My view about ADD roots : short term memory problems in modern life

[xav]

Hello everybody,

In reading on the net i have found many hypothesis about the origins of ADD ranging from an non existent syndrom ( ) to an Neanderthal legacy

Reading all the source i tried to separate the hypothesys about the origin of ADD as a whole condition ( like Hartmann's work ) from the appearance of ADD in a specifical individual.

It's seem to me that what is called ADD is a range of problems with behaviour , memory, ... wich can appears from many reasons.

Somes , like myself, have memory of ADD from early childhood . The bad news is that it's affect your whole life in every ways ( learning, social, love...)
The good news is you that, day by day, year after year, you can learn to cope with it. Even when you don't know that ADD exist. Even when you're alone in your childhood.

Others, discover ADD much later in there life.
Some, like soldiers wounded at the head, show problems with memory and behaviour that looks like ADD.

With my current knowledge i think that ADD can appears from a multitude of external ( stress, life conditions hardening, ) or internal ( genetics, disease )causes.

Here is the process process that, i think, can produce ADD :

I have reading some abstract of the visual learner theory. To summaryse it, when you use your short term memory you put into action two subsystems : a phonological loop and a visual-spatial block-note.
These two subsystem are under the supervision of a central executive subsystem.
I think that when something hurts, disturb this coordinator of short term memory you start to show ADD.
You can read some informations here : http://faculty.education.uiowa.edu/d...lly_gifted.pdf

Hartmann propose in his books that ADD is something like an old behavior left by the main current of humanity when farming was invented.
Hartmann labels the old way the hunter way.

I DON T want to restart the discussion about Hartmann theory. I just want to point out that when farming what invent, cities were invented too. So may be the farmer way of life wasn't due to an abrupt mutation but was a way to cope with the increased complexity of the life in the new Neolithic environment.

From this time, people have an increased needed for lexical lists of things, attention to details, new words to design new things ( like sowing, harvest, or different type of building ).
So, from this time, people start to increase, day by day, the use of the phonological loop and to use less their visual spatial block note.

I DON T SPEAK OF inherited mutation . I speak of the difference in the way of life starting from the Neolithic and culminating now with the modern life with its big corporations, with the ever increasing needed for coordination and communication. This increased coordination means that from early childhood to the end of adult life you have to learn to live and operate in environments of increasing complexity. Before the Neolithic, the environment of people life was of the same complexity from the childhood to the adult life

In the modern world when something disturds your short term memory central executive subsystem, your brain try to compensate with one of the other subsystem and you CAN start to show ADD behaviour and symptoms.
If your environment doesn't help you enough to organise your life you SHOW ADD behaviour and symptoms.
Depending which of the other two subsystems ( spatial block note or phonological loop ) is over used you will have different problems :
For example if you over used you spatial subsytem you will have good spatial skills but you will have problem following a conversation.
On the contrary if you stimulate too much the phonological loop you will have no problem with writing skills but you can have a difficult time learning to drive.

Medical studies shows two things : (http://www.add.org/articles/causeadd.html )

1) Differences in brain processing : some parts of the brain have a LESSER level of activity.

Does anyone knows if it can be related to a lesser stimulated short term memory coordinator ?

2 ) genetic influences : Can they be seen as a mark of an inherited brittleness to stress, alcool, injuries and other ADD causes ?

In french there is a word to name the capacity which have some children and addult to build their life even in harsh family, environnemt or after a trauma.
It's called "résilience". I don't know how you name that in english.

May be the genetic factors of ADD are the mark of a lesser "résilience" of short term memory to stress.

[Emma S]

Others, discover ADD much later in there life.

xav,ADHD has to have appeared before aged 7 to get the diagnosis.

I think it's good to discuss the different theories,wish I could comprehend most of it.

[xav]

I 'm just trying to point that many conditions share common points with ADD.

In examining different theories of mind i'm just trying to find some ideas and practical ways to circumvent some day to day problems line forgetfullness, attention drifting and so on

In posting here i 'm just trying, with not much success, to cause, some questions about these theories in order to know more about their validity.

It's for this goal that i send the url to the texts i have read before posting.
It's in the hope some people comments about their content.

Not much success actually

[Imnapl]

xav,
You will be able to find several discussions about the causes of ADHD in these forums
by using the search feature.

[EYEFORGOT]

1) Differences in brain processing : some parts of the brain have a LESSER level of activity.

Does anyone knows if it can be related to a lesser stimulated short term memory coordinator ?

2 ) genetic influences : Can they be seen as a mark of an inherited brittleness to stress, alcool, injuries and other ADD causes ?

In french there is a word to name the capacity which have some children and addult to build their life even in harsh family, environnemt or after a trauma.
It's called "résilience". I don't know how you name that in english.

May be the genetic factors of ADD are the mark of a lesser "résilience" of short term memory to stress.

It's the same word, resilience. The ability to recover rapidly from misfortune.

I'm sorry, I'm not good at the technical/medical side of ADD. I can identify with this last part. Not only do I handle stress in an unhealthy manner, but I can't remember what the details are of my stress.

I didn't realize I had ADD until I was 32. I recognized that I had the symptoms as far back as I can remember. (age 5?)

This is an interesting post, I'm sorry I can't be more insightful. If you don't get a good response here that doesn't mean you won't be able to get a good response elsewhere.

[stanzen]

Originally Posted by xav

In french there is a word to name the capacity which have some children and addult to build their life even in harsh family, environnemt or after a trauma.
It's called "résilience". I don't know how you name that in english.

May be the genetic factors of ADD are the mark of a lesser "résilience" of short term memory to stress.

Public Health practice in the US also recognizes the resilience of individuals to overcome stressors that are detrimental to health.

The concept of resilience puts a positive spin on physical and mental health questions. You can ask, why do some some elderly live a long time with minimal disability and some do not? Instead of focusing on the causes of decline, you can investigate the factors that foster resiliance and health.

But, there seems to be little evidence that environmental stressors (short of something that might induce organic brain injury) causes ADHD. Resilience may have little to do with it.

So, why do some do well when they have ADHD? Difficult to answer given the current definition of the disorder.

The psychiatric criteria for ADHD in the US is mutually exclusive with resiliance: If you are resiliant and accomodate well to the deficits brought about by ADHD so that you don't have pervasive problems coping in two separate dimentions of your life (like home and school), then you don't have ADHD, by definition.

But you can show theraputic changes due to drugs or behavioral interventions once you have a group with an ADHD diagnosis. However, this is not quite the same thing as studying resiliance to ADHD.

XAV,
If your thread doesn't take off, search this entire forum as Imnapl suggests, there's plenty of vigorous discussion going on.


Cheers,

[xav]

"The psychiatric criteria for ADHD in the US is mutually exclusive with resiliance: If you are resiliant and accomodate well to the deficits brought about by ADHD so that you don't have pervasive problems coping in two separate dimentions of your life (like home and school), then you don't have ADHD, by definition"

Funny thing that . I don't know it is so strict. Is it the same criteria for ADD ? (ie without hyperactivity ).

Sure, the medical team know better than me how to define an illness. But i think I am the example of resiliance with my parents who were so ... strange ( ADD too i think! both of them ) and with very poor knowledge of so many things .

From early childhood to my late thirties i had problems with concentration and memory.
I don't want to describe my childhood here, it's not very interesting. To give a summarise i can quite Spielberg "the last one to be chosen, for anything"
And from the beginnig of my teenage years i have work again and again to build a future, a family and so on. The docs who say that it's impossible to have ADD and be resilient should have come twenty years ago to help me with my studies. They could have explained why i have to copy 3 or 10 times every word to be able to learn english !
They also can come in next September when i MUST NOT forgot to survey my son diabet and i will have to learn again( 3 years ) the dietetical stuff needed !!

In "l'etoffe des heros" the fictionalized saga of the spatial conquest,
, there is a young woman which isn't able to learn maths, especialy negative numbers. She try to explain it's because during her youth in a poor suburbs
in order to cope with sorrow, financial difficulties ... she had to shut off every thing negative.

Even if i had no problem understanding real numbers, i absolutly identify with that condition.

So, in my opinion, you can have attention disorder and be resilient.

But may be if you're resilient enought you don't go to see the docs.
In the States at least,
In France it s simpler, docs have to learn about ADD....
Sorry that tooOOOOO fast,
Here in France first psys have to forgot about Freund...
Then they have to autoryse other docs to learn about ADD...
SO in ten or twenty years from now they will "discover" that some addult could have ADD. But not the seniors....tight financial budget in old people's home you understand

[xav]

I have heat up a little on the last post...

....I was heading at full speed on this side of being trollish....

even if i disagree on a specifical point I don't want to lessen your confidence in your docs...

[Hearty Soul]

I am very interested in your thread! I did not have any symptoms of ADD as a child nor as a teenager nor as an adult. I was a good student, a calm child, bright, smart, successful, fast learnert, held responsible positions, coached support team workers, friends, etc. and helped them to succeed, was able to focus, organize, lead and think well until 15 years ago when misfortunes, deaths, sicknesses, open heart surgery, etc. stressed me to an extent I could not focus anymore especially after my OHS and I was diagnosed with ADD which has been a surprise to me, to my family, to my doctors and to all who know me and I am now trying to study what triggers ADD if it never showed up before.