To the author:
For the past semester, I have been taking a course called “ADHD
in Focus”, an advanced senior seminar in psychology taught by a trained and
licensed Clinical Psychologist. Throughout the course, we have learned about
how ADHD is diagnosed, the underlying mechanisms of ADHD, the treatment of ADHD,
among many other topics. While there are quite a few misconceptions in your
paper, I would like to respectfully address the argument that ADHD is not a
real disorder because there is no lab test to prove it, and there is no
biological evidence.
This argument is invalid for three, primary reasons:
1) Lab tests are not used to test for any mental disorder, let alone ADHD.
2) Mental disorders are caused by an interaction of
genes and the environment; biological causes are not the only cause
3) There is, in fact, evidence for a biological
basis of ADHD
Lab tests are not
used to test for any mental disorder,
let alone ADHD.
To start, lab tests are not used to prove the existence of
any mental disorder. Mental disorders are not “proven” using lab tests because
researchers have yet to discover a single biological marker with sufficient
sensitive and specificity to inform the diagnosis of any mental disorder, and
thus, not a single biological test appears as diagnosis criterion within the
DSM-5. In-depth assessments are used to diagnose mental disorders.
See article from the mayo clinic below to learn more about
mental illnesses are diagnosed. Notice that “lab tests” are used only to rule
out the possibility of alcohol and drugs in causing symptoms—not to prove whether or not the
disorder exists:
Mental disorders are
caused by an interaction of genes and the environment; biological causes are
not the only cause
Mental illnesses are best explained by an interaction of biological,
psychological, and social factors, rather than solely biological causes. For
example, a person may have a gene that pre-disposes them to a certain trait or
mental disorder, however, it is the exposure to adverse life events (such as trauma
or abuse) that lead to the development of the mental disorder. Genes and the
environment interact with one another to produce many forms of mental
illnesses.
See study below for an example of this phenomena:
There is, in fact,
evidence for a biological basis of ADHD
Lastly, it is still important to acknowledge that, contrary
to your claims, the neurobiological basis of ADHD is very much supported by scientific
studies. Not only have studies found very specific brain abnormalities in
children and adults with ADHD, such as in the lateral/dorsolateral
and dorsomedial frontal-striatal, fronto-parietal, and fronto-cerebellar neural
networks, but researchers have also found that ADHD individuals suffer
significant cognitive deficits at a young age.
See articles below for more
information:
I hope that I have provided you with enough information to
give you a more complete understanding of the multi-faceted nature of mental
disorders. Keeping this holistic understanding in mind, you will see that many of the claims that were
made surrounding ADHD being a fictitious disorder no longer hold true.
Respectfully,
Sami
