ADHD-Hunters in a Farming World
By Dustin Jasmer 3/11/22
I often am tasked with giving patients and parents of patients a diagnosis of ADHD. Most of the time it comes with no surprise. Occasionally they are taken aback offended, saddened or even defensive with the diagnosis. These reactions likely come from the popular belief that ADHD is weakness, laziness, an excuse, a character flaw or “overly diagnosed.” All of these statements are untrue.
In an effort to deshame mental health I feel it prudent to inform whoever is reading this of a few thing about me. I have 4 college degrees. I have owned several successful businesses over the past 20 years. I continue to own and operate the first Nurse Practitioner Ambulatory Mental Health Clinic in Utah. This clinic helps several thousands of patients navigate their mental health diagnoses each year. I also have ADHD. For those of you who know me well you will not find this as a huge surprise. ADHD is not a weakness. I have found it to be incredibly empowering to find many explanations for behaviors I have had my whole life wrapped within this diagnosis. I believe that this diagnosis at times can be frustrating. Overall, ADHD is an advantage for me that I am very grateful for. I want to tell my friends, family and patients that ADHD is a strength and one that I am grateful to have inherited from both of my parents. It is a diagnosis that has a high genetic susceptibility. Adoption studies have shown that children are much more likely to have the ADHD traits of their biologic parents than of their adoptive parents. Therefore it is unlikely that ADHD can be learned or unlearned.
There is a growing body of research that shows ADHD is an ancient adaptation stemming from our early hominid ancestors. Genomic evidence shows that some early humans developed specific adaptive traits which allowed them to survive harsh environments around the same time they began using hand tools and becoming professional hunters. Other lineages of hominids(non-adhd) adaptations evolved towards farming and gathering and favored repetition (such as plowing or picking fruit) and likewise allowed them to survive. Those with the nomadic hunting type brain developed real specific skills which increased their survival probability as well.
Having ADHD kept our nomadic hunting ancestors alive and thus allowed them to pass their genes on to their ancestors. These skills included the ability to assess their surroundings rapidly (distractbility), high energy levels for long hunts (restlessness) hyperfocus on interesting things i.e. animals being hunted,(important jobs at work or video games). These hunters often struggled with impatience (impulsiveness), attraction to excitement/novelty (thrill seeking) and struggling to adhere to social norms.
Farmers on the other hand did not struggle with completing boring, repetitive tasks like plowing a field, picking fruit in lines day after day year after year. Similarly they do well with tasks such as sitting in one spot, memorizing facts and citing them them to their teachers. Offspring of farmers have gone on to seek out low stimulation jobs. They are the accountants, delivery drivers, middle managers, factory workers and the IT net-workers of the world. They do well in our school system that expects children to sit in one spot and do repetitive tasks day after day during the non farming months of the year Mid August through May.
What is the moral of the story? Hunter brains (ADHD) are good. Farmer brains are good. They are just different. Why do people get offended when they hear that they have ADHD? Because of their own personal bias. This is a bias that has been taught to them. It has been taught by society, our school system and often by our parents. It is wrong. There are very clear advantages to having ADHD. Let me point them out.
1. A person with ADHD has the ability to laser focus to a much greater degree than a person without ADHD. This is called hyperfocus. Some people describe hyperfocus as a dream like state where they can't even hear other peoples voices and tune outside noises out. Being pulled out of this state is incredibly disruptive to the persons thought process. It has the potential to bring about hyper-focus irritability. Imagine poking a cat in the side as it is in its hunting posture. What would happen? Irritability, Hissing? Scratching? Interrupt a modern human hunter while they are in the middle of getting their 12th kill on call of duty and you will get the same. Hyperfocus can be harnessed in life to accomplish more than video games. Many CEOs of large companies (Elon Musk for example) have discussed that they use their hyperfocus to accomplish tasks.
2. People with hunter brains (ADHD) also frequently have been shown in studies to have above average IQ's (108-113) based on studies. This is about 30%-60% higher than the average human.
3. People with ADHD tend to report higher than average energy levels than people without ADHD.
4. As far as symptoms go, people with ADHD perform equally or better than those without ADHD in school or work settings in uninteresting tasks/subjects once they are treated properly.
Now here is the best part for everyone who thinks ADHD is a weakness. Take these 4 things and combine them. You have a person who 1. Has a greater than average ability to concentrate on interesting things, an equal ability concentrate on uninteresting things, a higher than average intelligence and higher than average energy level. This sounds like a super power.
Generally the hardest part of treating ADHD is to overcome the shame that parents and society have put on our children. Please remember that you or your child inherited a special gift that kept your ancestors alive for thousands of years and that gift permitted you to be alive today. Society changed around us and now we do not need to hunt our food. Us hunters do live in a farming society. That doesn't mean that we cannot thrive in our farming schools and farming work places. I believe that the biggest weakness that a person with ADHD has is that of society and family imposed stigma. ADHD is a strength. I will correct anyone who says otherwise.