I understand what behaviours are, but "having troublesome behaviours" implies something kinda systemic right? Something that someone does habitually (otherwise you probably wouldn't seek out medication for it). What is it that causes that habit, and if it is a mental cause, how does that differ from having a "disordered brain"?

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andoando 2 days ago | parent [-]

Having troubles in your life does not imply something systemic no. The qualitive difference is one a name for a group of symptoms, the other claims to be a cause of those symptoms.

You may be losing things often because your place is a complete mess. You may not keep attention in conversations because you spend all your time playing video games and cant relate to anybody, or because regular people simply bore you and you need to find your own crowd.

These kind of explanations are far different than "My brain is inherently and permanently incapable of 'proper executive function'. and the REASON Im like xyz is because of ADHD". Take a look at /r/ADHD if you get a chance. I saw a top thread that read "Does anyone else have trouble keeping eye contact during sex?" with everyone going "wow me too! I didnt know this was an adhd thing!"

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Fraterkes a day ago | parent [-]

Right, but both ADHD and Autism don't have clear neuromarkers, we diagnose people largely based on their symptoms (or the results of their symptoms). The stuff you describe (being bored by regular people, your place being a complete mess) can have "ordinary" reasons, but can also themselves be symptoms of neural disorders. If you have a bunch of symptoms that you've dealt with for years and that you also (succesfully!) take the same medication for that people with the disorder take, I think it can actually be difficult to clearly delineate what is causing it.

Also your example is kinda dumb! You don't have to have Alzheimers to be forgetful, it's actually quite common. But if you post "anyone else here keep forgetting things?" on r/Alzheimers obviously people on there are going to be like "yeah me too".

	▲	andoando a day ago \| parent [-]
		I am not sure what your point is. Mine is precisely that there is no clear definition nor diagnostic criteria for ADHD, and that merely having more than an average collection of these otherwise ordinary behaviors, does not automatically constitute a new neurological disorder. >Also your example is kinda dumb! You don't have to have Alzheimers to be forgetful, it's actually quite common. But if you post "anyone else here keep forgetting things?" on r/Alzheimers obviously people on there are going to be like "yeah me too". What I was trying to demonstrate is that people DO have the belief that ADHD is a causative thing in itself, and not merely a name for a collection of symptoms used to make treatment easier, as was suggested is the case.