Is ADHD an industrial era problem | ADHD Information

Are we all just living beyond our insticts to
just survive. I mean wake up and just survive.
I

I don't personally believe in the evolutionary theory, but it's uncanny how the ADHD personality has very primal instincts.

I climbed trees as a child. LOL I have always had the alert "be ready for anything" mode in my brain. The ability to see and smell far distances, find things otherwise unseen, use resourceful objects as tools, crisis problem solving ability, etc. The parts that scare the crap out of me are when people can walk up behind me and I almost reflexively want to swat at them.

It's almost as if we stayed in a certain era of human development while the rest of the world passed us by. I bet if I was taught how to camp in the woods I could do it with comfort. hehe

In response to your question, I don't think so. I think it has a lot more to do with the increasingly fast pace of life and the number of available distractions. Maybe in prior times there were as many of "us" but nowhere the number of stimuli. It wouldn't surprise me to see an historical study done by some AD(H)Der that showed that many of the illuminaries of the past would likely have been diagnosed with AD(H)D!

Reizende, I can see why you might feel that way but I expect it's more the other way around. "The rest of the world" is the conformists who blend in with and follow the herd because their primary motivators are their own survival and that of the species; that's really about it. (These are the same folks who chose Barabas. Give them some good but revolutionary ideas and that's the choice they'll make every time!) Not my idea of developmentally evolved.

There's a fascinating book published in the 70s called "The Adjusted American" (out of print but you can sometimes find a used copy) that contended that an adjusted American, by just about all psychological standards was a pretty screwed up individual.

I'm writing a paper on "emotional intelligence" (aka "how to be a lemming and con people into thinking you care about them so you can get your way"). From perusing my sources, I'd bet money on the liklihood of debunking the concept as so much "pop psych" designed to richen a few folks and/or a measure of a person's ability to conform and not piss other (rather paranoid, which sadly it seems, more are than aren't) people off. Maybe not, but that's the direction I'm leaning.

sachetm38516.7419328704Sachetm


I like your thoughts.
I think about this pretty often- not exactly though...Before I knew that I had add, I wondered if I would enjoy a previous century better than the one we are in...if my focus/procrastination...would matter less as a nomad...with a tightknit extended family, pitching tents and sharpening knives and bathing in rivers...and all the rest.  I never thought about it in terms of - would people with adhd prefer a different century, or is adhd actually a result of humanity veering so far away from the way it's been for thousands of years.
But maybe...Sometimes I think that many people with adhd are actually just stressed out, or have anxiety problems- anxiety produces many of the same symptoms- spaciness, fidgeting, restlessness...
and anxiety is increased in industrial societies.


VERY INTERESTING TOPIC!!

In your typical prehistoric tribe a select few talented people are the hunters. They use their quick thinking, fast reflexes and 'fight or flight' adrenaline to go out and find food for the rest of the tribe. They are the leaders and the most talented and admired for their abilities.

The other 97% sit around all day weaving baskets, grinding grains into flour and sharpening spears.

The hunter catches the dinner, then someone else carries it home, prepares and cooks it and looks after the details.  

Hunters and ADDers aren't supposed to sit around weaving baskets all day, we're supposed to be out there hunting and gathering and leaving the mundane stuff up to other people.

Considering the percentage of the population with ADD (2-5%) it makes sense, we're the hunters and gatherers. Our jobs have changed faster than evolution.

If people were really supposed to sit on their backsides in a workstation cubicle all day, then go home and sit on the couch and watch tv we wouldn't have such wonderfully developed feet.

 

 

I just read some stuff on the physiology of the brain and what it was attuned for vs. the pace of life we currently have to contend with. Now where was it? I'll have to go look at my recent reading and will post if I find it (and can remember)!

Eliza, you make a good point about the social nature of humans and the natural division of labor. But I think you may have left out a category. There have always (and nature would undoubtedly concur for reasons of selection) been those who hung around (regardless of the "day" job) and thought about more effective ways to weave the baskets, set up the living quarters, and catch the food. Whatever the environment demanded would need to catch their attention so they could muse about it. Otherwise, there'd have been no innovation or progress. Perhaps, we did our job too well!

I suspect that for ADHDers, it's more a matter of finding a good fit for our strengths and learning to overcome the bashing we've taken by a "tribe" that wanted us to perform certain roles for it's own perceived needs (survival of the individual and species and all that). That's where a lot of the stress and anxiety comes from--that pressure. The question then becomes identification of our own unique capabilities and what "sub-tribe" will value them (and where a good therapist and meds are to help us shed the years of crap!)

sachetm38517.2907523148When I started the topic I wasn;t sure if any one thought the way I did.

Some of my happiest times were with friends when we
would go camping and not bring much with us. We would fish
get spring water and just sit around tell stories and look forward
to the next days adventures.

I decided to take a survival course, having been in the army
I wanted a more old world type exercise without to many safety
nets in place.
The course was designed using the living conditions
similar to that of North American Indians prior to their introduction
to Europeans.

In short it was a time were I was focused and I never got distracted.
We all knew what had to be done and did our part.
My instinct to survive kicked in and it was the best four weeks
ever. I didn' think about all the things that distract me now
or cause me to give up.

So now it is just a matter of some how taking that experince
and using it to my advantage. I just don't know if I
can use it to help me in this industrial web.lost at 4038517.3767592593Gypsy Womyn ,One day I hope.

I just saw the movie The WIlderness Family again with my
wife. We talked about the movie during dinner the next day.
I asked her about her feeling about living off the land. I explained to
her how we could live off the interest if we sold our house and kept the
money in the bank. She then reminded me that she had never been
truly camping. So I said to her " this year don't bother packing sun tan
lotion, pack your sweater and jeans, we are going camping for our
aniversary"
Sleepiing on the couch has given me a stiff neck the last few days.

A retirement goal? You might enjoy "full timing." Buy an RV and travel around the country in it, having adventures as you go.

Just a thought. (I live in an RV but by necessity, not by choice. But a lot of the folks I meet choose to live that way and love it--especially retired boomer types).

[QUOTE=sachetm]

A retirement goal? You might enjoy "full timing." Buy an RV and travel around the country in it, having adventures as you go.

Just a thought. (I live in an RV but by necessity, not by choice. But a lot of the folks I meet choose to live that way and love it--especially retired boomer types).
[/QUOTE]
Sachetm, I also live in an RV by necessity, and now by choice. I had a motorhome, in which I was able to travel (as old and cranky as it was...actually allowed me to become mechanically intuitive and to do my own work on it). While I was 'on the road' with my motor home traveling around the United States, my mind seemed so much keener. And I'm sure it was due to the stimulation I was missing in my life and actually longing for.

I now live in a tiny travel trailer, which isn't going to move an iota , and I miss the freedom and stimulation I had when I had the ability to be mobile.

I highly recommend 'full-timing' in an RV...whether it's a motor home, 5th wheel or travel trailer. You can even workkamp, working in an RV park in exchange for full hookup, elec., cable, etc. I've done this for a few months at a time in several different states throught out the US. I had great adventures, met terrific people, and it kept me physically and mentally alert and healthy.

Lost at 40...the four weeks you were happiest in your survival course tells me you might just find full-timing a very fullfilling way of life. You don't even have to stay in RV parks...you can boondock deep in the woods, or along a river, just communing with nature.

BTW, yes, a most interesting topic, and have very much enjoyed the replying posts. GypsyWomyn38517.7885648148