I have ADHD, and also happen to be a psychiatry resident.
As far as I can tell, it has been nothing but negative in my personal experience. It is a handicap, one I can overcome with coping mechanisms and medication, but I struggle to think of any positive impact on my life.
For a while, there were evopsych theories that postulated that ADHD had an adaptational benefit, but evopsych is a shakey field at the best of times, and no clear benefit was demonstrated.
>All analyses performed support the presence of long-standing selective pressures acting against ADHD-associated alleles until recent times. Overall, our results are compatible with the mismatch theory for ADHD but suggest a much older time frame for the evolution of ADHD-associated alleles compared to previous hypotheses.
The ancient ancestral environment probably didn’t reward strong executive function and consistency in planning as strongly as agricultural societies did. Even so, the study found that prevalence was dropping even during Palaeolithic times, so it wasn’t even something selected for in hunter-gatherers!
I hate having ADHD, and sincerely hope my kids don’t. I’m glad I’ve had a reasonably successful life despite having it.
I have ADHD, and also happen to be a psychiatry resident.
As far as I can tell, it has been nothing but negative in my personal experience. It is a handicap, one I can overcome with coping mechanisms and medication, but I struggle to think of any positive impact on my life.
For a while, there were evopsych theories that postulated that ADHD had an adaptational benefit, but evopsych is a shakey field at the best of times, and no clear benefit was demonstrated.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32451437/
>All analyses performed support the presence of long-standing selective pressures acting against ADHD-associated alleles until recent times. Overall, our results are compatible with the mismatch theory for ADHD but suggest a much older time frame for the evolution of ADHD-associated alleles compared to previous hypotheses.
The ancient ancestral environment probably didn’t reward strong executive function and consistency in planning as strongly as agricultural societies did. Even so, the study found that prevalence was dropping even during Palaeolithic times, so it wasn’t even something selected for in hunter-gatherers!
I hate having ADHD, and sincerely hope my kids don’t. I’m glad I’ve had a reasonably successful life despite having it.