Exciting news to share. I am doing a series of articles for the Science desk at The New York Times. The series is called “Therapeutic Window,” and the first article came out today. It is about whether ADHD is better understood as a disorder of “attention” or of something else: What if A.D.H.D. Isn’t About Attention at All? (gift link)
“As a psychiatrist, I increasingly see people seeking help for a familiar constellation of troubles. They have a hard time staying focused. They often forget things. They suffer from disorganization, restlessness and impulsivity. They struggle with spreadsheets and memos, with laundry and food preparation, with showing up at appointments and meeting deadlines — with tackling, in other words, the necessities of daily life.
Increasingly, these patients view their problems as ones of “attention,” as more people identify with the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or A.D.H.D.
The rise in A.D.H.D. diagnoses — along with the use of prescribed stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall — has led to great debate among the public and within my field of psychiatry. Has the medical establishment finally recognized a long-overlooked disorder? Or has the diagnosis become too capacious, over-medicalizing ordinary difficulties?
But this debate runs up against a fundamental scientific uncertainty. The condition’s name notwithstanding, “attention deficit” may be the wrong conceptual framing for A.D.H.D. Scientists have been exploring a more basic quandary: What is the condition in the first place?”
Read the rest at The New York Times.
Oh, I can’t wait. Rushing over now . . .