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Comment on Half of people arrested in London may have undiagnosed ADHD, study finds

krooklochurm@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

A random comment I read once on Reddit suggested that everyone who is addicted to stimulants should get checked for adhd.

Like. If you become dependent on these things it’s probably because it helps adhd.

It’s a random comment with no supporting evidence but I’ve often wondered whether there was any evidence for it.

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SinAdjetivos@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Dependence and addiction are different things. I find the story of mathematician Paul Erdős’s bet on stopping amphetamines illustrates it best where he had no problem stopping but said of the experience:

“You’ve showed me I’m not an addict. But I didn’t get any work done. I’d get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I’d have no ideas, just like an ordinary person. You’ve set mathematics back a month.”

If you’re addicted to stimulants, that’s a health problem and has both poor sensitivity and selectivity for ADHD. If someone is taking stimulants and forms dependence but not addiction that is somewhat sensitive for ADHD but has terrible selectivity.

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