Causes of ADHD are unknown

The argument

ADHD is one of the most common brain disorders among Americans, and though highly researched, the causes of ADHD are still unknown. The legitimacy of ADHD as a real condition requires further study. A combination of factors are potentially responsible for ADHD. Studies suggest that it is genetic since ADHD tends to run in families, while others suggest it is a matter of brain anatomy and function. Lower levels of activity in certain parts of the brain could be the cause, as well as head injuries in some cases. Environmental factors are also suggested to be a cause of ADHD since children growing up in poverty are two times more likely to develop ADHD at an early age. P renatal exposures, such as alcohol and nicotine, may increase the risk of ADHD. Many factors may be the cause of ADHD, but no one is entirely sure. Until the causes of ADHD are well known, identifying the disorder as a real condition is irresponsible.

Premises

Counter-arguments

There are several mental disorders aside from ADHD that have unknown causes. A majority of mental disorders have unknown reasons. The causes of clinical depression, anxiety, bipolar, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and even schizophrenia are all unknown. If one is to dismiss ADHD for this reason alone, then they would ignore all mental illnesses and conditions. Just like ADHD, the causes of the previously mentioned disorders could be from a variety of different factors. These factors include genetics, environmental factors, brain function, and prenatal exposures, and even brain injury. There are numerous medical mysteries, but when a majority of the population is experiencing the symptoms, how can people assume they are not real? Research on ADHD continues today as a significant amount of the community is diagnosed with the disorder. With three million people diagnosed each year, denying the existence of ADHD because of its unknown origins would be ineffectual.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] "Unknown" overstates it. ADHD is among the most heritable psychiatric conditions, with twin studies placing heritability at roughly 70 to 80 per cent, and specific common variants have been identified in genome-wide association studies; differences in dopaminergic signalling and in the developmental trajectory of particular brain regions are consistently reported. What is absent is a single cause, which is not the same as an absence of knowledge. [Rejecting P2] Multifactorial causation is the norm in medicine rather than a mark against a diagnosis. The same list — genetic liability, environment, prenatal exposure, injury — describes depression, schizophrenia, asthma, type 2 diabetes and most cancers, all treated as real while their mechanisms continue to be worked out. [Rejecting P3] The premise applies a test that almost nothing in medicine meets. A condition is established as real by consistent measurable symptoms, an identifiable course, functional impairment and response to treatment, all of which are documented here, including in randomised trials of stimulant medication and behavioural therapy. Aetiology generally follows the identification of a condition rather than preceding it, as it did for epilepsy, migraine and diabetes — and adopting this standard would require abandoning most of psychiatry along with a good deal of general medicine.