There are many significant findings about the atypical anatomical and neurological development of people diagnosed with ADHD. For example, parts of our brains seem to be smaller [1] and there appears to be less blood flow to the prefrontal regions of our brains [2]. It's well known that our ability to utilize and regulate dopamine efficiently is not on par with our peers - this is why someone with ADHD responds quite differently to stimulants than a neurotypical person does. Otherwise there seems to be various genes associated with ADHD, though that area of research is young. The same can be said with autism.

The pathogenesis of ADHD isn't completely understood, but hard evidence of consistent anatomical, neuronal, and chemical differences is only increasing. There is something real happening without much doubt - the task now is to figure out what and why.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you when you say social construct, though. I'm not sure if you mean "ADHD isn't real" or "It's a bucket we throw similar types of disorders into". If you mean the latter, I'd agree - I wouldn't be surprised if in 10-15 years we see that sub types can be distinctly identified in some way. I have no idea if at that point we'll need to overhaul these categorizations, but, I suspect we will at least understand the pathology better.

[1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0...

[2] https://www.jpn.ca/content/35/5/330

I'm saying that the term "ADHD" is a social construct. We humans have constructed in our mind a category of human behaviors and drawn some fuzzy lines and planted a flag down saying "this is ADHD." Certainly, as you mention, you can draw trends between the two categories (ADHD vs non-ADHD), just as if you were to move from South Africa to Egypt you might notice that most of the people look different. But that doesn't make "Egypt" or "South Africa" any less of a human construct.

The idea that ADHD is some abberant way of being that ought to be medicated into a teleological more ideal way of mental being is also, completely, a human construction - you can't get that conclusion just by looking at brain blood flow or anything like that.

I see where you’re coming from. I’m not sure where you’d draw the line with things being human constructs, and I’m not sure if it being a construct really detracts from it much.

I do agree about it not inherently being a problem that needs to be medicated. I personally only use meds when I need to be more “normal” and cut through the fog that daily life and tasks seems to generate for me. Sometimes I will develop a backlog of tasks and it’s helpful to cut through it.

I get the feeling that I was born in the wrong place at the wrong time, so to speak. It seems ADHD is present but much more tolerated in some cultures such that it doesn’t cause the person with ADHD as much stress or anxiety as they grow older. Like you suggest, these people are just people and though they’re different in some ways, it’s still within the bounds of normality.

It seems to be once you put ADHD brains into uncomfortable environments that it becomes problematic. Otherwise there is plenty of potential for it to be advantageous in many ways.

I'm sorry, just to be clear, do you mean that ADHD is a social construct?

Yes - ADHD is a social construct. But this is not unique to ADHD among mental disorders.