Is ADHD an evolutionary adaptation?

Is ADHD an evolutionary adaptation?

The attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a widespread and often misunderstood diagnosis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, ADHD was diagnosed in 11 % of children aged 4 to 17. The condition is characterized by symptoms such as unrest, impulsiveness and difficulties of concentration.

Psychologists have long discussed whether ADHD is a deficit or a pronounced cognitive style. But a recently carried out review of the evidence indicates that ADHD characteristics could have helped the early people to survive and thrive.

The cognitive advantages of ADHD

People have developed over thousands of years to develop certain cognitive skills that help us survive. According to a recently carried out review of the literature, ADHD characteristics such as impulsiveness and unrest can be the result of evolutionary adjustments that once have helped us to success.

For example, impulsiveness could have helped the early people to react quickly to dangers or take opportunities. Curse may have helped us to explore our environment and find new food sources.

A recently carried out review of the evidence by the child and adolescent psychiatrist Annie Swanepoel and colleagues (2022) speaks for the latter. They argue that ADHD characteristics have probably developed in early human environments that rewarded exploration, search for novelties and movement, such as: B. nomadic and migration communities.

If you are right, this not only has enormous effects on education, but also on how we talk and think about ADHD and other alleged "neurological developmental disorders". Instead of seeing ADHD as a deficit to be fixed, we should consider it a gift that needs to be taken care of.

The overview of Swanepoel et al. (2022) suggests that ADHD characteristics have probably developed in early human environments that rewarded exploration, search for novelties and movement. This suggests that we should not consider ADHD to be a deficit to be resolved, but as a cognitive style that can be encouraged to release your potential.

Investigations show, for example, that people with ADHD are often more creative and naturally clever in the problem solving (Konrad & Eriksen, 2018). This is probably due to your superior work memory and your visual spatial skills that enable you to think outside the box and find innovative solutions.

The review also found indications that people with ADHD have better working memory and better visual spatial skills than people without this disease. Working memory enables us to remember a task and to do it later, while visual spatial skills for navigation and problem solving are important

The influence of ADHD on the education

In recent years, the negative consequences of ADHD have been well documented. ADHD can lead to poorer academic achievements, absenteeism and a higher risk of school termination.

At the same time, the review showed that ADHD characteristics can be advantageous in certain educational contexts. For example, people with ADHDs often perform better in practical and creative learning environments.

This evidence should cause us to think about how we can change our education systems in order to promote this cognitive style instead of hinder it. For example, educators may want to reduce memory and increase the use of creative projects.

Overall, the results suggest that we do not consider ADHD to be a fault, but should recognize the potential advantages of this cognitive style. Educators should consider how they can create learning environments that can use the potential of people with ADHD, such as: B. the inclusion of more practical and creative activities in their curricula.

In this way we can help people with ADHD be able to exhaust their full potential and thrive in a supportive educational environment.

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