I am almost 40 and was recently diagnosed with adhd. I started taking Ritalin earlier this week and I have to say that I have been able to accomplish so much in my work that I was dragging my feet on before.
I work freelance, so I can just put off tasks until they are needed.
I told my brother about it today and found out that both he and his fiancee are also on psych meds. This applies to my wife’s immediate family as well.
As I said, the meds work for me and things have improved a lot, but why is society setup in such a way that such a large number of people need to be medicated to be part of it?
Anyway maybe this is more of a rant, but I also wonder what percent of people in your family are on some kind of psych meds.
There is likely a selection biased. A lot of mental health issues and quirks have genetic components. If you have an issue, it’s FAR more likely your family has issues.
We also tend to be attracted to like minded individuals. My partner tried to tell me I was normal, until I was diagnosed. They were diagnosed a few years later. It turned out most of their friends were neurodiverse too. They were rating themselves (and me) against a bunch of fellow weirdos!
A lot of the problems have always been there. They were just seen as personal failings and hidden. Now we know that they have an adjustable chemical component that can be used to treat them. That, combined with more people being open about issues has created the spike.