suggestion

This is a gross over exaggeration of ADHD and under exaggeration of the effectiveness of non pharmacological treatments

Asian Americans and East Asians have lower suicide rates than Americans (over 60% lower), and especially American white males, you've fallen for a false trope, which is exactly what I expected when I posed the question. I knew that you would immediately appeal to this false trope because you're looking for an excuse.

They outperform by the metrics that matter for a clinical diagnosis and the West is so quick to jump to the conclusion that they're "under diagnosed", it's a uniquely Western and especially American conclusion.

I'm using the definition of the threshold necessary for a clinical diagnosis as defined in psychiatry, which is not merely "negative effects" or as I've repeatedly stated "discomfort".

It's something that persistently prevents someone from living a "normal" life, which is also defined far too narrowly.

You're absolutely insistent that virtually any amount of "negative effects" is sufficient for diagnosis and pharmacological intervention which is absolutely not the case.

Nobody is saying it's easy or the discomfort and difficulties aren't real.

So you've clearly just restated what I said which is that it was principally a matter of discomfort, not clinical outcomes or justification, which is the defining characteristic for diagnosis in the DSM.

Tobacco didn't exist for most of the world until the 17th century and you're discounting the fact that life was objectively much worse by virtually every metric.

People were constantly bombarded with death, disease, things like starvation were near term risks, violence was everywhere, etc.

You're also overestimating the prevalence of alcoholism. Alcohol consumption was largely driven by safety and necessity, not abuse. Alcoholism was arguably more of a social stigma historically than it was today, certainly with harsher criminal penalties in many societies.

Yes I have and it was just as difficult post medication as it was pre. Ironically, while on the SNRI my ADHD was "worse" due to the sheer apathy I felt about literally everything, so I was prescribed to help me "focus" and be "motivated".

You're leaving out the part about being "well studied" paired with your conclusions is almost exclusively in American and Western European populations, things are significantly less clear in other populations and cultures.

Why are you just making stuff up?

Exact quote from second article

"Furthermore, the SSRIs were accorded a rock-star status as effective antidepressants that they did not deserve. Most troubling from the standpoint of misleading the general public, pharmaceutical companies heavily promoted the “chemical imbalance” trope in their direct-to-consumer advertising."

There second article admits the overuse of the term while trying to defend psychiatry for never officially adopting it, but everyone who's been on them knows that's exactly what they were told about their effectiveness, so whether the trope originated with the pharmaceutical companies (my assertion) or not, they were still way over prescribed and there's no statistically significant evidence they actually work when controlling for confounders, as the first meta analysis clearly demonstrates.

Yes they do, as the OP said and I myself experienced, they make previously torturous tasks doable with a significantly reduced levels of discomfort and a priori mental resistance.

East Asians are "impaired" the least, and the presumption among Western scientists, particularly American scientists regarding Asian Americans, is that they are simply undiagnosed despite their out performance in nearly every metric of success.

Why do you think that is?

What the DSM defines as normal is far too narrow and we're too eager for quick fixes without discomfort or discipline.

The point is it's obviously a problem of perspective. Things are not important because they aren't considered important. If the stakes are higher they are elevated in importance and more demanding of attention.

To pretend that humans are hedonic beasts incapable of cognitive adaption is ridiculous. We do not operate purely on impulse save for pharmaceutical intervention. We can force ourselves to give things more or less importance regardless of the actual stakes.

Why do you presume I'm neurotypical and undiagnosed with any psychiatric disorder? I'm formally diagnosed with severe OCD, depression, and ADHD. I was on SSRI, then SNRI and additionally methylphenidate for years. Eventually I got tired for feeling like a shell of a human being, and weaned off of the SNRI. It took a lot of effort to induce neuroplasticity and ease my OCD and depression, but I did it. Eventually, I weaned off the methylphenidate because I believed I could do it if I tried. Later in life, I also gained and eventually lost weight, which was a similar acceptance that "bad" things, like hunger, are ok and a symptom of something good, my body consuming fat. Then the same for sore muscles at the gym. Over time, I accepted discomfort and the fight or flight my brain was constantly trying to force onto me was a lie, and eventually my brain and nervous system caught up. My physical and mental health improved, my social life, my professional life, etc.

I bet if you knew your house would burn down if you didn't do "normal" things you would have done them no problem.

Stimulants make otherwise unenjoyable things enjoyable? Who would have thought? Do you think people that do "normal" things enjoy them? Is it necessary to enjoy everything all the time?