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A comment on Paul Buchheit on Joining Google, How to Become a Great Engineer, and Happiness. Parent comment

Re:Paul Buchheit on Joining Google, How to Become a Great En... by sjg007 on Friday October 19, 2018 @05:03PM (#18260045)
ADD is not over diagnosed. It's probably more prevalent in the population than we think it is. The medications are not specifically harmful in a potential misdiagnosed case... they are just not effective. And there's multiple medications which have difference efficacies for different people. That being said 80% of people with ADHD find medication effective.

Dr. Russell Barkley has a book on it and also several talks on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7QuWchHvOY http://www.russellbarkley.org/

But you should get screened if you feel it would be beneficial. Find a doctor that specializes in ADHD/ADD. The way most adults find out they have ADHD/ADD is when they take their kids in for screening, usually due to school issues.

Depression, anxiety are co-morbid with ADHD/ADD as well.

Here's a good talk on one women's experience with ADHD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiwZQNYlGQI

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Re:Paul Buchheit on Joining Google, How to Become a Great En... by existencebox on Friday October 19, 2018 @06:50PM (#18260662)
My behaviorist wife and mother (Freud would have something to say about me, wouldn't he) would tend to disagree with your first statement (overdiagnosis) with the caveat of "within certain populations." We focus a lot on kids, unfortunately often under the age within which the DSM actually supports these sorts of diagnoses.

I would personally disagree with your "medications are not specifically harmful in a misdiagnosed case." I'm not encouraging people to avoid seeking whatever help they see fit, but rather to not whitewash over the very tractable impact it had on a rather dark year or two of my childhood, and the lasting aftereffects. I honestly don't want to start a heated debate about whether or not to medicate, moreso call out to others who had a similar negative outcome that they're not alone and that it's not impossible to develop healthy coping mechanisms without pills.

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Re:Paul Buchheit on Joining Google, How to Become a Great En... by Viliam1234 on Saturday October 20, 2018 @07:36AM (#18262789)
It can be simultaneously underdiagnosed and overdiagnosed.

http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/17/joint-over-and-underdia...

> Suppose that 3% of the population has ADHD.

> Suppose that of people with ADHD, 50% of them realize they have ADHD like symptoms and go to a psychiatrist to get checked out.

> Suppose that of people without ADHD, 10% of them falsely believe they have ADHD and also go to a psychiatrist to get checked out.

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