ADHD

ADHD is a phony "disorder". Your parents screwed you up, they didn't want to take the blame so they found a doctor to excuse them from that blame. As parents became more incompetent, this became very profitable for doctors and drug companies. Now, as an adult (I assume), you are a loser and you need something to blame it on other than your weakness and poor character. There are people out there with severe disabilities and problems, millions of times worse than your pathetic inability to concentrate, and they accomplish a millions times more than you can or will. Get over it, Loser.

Then technically all of the normal people are even bigger losers?

Yes.

answering OP, of course you are allowed to make medication.  medication affects different people differently, even people with the same condition, sometimes positively, negatively or both.

as someone who has been diagnosed as somebody with several of the characteristic behaviors and/or tendencies as someone with ADHD, i have found sitting down for several hours at a time listening to lectures excruciatingly uncomfortable and not a particularly constructive use of my time.  Fortunately, I loved to read and my fantastic speedreading ability more than compensated for most shortcomings in lecture and I could use my books to distract myself.  I do not think the teachers liked it much, but so long as I was not being distracting and my results were good then there was no problem.  Obviously it helped that before I even entered school, I was already adept at reading long novels and all mathematics short of algebra and calculus so a lot of school was wasted on me, though of course I found great value in history, arts, computers and science.  Medication can improve my performance in some test taking situations as it can help me focus my attention better.  And I also believe that medication is far overprescribed for people under 18.  I like the way I think;  I am more hyper and lively than most people and am able to use my creativity in ways that many people do not get to experience.  The trade-off, of course, is that focusing takes enormous effort for me, unless the material presented is particularly engaging for me.  In simple terms, off the medication I am able to experience many lines of thought at the same time; but on the medication, I am much better able to focus on one line of thought --- and I am told this is better and more normal.  In many real-life situations, this is true.  But in situations where you need to think outside-the-box, being able to draw from many lines of thought easier has several advantages, including in chess, of course, where sometimes you can find unorthodox solutions to problems and these can work out just fine.

obviously, the world needs more and better brain research, better/cheaper use of brain scans and better understanding how to use them, etc., and better use of construction or de-construction of the learning environment from an early age, not limited to the structured environment in the school years.

part of the problem is that the money is in pharmaceuticals and not in more constructive neurology and biology research.  and even a lot of the research here in these fields is reactive and simple because researchers need to show progress.  often times, showing a path that is wrong can lead to showing a path that is right, even though these wrong paths may not be immediately remunerative.  with this understanding has resulted in some of the best advances in technology.

okay, obviously i expanded a little bit from my immediate statement, but hopefully somebody finds some use for it. 

So you are a bigger loser as well Tiger-Wooodie.

Then what are Down Syndrome people considered?

I don't understand why so many people made outrageous jokes about ADD or ADHD and can't show empathy!  Being a teacher and principal for more than 30 years gave me the opportunity to get first hand experience with children with learning difficulties such as autism, ODD, ADD ADHD, etc.  I have found that chess may be a useful tool to help these children.  Firstly, there was a chils in 2nd grade who did not like himself and wanted to commit suicide. He was diagnosed with ADD, got meds had improved almost immediately.  Secondly, another child learned how to play chess while in second grade - he was a timid child who had ADD but he was winning against grade 8 students during tourneys.  What a confidence builder!  He sometimes lost because is attention would wander and he would focus on every noise or activity sourrounding him. Sometimes an adult would stand next to him and remind him to focus on his game.  He is now completing high school, he is very intelligent, highly successful and confident - and he still participates in chess tourneys.  I could give you many more examples of success stories but my point his that we should take this seriously and accommodate people that have special needs instead of eliminating from activities.  Every person is unique and we should respect differences instead of being cruel and intolerent.

I understand though my brother is like exact opposite (down syndrome, really hard to talk) it's not funny to make jokes about this.

I agree with you, Petrosianic.  Your comment points to the fact that a condition such as ADD can also have its advantages.  By the way, many famous successful people have ADHD - Nadal, for one.

I read the same (or very similar) story in an article/interview but about another kid who then went on to become the first board for Hungary and a world-class chess player.  His name is Richard Rapport and currently has a FIDE of 2671 (and rating high of 2720) at the age of 19.

he plays some of the most dazzlingly creative chess I've ever seen btw.

Cyber bullying is often a sign of mental health problems too. The only question is who do you pity the most?

Let's not look down too harshly on those who are so foolish as to think ADD does not exist. It is not their fault that they are either too lazy to look at the research, or perhaps they suffer from some mental disability themselves which prevents them from accepting basic factual information.

To make such statements that ADD does not exist paints a person in the same light as saying it's wrong to be gay or that it's wrong to have dark skin. It is a statement of ignorance and intolerance, usually spoken by people who have zero first-hand experience with the subject.

There is no doubt that ADD is massively over-diagnosed, but there are many who are affected by ADD, and many who unquestionably benefit greatly from medication. Prisons are filled with people who have undiagnosed ADD, and if they had been properly medicated by a doctor instead of seeking self medication through illegal drugs, they may not have robbed and killed a family of four so they could steal $20 to get their next fix.

To say that ADD does not exist helps no one, and if making that statement makes one other person think ADD does not exist, you are making the world a worse place. Please just stop talking if you have nothing constructive to say.

protip: don't be ableist without doing the research

It is still heavily debated in child psychology as to the extent and meaning of ADD and ADHD diagnosis and whether or not it is actually it's own disorder or the side-effects of other disorders such as depression.

There are many doctors out there who put ADD and ADHD at the very bottom of the list of possible reasons for a child's 'symptoms'.

So I would kindly suggest that YOU do the research.

Or, you can do like me and study Psychology for 4 years at university. 

They do exist but they're over-diagnosed. Mental health problems are typically defined by symptoms rather than causes, as the cause is often obscure or simply unknown. This can lead to incorrect diagnoses and there is certainly research to suggest that ADD and ADHD are subject to that. That the conditions are real is pretty well established though. Okay, you studied psychology at university whilst I spent nearly 20 years working in the mental health field and reading the research as it became available.  

there is a difference between being undisciplined and being extremely uncomfortable having to sit in the same place for any period of time.  

i did get through it, and i had to teach myself how to embrace pain and channel it masochistically but it seemed like an unnecessarily and extraordinarily painful experience for me and ultimately dangerous for my health at times as it is important that you do listen to your body sometimes when you require medical attention.  of course, i felt like i was alone in this regard, which i think was mostly true as life is a very much a solitary experience.  i expect there are others who have had a some similar experiences.  and i never wanted or had accomodations for this, and rarely mentioned it --- i never even thought accomodations were possible, from a young age I was taught that I had to be self-sufficient, to expect nothing from people but to treat them well.  and my instincts under stress were to act more sanely, which is I think very contrary to most people.  Anyway, from my experience and knowledge, the solution is to be properly accomodating, not too little or too much.  Often dealing with problems before they can become problems - to do this without infringing on our freedoms and individuality.  We need rationalist people and adopt the best policies catered to the whole and the individual.

Hopefully most of the damage can be reversed with time, and you will be able to think for yourself again one day. Sorry to hear you wasted so many years.

Really? Being insulting and making comments like this is the best tactic you have for discussing a topic? 

Try pranayama and asana.In longer period They will benefit ya ..

I wonder if ADHD and restless leg syndrome are somewhat correlated?