Some people dismiss ADHD as a cultural phenomenon. Others interpret the fact that stimulant medications consistently produce the largest reductions in ADHD symptoms to mean that the condition is primarily a neurochemical problem — a deficit of dopamine.
Yet fundamentally, ADHD brains differ from standard-issue human brains in wiring and…
Blasting billionaires into space reminds us that humans survive only in a narrow range of temperature, atmospheric pressure, radiation exposure, and oxygen content.
In order to stay alive, animals need to track the external world and what’s going on in their own bodies, and then adjust their metabolism and behavior…
Online you can find dozens of personality tests. After you’ve filled out one such survey, notices about other personality inventories will inundate your screen, many of them for Myers Briggs personality typing. If you have ADHD, depression, social anxiety or another mental health diagnosis, you’re likely to see links promoting…
Our bodies generally do a pretty good job of protecting us. Our eyes and ears help us detect and avoid all sorts of dangers. Our skin keeps out most germs and contaminants. Our immune system constantly surveys for and eliminates foreign chemicals — whether pollutants or infectious agents.
But sometimes…
Depression, schizophrenia, and even ADHD probably garner more attention, but in the US and worldwide, anxiety disorders are the most common mental health conditions. Doctors diagnose Social Anxiety Disorder more frequently than any other anxiety disorder with the exception of specific phobias.
Modafinil, the “nonstimulant stimulant” has been around for over thirty years, with demonstrated efficacy for promoting wakefulness in a broad range of situations. It can effectively treat ADHD and shows benefits for depression and other conditions.
Yet in the US, doctors prescribe stimulant medications, which cause substantially more serious side…
After almost thirty-two years in San Francisco, I’m joining the exodus. Family played a major role in this decision, propelled by COVID-induced reflections on mortality and meaning, as well as the sudden ease of working remotely. I’ll certainly miss my haven of interlocking Bay Area communities. …
Whether planned, spontaneous, or undesired, pregnancy profoundly disrupts the lives of prospective parents. Although researchers have investigated connections between pregnancy and both mood and anxiety disorders, we possess much less information about the impact of pregnancy on ADHD symptoms.
Our knowledge about the safety of common ADHD medications during pregnancy…
Having ADHD doubles one’s likelihood of developing a substance abuse problem. Stimulants themselves are potentially abusive substances. But numerous studies demonstrate that children and adults with ADHD who are treated with stimulants reduce their overall rates of substance abuse to resemble that of the general population. …
