Question: How do we separate ADHD as a clinical dysfunction from the fact that our entire society seems to be set up to exacerbate every symptom of ADHD? I know this is something a lot of people with ADHD struggle with but, how do we know there’s a legitimate clinical diagnosis and we aren’t just incapable of moving through modern society where everything is constantly trying to demand our attention anyway?
Answer: ADHD is not a phenomenon of modern society.  The concept of ADHD has  been recognized for over two centuries starting with a German medical text in 1775. Although these early reports did not use the term “ADHD”, they described children who showed the symptoms and impairments we now recognize as ADHD.
  
  The diagnosis of ADHD is 'legitimate' because its validity and utility have been demonstrated from many perspectives.  You can find references in the International Consensus Statement on ADHD: [https://bit.ly/35ZVUR7](https://bit.ly/35ZVUR7). 
  
  It is not only modern society that creates challenge for people with ADHD.  A study of genetic data shows that the frequency of genetic variants associated with ADHD has steadily decreased since Paleolithic times.  This means that having ADHD has caused problems for people for tens of thousands of years.  See: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/32451437/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/32451437/)
content: Q: How do we separate ADHD as a clinical dysfunction from the fact that our entire society seems to be set up to exacerbate every symptom of ADHD? I know this is something a lot of people with ADHD struggle with but, how do we know there’s a legitimate clinical diagnosis and we aren’t just incapable of moving through modern society where everything is constantly trying to demand our attention anyway?
   Ans: ADHD is not a phenomenon of modern society.  The concept of ADHD has  been recognized for over two centuries starting with a German medical text in 1775. Although these early reports did not use the term “ADHD”, they described children who showed the symptoms and impairments we now recognize as ADHD.
  
  The diagnosis of ADHD is 'legitimate' because its validity and utility have been demonstrated from many perspectives.  You can find references in the International Consensus Statement on ADHD: [https://bit.ly/35ZVUR7](https://bit.ly/35ZVUR7). 
  
  It is not only modern society that creates challenge for people with ADHD.  A study of genetic data shows that the frequency of genetic variants associated with ADHD has steadily decreased since Paleolithic times.  This means that having ADHD has caused problems for people for tens of thousands of years.  See: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/32451437/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/32451437/)