Ok let’s cut the crap; ADHD IS: | ADHD Information
Thanks Karen for writing this!
I agree "the" answer for me is D.
You really put an amazing amount of helpful information in to this post.....................
The answer is D. It IS Nuerological.Ok lets cut the crap.... ADHD is....
A) a mental illness? (implies organic cause for disfunction...disease, virus, physical trauma)
B) a mental disorder? (implies psychological origins, trauma)
C) a mental deficiency/impairment? (disability from birth not due to others listed here...simply born deficient in brain size, structure or formation of the brain at time of birth)
D) a neurological disorder? (a physical impairment to the functioning of the brain, affecting neuropathology, cells etc. for example, causing resultant processing/retention problems)
I vote for D for the majority of us. I had no diseases, virus or serious trauma either physical or psychological that could be responsible. I was not born with any deficiency such as "water in the brain" or my brain was not fully formed. I do not have Diabetes, Thyroidism etc. etc that can mimic ADHD symptoms along with many other non brain issues that can and DO mimic ADHD.
I simply have ADHD because my well formed brain isn't working on a chemical/ electrical level as it should. Much like a Diabetic cannot process sugar, I can not properly process a few key chemicals well. Unfortunately, this activity is located in my brain and there for the SYMPTOMS will be of a "mental" description but the CAUSE is described in its physical terms!
However...some types of ADHD can be from:
A) especially some in teens/adults...I know 2 such people personally who now have ADHD symptoms from trauma to the head but never were prior. You could have been a great average kid...then later a tragedy...high fever, virus, car crash, slip on a step and wack the old melon and suddenly here you are, reading this.
C). Only a small number will be born ADHD from brain impaired/deficient. This is rarer I think because the amount of impairment would be so small, only allowing ADHD symptoms but otherwise the brain is intact. More likely, serious issues like Downs Syndrome etc. would be most apparent here.
B) implies only psychological causes...I'm certain it would be very hard to only "mentally" manifest ADHd by "mental concepts" of life over time alone. Basically how you thought, perceived and interacted with life.......... created the ADHD. ( you are what you think you are!!?? It's all in your head!!??) I'm having a hard time describing what I mean....thats about as hard as it is to justify this as a cause. However, external forces on an infant child's developement has been a valid question on brain developement and funtioning in later years but only as yet as an idea since there is no proof. So for now I'll leave it out of the running.
Genetic issues could come into play as a reason for all of the above and in itself is not a cause but an explaination...of a cause.
So, all can be true depending on your individual circumstances. D) being the main one that is studied and which is considered the bench mark of the ADHD cause most people will have. All meds created at this time are based on this model to assist in our brain functioning. The other secondary causes mimic closely the symptoms of the benchmark ADHD and so are labeled ADHD SYMPTOMS.....please recognise the difference between cause and symptoms.
If you understand the functions that cause your ADHD and how it then manifests the adhd symptoms....you can now assess treatment options for your self in an imformed way!!!Knowledge is power. You wouldn't have a mechanic add oil to your car if he didn't have a good understanding of how the engine worked? Maybe its better you know how your own engine works so you can always know its needs, what will work, what won't and WHY THAT IS SO!
Interestingly...if you get what I'm telling you...it will explain why meds don't work for everyone and other treatments do...why some ADDer's have ADHD while others have several ADD Symptoms from a secondary cause.
Most of us will have had it as a child but its not a prerequisite. To further confuse things we will have one of 3 groups of ADHD symptoms. Lets finally recognize our truths and origins for our ADD and make sure everyone at least get the blood tests necessary to rule out secondary causes that CAN be treated resolving most of the ADHD-like symptoms. ( Diabetes and Thyroid disorder are 2 big ones)
If, like myself, you come to find you just have ADD for no other reason than just that you do....D) then embrace your self and start living life your way....not mimicking "normal" people cause we can't pull that off indefinitely. But each of us have alot to offer and long lives to be lived.
Meds will not help everyone or even react similarly all the time but for the majority of us..we seek help starting here but recognize there is always other routes to be tried. We are hear to learn and support each other who suffer for sure...the symptoms of ADHD..however it manifested in our lives.....
Here's a site most may know...it lists many ADHD meds, therapies, alternatives etc and each thing listed has( aside from accurate medical information), a poll attached, for people who use the treatments to comment and rank them. You can all add to this invaluable source of information and post direct, relevant, personal experiences on each you've tried. Scroll to bottom where info I talk about is. This site is not exclusive to ADHD. It covers all human health issues
This is the first link I've ever posted so I hope the Administration will let it stand. http://remedyfind.com/sym.asp?id=89
I 'm putting this out there to unite us and realise that knowing your individual cause of ADHD is important to your own betterment and that doesn't need to be the same as the next guy. There is no Authentic ADHD TPYE. Just the standard origin to develope medication treatment by. We all are a bunch of people who share alot in common about ADHD but not everything in common. We still belong here no matter what our cause for ADD may be. I hope this puts alot of arguing to rest here among these pages. WE ARE ALL RIGHT!!!!
Peace out!!! another agonizingly long post from Karen in Canada
Karen N38472.1545949074[QUOTE=Karen N]Ok lets cut the crap.... ADHD is....
[/QUOTE]
E. An inability to read long posts? 
Ok lets cut the crap.... ADHD is....
[/QUOTE]
E. An inability to read long posts?
[/QUOTE]
No sh*t eh? I'm only hyper in my thoughts, talking and typing.
I sat down at midnite and its 4 am and you think its long now! Its hard to make 12 paragrapghs out of 10, 000 thoughts!!!! 
Sorry to all..its a worth while read though...
[QUOTE=Karen N][QUOTE=Mark Goode][QUOTE=Karen N]
Ok lets cut the crap.... ADHD is....
[/QUOTE]
E. An inability to read long posts?
[/QUOTE]
No sh*t eh? I'm only hyper in my thoughts, talking and typing.
I sat down at midnite and its 4 am and you think its long now! Its hard to make 12 paragrapghs out of 10, 000 thoughts!!!! Sorry to all..its a worth while read though...[/QUOTE]
Hey! I managed to read it!
Great post Karen.
Thanks for reading my post....BUT some are missing my point. The point was to accept that there are FOUR ways to aquire ADHD that I know of, with the most prominant being a neurological disorder for most of us. I really want people to say whats true for themselves...not that one is true for everyone because I know for fact that that is incorrect. The more info we can aquire from people about their origins of ADHD and treatments they tried and what worked/ didn't work...the sooner we may be able to see some commonalities and push research forward. The sooner meds will be modeled on the different causes of ADHD rather than just only focused on generic symptom control, which only masks the cause and usually not so well. The side effects of "symptom medications" can be quite brutal over time but we have so few options. More research is needed. Maybe it can start here.
Thanks again for all the information ...it all helps.
Karen N38472.8240856482I am basically just reposting this (below), as I had added it to the post this 1 originated from as well.
Mental diagnosis is difficult because the brain is a complicated and powerful thing. Many such disorders cannot be diagnosed w/ a physical test...which leads to more confusion and complexity of the field, to me anyway. I think people forget the physical/chemical aspects of the brain. (I won't go into how emotions are just chemicals and such, LoL.) But when its comes to the brain, it is a combo of mental and physical....and the physical impacts the mental quite a bit.
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I am actually more offended that people are upset about the term 'mental illness.' I get really upset of the horrible stigma attached to that word, for the same basic reasons we all get upset about how people perceive our ADD... I have several people I love dearly, friends and family, who have bipolar, OCD, depression, anxiety, etc...incl my own ADD & OCD. And it is people who act like 'mental illness' means a person is some kind of freak or something that make us feel bad about who we are.
Mind you, it's called 'bipolar disorder' and 'obsessive compulsive disorder' and 'personality disorder' and so on....but most people would call those 'mental illness'...so why is 'attention deficit disorder' so different? The levels of how each of those 'disorders' effects people can or cannot require medications. (And I do believe that it is susupected that ADD is also due to some chemical imbalances, isn't it?)
I'll admit, I originally balked at the 'mental illness' tag until I gave it actual thought, and my opinion changed quickly. There are slight differences in disorder vs illness, but the words are basically synonyms....it's the connotation more than the denotation we hear, or so that is my opinion.
I checked www.dictionary.com and here's what I found.. (I'm assuming this is OK to paste..?)
Mental Disorder:
Function: noun
: a mental or bodily condition marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions to seriously impair the normal psychological functioning of the individual called also mental illness
n : (psychiatry) a psychological disorder of thought or emotion; a more neutral term than mental illness
Mental Illness:
Any of various conditions characterized by impairment of an individual's normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning, and caused by social, psychological, biochemical, genetic, or other factors, such as infection or head trauma. Also called emotional illness, mental disease, mental disorder
Any of various disorders characterized chiefly by abnormal behavior or an inability to function socially, including diseases of the mind and personality and certain diseases of the brain. Also called mental disease, mental disorder.
Function: noun
1 : MENTAL DISEASE
2 : a mental condition marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions to seriously impair the normal psychological and often social functioning of the individual called also mental disorder
n : any disease of the mind; the psychological state of someone who has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric intervention [syn: mental disease, psychopathy] [ant: mental health]
Thanks DNKB,
I'm glad you found it helpful. When I first got diagnosed, I came here looking for help to understand how it manifested. I believed if I understood the cause, I could understand if meds etc would work. But I became more confused here. Lots of people insisting that thier view was correct. It left me in the dark so I took everything that has been said in this Forum and researched it out. I found studies and tests supporting all the views listed above and desided that I would have to deside by the criteria given which was my origin of ADHD cause. Its helped alot and has aloud me to focus my understanding of brain mechanics and treatment interactions on the same. I may never improve 100% but I feel empowered and that I have a direction to go in my care.
In the mean time, I also hope people stop insisting its mental not physical and visa versa. We don't need to be arguing amongst our selves and confusing new people. Everyone is right and each of us must evaluate our own cause and take it from there.
I think its important. One day treatments broken up by these causes will be more effective than basing treatment off one of them and expect it to work for all people. I would be very interested in others opinions of the 4 causes of ADHD and give additional info to a category or even define them better than I have been able to.
Definitely neurological. It's proven that the brain is wired differently (as very obvious in the brain of Einstein (which was exensively researched after his death) and countless other inventors, scientists, etc who have made our planet what it is today in the past. My wife happens to do a lot of brain research as a psychologist and started researching ADD/ADHD after i was diagnosed with it and she possibly has it herself in a much more 'mellow' manner (than i do).