7. Is There an ADHD Gene?
Photo by Chokniti Khongchum
The ADHD Gene
In 1999, at the University of Carolina-Irvine, a genetic make-up study was conducted on 2,320 people from 39 different groups. The Mbuti tribe from Africa, the Hahn Chinese, and the North American Cheyenne natives were just a few. When they studied the migration patterns of their ancestors, they found that the groups with higher amounts of migration had a predominance of what scientists named “the long allele of the dopamine transmitter gene.” It’s a variant of the d4 receptor called 7 R. You don't need to understand all that, the point is scientists now say it’s a definitive precursor for ADHD (neurodivergence). This gene is responsible for:
the drive to look for new things
Hyperactivity
Curiosity
Risk-taking
Why was this important to your ancestors?
Why would ancient nomads need these traits? The short answer is survival. If you ever do proper tent camping, you’ll come to appreciate how readily available food, water, and other standard amenities we take for granted are. Before agriculture was a thing, human beings traveled a lot to survive. No indoor plumbing to get a glass of water or flush your Taco Bell B.M.’s 🤢. Our high-migrating ancestors needed to find freshwater and other resources, build temporary homes, hunt daily, and more. All while trying not to have their asses eaten by predators in the wild. For nomads, it was vital to thrive in these chaotic situations to survive. What use would you be in the wild if you curled up and went fetal when things went south?
Farmers ruined it for everyone.
We eventually developed agriculture as a result of the hard work we did in the wild. As agriculture became the norm, humans no longer needed to have these traits. After all, there’s no need to walk off into the mountains or constantly watch out for predators. Not in this modern era, where we are now charged a fee in order to visit the world we used to roam freely. The Wild.
Our ancestors slowly made the transition from hunters to settlers. Now all that’s required to survive is the general maintenance of our society. Go to school, clean your room, cut the grass, graduate, get a job, send emails, etc. We’re no longer clawing for survival; we can maintain. But not everyone feels like settling down. Neuroscience suggests that some of us still live in the “hunter” mindset.
Hunters and settlers are both essential, but it’s easy to feel that ADHD is a curse. Understandable. Now that we have a settlement to maintain, neurotypical behaviors have risen in value. Don’t let that make you feel useless. A hunter's role in society has always been to drive innovation, and that’s MORE true today.
We’ve always been here.
If you think about it, agriculture was the reward for all of our neurodivergent struggles. It was purely our initial hunting in “the wild” that eventually yielded the know-how needed to build this modern society. The world we know is spawned out of the innate desire within some of us to spring into action when there’s a problem instead of seeking comfort during the chaos.
More than half of our modern innovations probably wouldn’t exist without the kids who cannot sit still in school. Hot take, without neurodivergence, the chances we would still be sending messages via paper mail, and carrier pigeons goes up 30%. I believe that because so many innovators throughout history are/were, and I say this affectionately, “odd.” The wild calls out to us even though we live deep in “the settlement.” When we hear the call, it’s hard not to answer. Some of us do when we drop out of school, go into the wild, and “come back” with some incredible “thing” we can no longer live without as a society. Or starve to death. That's the fear that underlines life in the settlement.
And that’s why you should be proud if you have ADHD. Nature did not create it as a defect, but as a tool to propel us forward. You are not someone meant to maintain the settlement; you are meant to add new additions to it. You’re a hunter dammit! Now go out into the wild and get it! Much love.