and 2) confirming that it negatively affects your life. That's it. The cause of ADHD -- whether it's caused by the hustling modern world, a multitude, or any other cause -- is entirely irrelevant to a discussion about the "real"-ness of the disorder.
And of course, finding a root cause for ADHD would be incredibly useful for preventing it and helping people with it. But if the cause was found to be the modern overstimulated world that doesn't change anything about the disorder -- it's just as real as if humans have been dealing with it for 200,000 years.
Anywho, didn’t expect HN to be this hostile and over-analyzing a genuine concern. So, I won’t waste my time trying to reason with anyone further.
> I have my reservations about this disorder
It's hard to read any other way than someone who wants to question if ADHD is real, don't you agree?
Yet it is still more and more discovered to be a more widespread issue than thought.
Just because a medicated opportunity exists doesn’t mean it’s an exploit on the population or that it doesn’t help people using it.